Local Flavor

Left: The crème brûlée includes Tahitian vanilla bean custard with caramelized sugar. Below: Diners love Paseo Grill’s homemade pot pie, with chicken, potatoes, carrots, peas and a touch of cayenne pepper and curry.

A Bit of History

Prior to becoming the Paseo Grill, the stucco building served in a variety of capacities, including a community center and an El Chico restaurant.

“It [the building] is part of Paseo history,” says Rawlinson.

The Paseo district, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1929 as the first shopping district north of downtown Oklahoma City.

“The curved, two-block street has maintained its Spanish revival architecture with original stucco buildings and clay tile roofs still intact,” according to the Paseo website.

The Paseo hosts a First Friday Gallery Walk. Art galleries, artists, live music and food are part of the event, which runs every first Friday of the month from 6-9 p.m. stuck it out through the dredges of the pandemic. One employee, says Rawlinson, has been there for ten years.

Now, she says the restaurant is settling into a new normal. “It has turned a corner,” she says.

Both Rawlinson and Jungmann have been in the restaurant business for all of their adult lives. e two, who met in Dallas, had a restaurant stint in Denver before starting Paseo Grill.

“We are the best of friends,” says Rawlinson. “We are great business partners.” is year celebrates Paseo Grill’s 16th anniversary in the same building in the historic district.

“We are called the OG [Old Gang] in the Paseo,” says Rawlinson with a laugh. e restaurant has a catering sector and has been holding events o -site. An expansion of an alreadyexisting space at the current restaurant location will serve as an on-site event area.

“ at will be our banquet space,” says Rawlinson. “It will handle 80 people comfortably.” e expansion is planned to open in the spring of 2023. GINA A. DABNEY

Photo courtesy the McNellie’s Group

Red Light Chicken

You may remember Allison Goss from her days as a painter and conservator at the Philbrook, but before that, she worked in restaurants most of her life. Even before that, as a child, she sat wide-eyed and thrilled on those lucky days when her great-grandmother cooked fried chicken, green beans and sweet potato casserole. Now, working as general manager of Red Light Chicken, she’s reminded of those childhood meals every day.

“Our menu speaks volumes to anyone with a traditional Southern upbringing,” she says.

But how can a big restaurant produce dishes that resonate with childhood memories? Credit chef Ben Alexander with the magic of the menu. It was two years in the making, trial and error repeated countless times in the McNellie’s test kitchen just west of Peoria. e fried chicken is the star of the show. It’s brined for 24 hours (“the ingredients are Ben’s secret,” says Goss), after which it’s breaded by hand and then pressure fried. e brine and the pressure frying makes the chicken unbelievably juicy and tender. You can get it bone-in (a whole chicken is the best deal), as boneless tenders or in a sandwich. You can get it regular or spicy, and that spicy is Habanero spicy – be warned. e side dishes are a delight. e ambiance is bright and colorful. “It’s a bit trendy and funky,” says Goss. “But it’s still welcoming.”

Goss is still starry-eyed about it all.

“When I come here, it doesn’t feel like work,” she says. “It’s like my home away from home.” BRIAN SCHWARTZ