“Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”
This quote is attributed to baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra after he was once asked about eating at a famous restaurant in New York City.
Yogi could have been speaking about Cattlemen’s Steakhouse in Oklahoma City in 2022.
Credited as being the oldest restaurant still operating in OKC and which once allegedly changed ownership at the roll of some dice, Cattlemen’s remains incredibly popular and busy.
Lunch at Cattlemen’s on my birthday with my wife has been a family tradition of ours for more than a decade.
So, today, on the occasion of my 69th trip around the sun, we made our pilgrimage to the mecca of OKC restaurants.
Located in the Stockyards City area adjacent to the Oklahoma National Stockyards, Cattlemen’s was playing to a full house this afternoon.
Of course.
And we didn’t arrive until 1:30.
But since there were only two of us, we were escorted to a table after a wait of only a couple minutes. Larger groups waited outside on the sidewalk.
The meal was awesome, as always, but what I really go for is the giant yeast roll that comes with the steak. It is my downfall. Oh, and the basket of melba toast that comes out with the salad.
Our waitress was so accommodating and took our photo as we sat at the table, then we followed up with a selfie on the crowded sidewalk outside.
As we were pulling out of the lot behind the restaurant after enjoying the meal, we looked around at the many western-themed businesses in the Stockyards City area.
“There wouldn’t be all these businesses without Cattlemen’s,” Paula said as she looked acoss the intersection of Agnew and Exchange.
You’ve got that right. Cattlemen’s definitely is the engine that drives the Stockyards City economy.
It IS too crowded. But people (like us) keep coming year after year. And it’s worth the wait.
Jim Stafford's BlogOKC 