Give a man a fish and youll feed him for a day. Give a man a bowl of noodles and hell be like, Oh, man! This will go great with the fish! Dont bother trying to teach that man anything because hes going to be in a carbohydrate coma soon and theres no sense in wasting your time. If you want to get blissed-out on noodles, here are a few of our favorites. by Greg Elwell, photos by Mark Hancock, Garett Fisbeck and Keaton Draper
Pho Ca Dao
2431 N. Classen Blvd.
521-8819
Pronounce it foe and youre dumb. Pronounce it fuh and youre a poseur. Thats why you should march into Pho Ca Dao, point at a menu and grunt that youd like one of those big noodle soup things. Dont mess around with words. Words dont matter anymore. Noodles, broth and beef this is your life now.
Papa Dios
10712 N. May Ave.
755-2255
The definition of first-world problems is not being able to decide which rich, delicious sauce youll enjoy over a heaping plate of tender pasta. And Papa Dios has a first-world solution: The Trieste. Choose your pasta, and then the chef will make an Italian flag of your meal with marinara, Alfredo and pesto sauces. This first world is starting to look pretty good.
Kaiteki Ramen
Food truck
Sorry, horn-lovers. Kaiteki serves up ramen noodles, not ram-in noodles. Its simply too costly to grind up those bonelike protrusions from sheep and goats and make them into long strands. Instead, this is Japanese ramen with a savory broth, roasted pork belly or tofu and gorgeous marinated eggs. Its so good youll want to butt heads with your friends to establish dominance.
Vitos Ristorante
7521 N. May Ave.
848-4867
Spaghetti and meatballs gets a bum rap. Head over to Vitos and order up Fat Tonys Pasta Special and youll find folks who are working hard to rehab its image. Vitos pasta is covered in owner Cathy Cummings sugo sauce, and you can add a couple of juicy, fall-apart tender meatballs on top. Or go lighter and get linguine tossed with olive oil, garlic and parsley for a simple dish that will leave you smiling.
Della Terra Pasta
For the finest in locally made pasta, look no farther than Della Terra. Chris Becker trained in New York before bringing his expertise back to Oklahoma. He uses a brass dye when pressing his noodles, giving them more texture to hold onto sauces. And fresh pasta, straight from the refrigerator, is one of the easiest, tastiest meals you can get.
Victorias The Pasta Shop
327 White St., Norman
329-0377
Be prepared for flavor overload when you stop in at Victorias. Its classic lasagna rolls stuffed with shrimp, spinach and cheese and baked in marinara and Alfredo sauces will leave your taste buds reeling. But dont count out the black pepper linguine, which is tossed with lemon-garlic butter and sweet, sweet snow crab meat.
Tommys Italian American Grill
5516 W. Memorial Road
470-5577
Nobody leaves Tommys hungry. Thats not a threat, by the way. Nobody holds you down and force-feeds you penne. But with big portions of delicious Italian favorites, it will take Hal Jordan levels of willpower to resist stuffing yourself with linguine con frutti di mare and rich, decadent bianco verde. Mangia!
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