Carnivore's Paradise: Restaurants For Meat Lovers

From Florida to California and many points in between, the United States is a veritable meat paradise if you know where to look. Check out these restaurants around the country that feature outsized menu items made of meat. Feast your eyes on the whole carnivorous collection!

Restaurant: Smoked Turkey Leg Cart, Frontierland, Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, FL

When most people think of Walt Disney World, visions of roller coasters and cartoon puppets dance in their heads. But to a growing number of Disney vacationers, the Magic Kingdom spells something meaty and delicious: smoked turkey legs. According to Magic Kingdom Executive Chef Robert Adams, the 30-ounce legs are smoked and cured with sugar and salt before being roasted in a hot convection oven, resulting in a ham-like flavor. Since the turkey leg cart made it's first appearance in 1992, this food item has skyrocketed in popularity: Walt Disney World sells 1.6 million pounds of turkey legs each year.

Related: 10 golden-roasted turkey recipes

Restaurant: Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue, Kansas City, MO

Kansas City is an important city in the Barbecue Belt, dishing up mountains of sweet and saucy meat at barbecue joints across Kansas and Missouri. Fiorella's Jack Stack specializes in wood-smoke cookery, preparing beef, pork, sausage, turkey, chicken, and seafood in hickory wood-fired brick ovens. In 2000, Jack Stack began offering nationwide shipping of their fully-cooked, ready-to-serve barbecue. People seeking a meat feast might opt for the BBQ Super Sampler, which includes 1 slab pork spare ribs, 1 pound pork burnt ends, 1 pound chopped BBQ beef brisket, more than 1 pound "Fire-Kissed" chicken wings, and a 12-ounce bottle of KC Original BBQ Sauce.

Related: 14 regional barbecue recipes

Restaurant: Girl and the Goat, Chicago, IL

Girl & the Goat is not just a pretty name for the restaurant developed and run by Top Chef season 4 winner, Stephanie Izard. Izard, whose last name refers to a goat found in the Pyrenees Mountains, devoted a whole section of her shared-plates menu to the meat of this sure-footed, horned creature. Diners looking for a taste can choose between goat carpaccio, confit goat belly, smoked goat rillet empanadas, goat liver mousse, and grilled goat loin. But true goat fans go for the 6- to 7-pound whole goat leg, which is generally ordered in advance for parties of 8. The leg is cured, smoked, and braised in a rich goat stock, and served with sauces like salsa verde, sesame aioli, romesco, and yuzu harissa, as well as Indian naan bread, crispy onions, and hard-boiled eggs.

Related: 8 easy, luscious lamb recipes

Restaurant: Big Texan Steak Ranch & Motel, Amarillo, TX

The old saying, "everything is bigger in Texas" couldn't be more appropriate when describing this steak special fit for the hungriest of cowboys. A rustic front porch and cheerful yellow-and-blue exterior greet diners at this 51-year-old Texas steak-eating establishment, which dishes up a legendary 72-ounce special-cut sirloin steak complete with baked potato, salad, dinner roll, and shrimp cocktail. Anyone who finishes the whole meal in less than an hour gets it free for the honor and accomplishment. Since the Big Texan Steak Ranch began offering this contest shortly after it opened in 1960, tens of thousands have bellied up to compete, including Man vs. Food's Adam Richman and professional eater Joey Chestnut, who set the current record for finishing the meal: 8 minutes and 52 seconds.

Related: 10 juicy steak dinners

Restaurant: Big Mama's & Papa's Pizzeria, Los Angeles, CA

How does pizza fit into the hallowed ranks of this meat free-for-all? Imagine how many slices of pepperoni fit onto a 54-inch-by-54-inch pizza, and you'll get the idea. To give you some perspective, Big Mama's & Papa's is known for their 36-inch pies made from six pounds of homemade dough, "loads" of homemade sauce, eight pounds of California-made mozzarella cheese, and can fit 100 slices of pepperoni. The 56-inch version, which they started offering three or four years ago, requires 24-hour advance notice and usually doesn't fit through standard doorways. The pizzeria said double doors or garage entry help get this gargantuan pie into your home.

Related: 15 amazing pizzerias across the U.S.

Restaurant: Bonnell's, Fort Worth, TX

While the portions at this Texas fine-dining restaurant aren't blow-your-mind big, the selection of meat and game is extensive and all are sourced from local Texas farmers and ranchers. The dinner menu features a Mixed Grill plate of wild game, which includes andouille sausage and one wild boar chop (pictured) plus the option to add elk tenderloin, buffalo tenderloin, grilled quail, lamb loin, and pheasant. All meat is topped with wild game demi-glace and served with roasted green chile cheese grits and grilled cactus. If you're not hungry enough for the combination platter, Bonnell's offers a meaty array of appetizers such as crispy fried quail legs, elk mini tacos, and venison carpaccio.

Related: lean and tasty bison recipes

Restaurant: Kooky Canuck, Memphis, TN

A kooky hybrid of Canadian and Southern fare, the Kooky Canuck offers log cabin-style atmosphere in downtown Memphis. In a city known for its barbecue, this restaurant hits a northern note with signature dishes like maple-marinated flank steak, deep-fried cornish hen, bratwurst corn dogs, and poutine, a Quebec specialty of French fries smothered in brown gravy and topped with fresh cheese curds. People with large appetites save room for the Kookamonga Burger, which consists of 4 pounds of fresh-ground chuck, a 2-pound bun and 1 1/2 pounds of fixings. Only 8 people out of more than 3,000 have finished the Kookamonga in less than 60 minutes (one of whom bested the burger three times!), earning them their burger for free and their picture on the wall of fame. According to a Kooky Canuck employee, most diners order the 7 1/2-pound burger to share — at $25.99, it's a pretty affordable meal for 8 to 10 people.

Related: 25 best burgers in the U.S.

Restaurant: Abattoir, Atlanta, GA

French for "slaughterhouse", Abattoir bills itself as a chophouse espousing whole-animal cuisine, which refers to the use of every functional piece of an animal. Located under the Salted/Cured/Offal section of the menu, Abattoir's stew may look innocent, but it contains a cornucopia of cuts (pork belly, cheek, and tripe), garnished with fresh beans and tomatoes. Other options in this category include head cheese fritters with sweet chili relish, veal sweetbreads with sorghum and lemon, and cured elk with spring onion and pickled radish.

Related: 31 days of savory stews

Restaurant: Jody Maroni's Sausage Kingdom, various locations in Southern California

If you find yourself in California and sausage is your meat of choice, head over to this So-Cal institution which prides itself on its "haut" dogs. Since 1979, Jody Maroni's has been grilling up sausages on the Venice Beach boardwalk, offering traditional varieties like sweet Italian and bratwurst alongside more creative links like spicy Louisiana boudin and Yucatan chicken and turkey with cilantro, jalapeño chilies, and beer. A recent addition to the menu, the Cubana chicken sausage (pictured) is coarsely ground with plantains and rice and served on the restaurant's signature freshly baked onion roll. Maroni learned sausage-making from his father, Max the Butcher, and added his love of world cuisine and fresh ingredients to mix.

Related: 11 sensational sausage recipes