Tiny treasure

Later Bye has every right to be snobby. The sleek, darkened interior, a menu that reads like the food-and-drink travelogue of a well-heeled playboy, the cooler-than-you-ever-were servers — it would not surprise me in the slightest to find an upturned nose, a haughty air or a dismissive sigh when it takes too long to order. As you watch the mixologists select from a thousand products — seemingly via muscle memory — to whip up a complicated cocktail with ease, they could be forgiven for a little ego, just as the best chefs are afforded the same.

So it is even more refreshing to confirm, after several visits, I’ve yet to see a single shred of attitude. The servers are Oklahoma-friendly, offering you a taste of the wine before finalizing your order, making a kind remark to help you feel better about your crippling indecision. The mixologists engage easily in conversation with those at the bar while effortlessly creating the craft cocktail of your dreams, as the servers bob and weave through crowded spaces, gracious as they move about the compact room.

Finding yourself at one of Later Bye’s 31 seats feels like a true departure from the normal day to day. It’s almost as if you woke up in Spain or Portugal, someone placing a tapas menu in your hands and an aperitivo before you while you try to figure out how you got there. 

There is not another menu in Oklahoma City that packs as much punch into such little real estate. Starting with aperitivo, you’ll have to decide between wildly different low-point options, and how adventurous you’re feeling here will set the tone for your evening. Try the Tomato Tonic, with French dry vermouth, tomato oleo, lemon and tonic. Or you could go with the Bamboo, as one of my dining companions did, with Manzanilla sherry, strawberry blanc vermouth and Peychaud’s bitters. He declared it absolutely delightful.

The main reason to order aperitivo is to buy yourself some time with the cocktail menu. As you’d expect from the team who brought us Palo Santo, the cocktails are exceptional. The signature drinks are the Later Byes, with names as creative as the cocktails themselves. Hate to See Her Go features pisco, Spanish gin, cantaloupe, lemon, Manzanilla, Peychaud’s and a cantaloupe foam. The It’s Not You It’s Me is made with mezcal, rum, guava eau-de-vie, pineapple, lime, orange and gochujang.

Beyond the specialty cocktails, you’ll find classic cocktails, all made in true Later Bye fashion, using unexpected ingredients that elevate the old standards. I ordered the French 75, a drink I’ve ordered dozens of times. I have not, however, had one made with green tea shochu, Centerbe, lemon, fermented honey and limoncello, finished with pétillant naturel (pét-nat). It was, in fact, a French 75, but brighter and more surprising than any I’ve ever had. One of my compatriots had the house Old Fashioned, made more interesting by the use of a citrus oleo and black tea bitters.

The drink menu is rounded out with a selection of five martinis, all of them wildly different from each other. On a previous visit, I had the perfect 50/50 Martini, made with Oklahoma citrus gin, French dry vermouth, and orange and grapefruit bitters. A 50/50 Babytini graces the happy hour menu if you can get there before the clock strikes five.

Several sparkling wines are available by the glass or bottle, including a standout Slovenian Pinot Blanc Pét-Nat by Volk. Other by-the-glass options include Spanish and Chilean whites, a Spanish orange, an Italian rosé, several Spanish and Italian reds, and a few fortified wines. This wine selection would be fun to work through alongside suggested small plates.

Finally, it’s so refreshing to see non-alcoholic choices on a bar menu, and you definitely won’t catch the Later Bye team calling them “mocktails” in 2025. Featuring ingredients including non-alcoholic aperitifs and amaros, shrubs, soba cha and fresh fruit juices, these drinks rival the cocktails in terms of thoughtful consideration and fine craft.

Small snacks

The food is as important to the overall thesis of Later Bye as the drinks. This city is terribly short on tapas, which makes this lineup even more compelling. The menu begins with a wide array of small snacks: jamón serrano and chips, marinated olives and our pick: Peach & Burrata, served with jamón crisps and drizzled with a grapefruit balsamic and olive oil, then topped with mint. We were delighted by the flavors and textures. We were also surprised by the generous serving size. We also ordered the Spanish Snack, with Iberico chorizo, Spanish cheese, Marcona almonds, piparra peppers and olives. I think I will probably always order this as a jumping-off point.

From the sandwiches section, we opted for the Parisien, made with rosemary ham and small-batch cultured butter. I’ve never actually been to Paris, but this seemed very, I don’t know, voilà! That was so good we added an Italian, packed with prosciutto, soppressata, capocollo, provolone and Italian peppers dressed with shallot, olive oil and vinegar.

But it is the conservas — high-quality tinned seafood — served with kettle chips and garlic aioli that truly set Later Bye apart from others in the metro. You can keep your pâté. Give me the rich, silky preserved littleneck clams with garlic confit. Give me that buttery, woodsy smoked trout in olive oil. Give me the fruity, peppery Cantabrian anchovies a la Basque. The briny, umami-heavy flavors are incredible, and the textures are delightful. Add the salty crunch of the house-made kettle chips — the resulting combination is life-giving.

As if this weren’t all excellent enough, the team takes it one step further with a daily aperitivo hour from 3 to 5 p.m., during which drinks and snacks are discounted. A grand total of $15 for a Babytini and Boquerones — garlic, olive oil, and vinegar-marinated anchovies with kettle chips and piparra peppers — they should have named this place Now Hello. There’s also a late-night menu 10 p.m.-12 a.m. Monday-Thursday and 11 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, during which the kitchen continues to serve snacks and conservas long after everyone else in town has rolled up the sidewalk and gone home.

It’s almost as if the team took a list of all the good things Oklahoma City did not yet have and decided to handle almost every single one of those, while also challenging themselves to do it in the smallest footprint possible. They tackled tapas and brought conservas our way alongside an unrivaled cocktail menu, all from a setting that belongs in a Sofia Coppola movie. For Oklahoma City’s most recent recruits, this little spot probably just feels like one more wonderful place to love. For those of us who have stuck it out here for four or five or half a dozen decades, it feels like a reward for good behavior.

Visit laterbyeokc.com. 

This article appears in Fall Guide 2025.