Napoli’s Italian Restaurant
800 S. Air Depot, Midwest City 610-7900 Knowing that we all have eaten Italian cuisine repeatedly, Napoli’s offers some unusual fare, including a Jet’s Special done with chicken and eggplant, lobster ravioli, and linguini tutto mare done with mussels, shrimp and scallops. Open daily, this used to be King Wah for a long time, but now is a nice Italian spot with pizza, sandwiches, homemade baked pastas and seafood.
$$ Italian
Birrieria Diaz
6700 n.W. 39th, Bethany 603-1304
In what used to be a former chimney shop, owners Juan Manuel Diaz and his wife, Solorro Garcia, opened their first Mexican restaurant in late June. Its enchiladas are pure Mexican, not Tex-Mex, they say. To the delight of its many regular customers, the tortillas are handmade on the spot. Birria, or chopped lamb or beef with a special salsa, is the headliner.
$$ Mexican
Timber Lodge Steakhouse
13100 Colony Pointe Blvd., Piedmont 373-1161
This is a re-start of the Timber Lodge of Kingfisher that closed. Located between Surrey Hills and Piedmont, it has 120 seats and offers lunch and dinner with a menu that includes steaks, pasta and seafood. It is owned by Bobby Dennis, and his wife, Santana Dennis. Santana’s grandmother owned the original.
$$$ Steakhouse
Escalera’s Tacos 1802 N. MacArthur Blvd.
942-2900
Everything
sizzles when customers go to Escalera’s Tacos. And darn, those tacos
with the green salsa hit the spot. Is your head pounding from a party?
Say goodbye to that hangover on Saturday or Sunday and get a spicy
surprise with a bowl of hearty birria menudo. The kitchen starts serving
that dish at 9 a.m. Other Mexican beauties include its enchiladas,
burritos and tortas (sandwiches).
$$ Mexican
Millie’s Table
1333 N. Santa Fe, Edmond 330-9156
In the mood for a hot meal on a Tuesday or a Thursday but you are just too frazzled to rattle those pots and pans? Let Millie’s take care of it. The catering company offers hot meals-to-go on those two days. Simply call ahead by 1 p.m. or visit Milliestable.com and see what’s available. Perhaps it could be a chicken Parmesan, stuffed bell peppers or chicken with pesto, pecan and bacon bits.
$$ Pick-up food
The Vine Italian Cafe
12226 N.E. 23rd, Nicoma Park 769-7967
Open Wednesday through Saturday for dinner only and going strong already, The Vine is owned and run by Mark and Christine Attanasi, and as the website says: “Pretend like you’re Italian and you CAN say it — At Tuh Nay See.” OK, so now we know. Mark is from New Jersey, and those recipes are from his family, who is from the southwestern region of Italy.
$$$ Italian
Murphy’s Family Grill
212 S. Air Depot, Midwest City 732-2489 How things change! The owners used to be with City Cafe and now have a new location, a name change and four times the space. The hungry customers from Tinker Air Force Base are fond of the quality of the burgers, superb salads and to-die-for Reuben sandwiches. The menu also includes shepherd’s pie and salmon patties.
$$ American
—Carol Smaglinski, photos by Mark Hancock, Shannon Cornman and Lindsey Cooper
$$: up to $15
$$$: $15-$30
$$$$: above $30
