Into the deep fryer (OK-KS-AR-MO)

Inspired by DaBeef's road adventures, I decided to do a post like his (but no small pictures!). I just came back from a 5 day trip for my girlfriend's 21st high school reunion (not sure how they missed their 20th). Since she was flying from Friday to Monday morning, I decided to go a day earlier, leave Monday evening and take advantage of what that area had to offer. In this case, it was food and Route 66 for me. I really enjoy driving around on these small roads and getting a big slice of Americana. My family were never the type to take road trips. It was always fly to Florida, Las Vegas, or Palm Springs - stay by the hotel or house, maybe golf, lay out by a pool and that's it. So I have a lot of driving to make up for all those years.

So I landed in Tulsa where I would be staying the first night. The plan was to drive Route 66 to Kansas, cut over to Joplin to check out the tornado damage, have dinner in Pittsburg, KS at the two chicken joints they have there, and drive back to Tulsa.

I wanted one thing when I got to Oklahoma - their state dish, chicken fried steak. I did my research on who did it best in Tulsa, and after going back and forth for a while, I decided to go to Nelson's Ranch House. Nelson's Buffeteria was a Tulsa institution since 1929, but closed in 2004 due to the decline of the downtown businesses. However, the grandson opened his place a few years ago, although it looked like it had been there a long time (which is good or bad depending on your view). The Ranch House has the same food as the Buffeteria. You wait in line, and they ask you what you want. Every time someone gets a chicken fried steak, the server yells "Hello, Chicken Fry!" It's a tradition. You get two sides and bread (roll, biscuit, or corn bread).


Get in line


Chicken Fried Steak - They put the gravy on the plate, lay the steak down, then more gravy. I loved it. They have white pepper in the gravy, so it has a nice kick. I asked for a side bowl of more gravy for my biscuit. No sausage gravy in sight!


After that, I headed down Route 66 for the first time. Even though it starts in Illinois, I had never driven on it for any length of time. There was plenty of history I got to see along the way.

The Blue Whale was a gift from a man to his wife and was a swimming hole until the late 80's. It was nasty down there. Lots of bugs, and very unpleasant. Keep in mind that temperature was in the shade and it would get hotter.


A hot day!



I took my time driving up 66 and stopped for a couple hours in Afton, where there is a former 1930's gas station turned into an information center and free classic auto museum with mainly Packards. The guy who was running it was fun to talk to. He said I just missed a group of 29 Australians that were doing Route 66! It's cool to look at the guest books on the route to see where people came from that day. Figures that the one person I met on the route that I talked to by the blue whale was from Joliet!

Former DX Station - Afton, OK



That red truck is a 1917 Packard Motor Home!



I then drove on the oldest segment of Route 66. They only had a limited amount of money to build the road in that area, so they decided to make it one lane and make it go twice as far! The white is not paint, those are the original curbs. This is the actual pre-1926 roadbed. The route changed alignments not long after that. It was in the middle of nowhere. That's my rental car in the photo.



It was getting later than I thought and I started to realize that I would not have enough time to reach Joplin and Pittsburg. Since the chicken joints closed by 8:30, I decided to postpone Joplin until another day and I went straight for Pittsburg. I'm glad I did as it took a lot longer than I thought. When I was looking at my phone GPS I couldn't believe what it was telling me. It said the restaurants were in the middle of absolutely nowhere on a backroad. As I was driving to find them, I really felt this was a mistake, there is no way they'd be out here. But sure enough, there they were -two big restaurants, side by side, on a desolate country backroad. I wanted to try these two places since seeing them on the Food Wars show on TV. First up was Chicken Mary's, the winner of the Food War.




The restaurant was dirty and felt old. They bring you some slices of white bread to start (Oooh! Thrilling - not!). I started with some onion strings (a huge order). I was kicking myself at the same time as I reminded myself that I was going to be eating two dinners back to back. Anyway, the onion strings were ok, a little salty. Then came my dinner, 2 pieces of white. The whole meal was average at best. I was really let down by this. I was expecting some of the best fried chicken ever and it was mediocre. I was not looking forward to it's partner in crime, Chicken Annie's. But I had to try it since I was there.

Chicken Mary's



Next!


Similar theme in this restauant, old, dirty, tired. It was around 8:00 so there wasn't too many people left. I ordered the exact same meal. When it came out, I laughed as it was almost like a clone. Same white bread. Same menu. I passed on the onion strings this time. Annie's was clearly better to me than Mary's. But BOTH were absolutely overrated and not worth anyone's attention. I was somewhat pissed about this, but it could have gone the other way and been fried chicken mecca.

Chicken Annie's


I couldn't believe how late it was. It was almost 9pm and I had a long drive back to Tulsa. On my way through Pittsburg, I saw a Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. I decided to go for broke since I was on my trip and got a small sundae. It was pretty good, about Culver's quality with perfect custard texture. The restaurant is a chain in that area and looks exactly like Steak N Shake's burgers and fries with Culver's custard.
http://www.freddysusa.com/


Took the Will Rogers Turnpike back to Tulsa and got to my hotel after 11:00.

Next day my girlfriend flew in and we drove US 412 east to the Fayetteville, Arkansas area for the next three days of the trip. We met her father, sister, nephew and niece at Zaxby's, a chain that serves nothing but chicken fingers. I had Zaxby's in Charlotte, NC before and I'm a fingers fan, so it was ok with me (plus I might as well keep the fried food theme going). It was actually really good. The chicken is freshly prepared, the crinkle fries, while frozen, were thick and had a good seasoning. The sauce is great and is a big reason why people love these chicken finger chains like this one or Raising Cane's.

The TV in Tulsa showed this promising forecast...


Zaxby's


I won't go into detail about the 3 days in Arkansas, but we saw her friends at the class reunion dinner (at a place called Cable Car Pizza - it was ok) and then a picnic the next day where I had some amazing fried chicken from a grocery store called Harp's. We also couldn't resist going for dessert at Shake's Frozen Custard. It was some of the best custard I've ever had. We ended up going twice.

Shake's
http://shakesfrozencustard.com/


For dinner on Saturday, we headed over to the AQ Chicken House which I had 11 years ago. That time I had a tough, bland chicken fried steak, so this time I'd go with their specialty. I remembered that stevez insisted I try the chicken "over the coals" if I ate here. When we sat down, we didn't have a menu. We looked down and saw a placemat that said 65th Birthday celebration and realized it was today. The placemat opened to a menu with really low prices. Who knew? So we each ordered 3 piece white meals, one pan fried chicken, the other "over the coals" and then we'd share everything. This was some of the best fried chicken I ever had. I have to say the pan fried was my favorite, but Over The Coals was great too. Over The Coals is fried chicken, and then they put it on the grill and add a little more seasoning to it. It was delicious. Even the batter dipped fries were killer. They gave each of us a piece of chocolate cake as a free dessert. So the entire dinner was under $20 including tip! What's great is that I'll be back here many more times since my girlfriend's family lives in Fayetteville.

AQ Chicken House http://www.aqchickenhouse.net/



Chicken "Over The Coals"


I tried the chicken fried chicken at a place in Springdale, AR called Neal's Cafe. We wanted breakfast at 10:45 but these folks are up early and it was lunch time. It was a forgettable meal.
We also had pizza at a place called Dam Goode Pies. It was decent, but nothing special



Finally it was back to Tulsa for the evening, and we decided to go local one more time in the face of every chain restaurant imaginable. Tulsa has an area on 71st St that has many of the nationwide chains. We decided to go to a place called Bros. Houligan for what else - chicken fried steak. It was a big, tender piece and just great. My girlfriend went for chicken fingers and she got a huge order (9 of them). She said they were the best she ever had (I liked them a lot).

Bros. Houligan
http://www.broshouligan.com/


The next day my girlfriend took a shuttle for her early flight and I checked out. Two blocks from my hotel was a joint that TomInSkokie told me about that a friend of his recommended called Steakfinger House. It was a classic dive joint - old, worn down, dirty, and a lot of character. I ordered a snack size of chicken fried steak fingers, plus 2 biscuits and gravy. The fingers were more like popcorn steak fingers, and were a little tough. The biscuits were decent and more of that milk pepper gravy that was running through my veins. This place offered sausage gravy as an option but I was having none of that.







Then I headed up I-44 to Joplin to check out the tornado damage (I'm a weather nut and I was really curious what it all looked like). When I got there I was amazed that the main drag where all the restaurants and business are was fine. The Home Depot was rebuilt. No sign of tornado. But in the neighborhoods, it was different. You immediately notice there are no trees. It looks like California in the 1940's when they were building those post war homes with no trees on the block. Telephone poles everywhere but no trees. Many blocks have nothing but overgrown weeds where homes were. It's very creepy and sad. Lots of empty parking lots where buildings once stood. Driveways and concrete steps lead to nothing. All of the wreckage is long gone. After Joplin, I decided to head down 66 and see some things I missed such as the Vintage Iron Motorcycle Museum in Miami, OK. I wanted to have my last chicken fried steak in Vinita, OK which many say has the best on Route 66. Diners Drive-In's and Dives was there too. So I made it to Clanton's Cafe and ordered one up. It was very good, with a crunchy, peppery crust. The gravy was underseasoned though.

Clanton's Cafe



On the turnpike in Vinita is the largest McDonald's in the world. It looked like one of the ugliest from the outside. I decided to not go in. This picture is from the east. The west side doesn't have windows (due to storm protection?).


I noticed a lot of Taco chains in Oklahoma and Arkansas so I decided to try them for fun. Tacos are light, right? First I hit Taco Bueno in Fayetteville. Not bad. Then I found a Taco Tico. I pulled in, but noticed that they were no longer open. I later found another Taco Tico and tried it. I went with the volcano sauce on mine. It wasn't that hot, but decent heat. The taco was not hot and fresh though and the meat was pretty low quality. Lastly I went to a Taco Mayo near the Tulsa airport. It was ok. All of them are Taco Bell competitors. All of them had what they called a salsa bar, instead of sauce in packets. Taco Bueno is probably the higher quality of the bunch. I still have a fondess for Del Taco. Didn't see any though.

Taco Bueno


Taco Tico



Taco Mayo



Overall, the best chicken fried steak I had on the trip was probably at Nelson's. I can't wait to do the full Route 66, so I know I'll be back. Fayetteville is home to my girlfriend's family and friends so we'll be back there plenty. It's a growing area, and the University of Arkansas area was pretty impressive for the nightlife scene. Wal-Mart has a lot of their clients moving to the area too, so a lot of bigger homes are springing up all over that region.

This trip was bittersweet because we were supposed to be on an 11 day trip but had to cancel it on July 5th (after planning it for a year) due to my girlfriend not being full time (she's a full time contractor at her current job, so while she makes good money, she wouldn't get paid if she took off work) and she didn't get a job offer from them yet so we had to cancel the trip. The long weekend you just read about was all she could do. We were going from Arkansas to Memphis, Nashville, Kentucky, and Indiana afterwards. But as I was sitting in Tulsa airport getting ready to leave, I got a call from her saying they offered her a job at the salary she wanted and with great benefits too, so we immediately started planning for our next trip we'd like to take at the end of September to Denver, with stops planned in 7 western states over 9 days.

As for Route 66, she'll always be waiting for me...


Nelson's Ranch House
1547 E 3rd St
Tulsa, OK 74120
(918) 551-7601

Chicken Mary's and Chicken Annie's
Not worth it!

AQ Chicken House
1925 N College Ave
Fayetteville, AR 72703
(479) 443-7555

Bros. Houligan
9701 E 61st St
Tulsa, OK 74133
(918) 254-1086

Clanton's Cafe
319 East Illinois Avenue
Vinita, OK 74301
(918) 256-9053

Steakfinger House
403 S Boulder Ave
Tulsa, OK 74103
(918) 584-0454

Thanks for sharing your journey, Ram!

I'm glad you made it to AQ which, along with Brenda's Bigger Burgers, is just about all I miss of Fayetteville.

Sorry that my rec was a bit of a miss but glad you found a couple of good steaks.

Thanks for the detailed report.

TomInSkokie wrote:Sorry that my rec was a bit of a miss but glad you found a couple of good steaks.

Thanks for the detailed report.

No no - I liked the Steakfinger place. I just wasn't blown away. Thanks!

Terrific post - loved reading about your journey. That chicken fried steak from Nelson's really looks terrific. And I'm curious about the white pepper gravy . . . I'm really only used to black pepper gravy. As for the grilled fried chicken - hmmmm . . . I'd certainly taste it and it sounds intriguing, but are you telling me that it didn't negatively affect the breading . . . didn't burn the crust much?

In any event, thanks for sharing.

BR wrote:. I'd certainly taste it and it sounds intriguing, but are you telling me that it didn't negatively affect the breading . . . didn't burn the crust much?

In any event, thanks for sharing.

Not burnt...toasted. I haven't had that chicken in five years and I still miss it.

Your first emulation of Da Beef is nicely successful!! Tnx!

Keep up the good work!

Geo

BR wrote:Terrific post - loved reading about your journey. That chicken fried steak from Nelson's really looks terrific. And I'm curious about the white pepper gravy . . . I'm really only used to black pepper gravy. As for the grilled fried chicken - hmmmm . . . I'd certainly taste it and it sounds intriguing, but are you telling me that it didn't negatively affect the breading . . . didn't burn the crust much?

In any event, thanks for sharing.

I tend to like things that might have a little char on them, and it didn't hurt the chicken. But I did prefer the standard pan fried chicken the most. One of my girlfriend's former classmates happens to be in Chicago this week and I took him to Coalfire and Margie's Candies last night. I asked him what is considered the best fried chicken in the Fayetteville/Springdale/Rogers area and he said AQ. We are considering another trip down there in October, but Colorado might win out this time.

Ram4 wrote:Inspired by DaBeef's road adventures...

I'm feeling inspired alright. If I didn't have to be in Wisconsin this week I just might of got in the car and blasted off down Route 66 over into New Mexico to do a green chile cheeseburger run. Thanks for sharing, great stuff but now I have a sudden urge for a chicken fried steak with nowhere I know of near. Those places look great.

That's an impressive bunch of fried food, alright.

So if you need fency/schmency to cleanse your palate, you can try James At The Mill. http://www.innatthemill.com/index.php/restaurant . I've been twice as the host on business several years ago, and never knew this area could support such an expensive place. The inn is darn nice too. I didn't say it was good, I was just saying...

re places having been on TV: if it has a publicist, or has been on TV, or has fried mozzarella sticks it's off my list until a trusted voice here advises otherwise.

Steve Drucker wrote:That's an impressive bunch of fried food, alright.

So if you need fency/schmency to cleanse your palate, you can try James At The Mill. http://www.innatthemill.com/index.php/restaurant . I've been twice as the host on business several years ago, and never knew this area could support such an expensive place. The inn is darn nice too. I didn't say it was good, I was just saying...

My hotel was right across the street from there. But we didn't want to spend the $$ on a fancy dinner this trip.

Steve Drucker wrote:re places having been on TV: if it has a publicist, or has been on TV, or has fried mozzarella sticks it's off my list until a trusted voice here advises otherwise.

I hear you, but you gotta start somewhere. At least I can see it on TV. With Yelp and Urbanspoon, etc. I am simply going by reviews. Those two joints in Kansas were a big letdown. They could have been incredible. Had to try them.

Just got back from NW Arkansas. First some news. For those who loved it including stevez, the Fayetteville AQ Chicken is no more. Fear not, as the Springdale location is still open.

I tried an out of the way place on this trip - the Monte Ne Inn located about 25 minutes northeast of Fayetteville. It's an all you can eat family style chicken dinner place, so if you're hungry, you're in heaven. When you are seated they bring out a kettle of bean soup that you can serve yourself. Then they bring the whole menu at once. Kind of strange to walk in and not order anything. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, bowl of cream gravy, homemade bread, cole slaw, seasoned green beans, corn, creamery butter and apple butter. The sides were not memorable (though decent enough), but the chicken was excellent. Not too seasoned or greasy, I loved it. For dessert (extra price) you can get huge portions of cheesecake (looked amazing), warm fudge cake in a bowl with french vanilla on top (was amazing), and peach or blackberry cobbler (I was told was great). Great prices too. Reservations recommended. They've been in business for 40 years and have won many awards.

Monte Ne Inn
13843 East Highway 49 (not to be mistaken with Interstate 49 which is nearby)
Rogers, AR
479-636-5511
http://www.monteneinnchicken.net/