Mile 801 - Cattleman’s Steakhouse and Bricktown, OKC

According to the book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die I now have 999 to go.  I can now cross off Cattleman’s Cafe (Steakhouse) in Stockyard City, OK.  Apparently its on the list.  Did the Grand Canyon make the list?  This is America, which means it is entirely possible that a steak house makes the top 1,000 but a natural wonder does not.  This is why people who have never been to the Grand Canyon make stops at Graceland.  

Cattleman’s Cafe is a 100 year old joint that has a few wings that haven’t changed much over the years, which definitely adds to the cowboy, steakhouse ambiance.  I have had my fair share of steak through the years, but I have never had a real Oklahoma/Texas style steak that came out of the cattle shoot just after I ordered it.  It was delicious.  

FYI.  In Alabama the waitress usually offers the table the standard appetizers such as chips and salsa, cheese sticks, dinner rolls, or fried pickles.  Our Okie waitress threw me a curve ball.  “Would y’all like some lamb fries?”  Lamb fries - now that sounds innocent enough doesn’t it?  Well here’s what I learned.  If you are in a cattleman steakhouse in Oklahoma with your lovely wife and two very young daughters don’t ask, “What are lamb fries?”  Without missing a beat sister Okie let us know that lamb fries are sheep boy parts, deep fried to a golden brown.  Except she didn’t use the word “boy parts” she used the word that sounds like “tentacles,” but its not.  I “sheepishly” replied back, “I don’t think we’ll have that tonight.”  

But the steak was good.

After dinner we went to Bricktown, a section of downtown Oklahoma City aptly named for its red brick architecture.  This area of the city has a lot of restaurants, a movie theater, a minor league baseball stadium, and a canal on which you can catch a “river taxi” for a small fee.  We didn’t stay long as it was getting pretty late and we were very tired from a long day of driving, but it was a neat place to experience.

The first shop we came to in Bricktown was Pinkitzel cup cake shop and candy store.  The girls saw it and went nuts.  When they got inside, more nuts.  The place was very girl frilly, full of candy, and had a huge cup cake bar.  To top it off they were kicking some very electronica/rave music.  Kiley got out of the van and went John Travolta right there in the parking lot.  We had a couple of Strawberry Shortcake cupcakes laced with fresh strawberries.  Morgan had some sort of chocolate cupcake that would put Willie Wonka into a sugar comma.  Like the steak (unlike the lamb fries) it was really good.  To top it off the dude at the counter gave us a few complimentary cupcakes for the road.  I told him we were on a road trip.  He saw that I was a man on a 4,000 mile journey with young children.  The dude at Pinkitzel stepped in and saved my life.  Thanks bro!

Oklahoma City is a nice city and seems to be a great place to visit.  I am sorry that we only have a few hours to spend here.  

On to Texas.