Oklahomans have a love of the land and the food raised and grown on it. The state is rich with culinary heritage evident in local favorites like chicken-fried steak, Indian tacos, fried-onion burgers and, of course, barbecue.

Illustration by Hello Neighbor Designs

Fried-onion burgers are popular statewide, but were born in El Reno during the Depression. Hamburger Inn owners H.W. Davis, Ross Davis and E.C. Cannon pressed a five-cent meat patty into a mound of shredded onions over a hot griddle, using the back of a heavy-duty spatula to make the burger look bigger. Turns out caramelized onions with charred edges make a burger so good that folks still line up for them daily at three places in El Reno: Robert’s Grill, Sid’s Diner and Johnnie’s Grill. The combo has also sparked an annual festival where they make one the size of a flying saucer.

The heavyweight champion of diners’ affections in Oklahoma is a good steak, and nobody has done it longer than Cattlemen’s. Born as Cattlemen’s Café in Oklahoma City’s infancy, and won in a dice game after World War II, the institution evolved into Cattlemen’s Steakhouse in 1990. Owner Dick Stubbs broadened the menu to include prime beef to go along with choice cuts, creating dishes that draw droves from around the world. The restaurant serves its hearty steaks at breakfast, lunch and dinner. The steak earns Cattlemen’s a lot of attention, but the restaurant is almost as popular for its lamb fries and salad dressing.

In 1988 the state legislature placed chicken-fried steak on the official Oklahoma State Meal list, so it’s common to any patch of red dirt within shouting distance of a deep-fryer. Kendall’s Restaurant in Noble has been chicken-frying its steaks for more than three decades over three moves, and doing it so well, crowds line up for crisp-on-the-outside, juicy-in-the-center steaks. Hubcap-size tenderized pieces of batter-fried round steak are served with the gravy — usually cream-based — mashed potatoes and, with any luck, fried okra.