Where to Eat, Drink, and Sleep in Oklahoma City
When—not if—you get to Oklahoma City, the chefs of Nonesuch (our Best New Restaurant of 2018) don't want you to just eat their hyper-local tasting menu; they want you to come to OKC and stay a while. Chef Colin Stringer spoke on behalf of the Nonesuch trio (himself, Jeremy Wolfe, and Paul Wang) to share some of their go-to spots for eating, drinking, shopping, and making memories (okay, taking photos at a giant gold dome). “It’s really easy to have a false misconception of a place, especially one that in the past has not had a lot to offer,” Stringer explains. “This city has changed so much in the past 10 years, and the people here are pushing for new kinds of businesses that are more interesting, inclusive, and exciting. It’s the right time to come to Oklahoma City.” There’s his elevator pitch—now book your flight and use the guide below as your itinerary.
Alex Lau1/11Leaf + Bean
“We had our third-wave coffee explosion happen before the food and bars really started. That’s me in the photo above, center, with Chef Jeremy Wolfe on my left and Chef Paul Wang on my right at Leaf + Bean (321 N Oklahoma Ave), our buddy Paul Zimmerman’s coffee shop. He’s the biggest coffee nerd you’ll meet. Beyond doing the most delicious coffee, he and his wife are the nicest people; there are no eye rolls for not knowing what to order. I’ll get a cortado and a pourover, minimum—café manager Alex McDivitt is working on one in the photo on the right—and maybe Paul will send a tea out too. He does a beautiful jasmine green tea, sourced by another company called Woodshed in town. Let Paul take the reins—don’t order on your own.”
Alex Lau2/11OSU-OKC Farmers Market
“The OSU-OKC Farmers Market (400 N Portland Ave) is the biggest and the oldest in the city, and my favorite. It’s on the Oklahoma State University campus and we’ll go at 8 a.m. on Saturdays to make sure we get the best stuff. Sometimes the farmers we work with will want us to try something new. We mainly work with a guy named Wayne Jesko and his farm, W Bar and M, for lamb, juicy berries, obscure melons, rare dandelion greens, and insanely beautiful, giant Napa cabbage. Another farm called Leatherwood is run by Bud and his wife (pictured above), who grow the broad leaf French sorrel that we use in desserts or anywhere that we need an acidic, bright, fruity quality without using lemon, which doesn’t grow here. They have conventional produce plus bitter melons, long beans, and plenty of herbs.”
Alex Lau3/11Gold Dome and Wheeler Ferris Wheel
“The Gold Dome (1112 NW 23rd St) is a landmark on Route 66 that is an incredible piece of architecture...but has no real purpose. It isn’t occupied, but they will have events on occasion, like a weekend art showcase of young and emerging artists. Everyone in the city is obsessed with it, and it’s so striking that you can’t miss it. You can also stop by the Wheeler Ferris Wheel (1701 S Western Ave) for a photo op. It was restored from the Santa Monica pier, and there are also hammocks, a bocce ball court, ping pong, occasional food trucks, an old airport track for criterium bike racing, and nice place to sit and watch the sunset around the wheel. People come from all over OKC to hang out here, even on a Monday night, but it’s busiest on the weekends.”
Alex Lau4/1121c Museum Hotel
“21c Museum Hotel (900 W Main St) is awesome because it’s a museum, hotel, and restaurant, and each one of 21c’s hotels is different. It’s a go-to staycation spot for me and my wife—we appreciate the dry sauna too. Our friend Jason Campbell’s food at Mary Eddy’s is comfort food at its finest. He uses strong seasonings and big flavors, and we love eating there.”
Alex Lau5/11Ludivine
“Ludivine (805 N Hudson Ave) is our neighbor, and it's pretty much where our staff hangs out every night. This was the first restaurant in OKC to really embrace local, super-high-quality ingredients in a high-quantity manner. It’s old school and French-influenced but a fun place to hang out with great specials and cocktails. We’ll get their chicharrón with Cotija cheese and herbs and the classic bone marrow and toast, and our staff drinks all of their Fernet-Branca. ”
Alex Lau6/11Pho Cuong
"Pho Cuong (3016 N Classen Blvd) is one of those places that we will often go on our day off, either together as a group, with significant others, or with friends. We love a lot of Vietnamese spots in town, but this is our favorite—we’ve been going for more than a decade. It is open seven days a week, family-owned, and always perfect. Some of the dishes we ordered in this spread are the sủi cảo (chicken dumplings); big bowls of pho with eye round steak, lean brisket, fatty brisket, tendon, and tripe; bún chả ha noi (dry noodle bowls with fish sauce, shrimp patty, grilled shrimp, and grilled pork); and fresh spring rolls.”
Alex Lau7/11Bar Arbolada
“Bar Arbolada (637 W Main St) is a new space that feels very much like it could be in Santa Monica or Venice. It is white marble, open, and sunny during the day, and much darker and moodier at night. It is a solid cocktail joint and a fun place to hang. Jeremy spends a lot of time there.”
Alex Lau8/11Super Cao Nguyen
“Super Cao Nguyen (2668 N Military Ave) is a grocery store powerhouse. It is enormous and sources all the food for our entire Asian district. They even import their own goods. The Vietnamese population is enormous, but we also have a decent Chinese population, and you’ll see African families coming in—it’s an incredibly culturally diverse place. I go there twice a week and am still enamored every time, and still sometimes get lost. There are a ton of things I found there that I cooked with for the first time, like silkworms, Viet patty herbs, super stinky canned tofu, reishi mushrooms, dried ginseng, and abalone. I make mushroom tinctures and use them for earthy bitterness that can really balance out a dish, or try mushroom powders in soups. Chef Paul was raised in Seoul but born in Hong Kong, so he shows us different drinks from home, Korean banchan that isn’t super common, and ginkgo nuts.”
Alex Lau9/11Prairie Artisan Ales
“Prairie Artisan Ales has been a pretty big name in the worldwide beer scenes for years, and they do crazy out-there stuff. They recently opened their taproom in OKC (3 NE 8th Street). We source a lot of their small-batch stuff for our tiny kegerator at the restaurant. They are famous for the Bomb!, a stout aged with raw vanilla, coffee, chili, and cacao nibs. We also like their Blueberry Boyfriend, a sour aged over raw blueberries, and the milkshake IPAs that use lactose for a super creamy mouthfeel. Anyone can get into their beer, even if you aren’t a beer drinker. There is so much flavor, and it’s just fun.”
Alex Lau10/11Waffle Champion
“My boss, Todd Woodruff, owns the super casual Waffle Champion (1212 N Walker Ave). It is THE spot to have brunch and is packed all the time with families and young people alike. Everyone’s favorite is the fried chicken with Tabasco honey and fried leeks, wrapped in a waffle. The restaurant is also the breadwinner that keeps us afloat. We started our fine dining concept as a pop-up there on Monday nights until we got our feet under us. Waffle Champion is the reason we exist.”
Alex Lau11/11Stonecloud Brewing
“Stonecloud Brewing (1012 NW 1st St) is a local brewery making small batches of incredible, interesting beer. They have a red rye sour that’s insane—super malty and fruity at once. Their Astrodog IPA is also one of the best IPAs we’ve ever drank. The sign on top of their building [that says Sunshine Laundry-Cleaners] is actually a really old one that was recently refurbished. They are the first tenants since the building was fixed up, and now the neon is finally lit up again. There is a lot of neon around OKC, like the Tower Theater (pictured right) to check out.”
