OUTLOOK 2021
TULSA WORLD
SUNDAY, MARCH 21, 2021 |
S15
RESTAURANTS
Popular spots survive devastating year
Local restaurateurs look to fully reopen, while others expand ANDREA EGER
Tulsa World
T
he coronavirus pandemic was a devastating blow to restaurant businesses across the globe, but there are numerous signs of pandemic recovery popping up among the survivors in Tulsa who were able to hang on — and even some new restaurants opening in 2021. Calaveras Mexican Grill shuttered its popular brick-and-mortar restaurant in Tulsa’s Kendall-Whittier district in spring 2020 and shifted to operating solely from a food truck used only for catering and special events previously. Now, the Molina family is taking with it legions of new Calaveras fans picked up from food truck visits to neighborhood associations and businesses across the metro and lessons learned during the pandemic and gearing up to reopen their restaurant this spring. “We have gone to different parts of Tulsa and Owasso, Broken Arrow, Bixby and Jenks. Luckily, we were able to expand our reach,” said assistant manager David Molina Jr. “During this time, we’ve done a little remodeling and painting. And the pandemic sort of changed our mindset of the menu. It was quite large and has always been a topic of concern for us, so we’re going to do a whole revamp from the old menu — keeping a lot of favorites and introducing some new dishes. “We’ll keep the same quality of food and the traditional recipes, but we’ve got some exciting new things for our customers.” Popular Lone Wolf Banh Mi announced March 1 that it is hiring for all positions as it prepares to reopen dining rooms at its two locations. “It’s been a year. Numbers looking good. Staff needs more hours. We need more staff. Let’s make this
JOHN CLANTON, TULSA WORLD
People wait in line for their orders outside the Calaveras Mexican Grill food truck in the the Stonegate neighborhood in Broken Arrow. Calaveras shuttered its brick-and-mortar restaurant in Tulsa’s Kendall-Whittier district in spring 2020 and shifted to operating 100% from their food truck, which they used previously only for catering and special events. Serving in neighborhoods in parts of Tulsa far from their restaurant and many suburbs has greatly expanded their exposure and customer base.
happen,” read Lone Wolf’s Facebook post. Waffle That!, a popular north Tulsa spot for chicken and waffles at 2115 N. Martin Luther King Blvd., introduced its second location in mid-February in a space that formerly housed Bamboo Thai Bistro at 5079 S. Yale Ave. And after subsisting on drivethrough service for nearly a year, the original location reopened its dining room to the public the first week in March. “Everybody is recovering from the pandemic. There are a lot of people who shut down completely and those that are cutting back, but we just did the opposite. Business is booming,” said Angel Ogundare, manager at the north Tulsa location. “It’s all of our fans and it’s our syrup. We home-make all of our syrup and different sauces other chicken and waffle places don’t have, like sweet and spicy.”
TULSA WORLD FILE
Chef Kevin Nashan was reared in Santa Fe, where his family owned a beloved northern New Mexican restaurant, La Tertulia, for 27 years. No grand opening on the Tulsa restaurant scene was more anticipated than La Tertulia, the new New Mexican-themed concept
the Blue Dome District downtown. But other restaurateurs are also bucking the pandemic declines and pushing forward with new offerings in Tulsa. Krab Kingz Seafood, a relatively small chain with about three dozen locations in the Midwest and South, opened its first Oklahoma spot in mid-January in a former diner space at 6921 S. Lewis Ave. Lamar Jackson, one of the franchise partners, used to live in Tulsa, so he was confident the Krab Kingz specialty would work here. “We don’t consider ourselves Cajun. We are a Florida-style crab boil, which is different in style and presentation. Most people from north Florida know what this is, but other people are surprised by what we do,” Jackson said. “Because I lived in Tulsa years ago, I’m familiar with the culture, and Tulsa is kind of a foodie city. There’s not a lot to do, but one of the things people in Tulsa do is they go out to eat.” Krab Kingz specializes in trays and platters overflowing with crab legs, shrimp, lobster tails and fried catfish, accented with corn on the cob, boiled egg and sausage. “You can make it at home, but by the time you buy all of the ingredients plus the time, spices and electricity it takes to make it, it’s better to go out and buy it,” Jackson said. “That’s part of the appeal.” So far, business has been so good, the biggest challenge at the Tulsa location of Krab Kingz has been keeping up with customer demand for in-person dining. “It’s been great. The location has exceeded our expectations. We anticipated a year from now it would start taking off, but it’s taken off from the beginning,” Jackson said. “We’re pretty stringent on social distancing the tables, but we’ve got some dividers coming in to add a few more tables to keep up with the number of tables our customers want.”
by James Beard Award-winning chef Kevin Nashan, which opened in March next door to Nashan’s Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co. in andrea.eger@tulsaworld.com
Services for a lifetime and peace of mind for patients
H
elping its patients get more out of life and enjoy the little moments by improving their hearing is the No. 1 goal of the team at Miracle-Ear Hearing Aid Center in Muskogee.
Miracle-Ear Hearing Aid Center
“We’re here to help,” said Michi Dyke of Miracle-Ear Hearing Aid Center, which includes a team of trained audiologists and hearing instrument specialists. “We do everything from beginning to end, and patients leave our location with an amazing set of hearing aids. We provide services for a lifetime and peace of mind for our patients.” One of 19 Miracle-Ear locations statewide and part of a nationwide network that includes a total of 1,800 locations across the United States, the Muskogee branch provides an array of services, including hearing loss testing, hearing aid repairs and custom hearing aid fittings, Dyke said. Each hearing aid is fitted specifically to an individual patient’s ear through a special molding process.
technology, which enables users to better enjoy music, movies, television programs and reading. Additionally, Miracle-Ear patients can seek repair services or assistance with their hearing aids at any of the 1,800 locations across the country, Dyke said. Dyke also is proud of the Miracle-Ear Foundation, an organization that provides hearing aids to qualifying children and adults with limited hearing who could not otherwise afford them.
7103 S. Yale Ave., Tulsa, OK, 74136 918-894-4000 miracle-ear.com Modern hearing aids, such as those created by Miracle-Ear, are so small and discreet that they are unnoticeable to others, Dyke said. They also come with features such as rechargeable batteries and Bluetooth
“If a person in our community is not able to afford hearing aids, the Miracle-Ear Foundation gives them hearing aids to help them hear better,” she said. “It’s a really nice thing to be able to do. A lot of people have been helped through the foundation.” For more information, call 918-894-4000 or visit miracle-ear.com.
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Muskogee
1601 W. Okmulgee Ave
918-683-1234
Owasso
Broken Arrow
918-609-6550
918-286-3500
9045 N. 121st Ave., Ste. 1100
2005 W. Kenosha
Bixby
12345 S. Memorial Dr.
918-622-2773
Tulsa
71st & Yale (7103 S. Yale)
918-894-4000
PA RT N E R S I N P RO G R E S S
Jenks
807 East A Street
918-995-2222
Bartlesville
3019 SE Washington Blvd
918-876-0228
