The Cowboy Palace, Odessa Tx — Restaurant in Odessa

DO NOT EAT HERE. My sister and I went for lunch here and left feeling nauseated and disgusted. If this was simply a case of the food not being to my liking or an off day, I would not be leaving this review. But that is not the case here. When we first looked at the menu, I could not make heads or tails out of anything. It was full of typos, completely disorganized, cut off the text on the inside edges, there were no descriptions, the pictures were mislabeled and unappetizing, and the format was unreadable. I had to mention it, as a professional editor, and found out that the menu designer was a “friend of the owner.” I should have known that if the owner couldn’t put together a readable menu, or hire a professional, there was no chance this place would be good. We both ordered the burger and we also got a kids chicken nuggets. The biggest issue we had? The burger had a hair MIXED into the meat. This meat was prepared without following health code and lord knows what else was in there. But let’s get into the other issues with the burger, shall we? This burger came with a tomato, a couple pickles, wilted lettuce, bacon, one slice of Kraft cheese, and one thin, overcooked, and under seasoned patty with someone’s DNA. There was no mayo, mustard, or ketchup; you had to ask for the individual packets. This burger was pathetic and even if I did have the stomach to finish it, would have left me starving for more. We have had better burgers from gas stations. The side of fries served with it were drenched in grease, undercooked, and unseasoned. They were also cold, which made everything even worse. The kids meal came with 6 nuggets that obviously were not purchased for their quality and disgusting fries. The nuggets were only slightly larger than a quarter and so tough, we could barely get a fork in. The “salad bar” looked old, which is a real feat for a brand new restaurant. Nothing was covered (seeds, dressings, vegetables, etc.), so there is no way anything was clean. This food poisoning smorgasbord is ridiculously $10 and you are only allowed to visit one time — although who would want to go twice? If you thought that the service made up for any of this, you would be mistaken. After two bites of the burger, my sister found the hair and let them know. We didn’t want to make a big scene or make this their problem (this is clearly an owner issue), but you could see how little they cared that the food was so poor. They gave us the check but generously removed the hair burger, with no apology or concern. But this horrendous meal was still $40, without tip. The overpriced burger is originally $13, but if you remove the bacon, $14. WHY would there be an upcharge to remove an ingredient? The bacon was factored into the price of the burger in the first place and charging extra to not include it is unnecessary and disgustingly greedy. I was aware that this was only $1 and I was already being robbed, but the sheer disrespect of this charge still drives me insane. When they brought the check, we had obviously both stopped eating and the majority of both burgers were still on the plate. I made sure to tell them there was NO way I was going to be able to finish the burger when I literally just saw a piece of hair get pulled out of an identical patty, but they had no response. We did not want to cause a scene and wanted to get out of there, so gave them my card. We were then surprised by ANOTHER charge when the charge slip came back. There is a $2 charge for paying by card. I have NEVER seen a restaurant charge for paying by card. The greed of this owner is truly astounding. I paid almost $50 (of course I tipped) for one of the worst meals of my life. The minute we left, I called the health department and I hope this place gets shut down, along with whatever other nightmare establishments these people own. Best case scenario, this restaurant is a money laundering front and they didn’t give a single thought to the food, because otherwise this is a tragedy. Do not waste your time, money, or health...

As fellow small business owners, we genuinely wanted to support this local establishment and gave them multiple opportunities to earn our business. Unfortunately, after three visits over the past two months, we cannot recommend this restaurant due to consistent issues with service and food quality. Visit #1 (Evening Dining): Despite the restaurant having only approximately 12 customers, we waited 15 minutes to be seated without acknowledgment from staff. Our appetizers (bone marrow and queso flameado) took long to arrive. While the bone marrow was satisfactory, the queso appeared to be standard mozzarella rather than traditional Mexican cheese. The overall atmosphere felt unwelcoming, prompting us to finish our evening elsewhere. Visit #2 (Takeout Order): Service issues continued with no staff greeting upon entry. Our order (bone marrow, queso flameado, and ribeye tacos) required 40 minutes despite minimal restaurant traffic. Upon arriving home, we discovered several problems: only 3 tortillas provided for 4 bone marrow portions, the queso had hardened during transport, and no tortillas were included with the ribeye taco order. The ribeye itself was overcooked—dry and tough rather than tender. When I contacted management about these issues, they apologized and offered to make it right on a future visit. Visit #3 (Return Visit): Once again, we waited without acknowledgment before seating ourselves. When I spoke with management about our previous experience, instead of addressing our concerns professionally, we were questioned extensively about the details, making my wife uncomfortable. After I expressed our intention to leave, the manager apologized and offered a complimentary appetizer. However, we noticed multiple staff members observing us through the kitchen windows and exchanging looks with apparent amusement, which felt highly unprofessional and made us question the integrity of our order. The fajitas we received were again tough and poorly prepared. While our server was courteous and professional, the management approach and food quality consistently fell short of expectations. Sadly, I am unable to recommend this...

Like all good things in Odessa, unfortunately it only lasts so long. I have been to this restaurant several times since it opened & really liked the chicken fried steak I always order the lunch portion because the dinner is always twice the size. Today was a disappointment I ordered the usual & received an over cooked chicken fried steak. My great nephew was here for a few days before deployment to an undisclosed base so I wanted to treat him to a chicken fried steak and so he ordered the dinner portion. When he received his they gave him the same size as me. So it was half the size as the dinner portion. So I pointed it out to the waitress. She said she had placed the order for the dinner portion and wasn’t sure what happened. Then a lady came over to the table and asked me if there was an issue with the order and I pointed out the portion and said the waitress was going to take care of it. She said that the portion he received was the dinner portion. so I politely told her we had previously dined there several times and that the portion was half the normal dinner portion and she responded by asking when the last time we ate there so I told her 4 days previously & last week as well as several times prior. She replied okay she would take care of it & walked away. It was disappointing to find out the lady that came to the table & was argumentative was the owner. The comfort and food quality went down after our visit today. If you treat people with respect, & the food is consistent then you’ll be fine. If not this restaurant won’t be...