“If you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all.â€
That’s the philosophy I’ve decided to use for these restaurant reviews.
I’m only interested in telling people about places I think they’ll take pleasure in. In my reviews I want to give an honest portrayal of the restaurants I’ve loved eating at and what I love about them. If I eat somewhere a few times and don’t care for it, I’ll find another place to write about. All I’m interested in is helping people find places they’ll enjoy.
With that said here’s a list of some of my standard tried and true Oklahoma Classics:
1. Classen Grill – American
Classen Grill potatoes are a hybrid between hush puppies, mashed potatoes and complete goodness. The orange-juice at Classen Grill is always freshly squeezed. They offer a variety of unique entrée items, from “Fry and Eggs†and “Biscut Debris†to “Migas,†“Chinook and Eggs,†and one of my favorite entrees, the “BLT Benedict.†It’s always a great place to go for breakfast when you can’t decide where to go.
2. Saigon Baguette – Vietnamese
This would be one of my first picks for lunch when you have out of town guests. You can grab a great sandwich that’s impressively cheap. Many people don’t realize that Oklahoma City has such a large Vietnamese district and there are a lot of tasty places to go, but I think Saigon is a great entry-level establishment for trying Vietnamese food, and who can be afraid of a sandwich? (Lee’s is probably a friendlier atmosphere, but it just not as delicious.) Saigon makes for a great summary of what I love about Oklahoma City: it’s cheap, it’s not exactly what it seems and it’s full of good surprises.
3. Big Truck Tacos – Mexican Hybrid
I know it seems strange to have a restaurant that has just celebrated its one year anniversary on a list of classics, but I’ve become totally smitten with them. The first time I went, I had the Pork Verde and thought it was tasty, but it didn’t seem much better then the taco truck in the El Mariachi parking lot at 16th and Drexel (which I still wholeheartedly endorse). Recently I realized the keys to the kingdom at Big Truck Tacos are their slow-roasted dishes, unique ingredients (like fried avocado) and their multitude of scrumptious salsas. The Taco gods have shinned on me and I now embrace them.
4. Flatire Burger – Burgers
This is OKC.net and I’m centrally located smack-dab in the middle of Oklahoma City. There are a lot of places in Edmond I hope to mention in the future, but there’s only one that currently makes me consider taking the drive from here to Edmond. Flatire is the place you can truly have your burger “your way,†whether you’re a vegetarian that wants to eat a tasty salad on your bun or you want a huge piece of beef with chili, bacon, and egg on top. Flatire will do it up the right way.
5. The Wedge – Pizza
The Wedge is brick-oven pizza done right. I lived in Italy for 3 years as a teenager, I’m not saying this makes me and expert in Italian food, (I actually would like to go back and shake my former self for not being more adventurous in my food exploits while I was living there) but there were 3 things I loved as a teenager about Italian food: Gelato, Gnocchi and brick-oven pizza. The Wedge is the closest thing I’ve found in Oklahoma City to one of my 3 Italian favorites.
(c)2010 Kim Hickerson All rights reserved.