Iconic OKC Eateries -- Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill

Do I really need to talk much about this one? Toby Keith had a wildly popular song a few years ago called "I Love This Bar". Mr. Keith is a Moore (suburb of OKC) native, and decided to invest back into his home community.

I personally haven't eaten here, but not because I'm avoiding it -- I actually hear that it is pretty good. Eventually the occasion will arise, and I won't hesitate to visit Mr. Keith's establishment.

Iconic OKC Eateries -- Earl's Rib Palace

Known primarily for their ribs, Earls is a well known and well respected general BBQ chain here in OKC. They have won multiple "Best of OKC" awards from both the Daily Oklahoman and the Oklahoma Gazette.

Iconic OKC Eateries -- Sonic

I know, you are saying "Wait just a cotton pickin' minute here son, we got one of those here in Augusta" (or, alternately "Whadaya talkin' about, we gots one of them just down the block in Brooklyn"), but you should know that Sonic was born, and still is corporate headquartered, in Oklahoma.

Back in the 50's, Troy Smith was going to open a fancy steakhouse in Shawnee on the site of a small fried chicken joint he had bought right after WW2. While he was waiting on building up the capital needed to expand that, he decided to put up a stand in the parking lot that sold root-beer and hot dogs. Little did he know, but the root-beer stand would end up making MUCH more money than even the steakhouse he had envisioned, so he scrapped that original idea and expanded the stand instead. Several years later, his Top Hat Drive-In became Sonic.

Iconic OKC Eateries -- Cattleman's Steakhouse

Cattleman's is an old fashioned diner that happens to serve some of the best steaks you'll ever find. They have been featured no less than 3 times on various food network shows.

This place is smack-dab in the middle of the stockyards area off on Agnew. It has been around for over 100 years serving up nicely aged cow flesh to folks who know the difference between good cow and bad cow.

Iconic OKC Eateries -- Chelinos

Ok, this is just between you and me -- don't tell anyone who lives in this town, but I'm not a huge fan of Chelinos. Honestly, it is what I would call "OK-Mex", which is pretty far from true, real, authentic Mexican food. The other main Mexican food place here that most locals would take you to if you wanted Mexican is called "Teds", which is a little better, but not much.

For me, the best, true Mexican food will come from one of the Mexican markets on SW 29th, one of the more authentic taco trucks, or, alternately, a wonderful family place in Norman called Tarahumaras.

But, Chelinos is "iconic OKC", so here it is.

Iconic OKC Eateries -- Del Rancho

Del Rancho = large steak sandwiches. When I say large, I'm talking plate sized chicken fried steak plopped on an oversized bun. Calories and fat must be expressed in scientific notation. Needless to say, they are WONDERFUL.

ABC Wednesday -- B is for Braums, also part 2 of Iconic OKC Eateries

Braums *is* ice cream in Oklahoma the same way that Double Rainbow *is* ice cream in San Francisco or Blue Bell *is* ice cream in Texas.

I worked at a Braums for about 6 months during my Senior year in high school, where I learned to make the best peppermint soda you'll ever taste.

In addition to their ice cream, they also have a full service burger/hotdog/steak sandwich grill, plus a small store with other dairy, meat, and produce. All of their dairy products are produced from their cows.

Favorite ice cream flavor -- German Chocolate (with pecans and coconut).

Braums started in Emporium, Kansas, but they relocated to Tuttle, OK in 1975. They have 280 stores located in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Missouri and Arkansas.



Each Wednesday I, along with several other bloggers, will be posting pictures related to that week's letter of the alphabet. Click the link above or the picture below to see the other wonderful posts.

Iconic OKC Eateries -- Van's Pig Stand

I'm starting a short set of posts where I will be discussing some of the iconic Oklahoma City eateries -- that is to say, restaurants in the OKC area that are based here (or close to here) that are somewhat unique to our area (warning, there will be a couple of notable exceptions to that last part).

This is Van's Pig Stand. Van's recently celebrated 80 years in business. They sprung from the original Dallas "Kirby's Pig Stand", but they stand alone now, serving up chopped (as opposed to pulled) bbq pork at 5 locations in and around Oklahoma City.