By SCOTT CHERRY Restaurant Critic on Apr 13, 2012, at 10:23 AM Updated on 4/13 at 10:23 AM
TABLE TALK
Canebrake resort, located four miles east of Wagoner off Oklahoma 51, has scheduled a crab boil and wine tasting 6-9 p.m. ...
Chef-proprietor Justin Thompson has scheduled a benefit opening 6-10 p.m. Thursday for his new Tavolo Italian Bistro, 427 ...
Hope Egan, owner of Hope’s Table catering, said Thursday she plans to open a new restaurant called Tallgrass in downtown ...
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The recent re-emergence of Mondo's Ristorante after being closed for 13 years got me thinking about some Tulsa restaurant trivia. I posed the following three questions yesterday. How many did you get right?
1. Mondo's moved from its original site on 61st Street to 5960 S. Lewis Ave. in 1990. What restaurant did it replace on Lewis Avenue?
Answer: Pelican's Landing. The restaurant was struggling in 1989 and hired talented local chef Hari Broerze to upgrade the menu. The food improved, but it wasn't enough. Pelican's Landing closed in 1990, and Mondo's moved into the space the same year.
2. In 1982, Goldie's Patio Grill moved across a parking lot to occupy a building at 4401 E. 31st St. What restaurant with a controversial name formerly occupied that location?
Answer: Sambo's. The ill-fated name was a combination of the names of the founders, Sam Battistone Sr. and Newell "Bo" Bohnett, who started the family friendly chain in 1957. Unfortunately, the owners soon made the decision to decorate the restaurants with scenes from the book "The Story of Little Black Sambo." By 1979, Sambo's had some 1,200 restaurants scattered across 47 states. Although the restaurant tried to change its image by altering the decorations, and in some locations changing the name to No Place Like Sams, the negative repercussions proved too much to overcome. By 1982, all Sambo's restaurants had closed except for the original at 216 W. Cabrillo Blvd. in Santa Barbara, Calif. That restaurant still is being operated by Battistone's grandson, Chad Stevens.
Extra credit: How many remember the site Goldie's vacated on 31st Street to take the Sambo's spot formerly had been a Martin's BBQ?
3. Plans to enhance old Route 66 have been in the news lately, too, and that reminded me of a restaurant that operated out of two Illinois Central train cars in the late '60s at 10702 E. 11th St. The train cars since have been donated to a railroad preservation group in Dodge City, Kan., but the old wooden water tower that sat in front of the restaurant still was standing the last time I was out that way. What was the name of that restaurant?
Answer: Iron Horse Dining Depot. I noticed some readers came pretty close on this one. If you recall, the cars were a dome passenger and a pullman.
Extra credit: Jay's Pizza Train operated for a while there in the '70s, after Iron Horse closed.
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