Ole's Big Game Steakhouse & Lounge — Restaurant in Paxton

Wow! Talk about a blast from the past. My daughter and her boyfriend were planning a trip from Denver to Lincoln. As they were looking at the route on Google maps, I asked BF if he had ever been to Ole's in Paxton, NE. That's when it all came flooding back!

I haven't been thru Nebraska in 10 years, but I used to hunt in North and South Dakota every year, for several years, and Ole's was always our stop, both coming and going. I asked BF to look-it-up to see if it was still open, and/or to see if it was still as good as it used to be. It was so great to see that it hasn't changed after all of these years and that the ratings show that it's just as good as it was.

But here's the best part, at least for me!

The first time I dined at Ole's was in 1971; I was 12. My Pop and I were pheasant hunting with his old friend, Curly Hensley, from Kimble, NE. One night Curly said, "We're going to Paxton for dinner tonight. The best "oysters" in the world!" Well, as a kid, I wasn't too keen on seafood, but Curly assured me that they had great hamburgers as well.

When we got there, the place was packed. Curly, Pop and I found a seat at the bar and Ole came up and greeted Curly like an old friend. A few minutes later, magically on the bar in front of us, there appeared a basket of "something" fried. Pop and Curly each grabbed one, ate it, and said... "Wow, these are great! Here, try one..." At first, I took a nibble, then a bite and then the whole thing. I had to agree, "that was pretty darn good".

I asked Curly, "So are those oysters? 'Heck, those aren't fishy at all". With smiles on Curly, Ole and my Pop's faces, Curly then told me why they weren't fishy. It was because they weren't actually oysters from the sea. They were what people called "Rocky Mountain Oysters", - or - Bull testicles - all sliced up, breaded, and fried to a golden brown. "No fishy to 'em!" Well, I didn't eat any more of them that night, (honestly, all I could think about was how the Bull must have felt), but given the company I kept, that all changed on the very next visit.

So, short story made long... it was at Ole's, in Paxton, NE, at the age of 12, in the presence of greatness (Ole), that I ate my very first Rocky Mountain "oyster"...

Thanks for allowing me to take this trip down memory lane. Plus, a BIG "Thank You" to Tim and crew for caring enough, and for making sure that the memories and traditions of this wonderful place are kept alive. It might just be time for a...

My car was packed to the brim with all my life's belongs including my sweet dog Jada. We were off on a new life adventure moving across country from Iowa traveling westward to seek new Public Lands. We had been driving all morning when I saw a big billboard from the interstate and had to stop to check it out. Jada & I pulled behind Ole's Big Game Steakhouse and I went inside to investigate; to my surprise there were Polar Bear, Owls, an Elephant, giraffe, and even a special horned rabbit that only the luck will ever spot. I asked if Jada could come in but she didn't have a special vest. (I had applied for her to become an emotional support animal but she's very smart & she destroyed & ate the cards up as soon as they came; she wanted to be free and not be bound to one person, she loves all people). Jada stayed in the car and I decided to order something to go. The menu was vast with several meat options, after debating with the kind young man behind the bar I decided to go with the daily soup & a chicken sandwich. As I walked around the restaurant checking out all the wild game I was a little sad to see there great big beautiful animal souls on display. Native Americans also believed that animals were created to feed people and give them strength. They relied on bison for food, clothing, shelter, and religious worship. They used almost every part of the animal, including the horns, meat, and tail hairs. They would give thanks & pray asking for forgiveness over the animal & sing. I am not sure on the original owns intentions but I'm hopeful that they prayed & sing so before eating my meal I made sure to pray & give thanks to all the animals that feed us for it was spirit that lead humans to eating meat otherwise humanity wouldn't have otherwise made it through the ice age. My soup was great vegetable beef but a little small since it was so tasty I would've wanted more but I was filled up by my chicken sandwich & the bread it was on. We ate in the car & moved onward to explore new frontier in the wild, wild, west. Oregon being our wild destination. Thank you for feeding us along our journey. We also played the fun lottery game and won our money back then we doubled down & lost what we had put into it...winner winner chicken...

After reading reviews on Reddit/google we didn’t have high hopes for a great meal. But were stuck going here as my father-in-law wanted to eat here. And unfortunately, the Reddit reviews were accurate. I wouldn’t recommend eating here. We were a group of 10 and arrived at 4 (this is relevant for later) on 7/26/25. It was cool seeing all of the animals. However, they have been there a LONG time and looked like they could use a good dusting/cleaning. Our expectations for the food were low already. But I didn’t think it was going to be this bad. We are not ones to send our food back, but we did here. We ordered the chicken fried steak, Reuben, Rocky Mountain oysters, sirloin, steak sandwich, bison burger, kids chicken fingers, kids chicken legs, kids' cheeseburger, and the fried pickle spears. We tried to order baked potatoes and prime rib - to our surprise you can only get these after 5. We waited a long time to receive our food for not being busy. My Reuben got set down and tried a sweet potato fry which was cold and the Reuben was not hot a cheese not melted and soggy. But still edible. But our food had to have been sitting there for a while before being brought to our table. The chicken fried steak had no flavor and tasted horrible. Husband told server, and server offered to bring something else. To which my husband declined because he didn’t want another bad thing. They did end up comping the chicken fried steak. My daughter complained that her chicken legs were “chewy”, so my husband tried them and he says, “I can see why she doesn’t like them”. So, another thing that didn’t get ate. The kids chicken strips have a ton of breading but were decent. I hate doing this to a small-town restaurant, but I would not recommend stopping...