The 59 Best Places to Eat and Drink in Tulsa

A bakery run by a former artist who, finding no local mills in Oklahoma's wheat belt, simply found a farmer and milled her own grain. The sourdough-heavy menu leans into specials like French onion soup Danishes and ube-blue corn coffee cake, which is either wildly creative or deeply unhinged, depending on your mood. Cat Cox won a James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker in 2025. Open Saturdays, with a line down the block before the doors even open.

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Winner · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Cat Cox
2. The New York Times 22 of the Best Bakeries Across the U.S. Right Now

Reservations are required on weekends, which tells you something about how seriously Tulsa takes this farm-to-table restaurant. The chef behind it is a James Beard Outstanding Chef nominee who left the West Coast to actually farm before pivoting to feeding the city. Multicourse tasting menus anchor the weekends, while Wednesday and Thursday open things up to a la carte. Tuesday is burgers and Barbera, which is either brilliant or a fever dream, and possibly both.

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Chef · Lisa Becklund
2. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma
3. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Southwest · Lisa Becklund

Korean-style tabletop grills sit at the center of every table, and you cook your own pork bulgogi or galbi short rib over them while the kitchen handles everything else. The menu is part Korean family dinner, part Pacific Rim wandering, all shaped by chef Ben Alexander's own biography. A James Beard semifinalist, he also offers an omakase if you'd rather hand the decisions over entirely, which, given the range on offer, is not a bad idea.

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma
2. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group
3. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Southwest · Ben Alexander

The complimentary chips arrive with a black bean and guajillo purée instead of the usual salsa, which is the first sign this wood-fired Mexican grill is doing something different. The room is sleek and loud, the patio fills fast, and the margaritas are everywhere you look. A New York Times Restaurant List pick and a James Beard semifinalist, it backs the festive vibe with an agave spirits collection that takes the bar seriously.

1. The New York Times 2024 · The Restaurant List
2. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma
3. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant

Shredded bison tacos and pashofa, a soupy pork-and-hominy dish, share a menu in a suburban shopping center in Broken Arrow, which tells you a lot about what the chef is doing here. NĀTV is a casual restaurant built around Native cuisine, a tradition barely represented in Oklahoma despite the state being home to dozens of federally recognized tribes. The chef, a James Beard semifinalist, sources from local farms and tribes, and the cooking moves freely between traditional and modern without making a production of it.

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma
2. James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Southwest · Jacque Siegfried

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma
2. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Rachel Cope - 84 Hospitality

1. James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Rachel Cope - 84 Hospitality

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Elliot Nelson - McNellie's Group

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Finding it requires navigating a dark brick alley past a dumpster and through an unmarked green door, which is either off-putting or exactly the point. Inside, Bull in the Alley is a low-lit cocktail bar and steakhouse, all plush high-backed booths under starburst pendants and a piano player doing his thing in the corner. The menu stays short: pick your steak, build a drink from the long list, and order the spaghetti for the table.

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma

The menu at this SoBo District Italian trattoria has barely changed since Sonny Dalesandro inherited it from his dad, which is either the point or the proof. Family recipes anchor the kitchen, and regulars who've been ordering the same thing for years show no signs of reconsidering. Comfort is the operating philosophy here, stated plainly and delivered without ceremony.

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma

The wet burrito arrives plate-sized, drowned in enchilada sauce, and piled with cheese, sour cream, and guacamole, which tells you almost everything about El Rio Verde. It's a divey neighborhood Mexican spot where the staff has been around forever and Tulsans tend to bump into a neighbor before they've ordered. The menu runs from fajita omelets at breakfast all the way to fish soup at dinner, but most people are here for that burrito.

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Finish 30 of the bar's 100-plus tequilas and you earn a plaque on the wall, which tells you a lot about the spirit of this colorful downtown Mexican restaurant. The puffy tacos pull regulars back, and the kitchen keeps vegetarians genuinely in the mix rather than as an afterthought. Drag brunch and lucha libre nights fill the calendar between the serious sustainable sourcing. A neighborhood place that takes its fun as seriously as its food.

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma

The lunch buffet has been a Tulsa institution for decades, with the owner still at the door to greet you himself, which sets a tone. This is a sit-down Indian restaurant where you pile your plate with naan, pakoras, and a rotating spread of curries, biryanis, and kormas. Most people overlook the dessert corner, but the kheer and mango custard are worth doubling back for before someone else clears the tray.

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma

A former Marine and a former basketball player walked into an empty storefront in the historic Greenwood District, and the result is a wing shop where the attorney co-owner still keeps his day job. The Oklahoma Dry Rub and the Mack, a recipe nobody's sharing, are the regulars' picks. Kimberly usually runs the counter herself, which gives the whole operation a family-kitchen feel that's hard to fake.

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma

The empanada is the whole point here, and the team makes them by hand every morning in flavors that cover more ground than you'd expect: mushroom-seitan for vegans, halal lamb, a breakfast version, and several more. This bright, compact downtown spot runs the full Ecuadorian-inflected menu, from arroz con pollo with sweet plantains to a pork sandwich with chipotle-lime mayo. A grab-and-go case handles the lunch rush when it comes.

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Wood paneling, a shuffleboard table, and a slogan that reads "Cold Drinks, Warm Friends" tell you everything upfront: Tina's is a 21-plus dive bar designed for lingering. The menu is short enough to read in one breath, and the smashburger has a way of making everything else on it seem beside the point. Tuesdays bring a special menu for guests 60 and older, which is either very charming or a gentle reminder that no one outgrows a good bar.

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma

The location near the airport is the whole point: fish flown in from both coasts lands here before it lands anywhere else in Tulsa. White River has been a market and old-school lunch counter forever, and you order at the counter for oysters, frog legs, and a slice of pie to finish. The industrial surroundings are a feature, not a bug, and the regulars know it.

1. Eater The 18 Best Restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma

1. James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Southwest · Alexandre Figueira

1. James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Southwest · Jordan Hawley

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bar

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Johnna Hayes and Debra Zinke - 3 Sirens Restaurant Group

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Johnna Hayes and Debra Zinke - 3 Sirens Restaurant Group

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Johnna Hayes and Debra Zinke - 3 Sirens Restaurant Group

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Johnna Hayes and Debra Zinke - 3 Sirens Restaurant Group

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Johnna Hayes and Debra Zinke - 3 Sirens Restaurant Group

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Johnna Hayes and Debra Zinke - 3 Sirens Restaurant Group

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Johnna Hayes and Debra Zinke - 3 Sirens Restaurant Group

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurant

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bar Program

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Southwest · Wanda J. Armstrong

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Southwest · Matthew Amberg

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Southwest · Indri Bahar

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Southwest · Eben Shillingford