OKC Underground by Eating OKC

Chef Jessie Gomez was running the kitchen at Birdie's until last month, when he made the move to Vast , where he's running the Daily Table, Vast's lunch program. The Edmond native is the kind of chef and person that makes people sound like grandfathers when they describe him; to wit, when our very own James Frazier said, "He's a very impressive young man." Yup, that sound...

Enoon Cafe is one of the latest additions to the rapidly developing Capitol Hill District , or, as it's been known for years, Calle Dos Cinco. We were naturally intrigued to hear about a new coffee shop that was leaning into Mexican flavors and aesthetic -- including a revisioned Diego Rivera-esque mural on the east wall, but really, I went for the horchata latte, and along the way discovered...

Tamashii Ramen House opened in the original Midtown location in June 2015, and they were immediately busy. That year was pivotal for OKC's food scene, especially in terms of Asian food, because while the Sebachers were opening Tamashii, Chef Jeff Chanchaleune and 84 Hospitality founder Rachel Cope were rolling out Project Slurp in the Plaza District , a series of pop-up ramen dinners that were...

Behind every great meal is a beard that created the recipes. This beard has created some of the best meals in OKC for a long time and now he's launching something new.

Courtney Mankin is president of and partner in The Social Order Dining Collective , the company that includes The Jones Assembly and Spark , as well as franchise locations of Fuzzy's , and Dave's Hot Chicken . For the past two years, she's participated in a Leadership OKC hospitality panel at Jones, and in both cases, I've been uber impressed by her grasp of the issues and her abil...

Cody Wilson is the former owner of George's Liquor and current co-owner of Modern Liquor, but for this episode, he's the guy who is the new brand ambassador for Prairie With Love, the line of Delta 9 beverages from Prairie Artisan Ales .

We talk with Denzel Akuffo, the creator of Supper Club OKC.

Ross Crain is a Binger, Oklahoma native -- yes, the hometown of Johnny Bench, and Bench has been a guest in Crain's eponymous restaurant on OKC's northwest side. The Crain opened in late 2024, and was instantly popular, driven by Ross Crain's 30-plus years of hospitality experience, including 21 years at the helm of Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in Bricktown, and the tal...

You know him from Chick N Beer and Bungalow 23, but his latest venture is going to change the way we eat out.

James Leewright is a former state representative and senator from the east side of the state, and we've already forgiven him for that because he's doing fantastic work as the head of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association . His official list of titles includes leadership in the ORA, Oklahoma Hospitality Foundation, Oklahoma Hotel & Lodging Association, and Oklahoma Travel Industry Associa...

Chef Erick Jones isn't 21 yet, but he's been an entrepreneur since he and his fraternal twin brother were 8. The born-and-raised NEOKC chef did his culinary training at Metro Tech under the auspices of previous podcast guest Chaya Pennington while still in "high school" -- in quotes because he and his two siblings were homeschooled, a reality he chafed at while a preteen and teen...

California-born Cally Johnson is currently the executive chef at Lorena Southern Twist , Lori Burson's Midtown sister restaurant to Stella Modern Italian . She came back to Oklahoma after a long hiatus in California to help Burson with her Southern concept. This necessitated Johnson digging into a genre of food she knew a little about, because growing up in Bakersfield, California means you ar...

Chef Andy Bruch is an Iowa native who made his culinary reputation in Denver. We ate at his Point Easy last time we were in Denver, and it was the best meal we had that trip, so it was great to see 5280 had the same level of respect for his spot as we did. When we learned Bruch was coming to OKC to open the first of at least two concepts, we were understandably excited, and the food at Superfly ha...

It's rare that I sit down with an operator or chef and don't know anything about their backstory, but such was the case with Provision Concepts founder and CEO Jeff Dixon. To be clear, I've known him for more than a decade but we've always just talked business, so I was very curious to hear about his upbringing. (Weatherford? Weatherford. Who is from Weatherford?) Once we get the b...

This is a year-end recap more than anything, but we wanted to take some time to talk through our list of Best New Restaurants and look at what's coming for 2026. James Frazier finally gets behind the mic and contributes to this episode, so you have that year-end perk if you listen. And since we're wrapping up the year, here are the numbers that matter.

Eric Smith is the mastermind behind The Crown and The Crown Room, which happens to be one of the most amazing dining experiences in Oklahoma. In this episode we talk about food, the restaurant industry, Michelin Stars and influencers as well as a host of other topics.

You know the pizza, the ramen, the burgers and now the Italian. Now meet the Rachel Cope.

Bryan Kerr is the owner of Moore Liquor , which, to use a phrase of his, is in the "blast radius of Total Wine" in Moore. The chain behemoth opened their first Oklahoma location in September, and the impact on Kerr's business was immediate, as it was on all small operators in its immediate vicinity. It's likely to scoop up regulars and occasional visitors well beyond Moore, thoug...

Chef Taylor Desjarlais left OKC right before the COVID lockdown after successful stints at several spots in the metro including Café Cuvée in the Ambassador Hotel and Chae, which remains one of the most painfully missed spots in town. A heads up that this episode contains a frank discussion of addiction and suicide in the hospitality industry. Desajarlais agreed to talk about these subjects, at le...

Jamie (Fritts) Winteroth is one of the founders of Shared Plate Hospitality, along with her husband Jordan. She has been in hospitality most of her life, including stints at some locally famous and infamous spots from the days when she worked for Deep Fork Group at its peak. As owners, Shared Plate has had Aurora , Social Deck & Dining, and RevMex , the latter of which they purchased from Rach...

Jacob "Jake" Keyes is the founder and owner of Skydance Brewing, with its game-day-central taproom just off Automobile Alley on NE 7th. His second job is Chairman of the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma. Keyes is an avid OU football fan, and a former casino manager. He's well versed in the policies and processes around booze and casinos in Oklahoma, and he follows in his homesteader father&#39...

If we had a contest for Oklahoma City's favorite Brit, Ian Clarke would certainly be a finalist, especially among hospitality professionals. Clarke is currently a sales rep for Syndicat and Revolution Wholesale , and that's a function of his expertise in wine and his phenomenal palate. Saying he's a sales rep feels a bit reductive when Clarke, a certified sommelier, has for 20 years be...

Brian Bogert is the founder and CEO of Social Order Dining Collective, a company that includes The Jones Assembly, three Spark locations, and multiple locations of Fuzzy's and Dave's Hot Chicken. He's been in and around hospitality most of his life, and he understands it from the perspective of dishwasher, line cook, manager, franchisee, multi-unit owner/operator, and CEO. His understa...

When Bar None , the new concept from Id Est Hospitality inside nonesuch , opens in a couple weeks, Kiki Mackey will be the general manager, and it will be a much deserved role for an industry vet known for her poise, competence, and knowledge. We first met when she was a newbie at Mary Eddy's at what was then 21C during Chef Jason Campbell's tenure, and since then she's grown in to one of the most...

James Beard Award 2023 & 2024 Finalist, 2020 Semifinalist | 2022 & 2025 New York Times 50 Best Restaurants | 2022 Bon Appetit 50 Best New Restaurants | 2024 USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year