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Restaurant, sweet restaurant


These old-timers are mainstays of the metro restaurant scene.

Carol Smaglinski February 1st, 2012  

Our ever-changing restaurant scene keeps forging ahead and paving the foodie way. But it is the incredibly long-standing, seasoned spots that hit the right notes with its customers and draw them back again and again. There’s nothing better than reliability and comfort food.

What is your OKC restaurant home? If you don’t have one, here are a few that won’t mind being considered for the honors.

Junior’s
2601 Northwest Expressway
848-5597
Owner Jim Shumsky gets a daily adrenaline rush from his Junior’s that began in 1973. Some of the major oil deals were made at Junior’s in the ’70s and ’80s. Watch the Anita White Trio on YouTube, or catch them live every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Enjoy the signature pan-fried chicken, delicious Caesar or Syrian salad and wash it all down with a brandy ice.

Ol’ Time Diner
8433 S. Western
634-8806
It’s been 29 years in business for this burger place, and all done by word of mouth. Thing is, they haven’t changed a thing in those 29 years. Dan and Annie Dunsmore opened it; when Dan died some 17 years ago, Annie carried on and now operates it with her new husband, Dewayn Newton.

Chelino’s
4320 S. Walker 

636-1110

The original Chelino’s on Walker opened in 1989. When owner Marcelino “Chelino” Garcia first came to the U.S. he began work as a dish-washer. Today, he juggles a bakery, factories that produce ice cream and tortillas, several restaurants, two Mexican import stores, a meat processing plant and real estate investments.

right, Gladiz Nieto holding lunch plates at Chelino's No. 1

Around the Corner
11 S. Broadway, Edmond

341-5414
The oldest restaurant in Edmond, with more than 57 years under their apron strings, Around the Corner even has the Seal of Edmond displayed on a wall. The place is almost always crowded, with omelets sailing out of the kitchen. It’s no wonder that present owner Charlotte Worsham and the food rank pretty high with Edmond residents.

Big Ed’s Hamburgers
12209 N. Pennsylvania 
755-2108 

Cyrus Naheed has owned this Big Ed’s since 2001, although the concept began with the late “Big Ed” Thomas back in 1982. These days, when in Oklahoma, travelers make a point of stopping by for a burger. People request Oklahoma Original Big Ed T-shirts that Naheed has mailed all over the globe.

Twelve Oaks Restaurant
6020 N. Midwest Blvd., Edmond
340-1002

Manager Kristi Jolly said Twelve Oaks has been the site of “lots and lots of proposals and marriages performed both inside and outside.” This romantic restaurant operates in a house built in 1896 and moved down from Guthrie. In December of 2010, a couple — Ken and Toni Snow — was married under the gazebo outside. Delight in the farm-raised quail and almond-crusted shrimp.

Van’s Pig Stand
516 S.W. Fourth, Moore
793-8267 
Owner Jev Vandegrift said that nobody knows that his grandmother, Thelma Vandegrift, did something outstanding. “She invented the twicebaked potato.” The story goes that she was tired of having so many leftover baked potatoes, so Thelma created a potato that could be done in advance. The Van’s Pig Stand’s twicebaked potatoes are old-fashioned but delicious.

Photos by Mark Hancock and Shannon Cornman

 
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