Ice House Bar and Grill - Breakfast Review #2

It's another early Saturday morning and time for our second official breakfast review.  This morning we made our second visit to the Ice House Bar and Grill.  The Ice House is located on highway 51 approximately 5 miles east of Stillwater, 2 miles past Fairgrounds Road. It's in a rather non-descript building and looks like it's been around, well, forever.  I've never gone in the evenings, but it's been described to me by multiple people as the "rough" bar in town.  The first time BJ and I went here about 6 weeks ago we learned that it's where the strippers from the local club frequent after they are done for the night, so hopefully that provides some perspective on where we were at. 

Today BJ and I were joined by Greg and Mike which made for a nice addition.  When you walk into Ice House you walk in, sit at the bar and are greeted by Bob, a quiet, but friendly, chain smoking old man.  Today there were a few other regulars having their first cup of coffee and morning smoke. Compared to last week we did have real plates and utensils rather than those of the plastic variety. The coffee was plentiful, but Bob said he was aggressive in pushing for refills so that he could make a fresh pot because this was leftover from yesterday! 

I had my usual, sausage, hashbrowns, eggs over easy and wheat toast which was actually pretty good.  I particularly like the sausage which has a decent amount of spice (3.5 out of 5 pancakes).  Greg had almost the identical meal except with biscuits and gravy and gave it a solid rating of (3.5 out of 5 pancakes).   BJ went for the pancakes and eggs, which he was disappointed with as he said the pancakes were on the dry side (2.5 out of 5 pancakes).  I didn't get to ask Mike about his food, but I think he was just happy that he could get a large tomato juice with ice!

Overall, the Icehouse is a different kind of place.  The ambiance hurts for the nonsmokers, but there is something to sitting around a bar and getting day old coffee with your breakfast.  The price is reasonable, although nothing can compare to last weeks meal at the Cimarron Casino when it comes to price.  I would go back again, but going with the sausage and eggs maybe the way to go, and be prepared for the smoke. 

Ratings:
Food: 3 of 5 pancakes
Cost: $$$ (out of 5)
Overall: 3 of 5 cups of coffee

Until next week, when it looks like we will be heading to the oldest cafe in Oklahoma, the Kumback Lunch Cafe in Perry!

Cimarron Valley Casino - The First Review!!

Well this is our first official breakfast review!  This week we went to the Cimarron Grille at the Cimarron Valley Indian Casino.  It's located at Cimarron Casino, 821 W. Freeman, Perkins, OK 74059.

One of the tough things about making breakfasts sometimes is the early morning start of 7am.  This morning I thought I might actually be early since we decided to try out a place in Perkins, but at 6:30 I got a text from BJ saying he was already there waiting for me, thinking that we had switched times to 6:30.

Well there is a lot that can be said about eating at the Cimaron Valley Indian Casino.  From the outside it looks like you are going into a giant aluminum barn.  On the inside it's the typical casino with a small restaurant.  It is safe to say that the ambiance is not why you choose to eat here.  It feels like you are eating in a combination of the Double Deuce from Patrick Swayze's Roadhouse and an elaborate bingo parlor.  I half expected Swayze to come out of the kitchen sipping his typical cup of coffee.  It was slightly worrisome that for a place with about a dozen customers in the entire building whose average age was probably 70 there were a significant number of security guards.  I was slightly worried at one point that the little old ladies at the table next to us might light up the joint after the got gravy on their steaks that they wanted on the side instead. 

BJ and I each ordered the Breakfast Special which includes coffee, eggs, hash browns, biscuit, and basically what amounted to a chicken fried steak with gravy.  The food and coffee are served on a styrofoam plate and cup with plastic utensils, but for $2.99 who cares??  The food, somewhat surprisingly was pretty good, and the service was above par.  The food was fresh, and although the steak was probably of the pre-made frozen food variety it was still pretty good.

As mentioned in the original post our goal is to rate the restaurant based on both food (best of 5 pancakes) and price (best of 5 $$ signs), and an overall rating.  I'm still looking for an app/graphic to make it a bit more interactive, but until then it's just good old text.

Ratings:
Food: 3.5 of 5 pancakes
Price: $ (out of 5)
Overall: 4 of 5 cups of coffee

The food was decent and it's impossible to beat the price!  It's also 24/7!

Next week I think we are going to try one of our previous restaurants that we went to before starting the blog.

Origins of the Oklahoma Breakfast Beat

Welcome everyone to the Oklahoma Breakfast Beat! 

My name is Jason and no I'm not an Oklahoma native.  I moved here a little over a year ago from California  and I've been doing my best to learn about the local happenings ever since.  My breakfast eating and periodic blogging companion is BJ, an Oklahoma native and a man whose become a great friend during my first year in Oklahoma.

We began discussion over the past few weeks after Mom's diner in Stillwater closed down.  For those of you familiar with Stillwater and the surrounding area, Mom's diner was definitely one of the town's favorite restaurants located in a rundown building on the south end of Main Street.  Almost from my first week in Stillwater, BJ and I began meeting at Mom's every Saturday morning at 7am.  Periodically we'd have friends join us that included Mike, Greg, Mee Ja and others. They all knew where to find us if they wanted an early morning breakfast.  BJ had been eating at Mom's for years and was definitely one of the "regulars", but the waitresses soon came to know my regular order and it began to feel like home!

When Mom's closed in June, what were we to do? We were suddenly left without our favorite breakfast place.  Well, we did what any good breakfast eaters would do and set out on a mission to find the next Mom's.  Over the past 6 weeks or so we've started trying new places around Stillwater and the surrounding towns including Shortcakes, Cafe 33, the Morrison Cafe, Kumback Lunch diner, Granny's Kitchen and the Icehouse Bar.

It turns out that trying a new place every week has been a lot of fun, and the idea of sharing our findings just seemed like a natural extension.  The goal is to make a weekly post about where we've been and rate it based on quality of food  and price, and provide as many extraneous facts as possible!  We may review some of our previous breakfasts, but will likely just try most of them again!  

If you have any places you think we should try, let us know!

Jason