TRAVEL: Tulsa Rocks!

I travel to Oklahoma City a few times a year.  When I first started going there, I went to two places - the office and the hotel.  Then I began to realize that I was missing out on a big opportunity to explore some place that I wouldn't normally choose to visit. 

While Oklahoma still isn't my idea of a fabulous vacation destination - it's got its share of exotic and interesting sites.  I decided that my next stop had to be Tulsa for no other reason than the fact that I was told that it was very different from Oklahoma City.  

As you may know by now, I like to eat.  It should come as no surprise to you that the first stop in Tulsa was breakfast.  Blue Dome Diner had come highly recommended by a few acquaintances so I decided that this was the place to go.

Ironically, Blue Dome Diner got it's name from the Blue Dome across the street.

Former 1920's gas station, now the icon of the Blue Dome District

Our server was a handsome and engaging guy.  I told him that I was open to eating ANYTHING and asked him for his best recommendations.  His favorite dish at the diner was a chicken fried steak.  I've heard of such an animal before but have never personally partook of this feast.  I was all for it.  He did explain to me that everything was organic and locally sourced. Amazingly, everything on the menu was under $10.  If LA had a restaurant/diner that had local and organic foods, it would most assuredly be well above $10. 

The chicken fried steak was amazingly flavorful, tender and moist.  For good measure, it also came with fried potatoes and eggs over easy.  I had to physically stop myself from eating the whole thing.

The one thing I could not stop myself from eating was the biscuit.  While I didn't use the gravy [not a big fan of gravy or syrups on my food] the biscuit was amazing.  I was wondering how I could take the whole tray home with me.

After we finished our breakfast, we decided to explore the area and walk off all those thousands of calories.  First thing we came across was a beer festival.  Score.

Unfortunately, it wasn't even 11:00am yet so we thought it'd be pretty wrong to start so early.  We continued on determined to walk off the biscuit and gravy.  As we walked over the bridge over the train tracks I spotted a phrase that rang very true, timely for the upcoming elections [PSA: go forth and vote]:

Ok, so the guy had some problems with spelling.  It's the thought that counted and it was a very good thought. We continued on and noticed another festival a block away...and smells of deliciousness wafting our way.

Seriously??  The Art of Barbeque??  There was no way I was going to be able to resist this - breakfast 15 minutes earlier be damned!  I would and COULD bring my A-game on.  For $10, we could sample every single barbeque submission...of which there were tons.

I stopped by almost every booth.  I think the servers thought I was nuts when I requested just a micro spec of a sample.  Most people had their plates heavily laden with barbeque.  I wanted to sample as much as possible or I probably would have as well.

These kids were so darn adorable.  They made the barbeque taste so much better, just by their awesome antics.  I asked the kid on the left if he had any help with his hairdo.  He said he fashioned it all by himself.

In my opinion, though, my real winner was Big Anthony's. Savory, sweet, tender,  and moist are the best words to describe the barbecued meat.  Big Anthony's wife was busy behind the scenes cooking up a major storm but took some time out when I asked them for a photo.  This was the only booth that I greedily wanted to revisit.

Admittedly the only thing I had time for was food.  I didn't have really have time to discover or explore other things about Tulsa but what I did discover was that Tulsa took pride in and loved its food.  And darned if I don't love them for that.

Blue Dome Diner

313 E 2nd Street

Tulsa, OK 74120

918.382.7866

The Art of Barbeque

Annual event