Some of Oklahoma City's earliest famous restaurants included a side of gambling, bootlegging and mayhem. Cattlemen's Café changed hands by a roll of the dice one Christmas. In more recent years, establishments like O'Mealey's and Adair's positioned the city's identity as a unique, groundbreaking culinary hub. The city became known as the Cafeteria Capital thanks to the revolutionary approach of a diminutive Kansas woman named Anna Maude Smith. Beverly's Chicken-in-the-Rough became a national fried-chicken franchise two decades before Harland Sanders sold his first drumstick. And world-renowned chef Rick Bayless first learned to cook at his parents' barbecue restaurant in south Oklahoma City. Join author Dave Cathey as he dishes on these delectable stories and more.

For nearly 20 years, Molly Murphy's House of Fine Repute was the place to go to celebrate special occasions or just have a fun night out on the town in Oklahoma City. Its costumed hostesses and waitstaff entertained patrons with their outrageous behavior, while diners enjoyed the finest steaks and wines. Now, Author Jeffiee Tayar, its former owner, tells how the restaurant came to be, how it survived for so many years, and how it fell following "the Incident." Along the way, readers are given a look at Bob and Jeffiee Tayar's relationship with each other and with the community. In it, she answers the question people have been asking for more than 10 years, "Whatever Happened to Molly Murphy's House of Fine Repute?" Jeffiee Tayar grew up in Southern Oklahoma but moved to Oklahoma City in 1959, after graduating high school in Ardmore. She married Bob Tayar and together they owned and operated several restaurants in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, most notably Molly Murphy's House of Fine Repute. They raised one son, Bobby, who now lives with his wife and two daughters in Columbus, Ohio. After residing in the Palm Springs area of California for 9 years, Jeffiee has returned to her Oklahoma roots, to be near family and old friends.

"In the early twentieth century, Tulsa was the "Oil Capital of the World." The rush of roughnecks and oil barons built a culinary foundation that not only provided traditional food and diner fare but also inspired upper-class experiences and international cuisine. Tulsans could reserve a candlelit dinner at the Louisiane or cruise along the Restless Ribbon with a pit stop at Pennington s. Generations of regulars depended on family-owned establishments such as Villa Venice, The Golden Drumstick and St. Michael's Alley. Join author Rhys Martin on a gastronomic journey through time, from the Great Depression to the days of "Liquor by the Wink" and the Oil Bust of the 1980s."--Back cover.

Wichita is the birthplace of Pizza Hut and White Castle. But from its early days as a cattle drive stopover on the Chisholm Trail to its current life as a hub for aviation manufacturing, the city has been filled with hundreds of popular restaurants owned by generations of hardworking entrepreneurs. The 1920s and 1930s were a time for tearooms like Innes and for cafés like Holly Cafe and Fairland Cafe. The '60s and '70s ushered in swanky private nightclubs like Abe's. And there are classics like NuWay Cafe, Old Mill Tasty Shop and Angelo's that are still around today. Author Denise Neil details the rich history of Wichita's favorite classic eateries.

From its designation in 1926 to the rise of the interstates nearly sixty years later, Route 66 was, in John Steinbeck’s words, America’s Mother Road, carrying countless travelers the 2,400 miles between Chicago and Los Angeles. Whoever they were—adventurous motorists or Dustbowl migrants, troops on military transports or passengers on buses, vacationing families or a new breed of tourists—these travelers had to eat. The story of where they stopped and what they found, and of how these roadside offerings changed over time, reveals twentieth-century America on the move, transforming the nation’s cuisine, culture, and landscape along the way. Author T. Lindsay Baker, a glutton for authenticity, drove the historic route—or at least the 85 percent that remains intact—in a four-cylinder 1930 Ford station wagon. Sparing us the dust and bumps, he takes us for a spin along Route 66, stopping to sample the fare at diners, supper clubs, and roadside stands and to describe how such venues came and went—even offering kitchen-tested recipes from historic eateries en route. Start-ups that became such American fast-food icons as McDonald’s, Dairy Queen, Steak ’n Shake, and Taco Bell feature alongside mom-and-pop diners with flocks of chickens out back and sit-down restaurants with heirloom menus. Food-and-drink establishments from speakeasies to drive-ins share the right-of-way with other attractions, accommodations, and challenges, from the Whoopee Auto Coaster in Lyons, Illinois, to the piles of “chat” (mining waste) in the Tri-State District of Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma, to the perils of driving old automobiles over the Jericho Gap in the Texas Panhandle or Sitgreaves Pass in western Arizona. Describing options for the wealthy and the not-so-well-heeled, from hotel dining rooms to ice cream stands, Baker also notes the particular travails African Americans faced at every turn, traveling Route 66 across the decades of segregation, legal and illegal. So grab your hat and your wallet (you’ll probably need cash) and come along for an enlightening trip down America’s memory lane—a westward tour through the nation’s heartland and history, with all the trimmings, via Route 66.

The story of the restaurant industry in Durham is also the story of a once prosperous tobacco town that suffered through a long decline only to undergo a stunning rebirth. Legendary barbecue restaurants such as Little Acorn, Bullock's and Dillard's and small cafés like Lewis' served generations of tobacco industry workers. Establishments such as Annamaria's and the Ivy Room were aimed at the growing college student population. More recently, Nana's, Magnolia Grill and other award-winning eateries have led a restaurant renaissance. This book profiles fifty longtime restaurants that have helped shape the city's dining scene--from small takeout sandwich shops to the finest of fine dining. Local authors Chris Holaday and Patrick Cullom tell the story of Durham's unique food history.

Insiders' Guide to Oklahoma City is the essential source for in-depth travel and relocation information to Oklahoma's captial city. Written by a local (and true insider), it offers a personal and practical perspective of Oklahoma City and its surrounding environs.