Dining from Dawn ‘til Dark

Queenie’s
Queenie’s has been an iconic breakfast spot since Ruth Young founded it well over 40 years ago. When Brian Hughes took over circa 2020, he kept all the old and well-loved menu items, including the Q-hop, with pancakes, eggs and sausage, and added a few new dishes, such as huevos rancheros and pain perdu (custard French toast).

Savoy
The Kelamis family served breakfast to soldiers going off to fight in World War I. Now, four generations later, they’re ready to serve you. Everything is made from scratch. For their cinnnamon roll French toast, they bake the rolls, put on custard, then topped with strawberries and homemade whipped cream.

Wildflower Cafe
When it opened four years ago, Wildflower Cafe owner Heather Linville just hoped people would enjoy what she had to offer. And they did. The restaurant now has too many customers for their bright, homey location on Peoria and will soon relocate downtown. Wherever they are, you can get fresh, made-from-scratch breakfast items such as eggs Benedict, quiches, crepes and baked goods. 

Prism Cafe
Aimee Hunter, a big city chef who’s cooked in New York City and Colorado, came to Tulsa on a whim and never left. Her charming cafe serves an ever-changing roster of whimsical dishes made, whenever possible, with produce fresh from the farm. Her late breakfasts include a full roster of sandwiches, though the most famous, the heirloom tomato BLT, is served only in summer. 

Bramble
Breakfast & BarJohnna Hayes opened Bramble a dozen years ago, and they’ve been serving delicious breakfast options ever since. They have all the standard items, such as omelets, eggs Benedict and chicken-fried steak, but there’s also one you rarely see west of Azerbaijan. It’s Khachapuri, a Georgian dish made from a freshly-baked loaf of bread which is topped with egg yolks that cook as the bread bakes, plus three-cheese fondue.

 
Cheever’s Cafe
This beloved OKC institution opened a Tulsa outpost earlier this year. Everybody loves it. Brunch is a special treat, featuring Southwest dishes such as shrimp risotto with masa cakes and poached eggs, or Juan’s Queso Chihuahua, a layered cheese and bean dip. They also offer regular dinner menu items including their famous chicken fried steak. 

Ava June
The soothing light of the Mediterranean is captured on the walls of this pleasing French bistro. Provencal in decor and serving Alsatian dishes, Ava June was opened this year by the people who brought us Lowood. Their breakfast menu is unique, at least on this side of the Atlantic. It features tartines served with eggs and baguette, croques madame, croissant souffles and more.

The Press
A casual Plaza District eatery with a big patio, the Press offers Southwest comfort fare like pot roast, chicken fried steak, burgers, salads and quesadillas. Here’s what’s special: they serve brunch all day, every day! Breakfast tacos, breakfast hash, breakfast burritos, lots of eggs and cereals — yours all day.

 
Picasso Cafe
Chef Ryan Parrott, a veteran of many OKC fine dining kitchens, helms a restaurant popular for its farmer’s market fresh, made-from-scratch, artistically plated entrees. Sunday brunch is famous, perhaps too famous because it’s packed, as diners enjoy Benedicts, smothered biscuits sided with pulled pork and roasted peppers, Bananas Foster waffles, fried goat cheese, and more. Bring your dog; there’s a special doggie menu.

The Mule
A whole army of sandwiches, many hot with melted cheese, awaits, along with poutine, chips and dips, and bacon cheese fries. Their weekend brunch menu features, in addition to all that, a cheese omelet with a Philly steak, a stacked sandwich with layers of over easy eggs, avocado, goat cheese, smashed tomatoes and more.

Waffle Champion
A decade ago, Todd Woodruff, sous-chef at Cheever’s, quit to establish a food truck. He served waffles. It was such a success he started a restaurant. Their brunch features waffles in many incarnations: topped with gourmet treats such as a farm egg scramble with garlic spinach and mushroom or crispy tenders with pickles and sassy slaw; or made sweet with caramel apples or strawberries with cream or even s’mores.

Cafe Kacao
In 2011, Veronica Zelada, an immigrant from Guatemala, saw a huge, abandoned tire shop in OKC. She bought it and converted it into Cafe Kacao. Now, after a decade of hard work and delicious meals, it’s a wildly popular brunch spot. She starts with family recipes from Guatemala, adds a few culinary touches from El Salvador and Cuba as well as the U.S. and these tasty meals are her recipe for success.

 
Cafe Antigua
It’s rare for a city to have even one famous Guatemalan restaurant. OKC has two, and they’re related. Cafe Antigua is owned by the son in law of the owner of Cafe Kacao. Each restaurant has their partisans, and there are a lot of people waiting patiently outside Cafe Antigua during brunch hours, hoping to sample the skirt steak topped with eggs, the carne adovada, the waffles and the Spanish omelet.

Frida Southwest
Chef Quinn Carroll has run the kitchen of this highly regarded Paseo District gem since the day it opened. He describes his food as a tapestry of Southern comfort and Mexican-inspired dishes. Creative brunch plates include Southwest spring rolls, heart of palm ceviche, stuffed French toast made with challah bread, and stacked enchiladas with pulled chicken.

Rib Crib
Bret Chandler founded Rib Crib in 1992 with a a smoker and a handwritten barbecue recipe. The delicious BBQ has been drawing crowds ever since, and those crowds leave happy, and with full bellies. Lunch offers somewhat smaller portions of items such as the signature ribs, chicken, loaded baked potatoes and even a salad.

Mondo’s
Lou Aloisio couldn’t afford to hire a construction firm, so in 1969 he and his friends build Mondo’s themselves. Tulsans have packed the restaurant ever since, and it’s still run by the Aloisio family. Mondo’s features the rich Italian-American fare you’re used to, but with a twist. Lou’s father was a chef in one of the best hotels in NYC, and so the recipes incorporate French fine dining elements. Lunch has smaller portions.

Sisserou’s
Eben Shillingford’s family came from the tiny verdant Caribbean isle of Dominica. He opened Sisserou’s to showcase the food of his home and of the surrounding islands. Island fare such as callalou soup, oxtail, and jerk chicken are done with flair, so well that the chef-owner was a James Beard semi-finalist.

Ti Amo
For almost 40 years, Ti Amo’s has been enchanting Tulsans with hearty, well-made Italian food and touches of white-table elegance. There’s tuna, salmon, flounder, ribeyes, osso buco, veal romano, chicken with parmesan cream sauce. Lunch offers a few international specials such as fish tacos and pastrami sandwiches.

Lone Wolf
It started as a lone food truck, so successful that customers lined up before the truck arrived. Now it’s a restaurant with several branches. You can still get the same delicious Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches that made the truck famous. A choice of tasty fillings comes on a French baguette with cucumber, slaw and sauce. There’s also kimchi fries and fried rice bowls.

Polo Grill
An upscale Tulsa dining staple, Polo Grill offers refined American cuisine with global flair. Polo may be best known for its award-winning wine list, paired with elegant ambiance and impeccable service. While most would recommend Polo for dinner, it’s lunch menu also delights. Try the tenderloin burger, grilled shrimp and grits or spinach and strawberry salad.

Smoke
Smoke marries fine-dining quality food with a casual ambiance where everyone feels welcome. In fact, they were a semi-finalist for the James Beard hospitality award. Lunch offers intriguing appetizers such as bacon jam with herbed goat cheese and fried cauliflower with Korean gochujiang. Entrees include lamb sliders, fried pork chops and various pastas.

Albert G’s
Chuck Gawey’s cousin owned beloved steakhouse Jamil’s, so he knew how to run a restaurant; he taught himself to barbecue. In 1992 he opened Albert G’s. That high-quality ‘cue gained such a reputation that he opened several more branches. As you’d expect, it’s slow-smoked meats and sides (try the tabouli). Great sandwiches include the mammoth “Fat Albert G’s.”

Perle Mesta
Take the city’s most storied hotel, add a James Beard Award-winning chef, and you’ve got a recipe for success. The dining room is a study in elegance. The menu lives up, featuring what chef Andrew Black calls “possibility cuisine,” pushing the boundaries with unusual ingredients and techniques. The lunch menu is somewhat more conventional, offering bacon slab sandwiches, jerk steak frites and brick-roasted chicken.

Guyutes
For the past decade, Guyutes has been serving up elevated street food. That means dishes like Tequila Sunfryz, which features waffle fries, Tequila queso, pulled pork, cilantro crema and a sunny side up egg. Lunch offers sliders and tacos named after famous movie stars, and a variety of creative things like adobo-seasoned chopped cheese egg rolls, beet hummus and grilled okra with lemon.

Naija Wife Kitchen
ahnee Francis married a man from Nigeria and fell in love with his country’s cuisine. She went from cooking Nigerian recipes for church socials to running a tiny food stall in an obscure food court to being a nationally famous James Beard semifinalist. Her soups, stews and rice dishes have introduced Americans to the rich, hearty complexity of Nigerian food — and made them love it too.

Patty Wagon
Patty Wagon takes the idea of gourmet burgers seriously. The meat comes from grass-fed cows on local ranches. Burgers are made to order, and there are lots of inventive preparations such as the Jailhouse Blues Burger, with melted bleu cheese and thick-cut hickory smoked bacon. Don’t like burgers? No problem. You can feast on chicken tenders, turkey sandwiches and more.

Sheesh Mahal
Some people say that the best of the rich creamy curries that most of us think of when we want Indian food is made by Pakistani chefs, and those people will love Sheesh Mahal. There are a few delicious dishes specific to Pakistan, such as haleem, nihari and tawa chicken, as well as wonderful renditions of well-loved Mughal dishes such as butter chicken and palak paneer.

Nic’s Grill
Nic’s is an iconic burger joint that does one thing and does it superbly: an onion burger that food writer Louis Fowler calls “a sizzling, cheese-smothered onion-packed masterpiece.” The Oklahoma onion burger has become world-famous, and some people say the best you can get is served at Nic’s. 

Edge Craft Barbecue
Zach Edge grew up in Norman but spend his childhood watching his Texan family cook central Texas barbecue. After a decade cooking in fine dining restaurants, Edge decided to open a BBQ showcasing his family’s recipes, using little more than meat, smoke and oak wood fire. Expect delicious brisket and ribs. Regulars know to arrive early and wait in line.

Daigoro
The show-stopper at Daigoro is chef Phillip Phillips’s creative dishes, which are inspired by the cuisines of East Asia. There’s a big smoker in back, so you’ll find such dishes as smoked ribs glazed with Korean barbecue sauce. Other dishes offer strange and delicious surprises. There’s a Singapore dish made with shrimp, chili peppers and Malaysian baby cereal; a foie gras and eel baguette; and a stunning hamachi crudo.

Bodean
Bodean has been a culinary landmark for forty years, yet the innovative entrees are still cutting edge, thanks to chef Tim Swepston. Fish is flown in fresh every day from the world’s oceans, and it finds its way into such entrees as king crab stroganoff; bouillabaisse; and seared cold-smoked Chilean sea bass with roasted beets and jicama in a blood orange vinaigrette.

Juniper
For fifteen years, Juniper, the flagship of highly regarded restaurateur Justin Thompson’s restaurant flotilla, has paid homage to chef-driven creativity. In fact, Thompson and his team have by now created some two thousand dishes. Seasonal and always changing, the menu offers such delights as smoked duck breast with pea puree and farro, and a grilled pork chop with cider brine, cheesy polenta and pomegranate demi-glace.

Dalesandro’s
The menu never changes, yet regulars come week after week for decades. The fresh, vibrant flavors of the carbonara, the lasagna, and, star of the show, the perfect swordfish piccata, are as exciting the hundredth time as the first. 

Copper Dome
Set in verdant rolling hills west of Tulsa, Copper Dome looks like a vacation getaway. Inside, three genius chefs offer a dining experience that ranks with any in the region. On Friday and Saturday, an eight course tasting menu is a parade of dishes, any of which is an exemplar of envelope-pushing creativity. Sundays are far more casual, with six courses served family style, all you can eat, for $28.

Noche
It’s vibrant and full of energy, with high ceilings, brightly painted walls, upbeat music and a huge horseshoe bar. It’s been acclaimed in the New York Times and was a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for the nation’s best new restaurant. But it’s the flavorful Mexican dishes that keep people coming back.

Summit Club
It’s exclusive – but it’s worth the effort. The setting is one of quiet elegance. You are cosseted, pampered, treated like royalty. Chef Bill Lyle and his staff will serve you some of the best food in the region. Ingredients and recipes come from every corner of the world. They dry-age their own steaks. And backdrop to it all? A panoramic view of the city from the 30th story dining room. 

Barons
In opulent ambiance comes exquisitely plated entrees that are some of the finest in the land. Chef Justin Donaldson, who once worked with legendary chef Gray Kunz in NYC, offers treats such as foie gras lollipops, a lamb rack cooked to perfection with an elegant French sauce, and Cornish hen roulade with beurre rouge. If you’re famished, there’s always that huge tomahawk ribeye, carved tableside.

Amelia’s
Three James Beard nominated chefs have worked at Amelia’s. One, executive chef Andrew Donovan, still does. He and his culinary team are wizards of creativity, putting forth magical dishes full of flavor surprises. Expect exceptional dishes such as red deer tartare with togarashi, soy-cured quail egg, and smoked onion and miso aioli; and bison and burrata ravioli floating in a sauce of charred corn, caramelized onions and white wine butter. 

Ma Der Lao
James Beard finalist. Hailed by the New York Times as one of the best restaurants in the country. Who would have thought that a tiny casual Laotian eatery in Oklahoma could receive so much attention? Well, it deserves that and more. Shimmering with intricate unnameable flavors, the bold and brightly colored soups, noodles and other entrees are not only some of the best southeast Asian food around but also some of the best food around.

Nonesuch
It started with three immensely talented chefs planning envelope-pushing menus over bowls of pho. And, almost a decade later, that’s about what it is today (with more chefs). From pickling and preservation to maceration and a robata grill, they use every cooking method imaginable and every ingredient imaginable to produce ineffable flavors you’ve never dreamed of. Their ever-changing 9 course tasting menu is always a masterpiece. Sedalia’sWe’ve all seen movies where a genius painter slashes at the canvas with bold strokes and bright colors, and somehow creates a masterpiece. The delicious dishes at Sedalia’s, intensely creative, featuring the freshest seafood, and brimming with sharp unforgettable flavors, are like that. From tuna conservas to octopus anticuchos to snapper crudos, just expect the unexpected

Birdie’s
For decades, Kevin Lee worked in other people’s restaurants. Finally, at Birdies, he is doing what he wants, flexing his creative muscles to the max. He draws inspiration from Korean, Italian, and American cuisine. You might choose hamachi crudo with chojiang, then go on to sweet potato burrata, or tteokkboki, Korean rice cakes, served with a rich Italian ragu. None of that appeals? Birdies offers a full range of huge delicious steaks

Akai
Oklahomans never dared hope to enjoy a sushi experience as rarefied as what you’ll find in NYC or Los Angeles, until Chef Shinichi Okamoto, with 25 years of training under his belt, opened Akai. The creative dishes go beyond nigiri or rolls. You might find eggplant confit with sesame and miso, a salmon “pizza” with ponzu aioli, and a bite of seared Japanese A5 wagyu with caviar on top.

Kanji
Kanji aspires to be Japanese cuisine at its finest. You put your fate in the chef’s hands with the 20 course omakase dinner. It’s mostly sushi (nigiri, to be more precise) with the finest fish flown in from different regions of Japan, from Hokkaido to Okinawa. But there’s more. A delicate Hokkaido scallop seared in Wagyu fat dissolves on the tongue. Salmon roe, dashi, soy and tuna combine with eggs to form an ethereal custard. Grey SweaterThis is the sort of hushed, very elegant temple to gastronomy you’d expect to find in New York or Paris. Chef Andrew Black won a James Beard award and the artfully plated, inventive entrees, which combine wonderful flavors, live up to the billing. There’s no menu and every course is a surprise.

Grey Sweater
This is the sort of hushed, very elegant temple to gastronomy you’d expect to find in New York or Paris. Chef Andrew Black won a James Beard award and the artfully plated, inventive entrees, which combine wonderful flavors, live up to the billing. There’s no menu and every course is a surprise.

Symmetry
Dark, high-ceilinged and glamorous, Symmetry is a fine setting for the food that awaits. The menu is more creative than the usual steakhouse. Appetizers include Korean duck wings, roasted bone marrow with gorgonzola, and “lobster cargot.” The steaks are the star of the show. The meat comes from the Linz Heritage Angus Ranch in Byers, Oklahoma. The cattle are grass-fed and then fed for a few weeks on corn, so the meat is rich, flavorful and glorious.

Society Burger
Thick juicy burgers. Enough said. But if not, let us tempt you with the variety. Classic, Theta (with a cheddar cheese skirt on top), Okie (onion), Turkey Verde (turkey patties with avocado ranch and roasted chiles), Everything (cream cheese, jalapeno, onions and mayo), Peanut butter and bacon, and two vegan burgers. Made -from-scratch sides, too. Tina’sAnthropologists studying hip trendy youth would do well to start here. It’s a popular bar open late. The thing to order here is the smashburger. Impossibly thin, bursting with flavor, and made by Alex Koch, formerly of Et Al. At least one of Tulsa’s finest chefs will secretly tell you that he can’t make a burger as good at this.

El Viejon
Colorful and bursting with energy, El Viejon specializes in enticing seafood specialties. The seafood is fresh and comes in so many varieties that the menu is ten pages. Seafood stack, seafood boil, seafood-stuffed pineapples and coconuts, even green spaghetti with seafood. (Yes, that is authentic Mexican, and hard to find.)

Country Bird Bakery
Cat Cox’s fabulous bread and pastries won her the James Beard Award given to the best pastry chef in the United States. Her confections take days to make. She works all week to make the baked goods that are sold out in about an hour Saturday morning. The bakery is open only Saturday morning (and sometimes Thursday morning, too). Patisserie by Shelia AnneAfter a full career in real estate and politics, Shelia Dills decided to become a baker. She went to Paris, studied, then came back to Jenks and opened a cafe that’s as close to Parisian as she can make it. Croissants take three days to make. There are also macarons, lemon meringue “tacos” and even savory crepes.

Harvey Bakeshop
Alyssa Ulrich fell in love with baking when, age 9, she watched her grandmother bake. Working at Hall’s Pizza Kitchen, where she developed a big following, she dreamed of starting a full-service bakery. Four years ago, she and the owner of Hall’s bought a big Chrysler showroom built in 1947. Ulrich bakes incredible pastries, as well as muffins, croissants and breads.Jones Assembly“If there’s one single space that exemplifies OKC’s unexpected coolness,” says travel writer Matt Kirouac, “it’s the Jones Assembly.” It sprawls past bars, overstuffed armchairs, dining room, dance floor and has what’s probably the highest ceiling in town. Dinner is up to fine dining standards (or you can get pizza, wings and burgers) and the cocktails, with names like Electric Feel and Disco Nap, have a city-wide rep for creativity and taste.

R & J Lounge
Dimly lit and plushly upholstered, washed with crimson light, with retro (and delicious) drinks including a perfect Manhattan, the Lounge quite deliberately hearkens back to midcentury days. But the owner, Russ Johnson, was the chef at OKC’s fine dining landmark Ludivine, so you can expect a 21st century sophistication in drinks, food and service.

Pie Junkie
Like the infamous pie shops of Kathmandu, Pie Junkie dazzles all comers with a huge selection of made-from-scratch pies. They mainly sell whole pies, both ready to eat and take and bake, and quiches too, but they also have an assortment of pie slices ready to serve the hungry. 

Fait Maison
Olivier Bouzerand, born in France, worked at Michelin three-star restaurants in Paris. Later he won a star of his own. His newest venture, Fait Maison, is a temple to French fine dining. A meal there is an experience you’ll treasure forever. It might take four hours and feature four different preparations of foie gras — but certainly worth it.

We asked some lauded Oklahoma chefs: “Where can we find you out to eat on a day off?” While you may think they’d be reluctant to shine a light on their ‘competition,’ that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Justin Donaldson’s lamb at Barons on 1st is the best around. Sonny Dalesandro’s asparagus salad, anything chef Roque Heidler prepares with foie gras at Boston Title, and Dona Gloria’s gorditas de tripa.” 
Bill Lyle — Summit Club

“Don’t be afraid to talk to the locals — strike up a conversation at 30th Market in the Paseo District and you’ll uncover the best spots to eat, explore and shop. I love grabbing a coffee at Willow Coffee in Deep Deuce. For food, DesiCorner in Edmond has some of the best Indian food I’ve had lately, and Raven on Western is a new hot spot I’ve really been enjoying.”

Andrew Black — Grey Sweater

“My go to spot is El Rio Verde on North Trenton Ave — and crushing their wet burrito!”

Justin Donaldson — Barons on 1st

Featured photo caption: At the Summit Club, diners can enjoy delicacies from chef Bill Lyle, including a Japanese oyster shooter with quail egg, tobiko, sake and shoyu glaze. Photo by Brent Fuchs

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