PLEASE NOTE: Red Onion is no longer in business.

Editor’s Note: We’ve had a bit of a fajita challenge going on here lately. Casa Perico and Poblano Grill have both been written up as leading the fajita landscape of OKC. Now Levi brings us a new contender, The Red Onion. What do you think? Who has the best fajitas in OKC? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Sometimes you just want pie. You know how it is…you get a craving for a good piece of pie, then you remember nobody serves fresh-made, flaky-crusted, still warm from the oven pies. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a place for great pie yet (if you know of one let me know), but I have found the best place in Oklahoma City to satisfy your fajita craving.

The Red Onion is a classic mom-and-pop Mexican restaurant. It’s located in a quaint, bright yellow building (that was probably a fast food “restaurant” once upon a glorious time) on the south side of 23rd street. You would miss it if you were not looking for it.

As you go in, it is ambiguous as to whether you should seat yourself or wait to be seated, though most regulars just come in and pick their favorite spot. You never have to wait for a table, but I hope to change that, because everyone needs to hear about the fajitas. It has that old, fast-food-place-converted-to-a-Mexican-restaurant smell, but no worries, because you will be glad you came.

You know how it usually goes. You order fajitas at “Mili’s” or “Ed’s Tescondido“, and one day you get hot, sizzling, loud, angry, juicy, tender slices of meat with slightly softened, bold onions and peppers. These are the kind of fajitas that everyone watches on their travels to your table. But then the next week you go, you don’t even hear the fajitas coming! The onions are limp on the plate, the meat is tough and dry, and the only sound we hear are customers groaning in disappointment.

Not so at Red Onion, where every time I have ordered fajitas over the last two years, I have consistently gotten the juiciest, tenderest, most flavorfulest beef and chicken anyone could ask for. And at $12.99, you can share them with your spouse (or dog…not that I do).

If you aren’t too into going to a restaurant for just one item, I would rethink it in this case. Sure they have other food that is delicious, standard Mexican fare, but you don’t need any of that. Get the fajitas, else you won’t be able to hear the sound of your stomach grumbling over the sizzle and scream of skillets in the air.

Go say hello to Jesús Cortés and his friends at Oklahoma City’s premier fajita house, The Red Onion. And yes, the fajitas come with … red onions … mmm …

What was once a poor man’s meal has become a rare delicacy in the world. Though my own granddad may have bought it for a nickel at the general store each week, it’s not something one sees regularly anymore. Yet one place dares to serve it, not apologizing for its brazen attempt to bring back what was once thought extinct. Ladies and gentlemen, I am speaking of thick-sliced, moist, smoked bologna!

Just past the quaint, but well kept, downtown Yukon grain elevator and old-fashioned brick buildings is the best “west side” barbecue anyone could ask for. Standing in stark contrast to the over-smoked, dried-out meats of other BBQ joints in west Oklahoma City (I won’t name specific places, but one rhymes with Moklahoma Nation), Yukon’s Bad Brad’s serves up moist, tender cuts of bologna, turkey, chicken, and ribs. They carry the standard BBQ love affairs – beans, potato salad, baked potatoes. It’s not innovation, but execution that makes Brad’s stand out amongst the masses. Their food is, in a word, delicious!

If you can get past the kitchen staff’s love of chaos (somtetimes slow) and the waitstaff’s precocious, direct attitude, you will love the home cooking that Bad Brad’s brings to Oklahoma. On top of that, it is actually more affordable than most BBQ restaurants in the area. Most meals are under 10 dollars. Try the cobbler a la mode, in multiple fruit options. Brad’s is worth the drive. Just take historic Route 66 through Bethany. Who knows? You might see something new…