The White Elephant Saloon
Fort Worth, Texas - 2024
It’s a tough one, as there are so many
contenders in Montana, Wyoming,
Colorado and Texas. From a filming
perspective, we are drawn to bars with
depth and then it helps if the walls and
ceilings are elaborately embroidered with
authentic props that emphatically play to
a western vibe. They need to have history
and a lore.
But these are not really demanding
qualification rules, and we need some
stronger filters. For a start, we think
that the saloon must have hard liquor
available at breakfast and the bar staff
should greet early customers with a smile
that suggests a sense of partnership
throughout the day.
The door policy should be
accommodating to men with no cultural
refinement and women with no moral
compass and allow cowboy capitalists
to mingle freely with outlaws, cattle
wranglers and enthusiastic pole dancers.
The only real restriction, is that entry is
conditional on wearing a decent and well
worn cowboy hat.
I think, however, the best cowboy bars
must be in towns that are fabled cattle
towns. If there is not a hint of manure in
the air, at the very least, there should be
some steers within a rope’s throw of the
entrance. It would also help these days if
Taylor Sheridan is a regular.
These new criteria materially narrow
down the candidates and all roads now
lead to Fort Worth, Texas. Our favourite
cowboy bar is, of course, The White
Elephant in the heart of the famous old
stock yards.
We want to thank Tim Love and his
excellent team for partnering with us
on this project, and we look forward to
visiting next time as customers. My team
will all pass the door policy.