1st impression of Tulsa! (Broken Arrow, Owasso: hotel, restaurants, price)

[famlife]

My family and I are visiting here on business, and I am so impressed with Tulsa that I felt the urge to write a little about it :-)

the city is clean, bright, HOT, HUMID, friendly, and easy to navigate. The peoples accents are adorable too! Lol. We have been here only a couple days and are staying at an awesome hotel called the Mayo, and have met very friendly and helpful people! I haven't experienced any rudeness, crazy drivers, nothin! This is just a first impression, but Tulsa seems pretty nice to me!

We even found someone on craigslist to board our 2 dogs for 3 days for $50! Yay!!!

[tookey]

On behalf of Tulsa THANK YOU for the kind words. It is so refreshing to hear that someone is impressed with Tulsa.

[Ecovlke]

From a downtown Tulsa native, Thank you! I think we have a beautiful city, and we have awesome people.

[pokefan11]

I agree, it is so nice to hear that people are enjoying our great city! Where are you all visiting from? If you have any questions about places to eat or areas of Tulsa you would like to explore don't hesitate to ask. We're full of suggestions.

[famlife]

We are in transition between Milwaukee, WI and Tucson, AZ :-) Although, my husband may be in Tulsa for business every so often, and we may join him occasionally.

I see that you guys have a CC's Pizza, (which is awesome) but if you have any ideas for a true Tulsa dining experience, or just a really cool, kid friendly restaurant with good food for adults as well, please chime in! we'd like to take the kids out tomorrow evening.

Thanks!

[tookey]

OK Okie posters let's help these folks out.

[Sarahsez]

I'm not sure how 'kid friendly' you need. My kids are elementary aged and I don't allow them to run around in restaurants. They have to sit at the table like the adults and behave. Anyway, their favorite restaurants are:

PF Chang in Utica Square for Chinese Food. It's a bit pricey and a chain, but the food is great. This restaurant is also a good date restaurant with low lighting and yummy desserts. The fried green beans on the appetizer menu and the Great Wall of Chocolate cake are their favorite. I'd only take the kids there if they are well behaved. The wait can be 45 minutes or much longer depending on the night. We love to window shop while we are waiting.

Ted's Escondido on 71st in Broken Arrow is the favorite Mexican food. It's a bit more casual, but really good food.

If you haven't been to Incredible Pizza near 71st and Memorial, you need to try it some time. It's very kid friendly, but not really what adults love. It's like a Chucky Cheese, but better. The food is much better than CC, but not awesome. It's a buffet. They serve pizza, salad, baked potatoes, desserts and a few other things so you have choices. The kids love it because of the games and rides.

The best pizza we've had in the area is actually in Owasso. It's in a little strip mall across from Wal-Mart on 96th street. It's a sit down pizza place, but much better than the national pizza chains.

Another place we enjoy is Los Cabos (chain). We've been to the one on the River Walk in Jenks and the one next to Bass Pro Shop in Broken Arrow. Bass Pro Shop recently changed their indoor restaurant to a more American type food. I think. I haven't had a chance to go there yet. I would recommend taking your kids to the Bass Pro shop just to look around if you haven't been. The inside is sort of like a store and a museum. They have a big aquarium and lots of fish and a cold water stream with trout. They have lots of large mounted animals around the store and a little shooting arcade up top. This one isn't as big as the one in Springfield, Missouri, but still nice. My kids love it. There is a Starbucks if you just want an afternoon pickup and not a meal.

If you like fish, try the White River Fish Market on Sheridan. It's a restaurant and a store. It's in an old part of town. The place looks like a dive, but has really good fish. You can look up their website for the menu if interested.

We're trying the local places as we find them, but we find they aren't always suitable for a younger crowd. Some of the restaurants on Cherry Street have bands on certain nights. My kids like to visit those.

[famlife]

Thanks for all the great info! And while I do expect my kids to behave at restaurants, we have 6, half of which are 5 and under.. They are well behaved kids but I like to be somewhere that can handle it if we are having an off day lol

[swake]

Try Ollie’s on Southwest Blvd, it’s a train themed place with tons of model trains that run all the time all over the restaurant. The food isn’t the greatest, it’s diner style food, but it’s not bad. Kids also usually like Hideaway Pizza, it’s a local chain with several locations all over town including the Cherry Street area on 15th. They have all kinds of cool murals and games that kids like and good pizza. Joe Mama’s Pizza downtown is cool too, vintage video games and pinball machines and actually great Pizza. Then there’s Casa Bonita of South Park fame. It’s kinda run down and the food is only decent at best, but for smaller kids it’s just an awesome place with all the cool rooms, the indoor waterfall, decorations, the arcade and the service flags.

[tookey]

Thanks Sarahsez and swake not having any kids myself I was at a loss as to where these folks should take the kiddos. Hats off to you for giving them some ideas.