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Posts tagged ‘Oklahoma City’

Food Friday: Del Rancho

For today’s review I am going to talk about an old favorite, Del Rancho. To me this restaurant is the epitome of comfort food in the Oklahoma City metro. The first time I remember eating at one, I was 6 years old and we took our food back to my grandmother’s house in Norman. While eating, I lost 1 of my teeth. It fell to the floor but I remember the panic while crawling on the floor trying to find it. If I didn’t have that tooth, I wouldn’t get a visit from the Tooth Fairy.

Of course, the best thing to order on their menu is what they are known for, the Steak Sandwich Supreme. I know there are other items on the menu, but I’ve only tried a few because I want that huge steak sandwich. Basically, it’s a chicken fried steak slapped on a bun. The steak itself is huge and when covered with lots of breading and deep fried, it becomes massive. There is just something they get right with the flavor, it is truly one of the best chicken fried steaks in town and yes you can order it just as a meal. Back to the sandwich, the chicken fried steak is placed on the bun with mayo (Miracle Whip), lettuce and tomato. Really it doesn’t get much better than the Steak Sandwich Supreme. I have read on their website that the sandwich was perfected in 1964.

They also have some of the best sides in town. I love their hand breaded onion rings. The onions are huge as well and lightly breaded with a similar taste as the chicken fried steak. The tator tots are also good and deep fried to be crisp on the outside. My favorite is the fried green beans. The only way to eat green beans are fried and they do a great job. Lightly breaded and served with a housemade ranch, my favorite side.

There are locations all over the metro area, the first one I ate at was in Norman on Lindsey Street near I-35. It’s still there after opening in 1979. There are some that you can go in and sit down and other where you just drive up. I highly recommend getting the Steak Sandwich Supreme with a side of onion rings. The true definition of Oklahoma comfort food, they get 5 strips of bacon.

Address- Norman- 2300 W Lindsey St.; Moore- 1409 N Moore Ave.; Mustang- 462 W Highway 152; Midwest City- 9411 NW 10th St., 9201 SE 29th St.; Oklahoma City- 5111 N MacArthur Blvd., 2741 NE 23rd St., 16 SW 59th St.; Tahlequah- 4800 S Muskogee.

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Food, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma food

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Food Friday: Falcone’s Pizzeria

Falcones Pizza

I first heard about Falcone’s Pizzeria many years ago when the owner decided to tell off the Edmond Planning Commission back in 2007. Danny Falcone had just opened a new location in Edmond and the city didn’t want him to put up an awning in the colors of the Italian flag, so he banned them from his restaurant. Hey anyone who didn’t like members of Edmond city government couldn’t be that bad, so we stopped at the Edmond location and visited many times until the location was closed. The only location left is on North May Avenue.

I’ve never been to New York to try New York style pizza but I think Falcone’s is about as close as I can get in Oklahoma. We usually get the 18 inch pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives. This pizza is so big, you can feed a family of four on it easily. The crust is light and thin, the cheese and toppings thick on the top. Now I’m also not going to lie, it’s got some grease on it as well but my dad would always say, “The greasier the better”. You can get smaller pizzas but why? Seriously they do have a personal pizza so you can do your own thing. We always start with mozzarella sticks that are big and chunky. Now unfortunately they have no ranch for dipping but I can get over that. If you aren’t full from the pizza, or even if you are, get some cannoli. Either plain or chocolate dipped, doesn’t matter, these are some of the best in town.

I highly recommend a visit. Service is always good along with the food. I give them 5 strips of bacon.

Address:6705 N May Ave., Oklahoma City; 216 S. Santa Fe Ave., Edmond.

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Oklahoma

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Food Friday: Taj Cuisine of India

It’s always a good idea to step out of your box and try something new, so while driving around looking for something different to eat my husband suggested Taj Cuisine of India. I’ve only tried Indian food once before and liked it, so I was up for trying it again.

We stopped on Saturday night around 5p and the place was empty, but there was plenty to choose from on the buffet. I tried almost everything but only remember my favorites. The two most surprisingly good items they had were the vegetable spring rolls and spinach pakoda. The spring rolls were small but packed lots of flavor in them. Normally vegetable spring rolls just taste bland but these had a flavor that was unique to them. I can’t explain it but they were really good. The spinach pakoda was also a surprise in just how much I liked it. The leaves of spinach are covered in a chickpea flour and fried. It was like eating large spinach chips, crispy but good for you. They also serve onion pakoda, it was more of a flour ball with onion in it. Also good but didn’t excite me like the spinach pakoda. Their lemon rice was really good as well, basmati rice lots of different spices with just a touch of lemon. The chicken biriyani was another favorite, chicken cooked with basmati rice and different herbs. I also tried the chicken tikka masala, chicken in a tomato based sauce. I really tried to sample a bit of everything but I will not eat chicken still on the bone, so there were several chicken dishes I didn’t attempt. I also can’t remember the names of everything I did try, I did my best to remember what I liked best.

The service was great but since they were serving buffet, the employees had to handle all of the food. It is an odd experience to tell someone what you want and have them get it for you. I’m ready for buffets to be able to present food like normal. The only drinks were bottled water, so no soft drinks or anything. Now they were good about making sure you had plenty to drink but it was still odd. The downside was everything was served on styrofoam plates with plastic forks. I wasn’t a big fan of that either.

So overall I will give them 4 strips of bacon for the food. I’ll go back and when I can get my own food, I might up that rating.

Location: 1500 NW 23rd St., Oklahoma City.

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Food, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma food

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Food Friday: Patty Wagon

patty wagon 3

I’ve said it before, there are lots of burger places in the Oklahoma City metro.  Almost too many, most are just ok but a few are my favorites.  Patty Wagon is tied for first place in my burger world along with Tucker’s Onion burger.

I was first turned on to this place by a friend who had been coming here since it opened.  So one night we tried it and I fell in love.  Located on May Ave just south of NW 36th Street in what was an old Whataburger, this is just a straight up no-frills burger joint.  A good sized menu with burgers featuring different toppings and weekly specials that are always original but my go to burger is the Jailhouse Blues- big beef patty, lettuce, tomato, sauce, big chunks of blue cheese, and a couple of slices of thick cut bacon.

Service is always quick- wrapped in foil, my burger is just peeking out of the spaces just waiting for me to devour it.  Bun is of a sweet bread variety, toasted so it has that buttery goodness that mixes well with the big chunks blue cheese.  The sauce has just enough kick to it but it only accentuates the taste of the burger.  The think cut Applewood bacon is also a delicacy when placed on the burger, really brings the flavors together.  My only real complaint is sometimes the veggies can be a bit overwhelming but I can remove them if I think it’s too much.  Since I’m burned out on fries, I get onion rings.  These are more of a tempura based coating than the typical Sonic type onion rings.  Always a big pile of them to sit aside my burger.

My husband has tried many of the other burgers and even some of the specials.  He always likes them.  Now Mae has to order a kids corn dog every time, just don’t get it- take the kid to a burger place and she wants fair food but at least she’s eating.  So I highly recommend a stop giving it 5 strips of bacon.

 

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Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma food

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Food Friday: San Marcos

San Marcos bird

It’s no secret that there are  a lot of Tex-Mex restaurants in the OKC metro but one of my favorites is San Marcos.  I was first introduced to their food in 2002, one of my husbands’ co-workers took him there for lunch.  A few days later, my husband thought I would enjoy their food as well.  At this point I was pregnant and would eat anything spicy (which is interesting since the child now hates everything spicy).  I really like their chips- the queso isn’t bad and even though I haven’t had it in a while, I remember their salsa being good as well.

Now if you’ve been reading me for a while, you know that once I find one thing to eat at a restaurant, I stick with it.  I have been eating their chimichangas with sour cream sauce for ever but one night I got wild and tried their Pizzadilla De Lujo.  Wow, was this good and different.  Between 2 huge flour tortillas there was cheese, fajita beef, onions, peppers, and bacon.  I really love this but you need to have a big appetite to eat it.  Yes it does come with rice and beans.  It was truly a different way to mix up pizza with Tex-Mex cooking.  Their chimichangas are also good, but I have had better at Zarate’s in Edmond.  I love their rice but really don’t care much for their beans, a bit too runny for me.  At the end of the meal you do get a sopapilla, so try to leave some room.

The first location I visited was on the southside of OKC but they have expanded to NW OKC and I frequently visit the North Rockwell location.  A few years ago they took over an old closed up Burger King and turned it into a colorful representation of a Spanish villa.  I have always had good service at the locations I’ve visited and the food has always been good.  I’m giving them 5 strips of bacon just for that pizzadilla.

Address: 2301 SW 59th St; 12201 N Rockwell Ave.; 1732 S Meridian Ave., all in Oklahoma City.

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Food, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma food

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RIP Crossroads Mall

Bre at the fountain at Crossroads mall 1974

The little Fat Okie with her Granny at Crossroads Mall Spring 1974

 

On October 31st, 2017, what was one of the greatest malls in the country closed for what might very well be the last time.  Crossroads Mall came into existence in 1973 and was the place to shop for 25 years.  While older generations of Oklahomans recall the shopping experience of downtown Oklahoma City in the 1940’s-1960’s, it’s my generation that will speak fondly of Crossroads.  In the ’70’s and ’80’s, that’s where you hung out, whether you were really shopping or just needed some place to go instead of school.

I have very fond memories of Crossroads.  It opened in February 1974, I was just a baby.  We lived in Norman and it was the closest mall at the time.  We were there shopping all the time, especially the holidays.  I can still remember playing in the clothes racks at Montgomery Wards while my parents shopped for Christmas presents for the extended family.  We always started at the Wards entrance, I think my parents had a credit card they could use there, so it was first on the trip.  I remember being 8 and finding a cute purple dress at Wards, I needed it for some school presentation.  My parents were nice enough to buy it for me.  Later in the early 1990’s I found another cute purple dress there, my dad got it for me as a Christmas gift.  At least I still have that one.

After Wards, you went into the main mall.  I always started upstairs.  The first store you would come to was the pet store.  Don’t remember the name but I loved going in there to look at all the cute kittens and puppies.  Now I know that those cute animals most likely came from a puppy mill but then everything was still innocent and you just didn’t think about things like that.  After that you had Eastern Treasures, where you could always find cool stuff that was way more expensive than my budget would allow.  A little further down was Spencer’s with all of their lava lamps, black light posters, and lightning balls.  That store just seemed magical to me with all of their silly stuff.  There was no real food court, so we would stop at the McDonald’s for lunch.  For some reason I thought it was cool that you had to go up another half level to order, it was like the counter was on a stage.  After we were done eating, we would pass Frederick’s of Hollywood.  That was another store that held a fascination with me, especially after I was a teenager in the ’80’s.  All of that cute, lacy clothes that you saw on MTV was there in that store.  It was so cool.  Eventually we would get to the other end of the mall, JC Penny’s.  On one trip in the ’90’s I found these cute stuffed “honkers” from Sesame Street in the kids section.  I was just walking through and had to have them, still do.

Downstairs we would then go and into the Hobby Shop.  Another store that was just too much fun.  You never knew what you could find in there- model cars, model trains, collectibles of all sorts.  Next door was the Le Mans arcade.  I was always up for a few rounds of skeeball but if my dad was with us, you might as well be prepared to stay a while.  He would play Donkey Kong and Pac-Man until he ran out of quarters.  Once we got back to the middle, we would sit and look at the fountain.  I can still see those blue tiles in my head.  After making a wish and throwing a penny in, I would then ask to run up and then back down the ramp.  Seems silly now but back then it was fun.  Eventually we made it back to Wards and out to the parking lot.   We always went in the downstairs entrance and to the south of the doors there was a hill that led to the upstairs parking lot.  My dad would carry me to the top of the hill, then with his hands under my arms, would start to run down.  By the time we hit the parking lot, my feet were off the ground and it was like I was flying.

I remember in the 1980’s going on many shopping trips with my Granny.  She would want to “work out the plastic”, those trips were always good for a new sweater.  I know I’m not the only kid in the metro who spent a school day ditching at Crossroads.  I’m sure all of the schools would have benefitted from having a paid lookout, then many of us would have been enjoying some quality time in the office explaining how the mall cured us of what was ailing us that day.

The Nineties saw a change in the mall, the ownership at the time thought it was a good idea to remove the ramp and fountain.  Replaced with an elevator and carousel, some of the magic was lost.  In the late 90’s, a series of shootings gave the mall a bad reputation that it could never overcome.  The situation was worsened by road construction on I-35 and I-240, construction that is still going on today.  Stores started to close eventually becoming a dead mall.  A group tried to bring it back but with no luck.  Now the mall is up for sale with rumors of it becoming a school or office space (there is a school in the old Wards section currently).

Just makes me sad to drive by and remember all the fun of going to the mall.  Also makes me sad to think of all the younger generations who will never know the fun of ditching and hanging out at the mall.  So RIP Crossroads, we may not be able to waste our days inside your doors any longer but we’ll remember the good days that you did give us.

Bre at Crossroads mall 1974

Little Fat Okie at Crossroads Mall Spring 1974

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Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma history

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Food Friday: Nhinja Sushi & Wok

NhinjaHere is another restaurant my husband introduced me to- Nhinja.  He actually learned about it from the owner, Kang Nhin.  He always likes trying new places, so one night he took Mae with him for dinner.  If she liked it then he knew I would like it.  About a month later we went and even though I really like my Chinese food from a buffet, it wasn’t bad.

They do have a pretty big selection on their menu but I’ve recently been on a sushi trip and they have some of the best in town.  First of all, they list the ingredients on the menu.  I’m real picky about what I have in my sushi- no caviar or fish eggs of any sort, no salmon, light on the veggies.  So it’s easy to order your sushi and it’s made right then, hasn’t been sitting around.  The rolls are huge, so one roll is more than enough for one person.  My two favorites are the Thunder and Geisha, but the others I have had are good as well.  My husband has tried almost everything on the menu but his favorite is the Cashew Chicken.  Once again, huge portions with lots of veggies and rice.  Mae is more predictable, she sticks with her Honey Chicken and then won’t eat the rice.  We do almost always start with the Cream Cheese Puffs.  Crab meat, cream cheese, and scallions wrapped up and deep-fried.

The service is always good, no matter if you are eating there or getting it for take out.  The atmosphere is fun, lots of colors, and bottles of Japanese sodas on the wall.  I give it five strips of bacon.  There are five locations around Oklahoma City, so it should be easy to find one.

Address: Rockwell- 12021 North Rockwell Ave., Oklahoma City;  May- 13905 North May Ave., Oklahoma City;  Broadway- 5 West 15th St., Edmond;  Mustang Rd.-  335 South Mustang Rd.

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Food, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma food

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Food Friday: Tucker’s Onion Burger

Bre's Sept 2015 145

It’s hard to find good hamburgers in Oklahoma City.  Don’t really like the national chain restaurants, but  there are some good local places to eat.  One of my new favorites is Tucker’s Onion Burger.  This is a good old-fashioned greasy onion burger, the way they’re supposed to be.

The menu is pretty basic, you have burgers, either single or double with or without cheese.  They also have turkey burgers but really if you’re going to a burger place you shouldn’t be concerned about your diet.  There is also a burger on the menu called the Mother Tucker.  Only order this if you are hungry, a pound of meat and onions with cheese and bacon extra.  If you do order, wait for the staff to announce it.  I’m not going to give it away but it’s great and I laugh every time.  All of the beef, cheese, veggies, and buns are locally sourced from within 300 miles of Oklahoma City, so nothing frozen.  They only recently found a bacon vendor, so this delicious addition is new to the menu.  Fries are hand cut and served in a bag seasoned with sea salt.

My first trip was a few years ago when we went to the location on NW 23rd Street.  The owners repurposed an old convenience store into a small restaurant in 2010.  Food was good but the place was just too small.  Not long afterward they opened their next location in the new shopping center Classen Curve.  Much better, bigger restaurant so not as crowded.  Last year they opened a third location on north May Ave, bigger still and this one seems to be the busiest.

Tucker’s is just a basic hamburger place with good simple onion burgers.  I give it five strips of bacon- shut your mouth.

Address: 324 NW 23rd Street, Oklahoma City; 5740 N Classen Blvd (Classen Curve), Oklahoma City; 15001 N. May Ave (north of Quail Springs Mall), Oklahoma City; 12215 N Rockwell Ave., Oklahoma City; 2166 NW 24th Ave., Norman.

Bre's Sept 2015 141

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Food, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City

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Food Friday: Hunan Wok

Bre's Sept 2015 417

I have been eating at Hunan Wok for about twenty years.  My first visit was a lunch date with my soon-to-be husband back in the fall of 1995.  At that time there were two locations, one in Memorial Square at Penn & Memorial (the old shopping center where the AMC theater was), the second was in the Rockwell Plaza on the southwest corner of Rockwell and NW Expressway.  Since we both worked near Memorial Road, we met at that location.  While I had never eaten Chinese buffet, my husband had been going there for years.  After that first visit, it quickly became one of my favorite places to eat.  We usually only visited the Memorial Road location until we bought a house near NW Expressway, then we visited that one more.  The staff had gotten used to seeing us all the time.

The location in Memorial Square closed back in the early 2000’s but the Rockwell Plaza location had moved to its own building east of Rockwell on NW Expressway in 1997.  So we are very familiar with this restaurant.  Service is always good and most of the time the food is excellent.

Best thing on the menu is General Tso’s chicken.  I absolutely love the way they cook this, always nice and gooey.  The fried rice and sweet and sour chicken also rank high with me.  Fried shrimp is ok, could be better but the Crab Rangoon is great.  Now they do have things on the menu like crawfish that I just won’t eat, but remember it’s a buffet so you have plenty of choices.  They also have a Mongolian Barbeque, I’ve never tried it so I don’t know anything about it.  The sushi has a lot to be desired (plus need to list the ingredients).  One of my personal favorites for desert is the Chinese cheesecake, a little bite sized cheesecake in a wonton wrapper.  These are just wonderful, much different taste than any cheesecake I’ve tried before.  Like I said earlier, most of the time the food is good but I have been there on off nights, when some selections just aren’t as fresh.  Also there was a change in ownership around 2010 and some items disappeared which has disappointed me.

This is one of my favorite places for Chinese buffet in Oklahoma City.   I give it five strips of bacon and you might even see me there some night.

Address: 6812 NW Expressway, Oklahoma City.  Just east of the Rockwell on the south side of the road, building sits back from the highway between the Rockwell Northwest shopping center (not sure why it’s called that, sits on the southeast corner) and Slick Willie’s.

 

Bre's early Oct 2015 107

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Food, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City

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Food Friday: Cajun King

Cajun King

Update Sept 1st, 2021:  No longer a buffet.

Last week we all wanted something different for dinner.  After shooting down several suggestions, my husband said that he wanted to try Cajun King at NW 63rd and MacArthur.  I’m not a big fan of Cajun food, so I really wasn’t crazy about this idea and even complained about it as we pulled in the parking lot.

It doesn’t look like much from the outside, right in the middle of a strip mall but we were greeted by a friendly gentleman with a thick Cajun accent.  The restaurant is set up buffet style, so while my husband paid, me and Mae grabbed some plates and started filling up.  On my first trip I had some fried shrimp, crab balls, potatoes au gratin, and a biscuit.  It was all good, the biscuit was light and buttery, the fried shrimp and crab balls were really good, and the potatoes were so good that I had another big helping on my second trip.  Mae and my husband had some of the same things that I had but they got the macaroni and cheese instead of potatoes.

So while they were raving about that, our Cajun server brought a big plate full of fried catfish almondine to the table and wanted us to try it.  I have no problem telling people that I hate catfish (even if my dad loved it).  My grandmother used to fry it up every so often and even though she could cook anything, I hated that catfish.  So keep it in mind that I haven’t eaten catfish since I was 9 and when he put that plate in front of me, I tried to be nice but knew I wasn’t going to eat it.  My husband, who will eat just about anything, tried the catfish first, “Hey, this is pretty good.  Try some.”  While I was giving him the stink eye for the suggestion, Mae grabbed a piece and started eating.  “Yeah, this is pretty good.  I like it.”  If they both like it I might as well try it, so with that I tried a piece as well and guess what, it was good.  It came with a honey type dipping sauce the chef calls “tiger sauce” and for the first time in my life I liked catfish.  So the three of us catfish haters finished off the plate of it in no time.

After all we ate on the buffet and the big pile of catfish, we were stuffed but still had our beignets.  Every meal comes with the catfish almondine and beignets.  I had never tried these either, but they were good as well.  Deep-fried fritters with lots of powdered sugar on top.  None of us really had any room left but no one was going to leave those wonderful treats sitting.  But just a side note, don’t let your kids wear black when they eat these, the powdered sugar gets everywhere (and yes, Mae had on black).  As we were leaving, our server asked if we had tried the bread pudding.  No, we hadn’t tried it.  Once again I’m not a big fan and I was too full anyway.  He didn’t like that answer, so he went over, got a to-go box and filled it with bread pudding.  He handed it to me and said to try it, I would love it.  So the next day we did and it was just as good as everything else.  Next time I go I’ll try everything because the owners proved me wrong twice.  Food was great and the service was awesome so I give it five strips of bacon.

Address: 5816 NW 63rd Street, Oklahoma City.  Southeast corner just east of MacArthur on NW 63rd.

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Food, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City

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