Oklahoma City Restaurants

Though there are some things I’m hoping they will change, Big Truck Tacos is definitely worth your attention. After all, taking something as awesome as a taqueria-style taco and sprucing it up with culinary creativity is very exciting and unique for Oklahoma City.

Usually, when I hear as much buzz about a restaurant as I’ve heard about Bobo’s, I start to wonder if the food can really live up. But after trying Bobo’s for the first time, I no longer have that concern. They serve up a very unique meal and very unique experience and, yes, the chicken is just that good.

I’m sure BrewHaHa is a nice place at other times of day, but in the morning, it’s crazy boring. I got here at 6am and I was the only one here. It’s now about 6:45am and I’m still the only one here. The selection of food items is extremely minimal.

If you want a little something different in a colorful, but discreet, setting, try Cafe Antigua. It’s definitely worth the trip from any area of the city. They also serve their fabulous breakfast dishes at all times they are open, which is a huge plus in my book.

It’s got fantastic lunch specials. It’s got a lovely weekend brunch. It’s affordable, healthy, unique and located in midtown Oklahoma City. If you haven’t been to Cafe Do Brasil, I highly recommend you try it. If you’ve tried it already, leave a comment and let us know what you think.

They’ve got a great atmosphere and they deliver contemporary cuisine in a cool part of town. Still, I’m just not sold on Cafe Nova being one of the premier spots in Oklahoma City. When you’re a higher-end restaurant charging a premium for every plate, you’ve got to stand up to a much greater degree of scrutiny, and I think Cafe Nova falls a little short.

The very first time I dined at Cheever’s, I knew I had found something special. After stepping inside and getting my first taste, I was hooked. Cheever’s really delivers on everything I love about local dining.

For some, City Bites might be a little ordinary and mundane, but for me, growing up just blocks from the original location when it opened in 1986, City Bites represents a lot of what is great about quality, local restaurants.

A quick glance at the slightly run-down exterior of Classen Grill and you won’t be expecting much more than an average greasy-spoon. Try the food, however, and you’ll most likely be impressed.

The biggest fans I have found of Coney Island are my kids. Though the food doesn’t really excite me, it’s not that bad and its worth choking down a few mediocre hot dogs to build some memories with the family at this piece of Oklahoma City nostalgia.

Falcone’s may have expanded from just one tiny storefront to three locations, but the pizza is just as good as ever. Better yet, there’s probably tons of stuff you never took the time to try.

In the world of shady dining, most often you are simply celebrating the small things like not getting hepatitis or learning a new gang sign. But Florence’s gave me a reason to celebrate the glories of skillet fried chicken and real gravy all served up in a wonderfully shady atmosphere.

In the search for the best Chinese food in town, I think I’ve narrowed my choice down to three restaurants, and Fung’s is one of them. Just be sure to go with a big group and try lots of things family style, or enjoy their dim sum offering on the weekends.

PLEASE NOTE: This restaurant is now closed. The moment I noticed Gaijin Sushi’s bright awnings going up on a storefront downtown, I was intrigued. But being a sushi novice, I invited Andrew and Greg to try it with me and to provide their more experienced sushi insights for this review. Together, we discovered that Gaijin provides a creative and non-traditional sushi experience in an urban atmosphere.

Perhaps you remember the Iguana from its old location on Western Avenue. I remember eating there several times and noting its uniqueness. Now it’s back and continuing to provide an interesting alternative to Oklahoma City’s standard Mexican food places.

Irma’s is a fairly well-known restaurant around the Oklahoma City metro. On this trip, I visited their new OKC Midtown location to take on a special mission. I wanted to find out if their famed “no name” beef is really better than the rest.

When I first saw Iron Starr’s outdoor sign declaring it was an urban barbeque restaurant, I was immediately intrigued. It’s the only place I know where you can experience the unique taste of urban barbeque in Oklahoma City. Of course, this causes me to ask, “what exactly is urban barbeque?”

Deep in the heart of Capitol Hill lies a little known gem of a restaurant called Jamie’s Grill. Although the line spilling out into the street on a Friday around noon would argue that it’s hardly “little known.”

I enjoyed visiting both Leo’s BBQ locations. I was taken by the friendly service, the atmosphere, and the hickory-smoked flavors — flavors that lingered on my clothes long after I had departed. Oh, and there’s cake with every meal, too!

There’s only four items on the 164-item menu that are categorized as “French,” but that’s not the biggest issue I have with Lido. The main problem is that, while Lido is ok, there are so many other places that do a better job with Vietnamese/Chinese cooking in my opinion. What do you think?

Authentic. Is there a word that is more mis-used among the general American public? I hear it every day at work, “Hey Andrew, we are going down to Tacoville for lunch. That place is crazy authentic, you will love it!”. After I hurt their feelings, unintentionally, by pointing out their ignorance in cuisine, I usually invite them to come join me in a truly authentic experience in Capitol Hill at Max Pollo.

PLEASE NOTE: Mexicasa is no longer in business. // If we’d had the same experience anyplace else, we’d have said, “Meh. It was fine, but nothing to write about.” The difference here, and the reason we’re writing, is that we hoped for so much more from Mexicasa. It has the pedigree to be better and we wish it were.

If price is no barrier, then I suggest giving Mickey Mantle’s Steakhouse a shot. Despite a few very minor quibbles, I think everything I ate there was delicious and well-prepared. It may only be for special occasions for most of us, but it will certainly help make your occasion more special.

If you can manage to score a place to sit (which requires arriving early), you are in for a treat at Nic’s. As I left my first Nic’s burger experience, I was wiping tears from my eyes, realizing that my life had just been changed.

Sara Sara is not your everyday bakery. The design is stark and modern, like an Ikea full of baked goods. Located downtown, they’ve definitely got a chance to become part of the neighborhood and they’re off to a great start.

The first thing I’ll say about Cuppies & Joe is that you should go to Cuppies & Joe. Why? Because Cuppies & Joe is a great place to hang out. A cozy atmosphere, free wifi, plus tasty cupcakes, pies, and ridiculously inexpensive coffee and espresso might just make you a regular.

We continue our series from last year, examining yet another option for fro-yo goodness. Fruiti Yogurt in central OKC offers quality fro-yo along with a few unique advantages.

I recently got to check out one of Oklahoma City’s newest restaurants. Red Prime Steak is a new upscale steakhouse brought to you by the folks behind Cheever’s and Iron Starr. I love their first two restaurants so expectations for this new place were high.

I have to admit, I have a bias against fancy-schmancy hotel restaurants. It just seems like all too often they are trying to be fancy for fancy’s sake. So, it was with low expectations that I gave the Park Avenue Grill a try. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised by the talent of their chef.

Pho Cuong offers standard Pho that rivals the best of Oklahoma City along with some tasty alternative dishes to widen one’s Pho House experience.

Oklahoma City is blessed to have a thriving Vietnamese population and a concentration of Pho restaurants in our Asian district. If you’ve never tried Pho, it’s time to get acquainted with this inexpensive, healthy, hearty, tasty and unique meal. Pho Hoa is a great place to begin.

There are some things we really like about Picasso and those things by themselves are enough to warrant a trip out here to give them a try. Plus, there are sure to be lots of good things on the menu that we didn’t try. Still, the fact that about half of our choices fell short makes it less likely I’ll be making Picasso a regular stop.

What happened to that Mom n’ Pop pizza joint we all remember? I found one at Pizzini’z Pizza. After trying it, I’m a fan of the food, service and very competitive prices — not to mention the pinball machines and standup arcade games.

I enjoyed my lunch at Prairie Thunder but was even more intrigued by this restaurant’s dedication to the art of making bread. Come along with me on a tour of this very unique artisan bakery, located in the heart of Oklahoma City’s midtown area.

The Red Brick Restaurant brings southern-style country cooking to downtown Oklahoma City. Although the food is decent, I was a little disappointed with the limited menu options and the fact that I couldn’t seem to find anything healthy to try.

The Red Pin Restaurant and Bowling Lounge opened recently in Bricktown, bringing an upscale spin on the traditional bowling alley. I was intrigued by the Red Pin’s claims to offer gourmet food alongside the bowling experience, so I had to check it out. When I did, I found a unique and interesting experience, but one that is more about concept than it is about cuisine.

When Andrew and I visited Rococo, there was one thing that stood out above everything else — east coast style. If you are from the East coast, I’d imagine Rococo would feel a lot like home. If you’re not, Rococo is still worth your attention for its great strength — fresh seafood.

Sage offers unique dining, a convenient gourmet market and mini-deli, a pretty nice bar and some pretty good desserts choices. Aside from sub-par service with a large group, I can’t offer much complaint.

The food at Sala Thai is solid, though perhaps not exceptional. Still, the thing that keeps me going back is the great value of their lunch special which lets you sample a vareity of interesting dishes for a great price.

If I lived in or near the Paseo, I would go to Sauced because it’s a neighborhood kind of place. But I don’t live right there and I don’t know that Sauced has enough to pull me back for another taste. The food is fine. It’s OK. It’s good. It’s just not memorable.

I found Shartel Cafe to be a solid, neighborhood family restaurant. They have something for all tastes and something for just about any time of the day.

For this month’s Shady Restaurant selection, I wanted to stay away from the southwest side of town. As shady and edible as the southwest is, I feel that other areas of Oklahoma City are being neglected. This month, I am choosing a place on on a particularly shady stretch at the southern end of N. May Avenue. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you one of my personal favorites, Shish Kabab!

There literally is one table and it’s placed right in the midst of an industrial kitchen. You and a group (up to eight) watch the chefs prepare and serve you a custom-created meal course by course. It’s a fun journey and, as far as we know, there’s nothing else like it in Oklahoma City.

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? For me, it’s Pad Thai. Of all the Asian food varieties, Thai is my favorite, so you can understand why I have spent a good amount of time trying many of Oklahoma City’s Thai restaurants. So far, Thai Kitchen is winning.

The Grand House is a large, well established restaurant in the Asian district of Oklahoma City, and it provides just about the “nicest” Asian dining experience I’ve found in the city. I highly recommend it any time, but in this post, I want to focus on their most unique niche offering, dim sum.

Be aware, The Shack doesn’t look like much from the outside. In fact, it looks a lot like, well … a shack. It is definitely off the beaten path, and people driving by likely wouldn’t think of the building as a prime restaurant space. But what the space lacks aesthetically, it makes up for in taste.

The Wedge could easily be described as “upscale” pizza, but not because of outrageous prices (though if you’re looking for cheap eats, look elsewhere), but because of outrageous quality and innovation. The wife and I lunched here recently and found favorites all over the menu.

Anytime I am asked about finer dining options in Oklahoma City, I will report that Tom and Jerry’s Steak and Fish Grille is near the top of my list. It is fine dining but not too expensive or snooty. They have diverse menu options, and they can customize their service to adapt to your schedule.

Trattoria il Centro is truly a treasure of Oklahoma City. If you haven’t tried it, you should. There’s really no reason not to. Go at lunch and you won’t be paying more than you would at any other mid-range restaurant, yet you’ll be experiencing quality and creativity you just can’t get many places.