Paseo Grill and Sauced on Paseo, Oklahoma City

Over the President's Day long weekend, Slim, Curly, and I made the trek up I-35 to Oklahoma City to visit my sister and my niece. This was a long, long overdue visit. I plead the 5th on exactly how long it had been since my previous one, but everyone can safely assume that I should be ashamed of myself.

My sister is in the restaurant business. She started out waiting tables and moved through the corporate restaurant world, gaining experience in management, bar-tending, catering, and generally running a high volume restaurant. Eventually, she and her now-ex and still business partner, went into business for themselves. They started out working with other partners by purchasing two existing bar/food establishments and streamlining the operations and menus. After a while, they branched out and opened a brand-new restaurant in Oklahoma's cute little arts district called The Paseo... it's appropriately named Paseo Grill. I say it's brand-new, but it's been around long-enough to become something of an establishment in the city. By "brand-new" I mean they found a space, developed the concept and menu with a chef, worked without any other business partners, and built the business from scratch. Not a small task, but they are both good at what they do, and the restaurant has been a success.

It is a special treat to eat there, as I don't get to be so extravagant at restaurants very often, and the food is just wonderful (full-disclosure should be apparent... obviously I am biased, but the reputation speaks for itself). I will just let the photos tell the story (note: it is dark in there and photo-taking was a bit tricky, as you'll see):

tuna tartar with fresh pineapple and avacado

Cucumber Club Special: Square One Cucumber, simple syrup, lemon juice, lime juice, club soda, Sprite... tasty!

Slim's pork chop with some really great glazed carrots (it's not too often I get excited about glazed carrots) & mashed potatoes

shrimp risotto topped with a lobster tail (special, not a regular menu item)

sea bass with green beans and a potato cake

king crab legs (special, not a regular menu item)

Curly's "mac and cheese" (with Gouda, mmmmm)

lobster tail (special, not a regular menu item)

prime ribeye with panko crust and blue cheese (special, not a regular menu item)

complimentary berries with fresh whipped cream

house-made key lime pie

each booth is private with its own set of curtains, a nice atmosphere.... and Curly loved it

Due to my shamefully lax visitation, I had not yet tried another of their restaurants, Sauced on Paseo, which was another pre-existing and popular restaurant that they purchased when the original owners were ready to sell. After some dreary and cold weather the day before, we lucked out with perfect temps and blues skies with puffy white clouds... perfect for pizza and beer on a patio. As the icing on the cake, a couple of friends of mine and their cute baby joined us.

 

my niece made me a peach Italian cream soda

yummy bruchetta with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, & balsamic vinegar... loved the bread

Italian salad: produce was all fresh and good quality (pretty picky about that)

We created our own sampler so I could try several of their signature pies. In the front is 1/2 Chicken Enchilada (grilled chicken, pico de gallo, mozzarella & cheddar cheese, green chile sour cream) with 1/2 of The Spartacus (feta cheese, roma tomatoes, banana peppers, artichokes, Kalamata olives, green bell peppers, fresh oregano, Romesco sauce ). In the back is 1/2 of The Full Monty (pepperoni, Italian sausage, cappacola, bacon, mozzarella, house red sauce) and 1/2 of the Buffalo Chicken (Buffalo chicken, mozzarella, blue cheese sauce). The Chicken Enchilada ended up being my favorite, which surprised me a bit... I guess I thought I preferred my enchiladas as enchiladas and my pizza as pizza, but it was tasty!

local art hangs on the wall... I was partial to this fire-breathing dog (deepest apologies but I forgot the artist's name!)

Curly & Slim gain exposure to the ancient ways.