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Ole's maintains traditions while enjoying new onesBy Larry Dreiling Nebraska's most famous waterin' hole. That's what the folks at Ole's Big Game Steakhouse and Lounge, Paxton, Neb., say it is. While it may not be world famous, it's pretty interesting. The food's sure good and the pours are friendly. I recently made a multiple repeat visit there and had forgotten I had never offered one of these stories on this most unique place along the road. (For years Ole's has been an evening stop during the Nebraska Wheat Board/Wheat Quality Council's hard red winter wheat tour.) First, a little back-story is needed to whet your whistle. Rosser O. "Ole" Herstedt opened his tavern at exactly 12:10 a.m. Aug. 9, 1933, the moment prohibition ended in Paxton. Ole, the story goes, was an avid outdoorsman and the bar became the place where Ole and his buddies would swap tall tales of their hunting and fishing exploits. In 1938, Ole bagged a deer. He had it mounted and displayed in the bar. Using the money he earned from the tavern, Ole traveled to every continent over the course of the next 35 years to bag more than 200 mounts that now hang in the bar, along with lots of photographs from Ole's adventures. Ole made his last hunting trip in 1973 and, in 1988, he retired as the owner of the Big Game Bar. That gave another Paxton native, Tim Holzfaster, the chance to purchase Ole's. Today, the lounge has been expanded to become Ole's Steakhouse and Lounge. Enter the place and you'll immediately spot Ole's prized trophy, a giant polar bear in full stalking position. My waitress, for the night I was last in Ole's, was Sam. As Sam puts it: "Every trophy has a story." OK, Sam. What's the story behind the polar bear? "Ole went into far northern Alaska to bag the bear. The bush pilot he hired spotted the polar bear," Sam told me. "Once they shot it and skinned it, they loaded the skin on the plane. "The only problem was, once they loaded the skin on board, there wasn't enough room for Ole. So the pilot pushed Ole into the plane. Ole sat on the skin, with the bear's head resting on the pilot's shoulder. They got lost on the way home and nearly ran out of fuel. Finally, they found the lights of Point Hope, landed and were able to dry down the bearskin. The hunting license was $10 and the polar bear license was $15. The whole trip, including the taxidermy, was $5,000." Back in the days when Ole ran the bar, the only food he served was stuff like hot dogs, served off a rotisserie. Today, there's a full menu of great steaks, along with barbeque items like pulled pork, several different chicken and seafood entrees (the fried catfish is terrific) and plenty of sandwich items. There's also the usual lineup of appetizers, as well as Rocky Mountain oysters. Still, the star of the menu is steak. I shuffle between the 12-ounce boneless ribeye and the 12-ounce center cut New York strip. For a little extra, you can get blackening or glazing. The steaks come with a choice of two sides, or a loaded baked potato for extra. Well worth it. "Our beef comes locally from Hehnke's Food Store and Meat Market right here in Paxton," Sam said. "Because it's local, we can get exactly the kinds of cuts we want and we generally know the source." Paxton is located about halfway between Ogallala and North Platte, Neb., so there's plenty of local traffic in the town to enjoy this historic place, something well worth pulling one-half mile off Interstate 80 for a visit. Holzfaster also owns Ole's Coffee Shop next door, which is open at 5:30 a.m. with a full breakfast menu. Ole's Big Game Steakhouse and Lounge Paxton, Neb. Open Mon. thru Sat. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sun. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Children's menu. Full bar. Non-smoking section. Major credit cards accepted. Larry Dreiling can be reached by phone at 785-628-1117 or by e-mail at ldreiling@aol.com. 11/5/07 Date: 10/30/07
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