Experience a Western movie set in Yilan & feast on BBQ chicken & American-style burgers at Cowboy Station

Photos & Text byPurple Smile

This must be a photo from a gathering with friends from my former company about a year ago. Yep, Jean was again the organizer tasked with finding the venue. My criteria for choosing a restaurant are simple: it has to be somewhere I haven’t tried yet but has character. Cowboy Station has been around for ages, but I never got the chance to try it. Normally, Ben and I don’t come here to eat either, so come check out these “shared meal” photos with us!

You could say this place is a bit out of the way, but it’s actually easy to find on the left side of Highway 9 as you drive from Luodong to Su’ao. It’s on the way to the Dongshan River Family Park or the National Center for Traditional Arts, which is kind of a draw. We came for dinner at night, and the whole wooden building looks like a Wild West cowboy bar straight out of a movie!


Flying the American flag is a hallmark of this kind of cowboy-themed restaurant.


Most of the diners were young people... yep, I used to be young too!

Reservations are needed even on weekend evenings, but luckily I booked the longest table.


The restaurant has a spacious interior with a bar-style vibe, creating a really comfortable dining atmosphere. The waitstaff wear cowboy outfits that match the restaurant’s feel, and the decor is rugged and distinctive. Music plays in the background to spur you to eat faster...


Hay bales and oak wine barrels... it’s really starting to feel the part.

The walls are adorned with lots of photos—TV show interviews and guests enjoying their meals.


I heard the restroom decor is pretty nice too, but I’ll just snap a few exterior shots.


There’s also a big screen downstairs where you can watch TV—thankfully it was playing a travel channel.

Bar + counter.




They’ve even got electronic darts, like you see in old American movies.

Besides eating and chatting together, we had another fun group activity to enjoy—our friends formed teams to compete in games, which was a blast.


A spiral staircase leads up to the second floor.


There’s a display of model cars above the bar.

The second-floor space.


Looking down from the second floor, it’s definitely a great spot for a group meal. Each table seats about 4 to over 10 people, and the space is really spacious.




The menu has a leather-like cover with the restaurant’s logo.













We started with a combo platter to appease our inner kids for NT$380. The portion was huge—crispy fries, onion rings, fish nuggets, chicken nuggets, and big, crunchy fries. We didn’t have time for the rest...


Creamy seafood penne for NT$190—apparently it’s pretty good!


German pork knuckle for NT$480. We shared a bite and got some of the tender meat and crispy skin.


Creamy soup in a puff pastry bowl for NT$65. My favorite part was the crust, and there were quite a few toppings inside. The soup was for little Bei Beizi to drink.


Cowboy-style hand-carved chicken for NT$360. The upside of having a big group is being able to order lots of dishes to share. As soon as it arrived, the aroma hit us, and the people waiting to take photos were practically drooling.

A bunch of us dismantled that chicken... thoroughly. Basically, the chicken wasn’t huge, and the meat wasn’t too dry from the grilling—it was still enjoyable.


And now, the highlight of the day—here comes the American-style mega burger!! It’s about a 2–3 person serving. You can tell it’s not small compared to the shadowy figure behind it, and it comes with a generous serving of fries—very generous indeed.


Four big guys’ hands—looks like they’re busy and hungry.


The four of us guys shared the second big burger, which was beef-flavored, but it seems the chicken one tastes better—the beef was a bit dry.


The beef chunks inside were unfortunately not as big as the bun they came with.




Here's a cross-section of a quarter of the burger—it’s the chicken flavor~ juicy and pretty good. The top bun was crispy and delicious. Fortunately, there were pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, and plenty of sauce layered underneath, making the cross-section more flavorful. Overall, the texture and taste were quite nice.

In terms of burger quality, Cowboy Station is a solid choice. There aren’t many restaurants like this in Yilan, especially ones with such distinctive settings. It’s worth trying for group gatherings or family meals. If you’re visiting Dongshan, there are also many nearby attractions, such as: Dongshan River Clearwater Park, Dongshan Railway Station, Dongshan River Forest Park, and the National Center for Traditional Arts.
 

【Cowboy Station COWBOY STATION】

Address:No. 376, Section 2, Dongshan Road, Dongshan Township, Yilan County
Phone:(03)968-0195
Business Hours:11:00～14:00, 17:30～21:30 (Reservations required for weekday evenings and weekends/holidays)
We are Ben & Jean—we love food, travel, photography, and 3C.
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