Eating Our Way Around Tulsa, Oklahoma

We knew almost nothing about Tulsa when we arrived, but it didn’t take long to discover the wonderful food the city has to offer. We only got a small taste but it’s enough to bring us back for many more visits. Here are the places we tried.

Siegi’s Sausage Factory

Our first meal in town was carry out from Siegi’s Sausage Factory, a restaurant and sausage factory started by a fifth generation sausage maker from Austria. Unfortunately, we were so hungry that we didn’t get any pictures of dinner. My sister in law’s husband strongly suggested we try the Hungarian Goulasch and I’m so glad we took his advice! It had a luscious deep meaty flavor. We also split a sausage plate four ways so that we could each try different sausages and, of course, mustard. Each of them was so delicious I found it impossible to pick a favorite. We each got a side of red cabbage that was also incredible. By the end we were stuffed and very, very happy.

Oklahoma Joes

I don’t want to start a fight but I know recommending a place for barbecue can do that. I grew with North Carolina style barbecue, but, I’ve been to Texas enough times to fully appreciate their way with meat and Oklahoma Joe’s comes close to my experience with Texas barbecue. We split a large order of burnt ends, which despite the name, are chunks of pork so tender they literally melt in your mouth and the sauce was the stuff of my dreams! It was dark and deeply flavored making it a perfect compliment to the meat. Our sides included baked beans made with several different kinds of beans in a rich flavorful sauce; sweet potato fries that were crunchy on the outside and creamy inside; and green beans that were perfectly seasoned.

Andolini Sliced

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Andolini Pizzeria is a local chain several locations and a food truck. But, Andolini Sliced is a bit different from the other locations. Pizza can be purchased by the slice and the options are phenomenal! You can choose Tulsa style, Roman style square sliced with a thick crust cooked in an electric oven, A big thin foldable New York style slice, or Napoletana which has a thin crust cooked in a very hot wood-fired oven and only available as a whole 12 inch pie.

We tried two slices of the Vegetarian Maximus Roman square slice and the Margherita Napoletana. The Vegetarian Maximus had mozzarella cheese, potato, mushroom, black olives, cherry tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil. The crust was thick but still crunchy on the bottom just like the pizza we had in Rome. We got the Margherita because it’s my favorite kind of pizza but it also let’s me see what a pizza maker can do with simple ingredients. Andolini’ s uses San Marzano tomatoes, house made mozzarella and fresh basil. When cooked in a wood fired oven at over 900 degrees the result is simply amazing. The crust is crusty and a little charred on the bottom but still pillowy inside the edges. The sauce tastes like fresh tomatoes and the gooey mozzarella creates long strings when you pick up each slice. It’s no wonder Andolini’s is considered one of the best pizzeria’s in the country.

Braum’s

I have to finish with dessert, right? And no trip to Oklahoma would be complete without a trip to Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Store.

Braum’s started in Oklahoma and has now grown to have stores in five states. They are an ice cream shop, hamburger restaurant and convenience store. We had to give them a try, but we steered clear of the insane looking sundaes (they looked amazing, though!). We each got chocolate frozen yogurt in a waffle cone. The frozen yogurt was creamy and very chocolatey but the waffle cone was the real star. It was lightly sweet and lightly crunchy with that perfect caramelized flavor.

We’ve learned that Tulsa has way more good food than we could try in one visit. I’m looking forward to coming back and trying more. If you know a good place in Tulsa we should try on our next visit, let us know in the comments.