Recently in Tulsa::Dining Category

Last Sunday, as an early birthday lunch, my parents took us out to eat downtown at a new place that's been around for a while.

Escargot's is a catering establishment at 8th and Main, in the old Harrington's / KOME building. The dining room has long been used for special events, but only recently has the owner opened up for one and all for an all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch.

When Mom asked me where I'd like to eat, I had just read Katherine Kelly's review of Escargot's brunch in the latest Urban Tulsa Weekly, and I thought it would be worth a try. I was impressed at the owner seeing a way he could extend his successful business to meet the opportunity presented by several of Tulsa's largest churches within a few blocks of his front door and few available dining options nearby.

The food and service were as good as advertised. The younger kids were very happy with their food choices. (One buffet is devoted to kid favorites like chicken drumsticks, macaroni and cheese, pancakes, and corn dogs.) The salad was especially good -- not the usual bland iceberg. The food was hearty and fresh. My older son enthused over the fried okra. I especially liked the biscuits and gravy.

Prices were on par with most Sunday sit-down dining options. $12.50 for adults includes your drink, tax, and tip. It's $6 for ages 5-10. That's less than we'd spend at Delta Cafe for entrees alone (plus tax and tip), but at Escargot's the price covers drinks and desserts, the kids get to eat what they like, and there's no waiting to eat.

Escargot's is open for Sunday brunch from 10:30 to 2:30. Off-street parking is available north of the building, and there's plenty of street parking nearby (free on Sundays).

David Christopher has started a Tulsa website making innovative use of blog software to provide information to the public. It's called Tulsa Restaurant Deals, and the site's home page announces the lofty ambition to "cover every restaurant discount deal and cheap food and drink special in Tulsa, Oklahoma":

Discover what's cheap in Tulsa tonight by browsing the list on the left - the gateway to our continually updated database of restaurant deals. You can't get this information anywhere else because we do all of the research ourselves. Whether it's breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, at a cafe, diner, pub or steakhouse, we'll get you fed for less.

The site uses tags to allow you to find deals by day of the week, by meal and time of day (e.g. happy hour and early bird deals on Wednesdays), by neighborhood, by type of food, by price, and by restaurant. There's even a category for deals exclusive to Tulsa Restaurant Deals -- right now they're featuring an exclusive deal from Joyner's Home Cooked Food.

Check it out: Tulsa Restaurant Deals at TulsaRestaurantDeals.com.

Tomorrow, Saturday, September 26, 2009, is the Oklahoma Championship Steak Cookoff, to be held on the grounds of Trinity Episcopal Church, 5th & Cincinnati in downtown Tulsa. The meat hits the grill at 12:30. 1st place wins $2,500. Beyond the contest steaks, there will be steaks for the spectators, too:

Join the fun on Saturday afternoon to watch the grilling competition as teams prepare and cook 16oz Certified Angus Beef ribeye steaks. After each team cooks a steak for judging, they will then grill steaks to be served to those persons lucky enough to have a ticket. Dinner will start at 5pm. The $20 ticket includes a dinner of a 16oz steak, salad, baked potato and bread. Live music will fill the air as diners enjoy their meal in the area surrounding Trinity Episcopal Church.

Musical acts include Shelby Eicher and Mark Bruner, DuoSonics, Timothy O'Brian's Celtic Cheer, and Matt Jewett-Williams.

There's also a celebrity steak cookoff. For a schedule of events, information, and tickets, visit the Oklahoma Championship Steak Cookoff website. The event will raise money for Trinity Episcopal Church's outreaches: Iron Gate food ministry, Habitat for Humanity, and New Hope ministry to children of incarcerated parents.

For more ways to gorge and entertain yourself this weekend in Tulsa, check out Tasha Does Tulsa's weekly roundup.

Links of interest from around Tulsa and nearby:

Jim Hartz went exploring around the old KOME studios at 8th and Main and took some photos. KOME 1300 was one of Tulsa's five AM stations back in the '50s, and in 1958 it was the station that sent Rocky Frisco, then known as Rocky Curtiss, on a bike ride to Ft. Hood, Texas, to interview Elvis Presley, who was going through Army basic training at the time.

Speaking of Rocky Frisco, he is a candidate for Tulsa City Council District 4 and in September will be inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. Here's a very interesting biographical interview with Rocky -- a bit of music, a bit of local history, a bit of politics.)

Natasha Ball went to the Ottawa County Fair and has written a letter of complaint.

Tyson and Jeane Wynn are moving their business, Wynn-Wynn Media, from Claremore back to their hometown of Welch, in Craig County. They've located in a storefront on Main Street. The relocation allows them to be closer to Jeane's parents. It's made possible by the spread of high-speed internet to rural America, so they can pursue their line of work (working with Christian authors) as well from Welch as from anywhere else. (Some of my ancestors -- the Newmans -- spent some time in the vicinity of Welch, and my great-grandparents, Carl Everett and Icy Newman Bates, are buried in the cemetery west of town.)

Tulsa Food Blog visited Shiloh's and loved it. (That bottle of red stuff -- strawberry-rhubarb jam -- try it on your homemade rolls.) Here's Shiloh's website.

Jeff Shaw has pulled ahead of me in the race to retroblog our vacations. He's up to day four in San Antonio. (I'm still stuck at 5 pm on day 3.)

Tulsa TV veteran Lee Woodward has some of his artwork available for view on Flickr.

NMcruiserchick worked for the Peaches Records and Tapes store at 52nd and Sheridan back in 1979-1982, and she has lots of photos to prove it.

David Schuttler notes a survey showing that many airports are concerning themselves with their impact on areas beyond the 65 dB noise level zone. Is Tulsa, he wonders? And David has some beautiful lightning pictures from last week.

Steven Roemerman has some new lyrics with which to scratch the cognitive itch (aka "earworm") known as "Girl from Ipanema."

Be sure to visit Historic Tulsa for more photos and stories of our city's wonderful collection historic buildings.

You've got just six more days to respond to the PLANiTULSA "Which Way, Tulsa?" survey -- to express your opinion on the way Tulsa should grow over the next 25 years. Whether you prefer the Main Streets approach (Scenario B), "New Centers" (Scenario C), or "Centered City" (Scenario D), or whether, like the Owasso real estate agent quoted in a Sunday newspaper story, you'd like most of the region's growth to happen outside of Tulsa's city limits (Scenario A), take a few minutes to express your opinion.

In addition to the multiple choice questions, there are several questions at the end that allow free-form responses:

7. The scenario survey asks about a few major components of the comprehensive plan, such as housing and transportation strategies.

• Are there any significant issues that you would like to see given more attention?
• Is there anything about the specific growth scenarios, that doesn't fall under the previous questions that you would like to tell us?

8. If you could focus the comprehensive plan on just one part of the city, which area would it be?
(Be as general or as specific as you like)

9. What policies or strategies would you like to see the City of Tulsa pursue?

10. Please use the space below to provide any other comments that you would like the PLANiTULSA team to receive.

Another opportunity to express your opinion comes in the form of Urban Tulsa Weekly's Absolute Best of Tulsa runoff ballot. Deadline is June 25 at 5 pm. Multiple choice this time, in about 70 categories, mostly food and drink, but you can also vote for Best City Councilor (only three choices, though) and Biggest Ego.

UTW is also sponsoring an expanded music awards program this year -- the Absolute Best Music Awards. Voting is now open and will continue until July 17. You can listen to music samples for each nominated artist, so it's a great way to get to know the Tulsa music scene.

A few tasty treats I've enjoyed around Tulsa the last few weeks:

Chicken and noodles at Alisee Momo's Hornet Cafe, Admiral and Lewis. Alisee Momo launched as a coffee house, but recently added soul food to the menu, everything made from scratch. Very tasty.

Avocado, hummus, and muenster cheese sandwich at the Blue Jackalope, 3rd (Charles Page Blvd.) and Phoenix in Crosbie Heights. Delicious. It costs the same as a Roastburger at Arby's, but it's far tastier and healthier, and it's sold in an old-fashioned neighborhood grocery.

"Hippie" sandwich at Coffee House on Cherry Street, 15th & Rockford. Spinach, tomato, onion, cucumbers, green peppers, onion, and a cream cheese pesto spread. Great Topeca coffee and amazing cream cheese brownies, too. (I've heard they'll have their fabled meatloaf sandwiches tomorrow.) Open until 11 pm Monday through Wednesday; open until 12 midnight Thursday through Sunday.

Salmon tostadas at Eloté, 514 S. Boston downtown. Delicious fresh Mex cuisine, including great homemade chips and salsa. Open until 10 or later most nights for dinner.

Chicken with green curry at Cookie's Thai Cafe, 1421 E Kenosha, Broken Arrow (71st St, just west of the BA Expressway). This homemade Thai food is the real deal.

We're all trying to spend less these days. Instead of settling for expensive mediocrity, why not find the best food you can for the money, encourage small business owners who sell a high-quality product, and keep money circulating in the community?

I had a little time downtown early this evening and decided to wander around to 1st and Elgin to check on the progress at the downtown location of Joe Momma's Pizza, which has been about a year in the making. There seemed to be people inside eating, so I wandered in, and was seated.

They weren't officially open -- it was a dress rehearsal, a chance for the waitstaff and pizza chefs to practice before they start serving paying customers in the next day or two (after all the final inspections).

I tried the fried mushroom appetizer and a Natalie Portman pizza. Named in honor of the vegetarian actress, it features several types of peppers, roma tomatoes, and artichoke hearts. The mushrooms and the pizza were both delicious, and my server was friendly, attentive, and efficient.

While waiting for my meal, I successfully used the free wifi and enjoyed a Boulevard Wheat. Joe Momma's serves Pepsi products and offers several beers on tap and in the bottle. I noticed Shiner Bock and Red Stripe on display.

I didn't have time to get a complete look around the restaurant, but I couldn't miss the TV screens, including one of the largest in the city on the back wall of the main dining room. They've got a jukebox and pinball too.

Owner Blake Ewing came by to say hello, toting his son. Looking around, I saw families with young children. While kids are certainly welcome at other Blue Dome District restaurants, I get the sense that Joe Momma's will be even more family-friendly while still catering to the grown-up palate.

The opening of the downtown Joe Momma's is the culmination of a longtime dream for Blake, who began almost four years ago to try to create a great downtown pizza restaurant. It looks like he's succeeded. I'm thrilled for him. I'm thrilled for Tulsa, too, that dreams like his can still come true here.

P. S. The website is still under development, but the welcome page is very cool and easy to navigate. Click through and check it out.

Friday night, with the two older kids at sleepovers, we went out to eat with just the two-year-old along.

For quite some time, I'd noticed a place advertising a soul food buffet in a tiny storefront on the north side of 21st, east of Memorial. It's only open Thursday through Sunday, but the timing finally worked for us to give it a try: Joyner's Home Cooked Food Restaurant.

It's a small place, neatly turned out in black and white with red accents. The stereo played solo piano covers of favorite big band tunes and pop standards from the '40s and '50s -- "April in Paris," "I Only Have Eyes for You." We were greeted by owner Jesse Joyner, who visited with us and the other customers and was a pleasure to talk with.

You can order a la carte or from the buffet. The buffet works like this: You order two meats, which are prepared fresh. When your meat is ready, you go to the buffet of side items and pick out three to start with, plus a bread. You can get as many refills on side items as you like. The buffet also includes dessert.

I had two ribs and a rotisserie chicken leg quarter, with greens, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and cream gravy, and cornbread. My wife had the catfish, chopped brisket, blackeyed peas with okra, greens, and macaroni and cheese, which had more flavor to it than you'd normally expect from mac and cheese. For dessert I had chocolate cake and my wife had a slice of strawberry bundt cake with a lemon glaze. (Sadly, they had already run out of the peach cobbler and the pecan pie.) Everything was delicious and very obviously homemade. The two-year-old enjoyed his kid's basket -- two big chicken tenders, with french fries, a roll.

Joyner's, at 8151 C2 E 21st St., is open Thursday and Friday evenings from 5 to 9 pm, Saturday from noon to 9 pm, and Sunday from 1:30 to 7:30 pm. On Sundays they put meat on the buffet along with the sides, so you simply go through the line as soon as you arrive. On the flyer for Sunday buffet, it says, "We promise to get you in and out." The phone number is 918-622-5003.

Here is the menu for Joyner's Home Cooked Food Restaurant as of June 20, 2008.

Here's a link to Katherine Kelly's Urban Tulsa Weekly review of Joyner's from March 2007. Last August, the Tulsa World's Scott Cherry included Joyner's on a comprehensive list of great locally owned "hidden gems". (That's worth bookmarking.)

A week ago Saturday afternoon about 3:30, I had just finished attending the Oklahoma Republican State Convention at the Renaissance Hotel. I was hungry, parched, and in need of wi-fi. Cosmo Cafe, on the west side of Memorial at 68th Street, came to mind as a place nearby where I could get a cold beer, good food, and an Internet connection. While I love our Tulsa coffeehouses, I'm not always in a coffee mood.

It took a good 15 minutes to travel the two and half miles down 71st Street, but it was worth it.

At the bar, Angela greeted me with a friendly smile and asked for my name and drink order. A pint of Harp, the Asian chicken salad, and Angela's choice of music -- Sam Cooke, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, and Frank Sinatra -- made Cosmo an oasis of cool on a hot day. (She even played a few Jim Morrison ballads. When The Doors' frontman wasn't howling, he was a pretty good baritone crooner.) An LCD screen at the bar showed scenes from Monty Python's And Now for Something Completely Different. (It was muted with closed captions, but I could supply the audio track from memory.) I posted a blog entry and checked e-mail. While I don't enjoy fighting the traffic in that part of town, I made a note to stop in the next time I was nearby.

Be aware that Cosmo is a place of multiple personalities. After about 10 at night the lights are turned low and the music gets loud as Cosmo switches from café mode to bar mode. Beyond that, the music varies with tastes of the bartender. Also, although Cosmo advertises a 2 am closing time seven days a week, they'll close earlier if business is slow. (If you really need wi-fi at that hour, I'm told the Denny's across the street has it.)

The combination of good beer, good food, free wi-fi, smoke-free, and late hours isn't as common as it should be in Tulsa, but Cosmo has set a solid standard for others to follow.

A deferred dream is finally being realized. Blake Ewing set out about three years ago with an idea to open a great pizza restaurant downtown. It made better sense to take some baby steps first, so he took over an existing Simple Simon's Pizza place at 61st and US 169 and turned it into Joe Momma's Pizza.

Last fall he announced he was ready to pursue a downtown Joe Momma's, and the new place is nearing completion. It will be in the Blue Dome District downtown on Elgin, between El Guapo's, which is on 1st St., and Dirty's Tavern, which is on 2nd. On the mommaiscoming.com website, he says that the new place will serve brick-oven pizza and healthier choices, along with beer and wine. It will be open late "so the boozers can sober up before driving home." They'll have free wi-fi (the 61st St location already has it), "old-school arcade and pinball games," big screen TVs, and live music. The aim is to be open by D-Fest, in July.

Blake has found a niche that needs filling downtown. I'm looking forward to hanging out there.

Starbucks is closing all of its 7,100 company-owned stores in the US at 5:30 local time tonight in order to train employees in the "Art of Espresso":

"Our unprecedented level of commitment to and investment in our people will provide them with the tools and resources they need to exceed the expectations of our customers," Howard Schultz, chairman, president and ceo said. "We believe that this is a bold demonstration of our commitment to our core and a reaffirmation of our coffee leadership."

The comprehensive educational curriculum for all U.S. store partners will provide a renewed focus on espresso standards that will help ensure the exceptional quality of every beverage. As a result, baristas will be better prepared to share their passion and knowledge with customers. Customers will be able to truly enjoy the art of espresso as Starbucks baristas demonstrate their passion to pull the perfect shot, steam milk to order, and customize their favorite beverage.

This unique in-store education event signals the company's focus on transforming the Starbucks Experience for both customers and partners. Starbucks hopes any customers inconvenienced by the early closures will see this as an investment that will have long term benefits. For their part, Starbucks partners will have an opportunity to connect and deepen their passion for coffee with the ultimate goal of transforming the customer experience.

There's no need for Tulsa coffee aficionados to be deprived of an excellent cup of coffee this evening. In fact, this is a great opportunity for habitual Starbucks customers to discover Tulsa's wealth of locally-owned coffee houses. Not only will you find great coffee, tasty food, and free Wi-Fi, you'll be keeping money in our community. Here are just a few, with my favorite two first on the list:

Coffee House on Cherry Street, 15th & Rockford (open 'til 11 pm)
Shades of Brown, 33rd & Peoria (open 'til midnight)
DoubleShot Coffee Company, 18th & Boston (open 'til 5 pm)
Kaffe Böna, 81st east of Memorial (open 'til 11 pm), 91st west of Yale (open 'til midnight)
Cafe de El Salvador, 5th west of Cheyenne in the Mayo Hotel (open 'til 6 pm)
Nordaggio's, Jenks Riverwalk, 81st & Lewis

Feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments. Once you try some of these local coffee houses, you'll never be satisfied with Starbucks again.

MORE: Although DoubleShot closes at 5 pm, there's a special event for the store's Coffee Illuminati tonight. Brian Franklin, the roastmaster general, will be talking about his recent trip to the coffee plantations of Guatemala. You have to be a member of the Coffee Illuminati to attend, but the good news is it only costs a dollar, and you can sign up online. (No dancing naked in front of a burning human effigy required.)

Right after we were married, way back in 1989 and the early '90s, my wife and I lived in the Marella Apartments on Riverside Drive. About the time we moved in there, a few blocks east, on the southeast corner of 39th and Peoria, there was a little commercial building, and a brightly painted red-white-and-blue cafe in a very narrow space. A fellow from Pennsylvania named George Van Wyck thought Tulsa needed a source for authentic Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, so he opened Steak Stuffers USA. The place got a four and a half star rating from the Tribune, upgraded to five stars when the store expanded -- the close quarters was the only knock against the place. George ran (and still runs) a clean store; I remember seeing health inspection scores in the upper 90s. He was always shooting for 100%. We visited frequently.

I think Steak Stuffers USA was the first place in town to serve corn fritters as a side item (sometimes called corn poppers or corn dodgers).

The restaurant was successful, and eventually he expanded into the space next door, but his time on Brookside came to an end in 1992, when Albertson's bought the building and knocked it down to make room for their parking lot. George found a new home for Steak Stuffers USA in an old Braum's location on 51st Street between Utica and Lewis. At some point in the '90s, he also expanded to 81st and 145th in Broken Arrow, but he had trouble finding enough reliable workers to keep both locations operating to his high standards.

I'm rehearsing all this history to tell you that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is going to be at Steak Stuffers USA, 1932 E 51st St, tomorrow (Friday) at 3:15 p.m. for a brief appearance. (He'll be at the Summit Club for a paying reception at 4.)

There are things I like and dislike about Rudy Giuliani, but I'm very happy that his campaign is giving George Van Wyck and Steak Stuffers USA a moment in the spotlight.

Just remember, Rudy: Use the fork to push down the meat, mushrooms, and cheese and wrap the roll around for full flavor.

UPDATE: David Schuttler has photos of Rudy getting stuffed.