Brothers Houligan...Simple,Old School TASTY Diner Food!

Brothers Houligan! Good service, old school food.










Finally, I tried Brothers Houligan. It's old school diner food with...pretty tasty.  I started with the beanless chili and also had the steak salad, my guest had the chicken tenders and waffle fries with green beans. 

 

     The server was new and didn't ask me how I wanted my steak cooked. In the spirit of "old school café" type food, they cooked it well :-(  It wasn't too bad, I just like my steak to moo now and then. They marinade the meat so that's very obvious and what makes it tasty.

Main Street Tavern...Broken Arrow's First Gastropub of Epicurean Delight!

      
     Wow...what an awesome addition to the Rose District in Broken Arrow. Actually, it seems like this trendy gastropub was there prior to the dubbing of the downtown district as The Rose District.  Look at that cheeseburger to the right...do you see that smile with it's tongue showing as if to say "eat me, I'm meaty, bacon-ee, goodness!"



     This charming yet trendy gastropub looks not so big on the outside...but when you step in, this is what you see:

     It goes in and to either side with booths and tables...plenty of room.  We were greeted by a friendly hostess and seated immediately. Soon after our awesome server came over and the epicurean experience begun.

     So I had a little guest with me...we decided to start with the Roasted Garlic Artichoke Dip. Okay, it was my idea but my little six year old guest LOVED it.

Roasted Garlic Artichoke Dip served w/crostini-$8 

     Next, we ordered our main course. I ordered the Jalapeno Cream Cheese Burger with sweet potato fries and little gal ordered the Grilled Cheese with fries.

 Grown Up Grilled Cheese-American, provolone, and cheddar cheese on wheatberry bread, served with pub fries-$8

     I had a small bite of the Grown Up Grilled Cheese...it's everything a grilled cheese should be and apparently, not just for grown ups. My little guest Tessa LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it! All through the meal she kept mumbling "this is sooooo good!!" She obviously has great taste in food and her parents are raising her right...no chains or fast food for this lil foodie in the makin'!

The Jalapeno Cream Cheese and Bacon Burger served with sweet potato fries-$9 

     This cheeseburger, topped with grilled jalapenos and melted cream cheese was beyond. Look at that photo above...do you see the flavor? Yes you do...YES, you do.  And juicy!  The flavors were all there, juicy, savory and delicious. I think the burger could have used a little more salt if the bacon wasn't on it...but because the bacon was on it, it balanced the flavors beautifully. Hmm, the chef must know what he's doing!  I know it sounds simple to say a cheeseburger and sweet potato fries, but as you can see from the photos, it's clearly not just a burger and fries. The colors and ingredients raised the meal a level or two.

     As if this wasn't enough (yes, we both took more than half our meals home) we just HAD to try the dessert. We opted for the Triple Chocolate Cake.

 Triple Chocolate Cake-$6

     Once again, we found ourselves unable to utter one word...it's hard to do that when you're stuffing yourself with a bite of this creamy, decadent chocolate cake.  

     

     Main Street Tavern is the first among the businesses to grace The Rose District upon the opening of their doors.  Broken Arrow peeps are lucky to have this little gem in the heart of main street.

     Whether you're going for a happy hour, or going early enough to take the kids for a great family meal...you'll want to make this a MUST in your regular places to eat out.

     Happy place, happy face...bon appetit!

Ink's Shaved Ice...Psychedelic Never Tasted So Good!

     Ink's Shaved Ice...Who knew "snow cones" or shaved flavored ice could be so rad? I mean, really, REALLY wicked awesome.  I promise, you won't find another place like this anywhere near. 

     I'd been wanting to come by but they're usually closed when I'm in their area. Today I happened to be near by and decided to stop in.  It's in the heart of Broken Arrow, just off Kenosha, down the street from main street.  

     

      Kids crowding the outdoor benches could be seen from the street before we pulled in. It seems like a fun place to gather for kids and grow ups of all ages.

     There's a fun dry-erase wall where one can express their artistic talent or mood!

      I snuck in a photo of the good folks that put out these great amazing flavors of shaved ice...I know, I know, you're thinking, "it's just shaved ice" but it's not really...

      ...because of the HUGE flavor varieties. See the green and pink menus on the wall to the left? And you can take those flavors and create and combine to make new flavors. It's CRAZY good!

     This is "Wedding Cake" flavor, and yes, it tasted similar to a white wedding cake!

Mine was a blue coconut, banana and toasted coconut flavor...he made a rose of it!

      They added sugar sprinkles to mine as well. You can even add whipped cream! This is the type of place that's refreshing in the summer, and makes you nostalgic for the summer in the winter!  I mean, let's face it, we eat ice cream in the winter, why should this be any different? Ink's Shaved Ice, where the eats are as cool as the peeps that run it!

Smokies...Real old fashioned hickory smoked BBQ! PART ONE!

This is PART ONE of a two part blog on Smokies.

Smokies old fashioned hickory smoked BBQ is serious GREAT eats. It's out there in Broken Arrow, but oh, so worth the drive. 

     Thanks to Aaron for making our experience such a great one.  It's easy to find...and not just visually...but aromatically as well. I mean, I literally could smell the delicious savory meats being smoked as I was getting near and then bam, there it was!

     So we're greeted by the super nice peeps there and then Aaron came out and said hello. I asked him what I always ask people in restaurants...give me your BEST dish and he accommodated nicely! From the Firecrackers (fried,breaded jalapeno) and fried pickle slices to the juicy, smoked meat...it ALL be good :-) I got to sample the pork, brisket, ribs, sausages and bologna! But wait, THERE'S MORE!!! SO MUCH MORE!! 

Firecrackers (sliced, breaded and fried jalapenos)

     Let's start with the flavors of the meats...hickory smoked deliciousness doesn't do it justice...the meats were flavorful, not too much smoky-ness, but just the right amount. Flavors were balanced and full on savory goodness.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

     Next, Aaron brought out samples of their signature sides. I don't even know where to start...the beans, oh those beans, smoky, tart AND sweet, with a little heat, again, perfect balance. The cole slaw was chunky, with a nice sweet crunch and a nice amount of cracked pepper.  The atomic slaw...O.M.G. Spicy, sweet crunchy yummy-ness. 

     My friend Dawn had the Razorback Sandwich...it was phenomenal.  We were in BBQ heaven.  Razorback Sandwich, atomic slaw, baked beans and the most wicked tasty potato salad you'll ever have.

The meat literally came clean off the bone...THAT'S MY TEST ON GREAT BBQ! Smokies gets an A for tender smoky savoryness!

     Service was as crazy good as was the food! Thanks again Aaron for taking such good care of us. Can't wait to go back and try some other menu items as well as to take more photos and do a full write up about the history of this phenYUMenal place!

8 Facts About Food That Will Totally Creep You Out