While in Broken Arrow running an errand, we realized it was noon and no one had eaten yet... After a short and informal poll, we realized we were all feelin' a mite peckish, and some good food would remedy that.
The question was.... where to get that good food.....
So I whipped out my phone and consulted my trusty Yelp! app, which steered me to Lilly's Diner in Catoosa. Now, to be fair, we were already at 51st and 193rd, so were were almost midway. Don't want you BA people feeling neglected or anything.
Having head great things about Lilly's and seeing their 5 star rating in Yelp! I felt safe in heading that direction.
We arrived to a nearly full house, but found a great little booth in the corner just our size.
Our server got right on it with menus and drink orders. After looking over their menu, we finally made our choices. Except for The Kid, who having spotted Spaghetti and Meatballs, was through with that whole decision thing. The Wife opted for a Western Omelet and I, true to form went the Chicken Fried Steak route. To be fair, I generally try to eat fairly healthy, but once a week or so, I drop the rules and just go at it, and today was that day.
Within a reasonably short time frame, food was on the table.
The Kid's pasta was nothing short of awesome. The marinara sauce would rival some of the higher end Italian joints around Tulsa with no problem. The meatballs were hot, moist and full of flavor. The only minus, and it's just being picky, was the grated parmesan on top as opposed to a freshly grated variety, but again.... that's just me being nit-picky. It was outstanding as it was.
The Wife's breakfast order was visually appealing and the taste matched that at every turn. She shunted over about 1/3 of her hashbrowns to me and still had much more than she could eat. I sampled the omelet, which was light, flavorful and everything a good omelet should be. The browns were cooked as perfectly as you can get them, and the biscuit and gravy could stand on their own. Light and fluffy biscuit and a smooth flavorful gravy with just a hint of sweetness in there.
I'd asked before ordering if the CFS was scratch made in house, and our server told me that yes.... oh yes, it is. So with that, my expectations were up just a notch.
I was not disappointed.
Thick enough to have two sides, the meat was flavorful, juicy and fork tender. The breading was light and full of flavor, and there was ample gravy to go around. The mashed potatoes were good, but let's face it, unless you're raising the bar on your spuds, they're usually just there to anchor the plate, and not much more. Again, these were still really, really good. The green beans were tender and had a slow cooked flavor that I enjoyed.
I'll leave my final comment on the CFS by saying that had I not possessed a shred of dignity, I probably would have just licked the plate clean. Not only was it THAT good, it was THAT gone. All of it.
Yep... I did that, and I ain't ashamed.
Service was spot on, with our drinks being refilled regularly. Our server had the balance of being there enough and yet not being there too much.
They were also promoting Lilly's 1 year anniversary on being open, and all I can say is that I wish them many, many more years being open because Tulsa NEEDS places like this. read more