Is Cattleman's' about the best steakhouse?

[citizenkane]

The Ranch and Boulevard Steakhouse are excellent. Also, La Baguette's "Filet au Poivre" is very good. To tell you the truth, I don't think Cattleman's has very good steaks.

[beatlebutt81]

I much prefer Outback

[Midtowner]

You want a good steak, go to CafeNOVA and get their cocoa beef, it is about THE best steak I have ever had. Many of you know although I know John Paul Merritt and the DFG, I wasn't particularly fond of liking this place because of the whole "Bachelor" vibe I got. I've learned to absolutely love the food here and the atmosphere is next to none in OKC. I also hear Mahoghany Steak House on Memorial Rd. is a very nice steak.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Cimarron Steak House at 201 N. Meridian. For the money, you can't beat the price to portion here.

As for Cafe Nova -- completely agree.

Nothing better than that steak.

[zuluwarrior0760]

I too have noticed a REMARKABLE decline in Cattleman's.

Ate there a few weeks ago and the atmosphere was about all that was left. Even the lambfries were not as I remembered them...

What can I say, it happens.

Western Sizzlin I frequent from time to time, but only for the buffet. Their steaks always tasted way too "salty" to me...

Newtons, Cheever's, Eddies....all get top grades imo..

BUT:

The best steak I've ever had in my LIFE!!!

A place called Tenaya Restaurant and Big Game...
in Irving, Texas...

Had to go there for a business meeting on time and ordered the tamest thing on the menu "steak"....
and I do not know what they season it with, or marinate it in....but I've never forgotten it...

If you're down around Dallas, give them a try....

[Doug Loudenback]

Man, Glen's Hikry Inn - what memories that brings back. They used to have a Sunday smorgasbord you wouldn't believe. They had wonderful steaks cooked right out in the big middle of the dining area.

It was dimly lit for a quiet, wonderful atmosphere with real linen napkins and tablecloths, unlimited fresh blueberry muffins, and a scent that would just spin you right into heaven if you got too much of it. I don't know if you can ever truly recapture the spirit of a Glen's; seems like that era is passed. What a shame. Wish someone knew how to give it a try..

I actually believe the placed had already been closed for some time when it burned down, because the fire (IIRC) was traced to the area near a deceased vagrant they found whom was presumed to have perished in the fire. As I recall (correct me if I'm wrong) officials suspected he had broken in to avoid the cold, started smoking a cigarette and fell asleep with it still burning.

Glen's was truly an OKC treasure. Never be anything like it again.

-SoonerDave

Yeah, that's where I learned to love lots of garlic on good rare beef! Mmmmm ...

Does anyone have a pic of the old Glen's? I'd love to use it in a blog article.

[Doug Loudenback]

I don't think La Baguette's has been mentioned, so I will.

Perhaps the best steak I have ever sunk my teeth into was at the La Baguette Bistro & Bakery at 7408 N May. It was a filet with a juicy portebello mushroom on top ... cooked rare just the way it should be. It was to die for!

It has a nice website, but would be better if it had a menu: http://www.labaguettebistro.com/

[writerranger]

Best steak I ever had was the Chicago Chop House in downtown Chicago.

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[Doug Loudenback]

Yeah, that's where I learned to love lots of garlic on good rare beef! Mmmmm ...

Does anyone have a pic of the old Glen's? I'd love to use it in a blog article.

I had the good fortune of purchasing the Vanished Splendor 3 volume set last week. Yea! I've been looking for the set for awhile now, so now I don't have to borrow someone else's!

Anyway, Vol. 2 contains this old postcard of Glen's (not Glenn's as I'd said before):



The same volume also contains several postcards of other restaurants gone by. I'm looking for the Beverly's thread, writerranger, to post a pic and ask you a question ...

[Martin]

vanishing splendor is a really great set. in fact, doug, i bought all three a few months ago at a local bookstore after seeing some of the pics you had posted from it!

while i like cattlemen's, this past weekend i really missed the cafe that they had opened up across the parking lot. some of that homestyle food just seemed as if it'd hit the spot. -M

[Doug Loudenback]

vanishing splendor is a really great set. in fact, doug, i bought all three a few months ago at a local bookstore after seeing some of the pics you had posted from it!

while i like cattlemen's, this past weekend i really missed the cafe that they had opened up across the parking lot. some of that homestyle food just seemed as if it'd hit the spot. -M

Where did you get them?! I looked high and low in bookstores (I thought)! I certainly recommend them, most highly!

I thought there was a Beverly's thread here, but I couldn't find it ... so I'll just post this here:

In my blog article on Beverly's, http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2006/07...-in-rough.html , writerranger said:

Oh, Beverly's also had a "Gridiron" location at 12th and Walker.

Vanished Splendor Vol 2 says the same, "... Beverly's Gridioron at 1207 North Walker ...", and shows this postcard, left, below. The "Beverly's Gridiron" is under the upper left image in the card. The right pic shows Taste of the Caribbean, which I took this morning. It is also in the 1200 block on the east side of the street, but on Hudson instead of Walker.



The resemblance would be more striking had I taken the right pic north of the building (but a car was behind me ... you know?).

I'm just wondering it the Hudson building and the Gridiron Beverly's might be the same thing, and that the Walker address might be a mistake?

Writerranger? Anyone?

[Martin]

since this is a cattlemen's thread, it's a funny coincidence that the bookstore i got them from is in the stockyards. i found volume one online in colorado, but ended up getting them locally when i found all three after only going to about five places in the metro. i guess i was lucky! they are great books. -M

[Doug Loudenback]

Following up on the Beverly's/Caribbean query, here's a pic I took this afternoon from the north side of Taste of Caribbean, for comparison to the "Beverly's Gridiorn" shown above, said to be on Walker:



The pics certainly aren't identical, but the old postcard was probably made in the 1930's and lots could have happened since then!

Anyone know if the 2 facilities are/are not the same?

[The Old Downtown Guy]

Doug, My personal recollection of this building (#37) only goes back to the early 70s when it was The Busy Bee Cafe. I don't believe it was ever a Beverly's location.

In #35, I think you have the locations of the Grill and the Gridiron reversed in your text. The building with the round window next to the entrance was Beverly's first OKC location at 209 West Grand (now Sheridan)just west of the Colcord and that's how it is described in Vanished Splendor II. I recall that building being there as late as the early 60's. It went down when urban renewal cleared most of that block for the site of the never constructed galleria.

The building that is described as being at 1207 N. Walker is actually still standing. It's on the west side of Walker in the block just North of Plaza Court. There are three or four other interesting small buildings on that block too, all of which are in rather poor shape, but as Midtown makes its comeback, perhaps the buildings will too. It would be great if the owner of the last remaining Beverly's at Penn and NW Expressway opened a second location in the old 1207 N Walker building.

Also, I believe that the 1207 Walker location preceeded Beverly's final (I think final) but much larger flagship "Home of The Big Bev Burger" restaurant at NW23rd Street and Classen. It was very similar in design with a sloped canopy and clestory windows on the north side of the high ceiling dining room.

Beverly Osborne was quite a horseman and for several years following his death, a custom saddle of his, emblazoned with the "Chicken In The Rough" logo was displayed at Ned's Western Wear in Stockyards just across the parking lot south of Cattleman's. So all of this has sort of come full circle.

[The Old Downtown Guy]

vanishing splendor is a really great set. in fact, doug, i bought all three a few months ago at a local bookstore after seeing some of the pics you had posted from it!

Fabulous rare book find mmm. I have seen those out of print three book sets on e-bay priced at around $250 and that was a few years back.

[Doug Loudenback]

Doug, My personal recollection of this building (#37) only goes back to the early 70s when it was The Busy Bee Cafe. I don't believe it was ever a Beverly's location.

Yes, on reflection, I agree that they are not the same building. I'll look tomorrow at the Walker location and take a pic ... it would need to be on the west side of the street and not the east, as I'd thought earlier.

In #35, I think you have the locations of the Grill and the Gridiron reversed in your text. The building with the round window next to the entrance was Beverly's first OKC location at 209 West Grand (now Sheridan)just west of the Colcord and that's how it is described in Vanished Splendor II. I recall that building being there as late as the early 60's. It went down when urban renewal cleared most of that block for the site of the never constructed galleria.

OH! You mean my "other left"! :tweeted: In the text I posted earlier this afternoon at the revised blog entry about this pic, I said, there,

Here are a few more pics - the 1st shows the "drive-in" as well as 2 other Beverly's in Oklahoma City, Beverly's Grill (downtown, 209 W. Grand ... now Sheridan, the original Beverly's) and Beverly's Gridiron (the source says 1207 N. Walker)...

so at least I got it right there! http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2006/07...-in-rough.html

The building that is described as being at 1207 N. Walker is actually still standing. It's on the west side of Walker in the block just North of Plaza Court. There are three or four other interesting small buildings on that block too, all of which are in rather poor shape, but as Midtown makes its comeback, perhaps the buildings will too. It would be great if the owner of the last remaining Beverly's at Penn and NW Expressway opened a second location in the old 1207 N Walker building.

For sure! She either has or is about to open such a thing in the Wiley Post Heritage of Flight Center: http://www.wileypost.com/links/cir.html . I've not been out there to see, though.

Also, I believe that the 1207 Walker location preceeded Beverly's final (I think final) but much larger flagship "Home of The Big Bev Burger" restaurant at NW23rd Street and Classen. It was very similar in design with a sloped canopy and clestory windows on the north side of the high ceiling dining room.

Yes, I certainly remember it.

Beverly Osborne was quite a horseman and for several years following his death, a custom saddle of his, emblazoned with the "Chicken In The Rough" logo was displayed at Ned's Western Wear in Stockyards just across the parking lot south of Cattleman's. So all of this has sort of come full circle.

Just as it should! Thanks for the great info!

Do you know if there were Beverly's in OKC other than those already mentioned?

[Doug Loudenback]

Fabulous rare book find mmm. I have seen those out of print three book sets on e-bay priced at around $250 and that was a few years back.

Isn't that the truth. In some quick googling, one can get Vanished Spendor II here for $80 plus shipping: http://www.tomfolio.com/bookdetailss...=Howe050&m=220 , Vol I for about $125 (see http://www.allbookstores.com/book/compare/0910453012 ). Plus, mmm got the set as a unit and got to see before buying!

[The Old Downtown Guy]

I don't recall any Beverly's locations other than the ones you have covered Doug. I don't think he ever ventured south or east.

Excellent posts Doug. Beverly's is a great example of middle of the road priced local cusine done with style and an appreciation of food. I don't ever remember hearing him refer to any of his restaurants as stores or the fine food he served his clientel as product.

Also, anyone that ever occupied a seat at the counter of the 23rd & Classen location will recall Nell, the waitress that covered that station for about 25 years.

[Doug Loudenback]

Following up on the Walker Beverly's here's the pic I took this morning which proves the tale ... just as TODTG said, there it is ...



It's direcly west across the street from the Osler Building.

Ha! The joke's on me! I drive by this location 2 or 3 times a week on my way home from work!

[quailcreekgal]

When I was a kid there was nothing better than a Big Bev burger and a chocolate milkshake with my grandfather at the 23rd and Classen location.....and I have the thighs to prove it!:tweeted:

[MadMonk]

I don't think La Baguette's has been mentioned, so I will.

Perhaps the best steak I have ever sunk my teeth into was at the La Baguette Bistro & Bakery at 7408 N May. It was a filet with a juicy portebello mushroom on top ... cooked rare just the way it should be. It was to die for!

It has a nice website, but would be better if it had a menu: http://www.labaguettebistro.com/

I checked out their website and they do have a menu. Click on the Bistro link and choose Brunch or Lunch/Dinner. Here's the link for lunch/dinner. The Croque Monsieur sandwich is my favorite, but I haven't had the Filet Portofino you mentioned.
http://www.labaguettebistro.com/dinner.php