Energetic cowboys and cowgirls can work up hefty appetites, so in Bandera—the proverbial “Cowboy Capital of the World”—they rustle up good food and side orders of fun at the O.S.T. (Old Spanish Trail) Restaurant in the heart of the Hill Country town.
“It’s a family friendly, welcoming diner,” says Michelle Janes, manager of the eatery that opened in 1921 and is reputed to be the second oldest restaurant in Texas. “The O.S.T. derives its name from the historic Old Spanish Trail that stretched from St. Augustine, Florida, through Texas and on to San Diego, California.
“Our restaurant has a western feel with saddle seats at the counter and a covered wagon as the salad bar. On the wall is a local legend named Redneck, a revered longhorn that was saddled up just like a horse and ridden in many parades. Many people have told me they sat on Redneck for a photo years ago before he passed away of old age.”
Then there’s the John Wayne Room with multiple photos and posters of “The Duke” and other cinematic western heroes. Gwen Janes, the O.S.T.’s owner and a big John Wayne fan, created the special room in 1980 when she knocked out a wall of the 1873, native-stone building to expand the restaurant. Previously a horse corral, dance hall, barber shop, and pizza place occupied the space. The room’s heavy tables and benches came from cypress trees downed by a 1978 Medina River flood.
But the main attraction is the restaurant’s home-cooked, Southern comfort food that’s served with special care and personal attention from the waitstaff. “We’re famous for our breakfast – pancakes as big as your head,” Michelle Janes says. “We’re also known for our hand-breaded chicken fried steak and made-from-scratch Tex-Mex food, especially the enchiladas. And let’s not forget about our homemade pies – buttermilk, chocolate, lemon, and coconut.”
The restaurant’s western character also comes to life on most Saturday mornings when a local resident does gunfighter re-enactments inside the O.S.T. and subsequently gets thrown out by one of the servers for being too rowdy. “We also have a group of local early-rising farmers and retired veterans that commune at the large table by the pie case,” says Michelle Janes. “They’re referred to as ‘The Table of Knowledge,’ and they discuss the weather, tell stories (some true), pray before eating, and welcome others to join in.”
O.S.T. special guests have included Matthew Muńoz, John Wayne’s grandson, as well as notables such as actors Tommy Lee Jones, Robert Duvall, Matt Damon, Thomas Haden Church, and Paris Hilton and recording artists such as Willie Nelson, Charlie Robison, and Robert Earl Keen.
The O.S.T. fits neatly into the “Cowboy Capital” atmosphere that also features dude ranches, frequent rodeos, parades and plenty of country-western music. Much of Bandera’s cowboy lore and legend emanates from cattle drives in the late 1800s.
“The Western Trail started in Bandera, crossed out of Texas in Vernon and proceeded to Dodge City, Kansas, and points beyond such as Ogallala, Nebraska,” says Patricia Moore, executive director of the Bandera County Visitors Center. “The Western Heritage Park in Bandera has a map of the route in concrete and also flies the flags of the U.S., Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. We honor the Western Trail with a longhorn cattle drive down Main Street on Labor Day weekend during our annual Bandera Roundup.”
Bandera further perpetuates its cowboy heritage on many Saturdays with mock gunfights and wagon rides for out-of-towners. A Friday night summer rodeo series and the Memorial Day PRCA rodeo further underscore Bander’s cowboy culture along with dude-ranch activities such as trail rides and cookouts. “Dixie Dude Ranch was founded in the 1930s,” Moore notes, “and it’s the oldest continuously operating dude ranch in our area. It’s celebrating 85 years of operation by the same family.”
Moore estimates approximately 500,000 visitors soak up Bandera’s cowboy character each year. Most hail from Texas, but she says not a day goes by without international visitors – primarily European – arriving to do the cowboy thing.
“Think about this,” she says. “Bandera has four banks, two newspapers, live music almost every night, seven parades each year, two wonderful museums, seven dude ranches and a whole lot more including the O.S.T., all in a town of less than 900.”
