#128 - Tucker's Onion Burgers, Oklahoma City, OK

Last Tuesday I was in OKC, and my plan was to eat lunch between appointments at a sushi place I had a restaurant.com certificate for. But I got sidetracked after the first one, and knew I wouldn't have time to eat and get downtown in time. So the plan shifted to eating after. As I walked out of the 2nd meeting I considered eating at the restaurant in the building, as it was one I had been wanting to try. But I was determined to use the certificate... drove across town... and the sushi place was closed for 3 days for Chinese New Year. I had lots of choice words, and was absolutely starving. So how do you cure that? With a burger of course!

Tucker's Onion Burgers has 3 locations, and I went to the one in Classen Curve. I had honestly never even heard of an onion burger until I moved to Oklahoma. And the only place here I've ever had them was Coney Island on the strip on Stillwater.  Classen Curve is an upscale area, located very close to Chesapeake Energy and Nicholls Hills, one of the most exclusive zip codes in the state. So I love that they put a seriously casual restaurant right in its midst. The inside looks a lot like a 50's diner, with 10 large booths that can easily fit 6 in each, some regular tables in the back, and a long bar along the window with barstools.  This place would be great after-bar, greasy food spot.

You order at the counter, and everything is a la carte and made fresh to order.  I'm a huge fan of the fresh to order in faster food restaurants. That way you know your food hasn't been sitting around forever. That's even more critical in my situation, when I didn't get there until about 2:30pm. I love that they put your order on the bag the food comes in. 

Yes, my name is spelled wrong. But having to spell it for them, and then them butchering it to call my order, isn't worth the hassle.

I also got a loyalty card, because the cashier gave it to me. But considering you have to get 100 points to get a reward, and you only get 1 point per $1, the chances of me reaching that are much closer to none than slim.

I got the single and fries. Cheese? Sure, why not.  I wasn't so sure about the grilled jalapeños, but decided to be adventurous... but did tell them to go light. I passed on the milkshake, since I didn't need quite that much of a cure.

What is an onion burger you ask? Its where they press/smash the grilled onions onto the patty as it cooks, so the beef absorbs more of the flavor. When you just add it at the end, the flavors don't have time to really mesh.

The burger was awesome. Juicy, cooked perfectly, and very flavorful. I love grilled onions on a burger. Grilling them adds so much flavor, and you're not stuck with onion breath afterwards.  well, with an onion burger you kind of are, because they use a ton. But that's okay, and its well worth it.  Honestly, I could have done however many jalapeños they normally put on there. I didn't taste much spice at all. The cashier had warned me it was pretty hot, but I guess they tell everyone that, just to be safe. I had momentarily thought about getting the double burger, and really glad I didn't. First of all, that would have been stupid and gluttonous.  And the single was more than enough, especially with all the fries. Some of the fries were a little overdone, but they were still really delicious and I devoured them all.

As I was finishing my meal, a group of about 20 girls, all between 12-15, walked in. Thankfully they had 3 adult chaperones with them, but it was still very loud chaos. I cleared out as fast as I could, and felt really bad for the 2 other tables that had ordered about 5 minutes earlier and were stuck.

Will I go back? No question. No cheese, regular serving of jalapeños, and mustard instead of mayo.  And next time I'm definitely trying a milkshake, and going to the original location for some "authentic" atmosphere.

#127 - Full Moon Cafe, Tulsa, OK

On Monday I only had one scheduled appointment with a club seat holder.  The appointment ended close to lunchtime, so I had plans to meet my friend Steve.  He suggested that we meet at Full Moon Cafe.  It's like he had read my mind, since I had never been there before.

The restaurant is on Cherry Street, only about a block away from Smoke, where I had eaten in December.  It's an older building, on the corner of 15th and St. Louis.  The interior is pretty dated, but it adds atmosphere.  They really should re-carpet though, because the server told me to watch my step as I walked towards the table.  If you're not paying attention, it could be easy to trip and fall.  It's an average sized restaurant, seating about 75 in the main dining room, all tables.  There's also a big bar that takes up about 60% of the back wall, as well as several flat screen TV's.  

I saw on their website that they do a Full Moon 5K in May.  I think I've found my next fun run!

I was literally the first customer in the door.  But I arrived just a few minutes after 11AM, so that was no surprise.  And as we ate, the place filled up.  It was never packed, but Steve said it always fills up with the lunch crowd.  He also said the live nightly entertainment caters to a little older crowd, which I like.  Almost any time I hang out in Stillwater, it's with kids half my age.  That gets old pretty quick.  Thankfully Stillwater now has more places for an older crowd, but coming here for dinner/drinks/entertainment would be a lot of fun.  

I really like that they have the live entertainment listed on the menu.  I've never seen that done before, but it's a great idea.  And it's varied: karaoke, small bands, and dueling pianos on Friday & Saturday nights.  

Yep, one piano is OU, and the other is OSU.  It's Bedlam every weekend!

Our server dropped off a drink menu along with our regular menus.  But we both had lots of funtivities over the weekend, so the last thing we needed was more.  But it is a pretty significant menu.  And the restaurant has daily specials, and a large regular menu. 

Steve went with the steak & chicken quesadillas and a side salad

Grilled flour tortillas with Monterey Jack, cheddar cheese and refried beans, stuffed full with fajita beef and/or chicken. Served with sour cream & salsa

I tried a piece of the quesadilla and it was really good.  I like the steak and chicken combo, and I like even better that they don't charge extra for that.  Most places usually will.  He got it without the refried beans, and I have to say that was a good idea.  I feel like that would taste kind of weird.

Steve said they're known for their tortilla soup, but I wasn't really feeling that.  He raved about the burger, so after a little bit of back and forth, I decided to go with the California burger and added bacon.  I asked the waitress if the onion rings were breaded or beer battered.  She had no clue, and all she knew was that they were thin.  Not really very helpful. So I went with the fries.  

Charbroiled cayenne burger topped with guacamole, Ortega chili pepper, lettuce, tomato and onion. Served on a toasted bun with Chipotle mayonnaise

I literally JUST realized, as I was typing this, that there was no guacamole on my burger!! When it came out, I thought something was missing, but I couldn't figure out what it was. I am now so bummed that I didn't get my guacamole.  But other than that, the burger was fabulous.  The meat had so much flavor, and was cooked perfectly medium.  I couldn't put my finger on it before, but I think it's the cayenne pepper that put the flavor over the top. The chili peppers weren't very spicy at all, just a hint of heat in the background.  The fries were really good as well.  Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. I don't know what it was, but these were some of my favorite fries ever.  And that's saying something.

I have to go back, for no other reason than to get guac on my burger!  I kid...kind of.  I really will be adding this place to my list, and maybe next time I'll try the tortilla soup. And I would love to come back and hear some of the live entertainment.

#126 - Rococo Restaurant, Oklahoma City, OK

I'm really happy I added stewardship visits to my job.  Mostly because I've gotten the chance to meet some of our club seat holders in their environment and learn more about them on a personal level.  And I think they appreciate the opportunity to talk OSU without feeling like someone is asking for money.  But let's be honest: part of it is also because I've been able to add more restaurants to the food blog.  I've eaten with donors 4 times since I started, and each has been at a new restaurant.

Last week I was meeting Lon for lunch.  He had originally wanted to do Charleston's, but I'm going there next week with a suiteholder so I wanted something different.  I suggested Rococo Restaurant at North Park Mall.  I had always heard really good things about it, and not sure why I've never been before.  It's on the corner of the mall, and you can enter from either the parking lot or inside the mall.  They've also got a location on Penn Avenue.

Lon and I have become good friends over the past couple of years.  He's also introduced me to 3 other great couples, and we had a ton of fun at the Big 12 tourneys last year. And will do so again in a few weeks for the men's tourney in KC.

I arrived about 10 minutes before Lon, which is now my agenda.  That way I can take some notes about the place before others arrive.  Because if I don't, we get talking and then I have to stop and take notes.  There were only a few other tables occupied, but for lunch in a mall restaurant on a random Thursday that's not surprising.  We were seated at this adorable table that looks kind of like a library.  It's a 4-top table, with a 4' wall on 2 sides, and a bookcase on one side. The negative is it's right next to the kitchen.  But they make up for it because it's right next to the fireplace.  

This would be a great date night table.  Not sure why I keep finding date night tables, but oh well.  The rest of the restaurant is quite big, with booths along 2 of the walls, and tables in the middle.  There are actually 2 bars.  One is right behind our table, and the other is near to the "to go" entrance.  As we were walking out I noticed a pretty large private room as well. The interior is very cozy.  The long wall of the restaurant is all big windows looking into the mall.  The shorter wall is bright red.   The whole place is really inviting.

We started with calamari.  They do it in 3 different ways, and our server recommended Rhode Island style, with banana peppers mixed in.

I was kind of surprised we didn't get any cocktail sauce with it.  But one bite, and I realized we didn't need it.  The calamari was outstanding.  Lightly breaded, perfectly fried, scorching hot.  I ended up eating most of it.  I tried not to, but it was so good I couldn't help myself.

I was having a really hard time deciding what to get--big surprise.  But everything sounded good.  They also have a lot of specials.  I've heard and read that you shouldn't get the specials because it's what is leftover that they're trying to get rid of.  But I figure at a higher end place like this, that won't be the case.  

Lon got the filet special

I didn't get to try any of his dish, but he said it was excellent. It sure smelled outstanding.

I started with the Caesar salad

It comes with a whole anchovy on top.  No thank you...so we just left it off. Usually Caesar salad is way over-dressed.  This one was just the opposite.  As a matter of fact, it was a little under for my tastes.  But with dressing, less is more.  Other than that, the salad was delicious.  And I was very pleased to see that it was a small portion.

I got the seafood special, which was a shrimp & andouille sausage risotto.  I don't think that was the exact name, but close enough

This dish was so good.  It was a lot cheesier than I expected, but they use the good parmesan cheese.  You could taste the strong, nutty flavor.  The sausage had a little kick, but not too bad. And there was a lot of shrimp.  Much more than you would normally get in a lunch sized dish.  It was a pretty good sized portion.  I tried really hard to finish it, but eventually gave up so I wouldn't have to roll out of there.  

Lon finished eating before I did, and our server asked if he could take the dish.  Lon told him he was still working, and then told me that its bad form to take someone's dish when the other person is still eating.  I had never really thought about it, but that's true. Because then the other person either feels like they need to race to finish, or feels like a pig for continuing to eat.  

I really enjoyed this experience.  I love the atmosphere and the food was delicious.  I really want to do their Chef's Table.  It's an exclusive dinner experience for 8-10 people. Would be a great group trip.  Definitely going back soon.