Do you want to avoid me altogether? Good news! I am a founding member of The OKC Sleepy Boys and I do not enjoy being awake past...ever. My fondness for sleeping cannot be overstated.
So consider this pure fan service, because a restaurant being open late matters almost 0 percent to me. I am fine with operating during banking hours, thank you very much.
But there are people like my favorite sentient slab of wood, The Door, who exist in that nightmarish nether-realm of post-9 p.m. Oklahoma City, and that door has to eat, folks.
If you’re interested in the first part of this feature, you can find it here.
The R&J Lounge and Supper Club
320 NW 10th St., OKC
Open ‘til 2 a.m.
Serves food ‘til 12:45 a.m.
Closed on never
I don’t know how you feel about old-timey foods, but The R&J’s menu is straight out of the 1950s...and I mean that in a good way. You’re in for delicious beef stroganoff, super juicy burgers and some tasty classic cocktails. It can be a little small inside, but the patio is great when the weather is nice and the soundtrack is usually on point.
The Hutch on Avondale
6437 Avondale Drive, Nichols Hills
Open ‘til midnight
Serves food ‘til
Closed on Sunday nights and all-day Monday
The menu changes seasonally, but with chef David Henry at the helm, you can be sure it’s delicious all year round. You’re generally assured of a few different steaks on the menu, but I tend to look for the more unusual dishes, because that really shows off Henry’s mastery of the kitchen. I mean, smoky cauliflower? You know that’s going to be amazing.
Power House
1228 SW 2nd St., OKC
Open ‘til 2 a.m.
Serves food ‘til weekdays 11 p.m., weekends midnight
Closed on never
Get the beer companion regardless of what you’re drinking. It’s a charcuterie plate and you love charcuterie, right? It’s fancy snacks! Everyone loves fancy snacks. The spicy chile pork verde is a great stew, if you’re into eating stew at bars. Personally, I think it’s what Ernest Hemingway would do before fistfighting a fish. For something a little less messy, the Hawaiian pig biscuits are great.
The Jones Assembly
901 W. Sheridan Ave., OKC
Open ‘til 2 a.m.
Serves food ‘til 10 p.m.
Closed on Mondays, show days
This place is as fancy as you want it to be. You can get pizza and burgers or you can dig into an appetizer of octopus (highly recommended) and an entree of scallops. The bar is top notch, as well. This is a music venue some nights, in which case the restaurant is closed. Do yourself a favor and check their schedule online at thejonesassembly.com before you head over.
The Garage Burgers and Beer
multiple locations
Open ‘til Sun-Wed midnight, Thu-Sat 1 a.m.
Serves food ‘til midnight
Closed on never
Burgers! Beer! French fries covered in stuff! The Garage is one of the Hal Smith Restaurant Group’s rapidly expanding properties for a reason. They’ve got some wild burger toppings and a beer menu that spans from the affordable to the audacious, as well as a full bar. It’s definitely a come-as-you-are kind of place, especially in so many places.
Hopscotch
10909 N. May Ave., OKC
Open ‘til 2 a.m.
Serves food ‘til midnight
Closed on never
They serve burgers and sandwiches and wings and salads and appetizers and lots and lots of beer. It’s not a chain, but it’s got that kind of polish. Hopscotch is actually a cousin or brother or sister-wife of the Paseo Grill, so the food pedigree is there. I mean, a really good burger at 11:30 p.m. beats the pants off rolling through the drive thru yet again.
Anchor Down
30 NE 2nd St., OKC
Open ‘til Sun-Thu midnight, Fri-Sat 2 a.m.
Serves food ‘til Sun-Thu 10 p.m., Fri-Sat midnight
Closed on never
Corn dogs, Jackie. Corn dogs for all of these people. No? “Semi-Pro”? Just me, then. Fine.
When Anchor Down opened, it was all about the corn dogs. Now the menu has expanded a bit to other bar-friendly fare, like burgers and salads and such. It’s in a shipping container, so it’s a long, thin bar, but there’s a nice patio to watch that Deep Deuce nightlife while you enjoy your pizza tots.
Sean Cummings Irish Restaurant & Pub
7628 N. May Ave., OKC
Open ‘til 10 p.m. Sunday, Mon-Thu midnight, Fri-Sat 2 a.m.
Serves food ‘til 10 p.m. (full menu), midnight (late-night menu)
Closed on never
I love places with a late-night menu because you know they’re used to feeding you vampires. Sean Cummings is worth going to early for the full menu, which things like beer-steamed mussels and clams and the salmon boxty, but if you’re up late, you can do a lot worse than corned beef and cabbage, Irish stew or fish and chips. Get the Guinness wings. And some Guinness.
Saints Bar & Lounge
1715 NW 16th St., OKC
Open ‘til 2 a.m.
Serves food ‘til Sunday 10 p.m., Mon-Sat midnight
Closed on never
You know, I didn’t mean to put two Irish spots on this list, but I guess people who like beer also like staying up late. Saints is a Plaza District mainstay — one of the first new businesses that helped transform it into the vibrant, skinny-jeans-centric neighborhood it is today. Maybe I’m just an old man, but the $5 baked potatoes there really hit the spot when you’re trying to soak up a lot of alcohol. Or maybe you just like carbs. I just like carbs.
Fassler Hall
421 NW 10th St., OKC
304 S. Elgin, Ave., Tulsa
Open ‘til 2 a.m.
Serves food ‘til Sun-Wed 12:30 a.m., Thu-Sat 1 a.m.
Closed on never
Part of the McNellie’s Restaurant Group, Fassler is a solid spot for a late-night sausage party. No, seriously, they serve a lot of house-made sausage. The number of giant steins of beer grows as the night wears on, but be sure to balance it out with a few orders of hunter sausage (made with venison, buffalo and pork) or the always excellent jalapeno cheddar. Or, if you invite me along, let’s order the Table Board ($58) which is loaded with pretzels, duck fat fries, a rotisserie chicken and six sausages.
Flip’s Wine Bar & Trattoria
5801 N. Western Ave., OKC
Open ‘til 2 a.m.
Serves food ‘til 1 a.m.
Closed on never
Flip’s was the first place I ever knew that did a late-night menu and it charmed me from day one. It was kind of freeing to know that a restaurant was actively encouraging us to stay up too late and over indulge. Just because it’s late doesn’t mean you aren’t getting the good stuff — manicotti, pesto dumplings and a selection of specialty pizzas all await you after 10:30 p.m.
James E. McNellie’s Public House
122 E. Main St., Norman
1100 Classen Drive., OKC
409 E. 1st St., Tulsa
7031 S. Zurich Ave., Tulsa
Open ‘til 2 a.m. (1 a.m. downtown Tulsa location)
Serves food ‘til Sun-Thu 11 p.m., Fri-Sat 1 a.m.
Closed on never
Another McNellie’s Restaurant Group restaurant, of course, is James E. McNellie’s Public House. After a recent menu refresh, you can find things like Peking duck wings and deviled eggs in the restaurant alongside old favorites like potato leek soup (my favorite) and cottage pie (also my favorite) and fish and chips (OK, MAYBE THEY’RE ALL MY FAVORITES). Plus, if you like beer, they have a lot of it. It’s a very good bar that also happens to be a good restaurant.
