Restaurants We Enjoyed

As we were driving through Oklahoma City the other day, we started reminiscing about the restaurants we used to haunt back in the day - that being 1970s; our courtship days. Old expression, huh?


One of our all time favorites was Glen's Hickory Inn which was located at 10th and May Ave. That was the place for a good steak. As you walked in there was a large ice packed table with steaks all around. You could pick one of these steaks or just order off the menu. Occasionally hubby (boyfriend then) would pick his, but since I was a country girl at heart I leaned toward seafood. I had had enough beef to last me a lifetime living on the farm or so I thought then. Now I long for a juicy steak. We ate there almost every payday. They always brought a small tray of olives and celery sticks for starters. This was followed by their house salad with their own dressing which if I recall correctly was filled with bits of cheddar cheese. The entree we had most often was the lobster tail, sauteed chicken livers on toast, and a fillet Mignon. Hubby's office had their Christmas party there the year we became engaged and it was the first time I ever wore my ring. He gave it to me about an hour before the party. This last anniversary he gave me the old menu from Glen's which he had found at an antique store not far from the old building sight. That menu was the best present I remember in all these 39 years.

Tony's Via Roma - on NW expressway. It was a unique Italian restaurant and the lobby was filled with black and white photos of Tony's family working in the kitchen. The restaurant itself was filled with white tablecloths with lots of padding underneath - funny the things that stick in my mind. On each table was a drip candle in a wine bottle with the lower half of the bottle covered with a basket weave. I still have one in the top of my pantry covered with vibrant colors of wax. The lighting was always turned down low to give it that exotic ambiance. Off to the sides were small rooms that could be closed off with heavy floor to ceiling velvet drapes. When our daughter was about 6 months old we thought we could take her and our 3 year old son there without causing too much commotion. WRONG! Our son was wonderful being such a gentleman, but our baby daughter decided that was the night to throw a fit in a big way. We put her in the highchair and immediately her little legs went stiff. It was quite a struggle, but finally we shoved her in there. Again, wrong thing to do. This just made her mad and I do mean mad. She started crying, not just a whimper, but an all out scream. We knew that our evening was ruined because we could not allow her screaming and crying to disturb the other patrons. We should have just left, but we had already ordered. Hubby was generous enough to let me and our son eat our meals while he went to the the car with that little screaming monster. In a few minutes he brought her back thinking that maybe she was calm enough to salvage just a bit of our night out. Wrong again! By this time I had finished eating so I took her and our little angel of a son (for he was just an angel that night) to car while hubby ate his room temperature Italian food. Looking back I think she was probably upset that the lights were so low...all the better for us to slink out of the restaurant had it not been for a screaming 6 month old. You cannot slink with a crying baby. What a night, but what a memory that is still talked about 33 years later.

Another great restaurant was The Captain's Table, about 1/2 mile west of NW 23rd and McArthur. As the name implies, it was a beautiful seafood restaurant on the 6th floor. It had floor to ceiling windows and you could see McDonald's in the distance. We took my high school age sister there once and when we asked her how she liked her lobster, she said it was ok, but would as soon be at McDonald's having a burger! Ingrate! Believe me, she likes lobster now.

Zamudio's, an early Mexican restaurant in Midwest City was one of our favorites. I could tell many, many stories about this place. When I turned 21 years old, the girls from the office (Tinker AFB) took me there for lunch to celebrate. Among all the presents I opened was one they had pooled their money for. They couldn't wait till I opened this one and were pretty vocal about letting everyone at the other tables know it was my birthday. I unwrapped it to find the most beautiful aqua colored negligee. But.......it was no ordinary negligee; oh no, not from the girls in the office. It might as well been made of gauze because that is how see through it was. I was so embarrassed. The girls just had a hey day with it. They loved to tease the little farm girl from Prague. Back in those days, almost everything embarrassed me so that I would turn beet red and opening that present was no exception especially when I saw a man at the next table wink at me. Oh the humilitation of it!

Across the Street was located where the Chequers is now on Air Depot. They had great Spaghetti Red, spaghetti with chili on top, and a great chef salad.

Lum's - located at the corner of 15th and Midwest Blvd had great shaved ham and shaved roast beef sandwiches. The meats were on a large skewer not unlike gyro places today.

Der Dutchman - seafood restaurant with several locations. One finally came to Midwest City where the first Henry Hudson's was at the corner of Key Blvd and 15th street. Now the building is complete gone and there is a new 7-11. Every Monday night they had a peel and eat shrimp special. It was served in a metal pie pan filled with crushed ice and dozens of shrimp. And their hot hush puppies. Yummmm

Kip's - located at the corner of 15th and Air Depot was one of our regular places. They had a great hamburger special consisting of a salad, French fries, and a hamburger with a special sauce and slice of bread right in the center. Can you believe I only weighed about 110 pounds then eating that?

Adam's Rib was located where Mandarin is now on 29th about 1 block East of Sunnylane and one of the first barbeque places I remember.

El Chico's in Shepherd Mall was a busy place back in the day. It was across the walkway from a movie theater and became a favorite place while dating. It was also the first Mexican food I had ever eaten and that was in 1964. We had a Future Homemakes of America convention at the Civic Center and then our bus took us to the new mall...a first for most of us Prague girls.

Sirloin Stockade was another Tinker lunch place long since defunct. It was the first time I ever ate a rare steak. One of my girl friends made me close my eyes before she gave me a piece of her steak. I must admit with my eyes closed, her steak tasted better than mine well done.

There are so many places we liked over the years which are now out of business. Such a shame that we cannot go back just one last time to our favorite, Glen's Hickory Inn. We now have other favorites which I will post someday and tell you the reason. Some reasons, like the restaurants of the past, don't have anything to do with the food. Love to you all!