25 Day Road Trip; Where was the Best Burger? Longhorn Saloon, Harrison, Nebraska!

Longhorn Saloon, Bar and Grille, Harrison, Nebraska (click to enlarge)

Harrison Nebraska is a town of 249 (2012) in Sioux County.  It is the county seat.  In fact, the county has a population of only 1315 souls (2012).  Harrison is 192 acres in size, which wouldn't even make up a speck on most of the farms in this county.  The town is at the junction of Routes 20 and 29.  One traffic light.  One restaurant, but what a restaurant.  Jory Bob's Longhorn Saloon!  Only place in town to eat.  If you are passing through Harrison, stop and eat at the Longhorn.

Because of the weather, tornadoes in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, we drove straight west from Council Bluffs, Iowa to avoid the potentially dangerous weather.  When we arrived in Sydney, Nebraska, Interstate 80 was closing due to heavy snow just over the Wyoming border.  Two feet of snow, we were told.  We bedded down in Sydney, along with several hundred truckers in their trucks, and made a new travel plan.

Route 29 in Nebraska (click to enlarge)

The next morning, we ate a great breakfast in Sydney, then headed north on highway 29, heading for Custer, South Dakota, the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore.  Route 29 is about as desolate and lonely a road as I have driven in quite some time.  Nothing but rolling hills, fences and cattle interspersed throughout the meadows.  This day, the land was covered with snow and the air temperature was just above freezing.

About lunch time, we came upon Harrison, Nebraska and decided to look for a place to eat.  The only place we saw was the Longhorn Saloon.  We parked and the four of us walked in.  Wow!  An old time, western style saloon with guys at the bar wearing cowboy hats and boots. Fantastic! Men and women socializing over beer and shots of whiskey at lunch time.  I guess there wasn't much to do around town that day.  But what a great place to gather and socialize.  We could immediately tell this place was friendly.

We were approached by Donna, who turned out to be the server, bartender, cook and busgirl (if that is a word?).  With a big gorgeous smile, she asked us how she could help us and we all ordered something to drink and a burger.  As we sat waiting for our drinks and food, we had a good look around and kind of eavesdropped on the local patrons to find out what was being discussed this cold, late spring day.

At some point in time, a couple of the guys used the "facilities" and recommended that we take a look at the urinal in there.  They wouldn't say much about it except to take a look at it.  As I always wash my hands after handling a restaurant menu, I headed to the men's room and sure enough, the urinal was unique.  It was a slab of stainless steel, about chest high, that spanned from one wall to the other.  Below was a trough, lined with more stainless steel, cut into the floor.  I was tempted to take a photo of it, but decided to decline.

When the food arrived, we all agreed it was the best burgers we had found anywhere!  Juicy, tender, cooked just right on a nice fresh bun with fixin's to each of our liking.  Great meal.

Donna smiled and gave us our bills and invited us back again one day.  This is one saloon, one meal and one young lady that we won't soon forget.

If you are ever in western Nebraska, I highly recommend you stop in the Longhorn and have, not only a good meal, but good company, good service and good surroundings.

Thanks for looking.

Dennis Mook

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