Smokies Hickory House, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

We had a great stay in Oklahoma City. It’s a great town, the National is a fine hotel, and after we completed #47 on our list of 10k walks in each of the 50 state capitals, with meals at the Cattlemen’s Steakhouse, Clark Crew, and Cheever’s, we headed east to hit Little Rock and walk #48.

Do you remember Laura Eddy? She’s the mother of Julie Eddy Rokala and the spur to my still-expanding post on the Best Places to Eat Near I-40, a complement to my magisterial Best Places to Eat Near I-40 between DC and Key West. Suggestions of additional places are welcome, especially west of Gallup, New Mexico. We detoured slightly along the way to see Laura and, as a bonus, her daughter Chelle, Laura’s sister, and Chelle’s husband Tom. We met them at Laura’s lovely house and had a tour and a good old chat. Then we all went out to Smokies at 5251 Kenosha in the far reaches of Broken Arrow, the home of Kristin Chenoweth, Ernie Childers, Warren Spahn, and the Eddy family.

My heart sang as we drove up and saw smoke pouring out of the Chimney.

Smokies seems to be the only place in the area that cooks exclusively with wood. Correct me if I’m wrong. There’s a cozy inside area

that was full when we arrived, but it was a lovely sunny day, and we were happy to sit on the large deck out back.

Nancy had a salad with smoked chicken,

and despite years of experience, including our initial trip to Tuscaloosa when the only meal that did not include bacon was the ribs at Dreamland, seemed to think it was odd for a salad to include bacon. Odd or not she spoke highly of the chicken and did not ignore the bacon.

Chelle ordered the Razorback, described on the menu as “Our tender smoked pork piled high with our in-house smoked bacon on a toasted ciabatta bun topped with our signature fresh Atomic coleslaw.”

The bacon is hidden underneath that beautiful pork. Chelle loved it, but eventually jettisoned the bun and gave some of that very thick, smoky bacon to Tom, who had ordered a a brisket sandwich and fries.

Tom, who has become an enthusiastic smoker himself, was very high on the quality of the brisket even before he added the bacon to it. And don’t those fries look delicious?

Laura went with a chopped pork sandwich with Atomic slaw.

That pork is so pretty! And notice that nice piece of outside bark. Let’s take a closer look with some of the Atomic slaw.

More outside meat, more of that bark, and some Atomic slaw. Now that’s a barbecue sandwich.

I thought about a two-meat plate, but for once discretion won out, and I focused on an Oklahoma specialty, a smoked bologna sandwich with some Atomic slaw. Okay, and some fried okra.

Let’s take a look at the bologna and another look at the Atomic slaw.

I’d had smoked bologna at Ramey’s and at a couple of Alabama football tailgates. It’s a great vehicle for smoke. It’s rich and flavorful, and the Atomic slaw was wonderful in setting off the bologna and adding texture.

The slaw also added a whole lot of flavor. This is fantastic slaw, possibly the best slaw I’ve ever eaten. It looks like it has a whole lot of dressing, but that just drips off when you take a forkful. The slaw is a good crunchy mix of cabbage and carrots and a good dose of jalapeño. It’s not overbearingly hot, but it’ll get your attention. The flavor is bright and just plain delicious. You have to try some Atomic slaw. It’s worth a drive by itself.

Oh, an order of onion rings for the table also appeared on the table with some ranch dressing.

Like the fries and okra, they might appear to be a little gray, but that’s the effect of the bright Oklahoma sun. They were fairly heavily breaded — I usually prefer a dusting rather than a batter for fried foods — but the flavor was quite good, and I ate my share, and Nancy’s, too.

What a treat the lunch was. Good setting and good people make food taste better, but my food didn’t need any help. If you’re anywhere near Tulsa, definitely take a little detour to Broken Arrow and Smokies.

Broken Arrow, by the way, was named after the Broken Arrow Muscogees (also known as Creeks and Este Mvskokvlke, which is pronounced by people who can pronounce it), a group from Alabama, so-called because they broke off reeds and bois d’arc tree branches to make their arrows. The Broken Arrows followed the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma in 1834 and settled in the area within the Muskogee allotment. Today, Broken Arrow has grown from a small town to the largest suburb of Tulsa, with well over 120,000. Tom, who works for the city, gave us a driving tour, and the historic town is thriving, and there’s much new construction. Amid the growth the city seems to be keeping a good handle on growth in the older areas, with new construction compatible with the existing homes. It’s a very pleasant place.

So go visit Broken Arrow. And go to Smokies, have some pork and some brisket and some bologna. And a double order of Atomic slaw.

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