When dining in the small farming community of Rush Springs, you’re kind of limited on what there is to eat around there. Not too far from the Watermelon Festival, on Blakely Street, you’ve basically got two options: Redskin’s Diner that, judging from the banners, was now proud to be serving Hunt Brothers Pizza and, of course, Smokin’ Joes Rib Ranch.
It was no contest.
At first glaring glance, Smokin’ Joe’s, 306 W. Blakely St., looks very much like a heavily decorated chain restaurant, full of corny signs and a neon glow; it was actually started, however, by Joe Wells in Davis, Oklahoma, some years back, out of his fledging gas station. People apparently liked his meats so much that he eventually went right ahead and opened up a full-fledged eatery (and RV park, natch), with this Rush Springs franchise launching sometime later.
The line around lunchtime was almost out the door, the place packed with out-of-town visitors craving some dastardly meat-products after stuffing themselves with mostly healthy watermelon all morning. Looking over the basic menu hanging on the wall, I opted for the well-stacked One Meat Large Dinner for $13.50, a price that I found somewhat comparable to Oklahoma City.