When it comes to my favorite meals—the foods that I truly admire and, sadly, covet—there are three distinct styles that I hold in high culinary esteem. Of course, my own foodborne heritage of Mexican and Indigenous eats take the two top spots, but the one genre that most people don’t reckon on is the deep blues of Soul Food.
To my shamelessly seasoned tongue, Southern food by Oklahoman standards is the truest Soul Food around, and the proof is a new restaurant in Midwest City with the solid feel of mama’s kitchen but in a sleek storefront called—what else—Auntie’s Soul Food, 101 N. Douglas Blvd, Suite Q.
Outside the front door of Auntie’s, my mouth started watering for that unmistakable taste as a lone woman sitting by the window devoured a piece of fried fish—catfish, it looked like. I licked my lips, wantonly gulped, and walked right in.
As the radio played a deep soul cut from the late 70s that I truly adored, I briefly looked over the menu... but I already knew what I wanted. Auntie herself took our order and started cooking it—after offering my wife some side-dish advice—and the pots and pans were already clattering in the back as we paid at the counter and found our seats.
The server brought out custom bottles of Kool-Aid, my wife’s Strawberry ($3.00) and mine, Auntie’s own Surprise Drink ($3.00). The flavored drink tasted like cool berries but looked like orange aid, and I downed the whole sugary bottle and asked for a second one. It was that good.
Before I could make further commentary on it, my order was up and, sorry, but I had to immediately bite into this “Made from Scratch” Cornbread ($1.00).
While my wife prefers the sweeter side of cornbread, I like mine rough and tumble with more of a hardscrabble texture. So, I loved this homemade cornbread square, dense, flaky, and downright crumbly enough to go great on some chili if I had some.
No need though, because the cornbread absolutely complemented my lunch, something called Auntie’s Phat Oxtail Burger ($20.00) with fried okra. A well-done, hand-pounded big burger topped with the most generous scoop of oxtail meat.
As I bit into the jumbo burger, a fried egg popped and started streaming out onto the okra. The oxtail was perfectly fatty and the burger was very meaty, but the way Auntie’s made the whole thing perfectly combine forces made me want this and only this every time.
Hands down, this one of the best burgers I have ever had!
And, by the way, the fried okra was tops.
As I slowly chomped on the oxtail burger, my wife had the absolute pleasure of finely dining on Auntie’s Chicken and Dressing ($17.00). Boneless baked chicken covered a base of homemade dressing. Crowned with a ladleful of brown gravy, her box was overflowing.
Having had only the Cajun version of this dish all her life, my wife was initially apprehensive. But as she took a bite, her face grew into the biggest grin—Auntie's recipes were "otherworldly" she said, as she absolutely motorboated the chicken and dressing.
With a helping of Auntie’s “Slap Yaself” Collard Greens (doused with vinegar peppers, of course) and “Smackin’” Candied Yams, well, her verdict was simple: Auntie’s is some of the best Soul Food outside of Louisiana and, even better, Atlanta. High praise, indeed!
Sure, our bellies were protruding more than normal, but, I’m sorry, there was no way I was leaving without trying some of Auntie’s famous dessert, Libby's Strawberry Short Cake ($5.00).
Served in a little glass jar, this was more than a confection—it was a real-time conviction of belief. With mangled strawberries, vanilla pound cake, and…is that banana pudding I taste? Yep, it was the perfect dessert to end an already perfect meal.
Soul Food might sit behind my Mexican and Indigenous roots in the culinary list I carry around in my heart, but Auntie’s changes the math. After this lunch—every bite, every flavor from those kitchen magicians working exactly as they should—no qualifier is needed: this is one of the best restaurants in Oklahoma. Truth!
Cómpralo ya!
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Follow Louis Fowler on Instagram at @louisfowler78.
