It’s true and also the most common compliment visitors make. Nowhere is that friendliness stronger than in the hundreds of small towns that dot the state. One doesn’t have to venture far outside the metro to find these places, and many of them are worth visiting for much more than a kind word and sunny […]
Doug Hill
Posted inFood & Drink
Viva Vaqueros!
John\’s Special By: Mark Hancock On a recent Friday evening visit to Los Vaqueros Mexican Restaurant, co-owner/operator Roberto Deloera spontaneously burst into an a cappella song between waiting tables. He alternated those cheery outbursts with whistles mimicking tropical birds. It was the kind of festive atmosphere that can’t be faked. The Mexican native and his […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Positively posh
By: Mark Hancock The first clue you’re entering a ritzy establishment is the high-dollar iron parked in Legend’s lot. Spotted when I went were a sleek Mercedes-Benz, new Cadillac and late-model Corvette. The tables in this iconic Norman restaurant are small and seating a tad cramped, but relatively comfortable overall. Fresh flowers graced a baby […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Pretty Penny
Cobb Salad By: Mark Hancock With two locations in the heart of Sooner football country, its dining room walls are covered with pigskin programs dating back to when the University of Oklahoma had a bedlam rivalry with a school called Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College. There are old photos, pennants, ticket stubs and memorabilia all […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Victoria’s secret
By: Mark Hancock Victoria’s Pasta Shop must be doing something right. Next year marks a quarter century of operation in Norman. Not much has changed in that time. Its menu is essentially as it was a decade ago. The operators have managed to maintain a continuous level of goodness for a long while. Unlike some […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Pig out
By: Mark Hancock From the name alone, you wouldn’t mistake Van’s Pig Stand for a kosher deli or Middle Eastern restaurant. But Oklahomans not in the know might not realize the place, which originally launched in Wewoka, is a bastion for barbecue. The Van clan has been hickory smoking ribs, pork and brisket in the […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Pizza pizzazz
By: Mark Hancock Sandro Osmani, the owner of Sandro’s Pizza and Pasta, is keeping alive his family tradition. “My grandfather, Giovanni Osmani, taught me how to cook when our family still lived in Roma,” he said. “We’ve always been in the restaurant business.” And business has been good for the first-generation Italian and Albanian-American. So […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Curry in a hurry
Spice and Rice is behind a filling station and convenience store on the east edge of Norman’s Campus Corner. Because of close proximity to campus and limited space in the tiny strip mall, parking is a bit of a nuisance, but it’s worth the hassle. Don’t go looking for fancy at this one-room restaurant, which […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Gone to pot pie
Sean Cummings Credit: Shannon Cornman First baked in Great Britain centuries ago, pot pies have close cousins in many world cuisines. Pot pies can be found for mere shillings in grocery freezers. On a chilly winter evening, they taste all right. But for the height of homemade goodness, look to local chefs’ concoctions. The pies […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Pho fever
The spacious dining room has vaguely Asian decor. Paper lanterns hang over each table and there’s a big bamboo plant in a vase on the front counter. Modern adult rock was playing on the sound system, and a smoothie machine buzzed periodically. Bottles of hoisin, the ubiquitous Sriracha, hot chili, soy sauce and vinegar stand […]