Restaurant reviews: The Alley, Oklahoma Roadhouse, Einstein Bros. Bagels
BY SCOTT CHERRY World Scene Writer
Sunday, January 13, 2013
1/13/13 at 4:09 AM
This is a recap of Scott Cherry's restaurant reviews in last week's Weekend section. The full reviews are available at tulsaworld.com/cherrypicks
THE ALLEY
3324 E. 31st St.
918-960-2822
Food: 
Atmosphere:
Service:
(on a scale of 0 to 4 stars)
11 a.m.-10 p.m. kitchen, bar midnight-2 a.m. depending on crowd, seven days a week (weekday lunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m., happy-hour menu 2-5 p.m., dinner 5-10 p.m., weekend brunch 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.); accepts all major credit cards.
A special entree the night we were there was venison ($27), and this was a dish that could mingle with the upper crust. The plate held four sizable slices of venison, cooked near rare, that were as tender and flavorful as one could hope for. It came with a side of wilted spinach in a potato puree.
The meaty short rib ($18) also was tender, and picked up significant flavor from a topping of shallot jam and port wine reduction.
The three large pieces of fish (in the fish and chips, $16) had a fresh flavor and had been lightly battered and fried, and the fries were fine.
OKLAHOMA ROADHOUSE
1530 N. Elm Place, Broken Arrow
918-872-6361
Food:
Atmosphere: 
Service:
(on a scale of 0 to 4 stars)
11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday; accepts Visa, MasterCard.
No matter what you call it or how you cut it, the Oklahoma Roadhouse osso buco ($12.49) was outstanding. It was amazingly tender and flavorful, and quite a surprise nestled on a menu that is big on steaks, chicken-fried, burgers and catfish.
We noticed portions of most dishes being served around the dining room ranged from large to enormous. Not true with the chicken-fried steak ($10.49). It was a modest-sized steak, but it might have been one of the best we ever have tasted - tender, no gristle, perfectly breaded and fried, and covered in good cream gravy. The preferred side was mashed potatoes, of course.
EINSTEIN BROS. BAGELS
8125 E. 101st St.
918-872-7853
Food:
Atmosphere:
Service: order at counter
(on a scale of 0 to 4 stars)
5 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 6 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; accepts all major credit cards.
Einstein Bros. Bagels, a franchise restaurant in far south Tulsa, offers 18 flavors of bagels, bagel sandwiches, bagel wraps, pizza bagels, bagel melts, panini, deli sandwiches, salads, soups, spreads and sweet pastries in addition to the normal run of specialty coffee drinks, tea, hot chocolate and smoothies.
I selected one of the restaurant's signature dishes, the Tasty Turkey sandwich ($6.95), and my wife had an egg sandwich ($4.80) on whole-grain bread instead of a bagel. We shared a bowl of turkey chili ($3.50) and chipotle chicken salad ($5).
The turkey sandwich included layers of lettuce, tomato slices, cucumber slices and mayo on an Asiago cheese bagel, and the egg sandwich was filled with spinach, mushrooms and Swiss cheese.
The whole-grain bread was cut thick, and its texture and flavor added to the appeal of the sandwich.
Original Print Headline: The Alley serves it up right
Associated Images:
An Alley Burger and french fries is served at The Alley. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
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