#82 - Russo's New York Pizzeria - Tulsa, OK

I'm kind of obsessed with Whole Foods. Even though most of the stuff is crazy over-priced, I could (and do) spend hours in there looking for items I can't live without. There are a few fresh vegetables I only find there and I used to buy a lot of bulk rice/beans/grains there until I discovered Sprouts.  Usually I buy whole chunks of parmesan cheese and the whole wheat pizza dough because its delicious, inexpensive, made in-house, and I can portion and freeze it. Of course there's no Whole Foods in Stillwater... sadly it would never survive in this town. So whenever I go to OKC or Tulsa, I make sure to stop there.  A new Whole Foods just recently opened not far from where I stayed the night of Shannon & Erin's baby shower, so the next morning I went and checked it out. Walked around for over an hour, bought maybe 4 items.

By the time I was done with Whole Foods I was starving. And I had read about Russo's New York Pizzeria, which had recently opened practically across the street. There's a large patio that wraps around 2 sides of the restaurant, but  only 8 tables so there's lots of space out there.  The inside is beautiful, with rich wood floors, floor-to-ceiling windows along the entire expanse of the patio, smallish bar area with several flat-screen TVs.

The restaurant was packed, but luckily there was one table left in the dining area and I was seated immediately. The dining area itself isn't very large. There are 6 booths along the windows and 15 tables so its pretty compact,  but it works.

My server was very nice, but also extremely busy.  Personally I would have liked to see one more server working, particularly since its the Sunday post-church crowd, and therefore very crowded.  The menu is huge. It reminds me of Cheesecake Factory or BJ's Brewhouse, with lots of pages.

While I perused the menu, my server brought bread to the table

The bread was so fantastic!!  It came to the table warm, which I absolutely love.  It was flatbread baked with lots of herbs, and the additional herbs with the olive oil just added to the flavor. I could have eaten that bread all day.  I was disappointed though because my server didn't mix the oil with the herbs, as is customary in other restaurants.  And I saw other servers doing it for other tables.  Maybe it's because I was by myself... maybe it's because she was busy... but I was still disappointed.  But I got over it, mixed the oil and herbs myself, and dug in.

I knew it would take me a while to decide what to eat, so I went ahead and ordered a house salad

Crisp romaine lettuce, red onion, bell pepper, cucumber, olives, roma tomatoes, 
and red cabbage, tossed in balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

I really like the it's all romaine lettuce. The veggies were ice cold and fresh, and the Chianti balsamic vinaigrette was delicious. I forgot to ask for no olives. I love olive oil, but I've never been a fan of olives.  I ate one because I keep trying to like them, but I just can't get past the saltiness.

I had so much trouble deciding what to order.  Everything sounded good, but I knew I wanted pasta because they make their own.  The manager eventually came over and helped me decide on the chicken al pesto. 

Grilled chicken with house-made pesto sauce, romano cheese,
sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts, over penne pasta.

What really sold me on ordering the dish was the pesto.  I have a big basil plant at home and love making pesto, and have become kind of obsessed with it.  I have to say I was really disappointed that this was a creamy pesto so the dish was heavier than I expected.  Don't get me wrong I love cream sauce with the best of them, but I wasn't expecting it.  To me the menu should say "pesto cream sauce", because not everyone eats or likes cream.  I guess I could have asked, but I didn't think I needed to.  Lesson learned.  Disappointment #2 was that the dish was little more than room temperature.  While I waited for my meal I noticed that other dishes came out screaming hot, and I could see the steam from 2 tables away.  So my dish had obviously been sitting for a little bit.

Negatives aside, the dish was very good.  I love all the ingredients and they meshed very well together.  And, the food lower down in the dish was hotter.  So it had definitely been sitting.  I thought about complaining, but it had already taken quite a while for me to get my food and I really didn't want to wait more.  So I continued to eat the bread while I was eating my main dish.  Even once I was full, I couldn't stop eating the bread.  So when my server came to take my dish I made her take the bread too.

I noticed the manager walking around constantly checking on tables.  I think Russo's has only been open less than a year so I'm guessing he's making sure people are happy.  He's also very involved; I saw him constantly walking back and forth from kitchen, cleaning off tables, helping to seat customers, etc.  I like that in a manager. I try to do that myself, because I feel that when staff sees their boss not afraid to do the dirty work, it inspires them. 

Will I go back?  Yes I will.  The place was packed, and I saw numerous tables turn over while I was there.  And I saw other servers doing the things that my server missed.  So obviously they're doing something right.  I want to give it another chance, try another dish, and get some more of that amazing bread!

#81 - Baker St. Pub - Tulsa, OK

After Shannon & Erin's baby shower, a few of us headed to Baker St. Pub to meet another couple.  It's an Irish pub, located on S. Memorial in Tulsa, not far from Woodland Hills Mall.   During the day it's a restaurant, and at night it turns into a bar.  It's actually a pretty big place, with booths all the way around the perimeter, probably about 15 tables towards the front, and a spacious outdoor patio.  The bar area is really big too, and also has about 8 high-top tables with barstools.  Oh and when you're looking for the bathroom, you have to know what you're looking for.  The hallway for the bathrooms looks like a huge library, with a wall of "books" from floor to ceiling. There's very small "men's" and "women's" signs, but it's pretty easy to get confused, and pretty easy to not even figure out where the door is.  I'm guessing that's their idea of a cruel joke, especially if you have to use the bathroom really badly.  But at that point, nothing is a joke anymore. 

By the time we arrived, it had definitely turned over to the bar scene.  The bouncers were at the door, all the tables were full of drinkers, and they had stopped doing any official seating.  Luckily we found a few seats at the bar.  I will also say that it's GREAT people watching at night.  You wouldn't think that an Irish pub would be a pick-up spot, but it definitely was.   They have live bands almost every night of the week. The band that night was a 90's cover band, and were surprisingly very good.  There's a very small dance floor right in front of the stage, and it was packed.  A few of the patrons looked like they were trying to recapture their 90's hair and outfits, which just added to the entertainment.

I hadn't eaten very much at the shower, so after a while I was pretty hungry.  And thankfully the kitchen was still open.  I knew it was kind of late to eat, but I was very hungry so my stomach won out.  The menu covers about 2 pages...2 really big pages.  I wanted something halfway Irish, and settled on the fish & chips.  Actually what really sold me is that they're listed as "award winning"...

100% ATLANTIC COD is hand dipped in beer batter made fresh daily and fried.
Served with seasoned fries, housemade tartar sauce and malt vinegar.

I'm always a little hesitant to order food from the kitchen late, because you really never know what you're going to get.  Will it be fresh?  Will it be hot?  Will it be edible?  This was all that and more!  The fries were hot and crisp, and the cod had been freshly fried and was scorching hot.  I'm not usually a huge beer batter fan, but this one was really delicious, and not too heavy.  I'm not sure exactly what award the fish won, but I'd vote for it!  The tartar sauce was so good. 

Will I go back?  Of course!  I had no idea this place was even there, so it will become a definite part of my food rotation when I'm running errands in this part of Tulsa.  And hopefully I can go back when the weather is nice, and enjoy a pint out on the patio.

#80 - Chopsticks - Tulsa OK

About a month ago was Shannon and Erin's baby shower in Tulsa.  I can't remember exactly when I met Shannon, but it was probably about 6 years ago, and we've become great friends.  He played football at OSU in the early 90's, does quite a bit of our promotional giveaways, and has a great tailgate just steps from my office on gamedays.  He and Erin got married about a year ago, and any day now they'll be welcoming their daughter Hailey into the world. 

I don't go to Tulsa nearly as often as I would like, because it's about 90 minutes to the heart of Tulsa...not terrible, but about 30 minutes more than it takes me to get to Edmond. and the turnpike to Tulsa costs about $3 each way.  And they have all the same shopping.  So usually Edmond/N OKC wins out.  But it worked out that there were no basketball games that weekend, so I took the opportunity to go early Saturday and spend the night.  It was an evening shower, and honestly I'd never heard of that before.  And it was a couples shower, which seems to be becoming the "in" thing these days.  It was kind of funny because all the men gravitated towards the patio (where the beer cooler was) and the kitchen, while the women were more in the living room.  Those junior high dance days never really end do they.

I got to Tulsa in time for lunch, and decided to stop at Chopsticks Restaurant.   It had received good reviews on the few sites I checked, so I decided to give it a try.  It's located in a strip mall, at 61st and Sheridan.  The restaurant wasn't too busy when I arrived, so I was able to pick my own table.  And then came the menu.  Way too many pages...I know I've said it before, but I don't do well with that.  What I did find very interesting is that there's a whole section of Chinese & Korean special dishes.  Not only that, but next to the American name is the name translated into Chinese/Korean.  I thought about it for a minute, but wasn't sure I wanted to be quite that adventurous on the first trip.  I really like when ethnic restaurants cater directly to their native customers.  That's how you know they're doing it right.   A family came in and sat in the booth in front of me while I was waiting.  They spoke English to the hostess, but then the chef came out and spoke to them in their native language.  I have no clue what they were saying, but it sounded like a great conversation. 

The first thing my server brought out is what looked like really big crispy noodles, along with a dipping sauce.  And I'm talking huge...not the kind they bring with your soup

I was starving so I dug right in.  They weren't scalding hot, but you could tell they were still pretty freshly made.  Great crunch, great flavor, and the sauce was really good.

Normally I go with wonton soup at Asian restaurants.  I love wontons, and the broth is so flavorful.  About 3 years ago I tried egg drop soup for the first time, and that became my second choice.  I had never had hot & sour soup before, so in the spirit of adventure--and because wonton soup wasn't an option with the lunch specials--I went with the hot & sour. 

My camera wasn't cooperating so I wasn't able to get a picture.  Man was it hot!!  Heat hot, spice hot, take your pick.  They weren't kidding with the "hot".  I really wasn't expecting that, so the first sip absolutely scalded my tongue and the roof of my mouth.  The soup was okay, but I'm sticking with wonton and egg drop from now on.  Well, maybe I'll try it one more time somewhere else to make sure the heat wasn't the reason I didn't like it that much.

For my entrée I went with the hot garlic beef.  One of the reviews I'd read said it was one of the best things on the menu.  Since my camera wasn't cooperating I went to another website and found a picture of the same dish with shrimp.

This dish was wonderful!  The lunch portion was just the right size, and enough food to fill me up.  The beef was very tender, the veggies were cooked tender-crisp, and there was plenty of the brown sauce.  It was spicier than I expected, which wasn't a good combination after the spice of the soup.  But the rice definitely helped tone it down.  I will say I was disappointed that the restaurant doesn't offer brown rice, and that was absolutely the only down side of the entire experience.  Almost every Asian restaurant does these days. 

The best part of my meal?  When I asked for the check, a very nice gentleman at the table behind me paid for my lunch!  I was hesitant to accept his offer, but he wouldn't take no for an answer.  When I went to thank him, he just asked that I do the same for someone else.  That completely made my day.

Will I go back? Definitely!  The service was great, the food was delicious, and next time I'm going to be more adventurous and try one of the more authentic dishes...maybe.