Get comfy

Plunge into some of Tulsa’s coziest cuisine

As Oklahoma skies grow darker and temperatures plummet further each night, Tulsans start to scurry into their collective caves. Primordial cravings shift from a desire to blithely nibble on a crisp green salad, to full-on hankerings for bold, stick-to-your-ribs food that can warm the coldest of demeanors. Luckily for icy Okies in Tulsa, there are tried-and-true bastions of comfort cuisine, along with a few new faces standing at the ready to help you weather the winter.

Foolish Things Bar & Biscuit

If the concept of comfort food could be distilled into one item, the biscuit would be a top contender. A clever new eatery on Brookside—equal parts restaurant, floral shop, craft cocktail, and coffee bar—is showing the biscuit can be just as multi-faceted.

The humble biscuit, rolled out fresh by grandmas for millennia, is both pastoral and artisan, and for a simple food, it is a finicky undertaking to create the perfect biscuit. Not quite a cake, but not quite bread, the pastry chef at Foolish Things Bar & Biscuit “workshopped” biscuits for months before concocting the right specimen for their flagship restaurant. The result is a fluffy, golden brown disc, with a distinct flakey crunch on the outside, and a well-structured, tender crumb on the inside.

Sure, these biscuits are the perfect vehicles for a thick slather of butter and a drizzle of honey. But Foolish Things Bar & Biscuit asks, “Why not top the biscuit with a brown sugar and coffee-rubbed skirt steak? Or how about a beer-battered roasted tomato and roasted garlic aioli?” Other signature biscuits incorporate traditional flavor pairings and take them up a notch, like their classic sausage biscuit with local sausage and an expertly-poached egg, nestled atop arugula and topped with glossy zig-zags of house-made blueberry jam.

Foolish Things Bar & Biscuit is open daily, 7 a.m. to midnight, and the shotgun-style space can easily transition from leisurely breakfast and cup of coffee, to cozy lunch spot, to a great place to top off the night with a comforting meal and nightcap from their robust cocktail list.

3524F S. Peoria Ave.
Daily from 7 a.m.–midnight

Ron’s Hamburgers & Chili

A place that declares itself the home of “the best Frito chili pie in the world” should capture the attention of comfort-food aficionados. Ron’s Hamburgers is a place where solace is granted in the form of a chili cheese burger—a gorgeously-greasy, onions-fried-in
100 percent beef burger with a crisp griddled char, smothered with cheese and Ron’s coveted crimson-red chili. There’s no getting around using a fork and knife with this bad boy, but for a burger experience like this, it’s worth fussing around with cutlery.

On the ‘lighter’ side of things, you can always get a regular burger dressed as you please, or up the ante on spice with a sausage burger with a patty that is 50 percent beef and 50 percent breakfast sausage. And don’t divert thine eyes from the Spanish fries: Ron’s signature fresh-cut taters fried up with jalapenos and grilled onions. (Throw some cheese on top if you really want to do things right.)

Ron Baber, founder of Ron’s Hamburgers back in 1975, passed away recently. Though he may no longer be with us, his legacy will live on in the bellies of content Tulsa burger fans.

1440 S. Denver, 1545 S. Sheridan Road
8201 S. Harvard, 6548 E. 51st St.
7119 S. Mingo Road
Mon.–Sat., 10:30 a.m.–8 p.m.

Jane’s Delicatessen

Stacked like a meaty skyscraper, the large pastrami sandwich at Jane’s Delicatessen is a formidable beast that will fill the void caused by the onset of shorter days and longer nights. The pastrami, like all of their meats, is completely prepared in-house—brined in a mix of salt and spices like coriander, and mustard seed, with a touch of clove—then slow cooked to a ruby hue. A little taste of New York in Tulsa, the warm and bright interior of Jane’s Delicatessen is just the perfect antidote to dipping temps. Jane’s matzo ball soup is a hug for the soul, featuring dense matzo studded with herbs, floated in a crystalline chicken broth with a confetti of carrots, celery, and shredded chicken.

Jane’s menu is packed with a plethora of signature sammies, all crafted with meats cured in-house and bread baked by their own pastry chef. Sure, you can get a classic pastrami or Ruben, but don’t sleep on their other creations like the Sir William, featuring a fat portion of ham, ooey-gooey brie and perfectly-pickled peaches. Fill up on one of their entrees or lackadaisically nosh on a pickle plate, create your own smorgasbord of meats and cheeses, or go for the bound salad board with your choice their house-made chicken salad, whitefish salad, egg salad, and more. Desserts are also top notch, with classics like whoopee cakes,
chocolate pies, and colossal cinnamon rolls.

2626 E. 11th St.
Daily from 7 a.m.–11 p.m.

Glacier Bean to Bar

Wintertime is the right time to add a little heat to the sweet by filling up a cup of decadent hot cocoa. But the choc-ologists at Glacier Bean to Bar will make you want to toss that packet of powdered Swiss Miss to the curb. Glacier has expanded beyond its trifling truffles to explore other chocolate-centric experiences at its Bean to Bar location in the Archer Building in the Tulsa Arts District.

The hub of chocolate-producing operations churn out their nationally-recognized chocolates—which recently earned
a full-throated recommendation from Forbes Magazine—while front of house is dedicated to a unique dessert experience. Their famous truffles shine in a pristine dessert case alongside delicate slices of cake and frosty tubs of house-churned gelato. But to really toast your taste buds, give in to wanderlust and explore their build-your-own hot chocolate options. A cup of their proprietary blend of smooth hot cocoa can be topped with your choice of fancy fixings like crushed candy cane, chocolate shavings, and candied hazelnuts. Or create your own hot choc-tail by adding a shot of Chambord or Crème de Menthe. The “bar” in Bean to Bar means there is a full list of chocolate spiked specialty cocktails, and even a beautiful artisan espresso machine that procures a pristine hand-pulled shot.

209 E. Archer St.
Wed., Fri., Sat., 11 a.m.–10:30 p.m., Sun., 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

Lassalle’s New Orleans Deli

The opening salvo of the winter eating season is Thanksgiving, and Lassalle’s New Orleans Deli is combining all the flavors of the holiday into one sandwich. The Thanksgiving po’ boy is piled high with deep fried turkey, cornbread dressing, gravy, and a drizzle of cranberry sauce all packed between fresh bread from New Orleans. Served on Thursdays in November, the annual appearance always causes a frenzy, but it still doesn’t upstage the time-honored MVPs—the shrimp po’ boy and the savory beast that is their Muffuletta.

Few things are more perfectly suited to combat an otherwise blustery day like a rich bowl of gumbo, and the Lassalle’s kitchen team works voodoo on theirs: a thick, dark amber broth studded with andouille and chicken. Lassalle’s decadent crawfish and corn bisque, red beans and rice, or crawfish etouffee are sure to lift your spirits when Old Man Winter blasts onto the scene. And if sweetness is what you crave on a cold day, then indulge yourself with Lassalle’s bread pudding with bourbon sauce or pecan pralines.

15 W. 5th St.
Mon.–Thurs., 11 a.m.–4 p.m., Fri., 11 a.m.–9 p.m.