Usually, when I review a vegetarian or vegan restaurant, the food may be pretty good overall, but it often feels like it’s missing a little soul. Thankfully, Betty’s, 3604 N. May Ave., Ste. E, has plenty to spare!
They are a plant-based to-go restaurant serving up “delicious comfort food just like Grandma” and, after trying them last week, I can honestly say they are dripping in pure, unadulterated, plant-based soul.
It’s a joint in the northwest part of town, a few doors down from the Blockbuster Video I worked at in the early 2000s, in Brookside Plaza. There had been rumblings about Betty’s food, with people saying their vegan burgers and burritos were good, but apparently their take on soul food is next level.
I decided to try all three.
Arriving at Betty’s for lunch last week, from the take-out window I easily noticed that business was very brisk. I briefly glanced at the large menu on the wall next to the window, but I already knew what I wanted and, after checking out the specials on a smaller menu, ordering was pretty easy.
Around 10 or 15 minutes later, our server not only delivered my bag of virtuous plant-based goodies to the car, but she also gave my dog Sean some extra pets. Good boy!
Betty's is a take-out place, so either take it home like an idiot or, with the weather in the mid-80s, go to one of Oklahoma City’s beautiful parks with a covered picnic area and dine al fresco. I chose one of my favorites, Goodholm Park on Robinson.
With Sean sniffing the swing nearby, my wife and I dug into the bountiful meals, starting with the Avocado Ranch Burger ($16.99).
The “burger” was a plant-based patty with a ferocious spice, and a generous portion of avocado strewn on the top. With trademarked “Cheeze," ranch, and lettuce on a pretzel bun, and a large serving of seasoned fries on the side, I was ready to bite into this.
Looking like a regular beef burger, with a spiffy pretzel bun and the “cheeze” dripping down the side, the burger was surprisingly juicy and definitely tasty. Maybe that makes me a bad food critic, but I couldn’t tell the difference between a meaty and this plant-based patty. At any rate, I scarfed it down.
But for our next item, I had to be more… stringent in my rankings.
You see, I had to try their non-meat Mexican offering, the time-honored Chimichanga ($16.99). A flour tortilla is filled with house “beef” crumbles, “cheeze,” seasoned rice, black beans, peppers, and salsa, and deep-fried in vegetable oil, creating a real spicy meatless chimi.
At first, I guessed that vegan crumbles and “cheeze” wouldn’t really mesh inside the deep-fried burrito… but call me on that, because it was fantastic. Two orderly halves, filled to the brim with the crumbles, black beans and rice, when dipped in that chunky, hot salsa, while not really Mexican, per se, it’s really a good approximation… I ate the whole thing.
Even though my tummy was almost filled, here now was the thing I had been waiting for, Betty’s grand take on the Soul Platter ($15.99). It was a large piece of fried “chk’n”—made from mushrooms—with our chosen sides of mac and cheese, collard greens, and candied yams, of course with a slab of sweet cornbread on the side.
Damn… they really pulled out all the stops for this. First of all, the collard greens and candied yams were absolutely smacking, with a fresh taste that couldn’t be beat. And the spice and crunch of grandma’s chicken—I never thought a mushroom could taste like that! This was a great imposter of fried chicken that made me want a whole bucket… I just wished there was more of it, “skin” and all!
Of course, a down-home Southern meal like this needed an exclamation point, and what better than Betty’s Peach Cobbler ($4.99). Flaky, fruity, and most importantly homemade, this is the perfect capper to the meal.
When people hear about vegetarian and vegan restaurants, they usually imagine salads and tofu. But Betty’s—and really the whole OKC veggie scene—brings the love and makes you want to be part of the “green scene.”
Well, with feel-good comfort food like this, I am all in!
Cómpralo ya!
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Follow Louis Fowler on Instagram at @louisfowler78.
