Dining in a Covered Wagon: The Prairie Schooner's 50-Year Journey as Ogden's Most Unique Steakhouse

There's a moment, just after you slide into one of the thirty-five covered wagon booths at The Prairie Schooner, when the entire world outside northern Utah disappears. The canvas bonnet curves overhead like you're somewhere on the Oregon Trail in 1850. Lantern light flickers against rough-hewn log benches. A campfire crackles a few feet away, surrounded by sagebrush and cactus. And then there's the grizzly bear—life-sized, mounted, watching over the whole scene like it owns the place.

"The covered wagon tables were great fun for the kids and they LOVED the campfire and animals on the trail to our table," one visitor shared after their first visit to this Ogden landmark. It's the kind of reaction that's been playing out since 1976, when founder Neil Rasmussen first opened what would become Northern Utah's most distinctive steakhouse.

How a Hunter's Vision Created Utah's Premier Old West Dining Experience

Neil Rasmussen wasn't trying to create a theme restaurant when he started the Prairie Schooner. He was trying to create a place for serious steak lovers. In the mid-1970s, Maddox in Brigham City was about the only high-end steakhouse in the area. Rasmussen saw an opening. What he didn't anticipate was that his passion for hunting would become as central to the restaurant's identity as the hand-cut beef.

The original Prairie Schooner opened in 1976 on Washington Boulevard in downtown Ogden, behind what was then the Pioneer Cafe. It was smaller then—just a handful of covered wagon booths and a simple menu focused on quality steaks. But when construction of the Ogden City Mall forced businesses to relocate in 1978, Rasmussen and his partners Dean and Karen Hill moved to the current location at 445 Park Boulevard, right next to the historic Ogden Arch on the Ogden River.

That's when things got wild. Literally.

Rasmussen, an avid hunter, transformed the new space into a taxidermist's paradise—grizzly bears, timber wolves, bobcats, mountain lions, all mounted in lifelike poses throughout the dining room. Old wagon wheels, ranching tools, and Western artifacts covered every surface. Above it all, a painted starry sky stretched across the ceiling, completing the illusion that you'd somehow stepped back to the frontier era.

When Rasmussen passed away from ALS in 1982, his hunting buddy Jim Koertge—who'd helped with the initial décor and taxidermy mounts—took over the restaurant. The Hills left to found the Timbermine, another Ogden steakhouse institution that's still thriving today. The restaurant changed hands again in 2009, then in 2015 was purchased by Norm George and Julie Johnson, who vowed to bring the Prairie Schooner "back to the way it used to be."

What Makes Northern Utah's Covered Wagon Restaurant Different From Every Other Steakhouse

Step into most themed restaurants and you're getting atmosphere at the expense of actual food quality. The Prairie Schooner survived five decades and multiple ownership changes because it never made that trade-off. "Most theme restaurants weren't known for quality food," explains Michelle Llewellyn, the current manager. "But the Prairie Schooner has really good food and service, not just a theme."

The deep-fried mushrooms are legendary. I'm talking about generations of Ogden families who won't order anything else as an appetizer. "We loved the deep fried mushrooms! I honestly don't know what else I ordered but the deep fried mushrooms were amazing!" one customer admitted. Another diner whose son doesn't like mushrooms reported: "My son who doesn't like mushrooms loved them." That's the kind of conversion experience these appetizers inspire—crispy, golden, served in portions so generous that even a half-order challenges most tables to finish.

But it's the steaks that built this reputation. Every cut is hand-trimmed in-house, aged for 21 days or more, and cooked to USDA Choice and Prime specifications. The Wagonmaster—a massive porterhouse—and the Cowgirl, a bacon-wrapped filet mignon, remain the signature specialties that have anchored the menu since the beginning. "I had the bacon-wrapped filet mignon with deep-fried jumbo shrimp, and those shrimp were hands down the best I've ever had—crispy, perfectly cooked, and bursting with flavor," a recent birthday celebrant raved.

The salmon is another sleeper hit. Fresh, hand-cut, and broiled with just lemon, butter, and light seasoning. "It's fresh and hand-cut, which I believe tastes better than frozen," Llewellyn notes. Even the burgers earn respect—they're made from trimmings of those hand-cut steaks, which means you're getting serious beef quality in burger form.

Every dinner includes prairie bread, soup or house salad, fresh vegetables, and your choice of starch: mashed potatoes with country or beef gravy, baked yam with cinnamon butter, baked potato, french fries, or au gratin potatoes. It's old-school steakhouse service, the kind where you're getting a complete meal, not just an entrée and sides you pay extra for.

The Lone Frontier Atmosphere That Kept Utah Families Coming Back for Five Decades

Here's what happens when you walk into The Prairie Schooner: you're immediately on the frontier. The main dining area circles around like wagons circled for protection on the prairie, creating thirty-five individual wagon booths with rough-hewn log bench seating. Each wagon has its own lantern—adjustable, though first-timers often don't realize this until they've struggled through the menu in romantic near-darkness.

The covered wagon tables create an unexpected sense of privacy. "You don't feel as if you're sitting too close to neighboring tables," one reviewer observed. It's cozy without being cramped, private without being isolated. Country music plays softly in the background, just loud enough to add to the atmosphere without drowning out conversation.

Then there are the animals. Grizzly bears. Timber wolves. Bobcats. Mountain lions. All mounted in dramatic poses throughout the restaurant, watching over diners with glass eyes that catch the firelight. For kids, it's basically Disneyland with better steaks. "The covered wagon tables were great fun for the kids and they LOVED the campfire and animals on the trail to our table," one family reported. Another visitor noted their nine-year-old granddaughter "left with a new fascination in taxidermy."

The restaurant even has different themed rooms. There's the bear room, decorated with bear hides on the walls. Walk through the space and you'll spot old wagon wheels, wanted posters on the tables, sagebrush (yes, they dust it weekly), and cactus scattered throughout the desert landscape.

During the pandemic, those billowy canvas wagon covers turned out to be more than decorative—the Weber-Morgan Health Department confirmed they counted as barriers to coronavirus transmission, allowing the restaurant to use all thirty-five wagon tables when other establishments had to reduce capacity.

Ogden's Historic Restaurant Scene and The Prairie Schooner's Place in It

The Prairie Schooner opened during the golden age of themed restaurants in the 1980s and 90s—the era of Hard Rock Cafe nationally, and locally spots like the Old Salt City Jail and Diamond Lil's. Most of those concepts are long gone. But The Prairie Schooner endured, partly because Ogden itself has always had an appreciation for its Western heritage.

Located on Park Boulevard near the Ogden River, just east of the historic Ogden Arch that spans Washington Boulevard, the restaurant sits in a city that was once a major railroad hub and gateway to the West. The prairie schooner wagons themselves—the covered wagons used by settlers heading west—were named because from a distance, their white canvas tops looked like schooner ships sailing across the plains. That connection to westward migration runs deep in Ogden's DNA.

The restaurant has hosted its share of celebrity guests over the years: country band Alabama, comedian Rodney Dangerfield, country singers Blake Shelton and Reba McEntire. But it's the generations of Utah families celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and graduations who've really sustained this place.

Planning Your Visit to The Prairie Schooner in Ogden

The Prairie Schooner is located at 445 Park Boulevard in Ogden, right next to the Ogden River and the historic Ogden Arch. Hours are Monday through Thursday 11 AM to 9 PM, Friday 11 AM to 10 PM, and Saturday 3 PM to 10 PM (closed Sunday).

If you're on a budget, lunch is the play. You'll get the full Old West atmosphere with a less expensive menu featuring salads, sandwiches, and burgers in the $9-13 range. A lunch-portion salmon or 6-ounce steak runs $12.99. Dinner entrées range from $30-50, but the portions are massive. "We really enjoyed the unique setting," one diner noted, "and the quality and portion sizes make it totally worth it."

Order the deep-fried mushrooms. Seriously. Even if you don't like mushrooms, order them anyway—multiple reviewers who claim to hate mushrooms have been converted. For your main course, the Cowgirl (bacon-wrapped filet mignon) and the Wagonmaster (porterhouse) are the signatures, but the fresh broiled salmon and the Schooner Combo (filet with deep-fried shrimp) also have devoted followings.

Reservations are recommended, especially for weekends and special occasions. The restaurant can accommodate large parties and banquets—they've got the space and experience to handle groups. During warmer months, there's also a patio on the west side of the building for outdoor dining.

The lighting in the wagon booths is intentionally dim—it's part of the campfire ambiance—but those lanterns on the tables are adjustable if you need more light to actually read the menu. Pro tip from someone who learned the hard way.

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The Prairie Schooner isn't trying to be the trendiest restaurant in Utah. It's not chasing food fads or reinventing steakhouse classics. What it's doing—what it's been doing since 1976—is offering something you literally cannot get anywhere else: the chance to eat a damn good steak inside a covered wagon, surrounded by wild animals and campfires, in an atmosphere that transports you straight to the Old West frontier. For nearly fifty years, that's been enough to keep Utah families coming back, generation after generation.

The Prairie Schooner
445 Park Boulevard, Ogden, UT 84401
(801) 392-2712
www.prairieschoonerrestaurant.com