Last Updated on August 8, 2022, 12:46 PM | Published: August 4, 2022
OKLAHOMA CITY (Free Press) — As Oklahoma City continues the push to establish itself as a legitimate cultural hub worthy of a seat at the proverbial table, arguably nothing has pushed harder than our city’s vibrant restaurant and bar community.
It’s long been the belief that in order to be a real cultural contender, a city has to boast some serious, award-winning fine dining options fit for any king or Michelin Man, and OKC is finally fulfilling that requirement.
The work at Scratch in The Paseo is generating major regional buzz, Chef Andrew Black has made huge waves with his Black Walnut and Grey Sweater concepts, and his upcoming Gilded Acorn already looks to be another smash hit, and of course the incomparable Florence’s Restaurant fittingly secured the city’s first-ever James Beard Award.
But while this kind of masterful fine dining is helping to put OKC on the national map, the true mark of a city’s cultural evolution is surely the cool, smaller places, the early-morning diners and late-night street foods, the neighborhood pizza places and the hidden after-hours bars.
Luckily, there have been some recent additions to fit each of those offerings, with a few of the city’s many distinct districts welcoming new bars and restaurants to help each of their unique identities shine.
Formosa Street Food & Bar – Uptown 23rd
For all the impressive evolution and expansion of the Uptown 23rd Street community over the past handful of years, there has always been an unfortunately glaring omission: some great late-night bites.
If you wander out of a show at Blue Note or Tower Theatre at 10 or 11pm, your options for grabbing something to eat have long been relegated mostly to fast food or Bunker Club hot dogs.
Fortunately, Formosa is here to change that.
The brainchild of Szechuan Story’s Ivan Wong, Formosa is built on a menu of perfectly carryable, craveable street foods culled from Chinese and Taiwanese favorites such as rice bowls, chicken skewers, wontons, and soup dumplings, and even a variety of flavorful veggies like spicy string beans, garlic cucumber, and edamame.
The best part: there is currently nothing on the food menu that breaks $10, making it remarkably easy to justify ordering a selection of items to try with your friends after a big night of bands and beers.
Speaking of beer, the bar features (in addition to a full cocktail menu) a great collection of imported Asian brews, including some of the best crisp lagers you’ll find for this scorching summer.
Still only a few weeks old, Formosa was such a hit at the recent Uptown Outside event that they ran completely out of food and were forced to shut down for a couple of days to restock. Rest assured, the doors are open again now, with hours stretching all the way to midnight.
Eastside Pizza House – Eastside 23rd
Since launching back in February, local hip-hop legend Jabee’s Eastside Pizza House has already taken on a life and respect all its own with its creative menu, community-focused ideals, and the ingenious could-almost-be-a-gimmick-if-it-wasn’t-so-awesome black crust, made with activated charcoal.
Even after just a few months, there has already been plenty of buzz, and plenty of other articles, making the rounds and stirring up loads of business for Eastside, but the month of August is set to be a particularly special one as they look to honor one of Oklahoma’s greatest leaders and activists.
Clara Luper was a giant in the fight for civil rights and desegregation in OKC, first as one of the main organizers of the Katz Drug Store sit-ins of the late-50s, and continuing throughout her lifetime of public school teaching, talk radio, and even a Senatorial campaign.
Eastside helps to keep her monumental spirit alive with one of their signature pizzas named the “Clara Luper,” featuring the trademark black crust with spinach, tomato, and Alfredo sauce. For the entire month of August, to help commemorate the month in which the first sit-ins took place, they’ll be donating proceeds from each sale of the pie bearing her name to the Clara Luper Legacy Foundation.
If you haven’t had a chance to swing by Eastside yet, this would be a perfect time.
Lunar Lounge – Midtown
Who doesn’t love a mystery?
Midtown obviously has no shortage of bars, but there’s a woeful tendency for them to end up overstuffed and overhyped, especially if you’re just trying to catch a quiet drink after dinner at one of the district’s many restaurants.
The solution, then, is to find the perfect little hidden gem of a bar where you can enjoy some expert cocktails, low light, and creative décor without the prying eyes of the city crowding in.
To that end, Lunar Lounge, the brand new space-age bar concept from Barkeep creator and undisputed cocktail virtuoso Julia McLish, is actually hidden.
To find the darkened, neon-lined drink spot, you’ll have to search the walls, alleys, and indoor corridors of Midtown on the lookout for the “moon button” that will open the secret door into the space.
I could tell you where to look, but that would spoil all the fun.
Grill on the Hill – Capitol Hill
For years, OKC’s historic Capitol Hill district has been struggling to attract the widespread reinvigoration the area needs, but as business interests and developers begin to turn their eyes to the district, the biggest questions have become cultural concerns. How will the development fit into the community? What will be the targeted demographics? What will become of the area’s history and longstanding identity?
One of the first glimpses of an answer came recently when successful, OKC-based restaurant group Happy Plate Concepts officially re-launched the time-honored Grill on the Hill diner on SW 25th, an old-school style greasy spoon that has fed everyone from seniors and cityfolk to politicians and police for decades. When the previous owners sadly announced the diner’s closure earlier this year, Happy Plate swooped in to make a few tweaks and get their first firm foothold in the area, bolstered by the success of their Sunnyside Diner concepts.
The result is a comfortingly classic diner experience that seems to be genuinely aimed at the spot’s many fans and faithfuls.
Crispy homemade biscuits, fluffy scrambled eggs, greasy bacon, and buttery gravy all populate the mostly traditionalist menu with only minimal inclusions aimed at a younger, potentially incoming demographic. That said, though the classic diner fare is just as classically tasty, the ever-so-slightly creative “Bonuts,” powdered sugar-covered donut holes made with the house biscuit dough, may admittedly be the most delicious thing on the menu, as well as one of the least expensive.
With only roughly one month and a word-of-mouth soft opening under their belts so far, the staff are eager and warm, even while still acclimating to the few modernist touches that Happy Plate brought in, most specifically with the increasingly commonplace, and reliably finicky iPads the waitstaff use for orders.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
