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Posts tagged ‘El Reno’

Food Friday: Jobe’s Country Boy Drive-In

El Reno is known for onion burgers, there are several restaurants in town that specialize in them as well as an Onion Burger Festival every May. Jobe’s had been a mainstay on Route 66 for years but had closed for a while. Now it’s reopened, serving up those famous burgers.

We stopped in on a Saturday for lunch. At first it was quiet and we were the only diners in the building but as time went on, the place filled up. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger on sourdough with a side of chili cheese tots while Big K got a Western Char Burger and chili cheese fries. The orders came out pretty quickly and the food was amazing. My bacon cheeseburger had a beef patty, fried to perfection with onions. Several strips of thick bacon, jack cheese, lettuce, and tomato along with a thousand island dressing all piled high on the toasted sourdough. It was just how a onion burger with bacon should be done. The tots were great as well, the chili had a great flavor with lots of meat. Big K loved his Western Char Burger, also a onion fried beef patty with bacon, American cheese, onion rings, and homemade hickory char sauce. Said it was one of the best burgers he had eaten in a while and to be honest, he eats a lot of burgers. He also loved his chili cheese fries as well.

Jobe’s Country Boy Drive-In originally opened in 1958 by JR Jobe. It served travelers on Route 66 until 2015, when it closed. The building was several different businesses before reopening as a restaurant again in 2024. Now ready to serve adventurers rediscovering Route 66 for its 100th birthday, Jobe’s is a great small-town diner with good onion burgers. I give the 5 strips of thick bacon.

Address: 1220 Sunset Dr., El Reno.

Category:

Food, Oklahoma, Oklahoma food, Route 66

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Food Friday: Robert’s Grill

Go to El Reno on a Saturday night and the whole town smells like grilled beef, onions, and cheese. That’s because within a 4 block area of downtown there are 3 really good onion burger joints, you just have to choose which one you want to try.

We’ve been to Sid’s in the past (even though I need to go again), so we decided to try Robert’s Grill. This small white building sits right on Route 66 and serves up a good burger. Warning needs to be given, it’s super small, only 13 seats all at the counter. We got lucky when we stopped on a slow Saturday night. The menu is pretty simple, mostly just burgers with a few other items. We both ordered an onion cheeseburger with bacon. While I had plain tator tots Big K got chili cheese tots. With the grill right there, you can see every part of the cooking process. It’s really fun to watch your burger get cooked on the big grill. After watching all the steps of the process, the food was delivered over the counter. I have eaten a lot of good burgers in my lifetime and this rates up there as one of the best. It was big and messy, melted cheese with grilled onions hanging off the edges. The meat was grilled to a perfect char as were the onions that were pressed into it. The buns were toasted and couldn’t come close to covering the meat. The bacon was the perfect crisp, not overcooked but not limp either. Every bite was amazing. The tator tots were also cooked perfectly, crisp. I had a bite of Big K’s chili cheese tots, they were great as well, loved the flavor of the chili.

El Reno is well known as the home of the onion burger with the best in the country. So far with the 2 restaurants I have tried they definitely deserve that reputation. Head out to El Reno and check out Robert’s Grill, I give them 5 strips of bacon.

Address: 300 S. Bickford Ave., El Reno.

Category:

Food, Oklahoma, Oklahoma food

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Food Friday: Sid’s Diner

sid's diner

I’ve gone through El Reno many times and have always seen Sid’s Diner sitting on a corner of Route 66 but never stopped.  Finally, this past summer, the crowds looked manageable so on a hot afternoon we stopped for lunch.  This is place is a straight up diner, so it is very small but we got a good seat at a small table in the back.  They do have other items to order but since they are known for their onion burgers, that’s what at least 2 of us got (my daughter doesn’t like fried onions, no she’s not human).  The burgers were good, lots of fried onion mixed with the meat.  A downside was that I couldn’t find the condiments so it was a bit dry but not a deal breaker.  The sides are just standard fare- fries and onion rings, nothing really special.  The service was good but like I stated, it is small, so if you are claustrophobic like me, this isn’t the best place to be on a busy Saturday afternoon.  One of the main reasons it gets so busy is because it does sit on a corner of Route 66 though El Reno.  This diner has been on many different national tv shows which has boosted it’s popularity.  It opened in the late 1980’s and was previously the location of the historic El Reno Hotel, which now sits on the grounds of the Canadian County Historical Museum.  I will give it 3 strips of bacon, because I thought with all of the hype, it could have been much better.

Address: 300 S. Choctaw Ave., El Reno, OK

Category:

Oklahoma, Oklahoma food

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