El Chico Cafe (OK)

I recently traveled to Oklahoma-- one of the 5 states (MA, RI, TX, OK, and now NY) where I have lived my fabulous life, to welcome my Very First Nephew to the world. This week's posts are all about the yumminess I got to eat while there. Hey, a girl's gotta eat, even if it's around the very demanding schedule of a baby in no particular rush to get here!

While I was initially dragged kicking and screaming (okay, more like sulking and crying) from Massachusetts to Oklahoma, I have to admit the state gave me my love for Tex-Mex and spicy foods (along with some amazing friends whom I still treasure). In fact, a chain restaurant still holds the title of best chimichanga in my book: El Chico. I love this dish so much, I actually went there THREE times in one week! THREE. TIMES.

Let's start at the beginning though: El Chico is famous for their flaky crispy chips and salsa. The salsa is rich,  tomato-ey (sp?) and has a decent, peppery kick. It won't burn off your tongue, but you will feel a nice prickly heat. The chips are the perfect consistency: not too large, just thin enough. Okay, they may occasionally the break off in the salsa, but I prefer that to crunching through too-thick chips.

My sister opted for the chimichanga trio, which came with cheese, beef & chicken. Don't be fooled--these are good, yes, but not as craveable as my must-order dish! Confession (I secretly hoped this spicy food would kick my sister into labor. No dice. Stubborn baby!!)

ALL MINE!

Mmm...oozy.

El Chico makes an outrageously spectacular chicken fajita chimichanga. It's filled with seasoned chicken fajita  meat,  Monterey Jack cheese, and fresh crunchy bits of green jalapeno. The chimichanga manages to be crispy, yet not greasy. The cheesy filling oozes out of it in the most delicious way. I tried chimichangas at many different restaurants, and they just don't compare to this one. Yes, it's a chain, with locations in several states, but the consistency of the deliciousness is what wins it for me at El Chico.

The fact that their house margarita is 20 ounces for $5.55 (!!) that certainly doesn't hurt either!

A few days later, my mutha &  I slipped out of the hospital for a much-needed meal. My mother told my sister 'Don't you dare have that baby while we're gone,' (she didn't!) and then we zipped down to the Promenade Mall location of El Chico.

This place is maddeningly dark inside, but service was quick and efficient. I ordered the same thing: house rita & chicken fajita chimichanga. There's a slight difference in presentation here: no tortilla cup of queso, no squiggle of chipotle on the chimichanga, and the refried beans are puréed (whereas at the BA location, it was half purée, half whole beans). Good, but it's maybe just not quite as cracktastic. I still ate almost all of it, but the Broken Arrow location is the tops to me.

If you have room at the end (and I only did once), share the sizzing skillet apple pie, which has a brandy butter sauce. Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaacktastic! I believe they used to serve it with vanilla ice cream instead of the current cinnamon-- I liked the vanilla version better. Oooh! That brandy butter sauce..

This was my first meal in Tulsa, and one of my last. I went here three times in a week, people. THREE TIMES. And I got the same thing everytime: chicken fajita chimichanga. ZOMG.
(They have 3 locations in the Tulsa area, but the Broken Arrow one listed below is by far the best!)

El Chico Cafe

732 W New Orleans St Broken Arrow, OK 74011

(918) 451-0633

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Andolini's Pizza (OK)

I recently traveled to Oklahoma-- one of the 5 states (MA, RI, TX, OK, and now NY) where I have lived my fabulous life, to welcome my Very First Nephew to the world. This week's posts are all about the yumminess I got to eat while there. Hey, a girl's gotta eat, even if it's around the very demanding schedule of a baby in no particular rush to get here!

Towards the end of my trip (Nephewpalooza 2013), I went out for a meal of New York style pizza with my mother and friend of hers, who is a former New Yorker herself. They were excited to bring me to Andolini's, a pizza place started by two brothers from New York. New York style pizza in the middle of "Amurica?" Bring it to my skeptical tastebuds!

We started with the strikingly presented antipasti plate-- which came beautifully arranged prosciutto twirled to look like Roses. Prosciutto rosettes! Rich, thick, sweet balsamic vinegar was drizzled all over the plate of fresh tomatoes and mozzarella.
I happily ate some sweet briny olives and delicious roasted red peppers, but left the mushrooms for the other ladies.

You have plenty of options at Andolini's, but we ended up choosing the Vesuvio: smoked mozzarella and diced chicken breast with, of course, red sauce. I love me some red sauce! (I mean I LUUUURV it-- would happily eat it with a spoon right out of the bowl! Dinner!)

Coming from NYC, where excellent pizza is everywhere (and even the dollar-slice joints are often damn decent), I was a quite skeptical, but this pizza was delicious. The crust was light, airy, toothsome and not greasy AT all. I had two slices and enjoyed every crispy, delicious bite.

Andolini's also has some great outdoor seating on the side street, away from the busier bustle of Cherry Street. It was a bit too chilly for us to sit outside that day, but there were still a lot of people there.

Rufus would love a bite...

But the true test of Andolini's? How it fared as next-day leftovers. I heated up a slice of the Vesuvio pizza in a pan and I swear it was even more delicious. The flavors had marinated marvelously and the crust was still crispy and chewy- I can't believe how good this was. Doubting Thomas= convinced!

I couldn't get over how much the food scene certainly has changed since I lived there (more than a decade ago now), and of course, of course. If you're looking for a family-friendly spot for pizza, or just a great spot with friends or dates I give Andolini's two thumbs up. Save some red sauce for me!

Andolini's Pizza
1552 E 15th St
Tulsa, OK 74120
(918) 728-6111

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Gigi's Cupcakes (OK)

I recently traveled to Oklahoma-- one of the 5 states (MA, RI, TX, OK, and now NY) where I have lived my fabulous life, to welcome my Very First Nephew to the world. This week's posts are all about the yumminess I got to eat while there. Hey, a girl's gotta eat, even if it's around the very demanding schedule of a baby in no particular rush to get here!

After our lunch at Rib Crib (that post here), Holly and I wanted something sweet. She said she suggested Gigi's Cupcakes, a store that just happened to be on the way to her house. Easy peasy! We walked in and the smell of fresh vanilla and baked goods surrounded us in the most delectable way.

PEEPS!

There were lots of Spring & Easter-themed cupcakes-- they have a lot of fun keeping up with the seasons/holidays! Peeps cupcakes!

We ordered four of the cupcakes, which tower high and tantalizingly with delicious buttercream frosting. I was taken in by the beauty of the wedding cupcake, a miniature version of a wedding cake with more frosting frankly than cupcake.

Holly's favorite is the margarita cupcake, and I was delighted to learn she would share some with me! It has lime frosting and sugar crystals on top. We also picked up a banana pudding and a S'Mores.
The wedding cake was good, and I love frosting, but that was too much frosting even for me. However that's an easy problem to solve: just don't eat it all! The cupcake was delicious; light and moist with rich vanilla frosting.
I didn't try the S'mores cupcake, but I did try the banana pudding one the very next day. It was good, but my favorite part actually was the banana pudding inside. Holy tastesplosion-- that was so delicious, they should sell it separately on its own. Oh my goodness I wish there were more of that delicious pudding filling.

The margarita cupcake, however, stole the show. This is super moist with the perfect sweet and sour flavor combination. Not too sour, balanced with a sweet tartness, and the frosting was just perfect. It had just the right amount of sweetness and the dusting of sugar crystals gave it a nice crunch. Once again, Holly picks a winner. I'd go back and get this one!

Overall Gigi's cupcakes are delicious, are beautifully presented and yes, I love the extra frosting. I realize some people might not like that so much -you can always scrape off the frosting that you don't want. What a lovely problem to have!

Gigi's Cupcakes
14101 N. May Ave.
Oklahoma City, OK
(405) 286-6200

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Rib Crib (OK)

I recently traveled to OK (one of the 5 states where I have lived my fabulous life) to welcome my Very First Nephew to the world. This week's posts are all about the yumminess I got to eat while there. Hey, a girl's gotta eat, even if it's around the very demanding schedule of a baby in no particular rush to get here!

Rib Crib is a chain that actually started in Tulsa, I believe in the 90s, and yet I had never been there until I went with my friend Holly. I squeezed in a quick visit with her in Edmond (a suburb of Oklahoma City) the week my new nephew arrived!

I started with their spiked cherry limeade which, to my surprise, is blue. It has Blue Curaçao in it. Why not? It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it was sweet, delicious, and went down way too quickly.

Holly says she doesn't normally have a "usual" dish at most places, but at Rib Crib she does: the chicken nachos. They're actually an appetizer, but they're big enough for person has an entrée. These have a smattering of banana peppers on top, and I am a sucker for banana peppers. So yeah, I had two bites of this. If I were a regular at Rib Crib, this would be my usual, too.

This menu is huge, and it took me a good 10 minutes to mull over my dizzying options. I ended up getting the club sandwich: smoked chicken and pulled pork on three slices of bread. This sammich was huge, and I ended up taking out some of the bread just to make it easier to actually eat.

The pulled pork was delicious but the smoked chicken was by far my favorite part of that sandwich.

I'm not really a fries person, either, but their seasoned fries were delightfully crispy & flavorful and I ate way more than I planned on eating, so that's three thumbs up for them!




The service was excellent, the food was delicious, and the prices are affordable. Get some chicken nachos and thank me later!

Seriously-- chicken nachos, y'all.
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Rib Crib
2601 S Broadway
Edmond, OK 73013
(405) 513-5883

Sara Sara Cupcakes

Despite being absolutely stuffed from the Iguana Grill, our lunch party took a (super-short) walk next door to Sara Sara Cupcakes. LaShauna had told me about this place a lonnnng time ago, and it was definitely on our trip roster. Keep in mind that I had to fly out of OKC early the next morning to get back to work, so we were on a tight timeframe. I wish I'd had more time so I hadn't been so stuffed, and so I could have visited with so many other people in OK!

Sara Sara is in an old house, painted bright white inside with matching furniture and decor. Bright, funky, fun. If only it weren't for the developing storm in the background, I might have relaxed a little bit more. As we ordered cupcakes, which I could barely imagine eating at the moment, thunder was rumbling in the distance and growing ever closer. I noticed, and I wasn't super thrilled!

We looked at the tall display case of sweet offerings, and as I was still stuffed to the gills with chimichanga, I let ABF do the picking. He chose the Crimson & Cream (a sort of red velvet, I believe) and the Vanilla cupcake with Vanilla icing. He also got a glass of ice cold milk--we were surprised to see regular milk, chocolate and strawberry available (don't tell Jamie Oliver!)

As we made our way back to the table, I saw 'looks' on LaShauna & Gene's faces as they watched me take a seat. I stopped in my tracks and said "What?" That's when I heard the sirens. Awesome (as in NOT awesome). I stepped outside and saw a sight I haven't seen in a good 10 years or so--grey-black skies, the wind whipping up the undersides of leaves on the trees, and the unsettling wail of tornado sirens( Click the video below for an earful of what we heard that day).

Yeah. This is one of the things I will never miss about living in Oklahoma. I do believe it was ABF's first experience, and God bless him, he was enjoying it. He thought it was cool (I did NOT!) and even called his parents from the porch of Sara Sara, telling them to turn on the Weather Channel. I was thinking "oh Geez, they're going to wonder where in the heck I brought their son," but apparently they all got a kick out of it! Fortunately my mother didn't realize how close I was to the storm's center, and I wasn't about to tell her. Until now, of course. (Hi, Mom! Everything turned out fine, even if it sounded awful for wayyyy too long!) More storm sounds in the footage below--just click play!

We waited through the booming thunder, the insane lighting, and even the sudden hailstorm. I must admit it was very hard to think about cupcakes at this point. I was thinking along the lines of 'Listen for the freight train sound and find a place to go!' Happily, it never came to that. Tornadoes touched down in areas around us and unfortunately, caused awful damage, but we were safe.

On to less life-threatening matters: the cupcakes.... If you're not a huge frosting fan, this is the perfect cupcake for you! It has just enough icing for most people, I think (I am a frosting fiend and love the frosting at NYC's Magnolia, Buttercup BakeShop, and above all, Little Cupcake Bakeshop!) The crimson & cream was good; I enjoyed the moist cupcake part, but not the odd icing, which was more of a slick sour cream frosting than the tangy sour cream buttercream I'm used to with a typical red velvet. I'm weird, though, so keep that in mind.

The vanilla/vanilla combo was a win/win, however. The cake part was light, strong but not overpowering vanilla flavor, and the icing was yummy. The texture was interesting--it had a grainy sort of texture to it, as if maybe the sugar crystals weren't completely whipped into the frosting. I liked it a lot.

These cupcakes tasted fresh, weren't too sweet, no overkill on the icing, and the store is just charming. The cupcakes are $3.25 each, which is actually more than most cupcakes here in NYC, but if you're in the area, I think they're worth a trip. I do prefer the cupcakes I've had at my favorite local shops, but these are still good! I'll have to swing back one of these days and try another one when I'm a little less distracted by the impending fury of Nature! Thanks again to LaShauna for putting Sara Sara on my radar!

Iguana Grill

My trip to Oklahoma was chaotic at best! It was for Jenezuela's wedding, and the days leading up to the wedding kept me busy. The day after the wedding, ABF and I packed all our stuff in the car and we drove allll the way out to Tulsa so ABF could finally meet my mom and sister (post coming soon!), then we drove back to stay with my friend LaShauna.

LS set up plans on Monday for a quick lunch in OKC with a former coworker of ours, Gene the Edit Machine. ABF gamely came along for the ride. We hit up Iguana Grill and settled in for a late lunch.

First things first: LOOK at the size of the water glasses there!!! What!??! It is literally, actually, truly as big as my head. You're welcome. :)

Since I wasn't driving, I ordered their spicy margarita, which had a swirl of salsa in it (Update--Gene just reminded me it was called the Coral Snake!) Holy sombrero, Batman, this was SUPER spicy. Just one sip and the heat cascaded through me. It was great for the sinuses, because I was having an allergy attack/cold of some sort trying to set up camp in my head, and this just kicked it right out for a little while. It was so spicy, just right, and it also took a long time to drink, so yay on all points! You know I do like spicy things!

We started off with the chips, salsa, and some guacamole. The guacamole was good, but it could have used another few squeezes of fresh lime juice. Still, I enjoyed the presentation (in the hollowed out avocado peels) and everybody got a good sampling of it. This was totally mild, but still interesting. The salsa was super-chilled, but very tasty and fresh, with lots of black pepper. The white corn tortilla chips were super crunchy.

I ordered the adobo chicken chimichanga...I used to love chimichangas, but it's tough to find a really good one outside of OK/TX. Or rather, tough to find a good one here on the East Coast. I was all over this one! It said it came with a chipotle sour cream sauce--YES PLEASE! I also got the cilantro-infused white beans, which the server recommended.

The beans were deliciously smoky, onion-y and flavorful, and the cilantro infusion was awesome. The server did not steer me wrong here!

The chimichanga was pretty good, but I wish it had been a little more crispy. The chipotle sour cream was very mild...I couldn't even taste the smoky heat I so love in my chipotles, but it was still delicious.

ABF got the enchiladas and the green rice, which I believe had cilantro and spinach. He was quite happy with his dish. I think he might have been the most satisfied customer at our table. That man knows how to order!

Gene also got the enchiladas. We were so busy laughing about old times at our former station, KOTV, that I didn't get his full review, but I think he liked his dish, too. Update--Gene liked his food but wished it were more spicy--I couldn't agree more! MORE HEAT!

I know LaShauna liked her dish, the crab BLT taco (which also came with those delicious cilantro beans), but we were all surprised to see that the dish comes with one, SINGLE taco. Really? Two would have been better. It was a surprisingly skimpy portion for the dish. Delicious, but not a lot. She also enjoyed a sangria swirl margarita.

Overall, we had great food at super-affordable prices (lunch special goes til 4, people, FOUR P.M.!) and walked away super-stuffed and super-hydrated (I mean really--those water glasses? INSANELY HUGE!) I would definitely recommend it to others, and might just have to come back one of these days when I have a much less hectic trip planned!