I never want to write a bad review, I always go into a restaurant with high expectations. 95% of the time everything goes great. Then there are times it doesn’t and this seems to happen to me every time I go to Charleston’s. My extended family is obsessed with Charleston’s, almost any time we get together, this is where we meet. Every time we gather there are problems, wrong orders, waitstaff ignoring the table, things like that. I actually stopped going to the gatherings because I was just tired of the drama plus the food is never good. What gets me is every time I pass a Charleston’s, they’re packed. Why? Has the food and service gotten better? I have been meaning to go back for quite a while now and guess what, an opportunity came up, another family gathering of course.
We all met on a Thursday right before the lunch crowd arrived, there were 9 in the party but they sat us in a corner that could only comfortably seat 6. That became a huge problem when the food came out, everyone had to pass plates down to the person who ordered. Our orders were taken and then we waited. I should have timed it but honestly it took forever. Not so bad since we were all catching up but still a bit ridiculous. Finally the orders came out, of the 9 people, 5 had their orders wrong. I wasn’t surprised. At least my order was correct, a hickory burger. Can’t get this wrong, right? It came open faced with burger and Canadian bacon on one side, shredded cheese on the other. The trick was to put the two sides together without making a mess. First bite revealed that the burger was dry. It came with barbeque sauce but it was still dry. The meat was dry, almost like a hockey puck. The cheese and barbeque sauce didn’t add to the burger at all. I also wasn’t impressed with the fries that came with it, just had no flavor even after being salted.
In the past on different visits over the years, I had tried their chicken fried steak, chicken strips, and pasta. I was never impressed with anything. Overall, once again it was a horrible experience. What got me is that as we were leaving, the place was packed. I wanted to go to each table and ask why were they there. Does anyone really like their food or do you just go there from habit? So many other places to eat that are better and cheaper. I’m giving them 1 strip of bacon.
Miss Mae is back for a review of the coffee shops around campus. Since the newest coffee shop on campus, Cup of Jones in the Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art, just opened this week, she hasn’t had a chance to visit. Hope to get an update from her soon.
Campus Coffee Shops
At the University of Oklahoma, there are a number of coffee shops both on and off campus that offer a morning pick-me-up to the students. No matter where you enter the campus, or where your class or other activity is located, you are never far from a caffeine fix. This is a comprehensive list of every place at and around the University of Oklahoma that sells coffee, whether that be their primary product or part of a larger menu.
Couch Restaurants: Sooner Sweet Shop – Couch Cafeteria has a number small restaurants within it and one of these is Sooner Sweet Shop, which primarily provides bakery style treats and a small selection of hand scooped ice creams. However, this is also the only place in Couch where you can get a coffee, both drip and espresso. This, like every other coffee option on the campus, is a branch of Starbucks, making it the cheapest Starbucks drink you will ever get, as it comes with the price of admission to the cafeteria. Though they do not offer most of the menu, or even iced drinks, it is a good place to get a mocha or hot chocolate on a snowy day. However, with the brewed coffee, the only creamer option is half and half. If you are not a fan of bitter brewed coffee, I recommend getting it somewhere else, or using one of the hot chocolate packets to sweeten it up.
Residential Colleges Dining Hall – The Residential Colleges Dining Hall, though it does not have an independent coffee shop within it, does offer drip coffee throughout the day. They often offer two flavors, regular and roasted hazelnut, with the roasted hazelnut having a pleasantly sweet taste. Like Couch, the options for cream and sugar are limited, with those limitations expanding even further due to the crimes of the Coffee Creamer Bandit, whose actions, though irrelevant to this review, caused all liquid creamer to be kept in a secure location and only available upon request. However, just like Couch, it is always an option to pour a hot chocolate packet into the cup if you need something a little sweeter.
The Hive – The Hive is the newest coffee shop on campus, having opened with the rest of the restaurants in Cross Village just a few years ago. It is a small, unofficial Starbucks with the theme of a beehive. The best thing about this place is its atmosphere. If I was asked to draw a picture of what a coffee shop would look like, this would most likely be my answer, with dim lighting and warm wood covering most of the walls and furniture. The coffee itself is good, as are the pastries and sandwiches that are also offered. It is one of the best managed places in Cross Village, so it is kept clean and the employees are kept orderly. The only thing that interrupts its atmosphere is the chaos of Basic Knead, which shares a building, as it tends to get very busy and very noisy, which makes it difficult to concentrate if you are studying or doing homework.
Bookmark – Bookmark is a small coffee shop nestled in the basement of the Bizzell Memorial Library. It is incredibly similar to The Hive in terms of its menu, as it is also an unofficial Starbucks, and therefore has many of the same products. It is the best managed restaurant on the entire campus and is kept very clean with very friendly employees. Just like The Hive, the best thing about this shop is the atmosphere, not just in its dining room, but in its entire location. There are seating options throughout the entire basement, with a dining room, an area with study pods and group study rooms, and long couches overlooking the gardens in the library courtyard, where there are regularly blooming flowers and baby ducks in a little pond. It is always a good place to stop and get some homework done before or in between classes. They also offer Cow on the Fly sandwiches, in which there is no bad flavor.
Starbucks – Despite the many other places that offer Starbucks products throughout campus, there is only one official Starbucks, and that is the one in the student union. At this location, they offer the entire menu, as well as a collection of cups and ground coffee bags, which can also be purchased with student meal points. It is a neat and tidy location, with the same warm atmosphere as The Hive. Although the seating is limited, getting there at the right time of day offers a quiet place to study, as well as having the dining room of The Union Market available for overflow if it gets busy. It is always a good end of the week treat on a Friday morning.
Einstein Brothers Bagel Company – Einstein Brothers Bagel Company is one of the best coffee shops on campus, the only one not sponsored by Starbucks, and the only one that is regularly open on weekends. Offering an assortment of bagel flavors, as well as cream cheese toppings, sandwich toppings, and wraps, it is always a good place to grab breakfast. Their coffee is good for any season, offering both hot and iced drinks, although their espresso machine is comparable to the ice cream machine at McDonald’s in its inconsistency. However, their chocolate cream cold brew is incredibly good, and is very sweet for cold brew. I would compare it more closely to chocolate milk with a lot of caffeine. I personally always enjoy a six-cheese bagel with onion and chive cream cheese, of which they provide plenty.
Haystack Coffee – Haystack Coffee is the only coffee shop on this list that is not on campus and does not accept student meal points or exchanges. It is a shop run by a local church but is so close to campus that it is only a brief ten-minute walk from most dorm buildings. Despite not being a campus specific spot, it is very friendly to students and every experience I have had there has been a good one. Their biggest flaw is an inconsistent menu. My favorite thing there, the cheddar roll, has not been available in a year, and my second favorite thing, the caramel apple pecan scone, has only been available on select days. Their baked goods are minimal, but are always good, especially after being warmed up. I also recommend any of their seasonal drinks.
With school about to start in Norman at The University of Oklahoma, I have let Miss Mae, a senior at that fine school, take over. She knows this campus pretty well and loves talking about the restaurants. So if you visit the campus or if you have students there, check out this review. Enjoy and Boomer Sooner.
Cafeterias
Couch Cafeteria – Couch Cafeteria is the largest and the oldest of the cafeterias on campus. It features an assortment of small restaurants offering a variety of dining options, including barbecue, Asian, Mexican, American comfort food, Italian, Greek, and the world’s only all-you-can-eat Chick Fil A. There are also two dessert options: Sooner Sweets, which offers bakery-style desserts, and a small ice cream booth. Each restaurant is unique and offers its own standout dishes. I personally enjoy the beef and cheese burritos from the Mexican booth, which also has good beef empanadas. I also enjoy the buffet style American section, which offers a build-your-own hot dog station and mac and cheese that always makes a bad day better. Couch Cafeteria – 9/10
Residential Colleges Dining Hall – The Residential Colleges Dining Hall, as the name implies, is connected to the Residential Colleges, Dunham College and Headington College. Though much smaller than Couch, this cafeteria is able to make use of its small space to give diners plenty of options. These include two made-to-order grills, where burgers and hot dogs can be ordered, a personal pizza station, a pasta bake station, a burrito station, and a panini station. Outside of this is the buffet style section, which includes a menu that rotates daily. I personally recommend the chicken enchiladas and the orange chicken, which are some of my favorites to get on a weekend visit. The atmosphere is flawless, often considered similar to Hogwarts. Residential Colleges Dining Hall – 9.5/10
Cross Village
Credo Kitchen – Credo Kitchen is a restaurant that offers basic American comfort food, with an emphasis on the word “basic”. As a person that once worked there, I can tell you that the kitchens are not the cleanest place in the world, and the food tends to taste like broken dreams and sadness. In the past few years, their menu has dropped to very few things (mostly due to their inability to keep the place staffed), leaving diners with very few options. The burgers taste like cardboard, partially due to the lack of spices kept in the kitchens, and partially due to the unbuttered, grocery store brand toasted buns. The chicken strips and the corn dogs begin their lives in the frozen food aisle before they are dumped in a deep fryer and paired with a side of unsalted fries or a tiny cup of mac and cheese that tastes like undercooked noodles dumped in a pot of melted Kraft singles. I have heard reports of people that enjoy this place but I am unable to understand the appeal. However, as long as the kitchen is not on fire and the ticket printer is actually working, they will be quick with your order. Credo Kitchen – 2/10
Glow Kitchen – Glow Kitchen is Cross’ version of the American health food restaurant, offering salads, wraps, and smoothies. Most of the wraps consist of chicken and lettuce, with varying toppings to give different flavors. However, Glow Kitchen’s biggest wrap flaw is lack of any form of customization. The workers are not allowed to add anything or to substitute anything which, according to the management, is due to the high price of the ingredients. The salads, on the other hand, are fully customizable, only for the smoothies to be subjected to the same policy. If you are planning to grab lunch from Glow Kitchen, make sure you are a fan of lettuce, as there is a very high lettuce ratio in everything but the smoothies. I recommend the chicken bacon ranch wrap. Glow Kitchen – 4/10
Milkflower Gelateria – There is not much to say about Milkflower Gelateria. It is a small gelato place and is immensely popular amongst the student body. Its weakness: it is almost never open. It is often teased at the beginning of the year, remaining open for the camps and trainings that go on before classes start, but once everything stabilizes into the school year, we are lucky if it is open once a week. Whether this is due to supply issues, maintenance issues, lack of profitability, or some other factor, it is an event when it is open. If you catch it at one of these times, I recommend the espresso mocha flavor. Milkflower Gelateria – 7/10
Basic Knead – Basic Knead is, in the opinion of this exhausted college student, the best place to eat on the entire campus. It is a restaurant offering personal pizzas, pasta bakes, calzones, and wings, with the pasta bakes taking the crown as the best food available at the school and, quite possibly, the best food available at any school all around the country. What makes these dishes so wonderful is the layer of cheese that is baked over the top, as well as full customization options. You can pick your pasta, sauce, and three toppings, and every dish comes with a healthy serving of that wonderful mozzarella. Basic Knead – 1000/10
Chick Fil A – Offers limited Chick Fil A menu. Quick Service. Chick Fil A – 10/10
Baja Fresh – Offers full Baja Fresh menu. Quick Service – Baja Fresh – 10/10
Crossroads – Crossroads is a burger restaurant and one of the oldest surviving food locations on campus. Offering a full range of food from burgers to steak fingers, Philly cheese steaks to grilled cheeses, Crossroads is a quick and easy place to get a good lunch in-between classes. I have many go-to meals here, with my personal favorite being the mushroom Swiss burger. There are so many mushrooms on this burger that it is almost impossible to see the meat beneath them. My other favorite meal from here is the steak finger basket. It comes with five juicy steak fingers, a pile of curly fries (the restaurant’s staple), and a choice of sauce. I usually choose the barbecue sauce, but I have been told that the honey mustard is also very good. Most meals here come with a drink, but a substitution for a milkshake is also very good. Crossroads – 11/10
For quite a while there’s been a commercial on local tv that is featuring different businesses in The Shoppes at Northpark (Northpark Mall for all of us old-timers). In that commercial they show some of the items on the menu for Ron’s Hamburger and Chili. Front and center is one of the best looking footlong hot dogs I’ve ever seen. I decided it was time for us to visit again.
All 3 of us got to go on a Saturday afternoon. Since you can get to the restaurant from the parking lot, you don’t have to walk through the mall to find it. As good as that hot dog looked, I decided to order a basic bacon cheeseburger. Miss Mae got the footlong hot dog without chili and Big K got the Polish special. We also got mozzarella sticks and onion rings to share. Everything came out pretty quickly and it all looked just as good in real life as it did on tv. First up were the baskets of onion rings and mozzarella sticks. The rings were great, the breading had a great taste as did the sweet onions inside. The sticks were the same way, bigger than most, they were good to share. My bacon cheeseburger was good. Nice solid burger with lots of veggies, cheese, and bacon bits all stacked on a toasted bun. Nothing fancy about this burger, just what you want out of a bacon cheeseburger. Now for that footlong hot dog, I had a bite, next time I’ll be ordering it only with chili. The bun was toasted, the dog itself had that good snap with a great flavor. Big K’s Polish special was interesting, spaghetti with chili and Polish sausage on top. It’s an interesting mix but we actually tried this dish in Ohio this past May. He really loved it, thought everything was cooked perfectly from the pasta to the chili.
We had been to Ron’s several times in the past, the most memorable visit was in 2010. We took my husband’s uncle to their former Edmond location to thank him for donating bone marrow to my father-in-law. The Edmond location is closed and this new location has been in Northpark Mall for about 2 years. The employees were really nice, even complimenting my daughter on her newly colored purple hair. If you are looking for a good burger, hot dog, or even something different like chili over spaghetti, check Ron’s out. They have lots of locations around the state. I give them 5 strips of bacon, preferably wrapped around that hot dog.
Address: 11956 N. May Ave., Oklahoma City; 1913 S Elm Place, Broken Arrow; 1220 S. Lynn Riggs Blvd., Claremore; 351 N. Air Depot, Midwest City; 130 W. 141st. St., Glenpool; 505 W. Main St., Jenks; 233 S. Adams Rd., Sand Springs; 9100 N. Garnett Rd., Owasso; 1440 S. Denver, Tulsa; 7119 S. Mingo Rd., Tulsa; 6548 E. 51st St., Tulsa; 8201 S. Harvard, Tulsa; 804 W. Rogers, Skiatook; 811 E. 6th St., Stillwater; 1105 W. Cherokee St., Wagoner; 18415 FM 1488 Magnolia, TX; 14257 FM 2920, Suite 210, Tomball, TX; 1702 S. Walton Blvd., Bentonville, AR.
I’ve been getting ads for Crimson Melt for quite a while now. I kept wanting to go there but never got a chance. I don’t get to Moore often, I usually drive through getting to Norman or places further south. A few weeks ago everything aligned and I finally got to try Crimson Melt. Once again, another place I should have visited earlier.
Stopped on a Saturday afternoon, their menu is mostly grilled cheeses. From just a straight up grilled cheese to custom melts with chicken, ham, bacon or BBQ. I decided to try just the basic grilled cheese, The Tetrahedron, just to try them out. If you can get a grilled cheese right, then you can do anything. Big K got crazy with the heat and ordered a Flashover. We also shared fried mac and cheese bites as well as their fried cheese curds. The food came out quicker than I expected, but obviously that’s not a bad thing. Everything was hot and fresh. First thing I had to try were the fried cheese curds. These were amazing, had the proper squeak to the curds. The breading complimented the curds as did the ranch that came with them. Next up I started on the fried mac and cheese bites. These can be touchy to get right and the Crimson Melt stepped up to the challenge. The Gouda cheese used had a nice tang, plus the pasta was cooked perfectly. I loved these as much as I loved the cheese curds. Now onto my grilled cheese, the sourdough was toasted perfectly. The cheddar, mozzarella, and provolone melted well with some parmesan in the mix to give the sandwich a tang that was unique. The Flashover that Big K tried was equally as good. I did have a bite, I’ll be ordering it the next trip. It has cheddar melted with jalapeno cream cheese and bacon on sourdough. Even comes with a strawberry jalapeno dipping sauce that also was tried out with the curds. He thought it was a little on the spicy side but thought it was awesome.
The Crimson Melt not only does the grilled cheese right but they also have those big specialty milkshakes. We were too stuffed to try them but I saw a couple that were ordered by other patrons, look really good. The restaurant was started by a retired United States Air Force fire chief in 2023. I really loved this place, every bite was amazing. Wish they were a bit closer than Moore but I guess I’m going to have to stop off whether I like it or not. I give them 5 strips of bacon, on a grilled cheese of course.
Address: 2100 N Eastern Ave., Suite 10 & 11, Moore.
A few weeks ago, on a very hot Saturday, I decided to take off to the northeast central part of Oklahoma. Saw a couple of small towns, lots of historic buildings, and an historic bridge. Of course, I got hungry. That’s when I found Brandy’s Drive-In.
Located on the main highway through Fairfax, the small restaurant sits on the east side of the road just before you get to the main town (if you’re coming in from the south). The menu is pretty straight forward, burgers, sandwiches, sides. I got a bacon cheeseburger and bacon cheese fries. Even though the dining room was empty, the drive-through window stayed constant with cars lined out into the street. With all of that traffic, my food still came out quickly. The burger was nice sized, lots of fresh veggies. Loved the taste of the burger and bacon, everything worked well together. This wasn’t a fancy burger just a straight up bacon cheeseburger. The fries were equally as good. Crinkle cut with melted cheese and lots of bacon pieces on top.
This was an excellent place to stop for lunch. it really is the typical small-town burger joint that are getting hard to find in Oklahoma. I highly recommend a stop if you are going visiting Fairfax. Lots of history in the small town, from the Tallchief sisters to the Killers of the Flower Moon. Stop into Brandy’s Drive-In, I give them 5 strips of bacon.
A wonderful restaurant in Edmond that I always seem to forget about until someone reminds me is Simply Falafel. This is the place to get Mediterranean food in Edmond.
We have been going there since 2017, the first time we ate shawarma (“Anyone ever try shawarma? There’s a shawarma joint about 2 blocks from here, I don’t know what it is but I want to try it.”) We loved it. Every visit we try something new and so far everything on the menu has been great. The falafels are good, some of the best I’ve had in the metro area. The hummus is also good, creamy and flavorful. The chicken shawarma sandwich is wonderful, a warm pita filled with seasoned chicken. I love every bite of this when I get it, so much flavor. Same with the standard gyro sandwich, filled with gyro meat on a toasted pita. My favorite has been the gyro platter. Grilled gyro meat, served with rice and pita triangles. You can also get your choice of side salad, the Caesar salad is good but the tabouli salad is better. If you have room, I also recommend the baklava. It’s so good, a perfect sweet treat after a great meal.
The service here is always on point, if you’re lucky you might even have a visit from the owner. He is the sweetest man who has a passion for the food served in his restaurant. It can be hard to find for a first visit, it’s in a strip mall to the west of the Target on Second Street in Edmond. I’m giving Simply Falafel 5 strips of bacon.
I normally stay away from the chains but there is a lack of good seafood in Oklahoma City, so I tried out a small chain to see what they had to offer. They are definitely worth a try even if they are based out of Texas.
We stopped in first thing on a Saturday afternoon. It was lunch time and we all wanted something different. I’ve been craving more seafood after a visit to Maryland and we are just lacking in options. I had heard good things about Fish City Grill, so to Edmond we traveled. We were seated quickly and I immediately wanted to try the oyster nachos. I’m very particular about my oysters, I don’t do uncooked for one and they need to be fried. It’s hard to find someplace that fries them correctly, the way my grandmother did when she was still with us. These came close, they were breaded with cornmeal but it wasn’t overpowering like I have encountered in the past. Each fried oyster was on a tortilla chip with pico de gallo piled on top. I’m not going to lie when I say I was expecting something more like a nacho pile I get at Mexican restaurants but this was really good. I enjoyed the size and freshness of the oyster. For my entree I got a shrimp and lobster grilled cheese with a side of mashed potatoes. This was incredible. The sourdough was perfectly toasted and loaded with cheese, bacon, shrimp, and lobster bites. The bacon was cooked perfectly and added a bit of saltiness to the seafood. The lobster bites were good sized and the shrimp was juicy. I loved every bite of this sandwich. The mashed potatoes were good as well, nice and creamy, easy to eat without gravy. Big K got the hand-rolled fish tacos. He thought the fish was excellent, lightly breaded and nicely seasoned. All of the other ingredients helped bring focus to the fish. The side of black beans and rice was a little spicy but not overwhelming. Miss Mae, who was also with us on this trip, got the shrimp and chicken penne Alfredo. She said the Alfredo was strong on the Parmesan with a hint of garlic. The pasta was cooked perfectly, the shrimp had a bit of heat to it but not much. The chicken was juicy and with a similar heat level as the shrimp. There were also sauteed mushrooms and cherry tomatoes to bring out the flavor of the shrimp and chicken. Her only complaint was that the toast had no butter.
I’m excited to try Fish City Grill again. Many more items on the menu that sound interesting to try. They are based out of Texas and have several locations there but have only branched out to 3 states, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Florida. I recommend trying them out for good seafood. 5 strips bacon on that grilled cheese sandwich.
If you’ve been reading my food Fridays, you know that I love Mexican food. A new taco restaurant opened in NW Oklahoma City and I had to check it out.
We went on a quiet Friday night, there were quite a few people there but it wasn’t crowded. We shared a platter of steak nachos to start. Piled high with chips, steak, veggies, topped with queso. These were awesome, the chips were fried flour tortillas. The steak had a great flavor and was tender. These queso had a tang that I really enjoyed, brought out so many of the other ingredients. What I found funny is that when I ordered these, the girl asked if I liked spicy. Yes was my answer, she then explained that there were jalapenos on the nachos. The fresh sliced jalapenos weren’t that hot, they actually had a great fresh taste as well. Next up were our tacos. I got a fried shrimp taco and a quesabroso with steak. First of all they come in blue corn tortillas, different, added a bit of color to the plate. The shrimp was perfectly fried, covered in a spicy aioli that was delightful. The quesabroso taco was a blue corn tortilla with cheese fried onto it, then filled with steak and beans, topped with a guacamole. I don’t normally like guacamole but it was great mixed with this meat and beans on this taco. I also loved the tiny baked potato, it was covered in spices and easily eaten by hand. Big K had a fish taco and barbacoa taco. He loved both, said they were both quite flavorful.
Apparently Taco Empire had been a food truck before having a brick & mortar location. The restaurant is in a small strip mall at the SW intersection of NW 122nd and Rockwell. This is getting to be a good place to go if you’re a foodie. Several other restaurants have also opened in this area. A trip to Taco Empire needs to be on your list to try if you haven’t already. I give them 5 strips of bacon.
I am very picky when it comes to pizza, needs to be done right. There are some good pizza places in town but I have been driving by one for years and never stopped until recently. Big K told me about a sign outside the Jo’s Famous Pizza restaurant in Edmond, they had pickle pizza. I love pickles but not sold on them being on pizza yet Miss Mae has tried pickle pizza and loves it. She was coming home from OU for the weekend, so I thought it would be a good place to try.
The building on Kelly is cool to begin with, built like a log cabin. It has a huge dining room with high ceilings. We decided to try a sampler platter for appetizers. This came on a large pizza pan with the three different appetizers- cheese bread, rollers, and boomers. The cheese bread is squares of pizza dough piled high with cheese. The rollers are Canadian bacon and mozzarella filled pizza dough, cut into slices. The boomers are grilled jalapenos, halved, de-seeded, filled with mozzarella cheese, and topped with bacon. All three of the appetizers were great but my personal favorite were the boomers, they just really brought my taste buds to life.
Now for the pizzas, Miss Mae got that pickle pizza. The official name is the Okie Chip and comes with a side of ranch. She got a small all to herself, since I still wasn’t sure about it. For me and Big K, we got an Italian with alfredo sauce. Even though the menu says the wait time is about 20 minutes, it didn’t seem that long. Miss Mae absolutely loved her pizza. I tried a bite, it was good. The pickles were a sweet dill that on it’s own I wouldn’t have liked but they worked well on the pizza. The Italian has pepperoni, Italian sausage, black olives, mushrooms, pepperoncini, and feta. We got ours with alfredo as well. This pizza was amazing. I loved the lightness of the crust, almost didn’t notice it with all the fresh toppings.
I really feel bad that I overlooked Jo’s for so many years. I know that they are a staple in Purcell where they started in 1962. The Purcell location is still serving up hot pies but I haven’t been there myself. This review is only for the Edmond location that has been there since around 2013. I’m giving them 5 strips of bacon. Everything was great, the appetizers, the pizza, and the service.
The Fat Okie 