100 Things to Eat in OKC 2026

This became an annual list in 2023, mainly because I was bored one night and wondered if I could put together a list similar to the ones done by the Houston Chronicle and Houstonia magazine, but instead of focusing on the best dishes at the top 50 or 100 restaurants, I'd focus on diversity. People are genuinely surprised to hear that OKC has roughly four dozen ethnicities and nationalities making food in the metro, and that number swells to more than 60 if you factor in regionally specific cuisine (e.g. Jalisco vs Aguascalientes, Soul food vs. Gulf Coast cuisine, and Fujian vs Szechuan).

That means this list isn't a ranking. I don't know what the "best" restaurant in the city is, or the "best" burger. We use it around here because it drives traffic, but it's a nonsense question. Absent clearly defined criteria -- which no one can agree upon -- deciding if a Szechuan restaurant is better than a Jalisco taqueria seems like a project for people who are overmedicated or underinformed, or they just lack complex thinking mechanisms. (Yes, that was catty, but I'm over the silly obsession with "best," and three years as a James Beard judge helped me see how quixotic, political and relentlessly self-important the whole project is.)

Instead of a ranking, I just choose 100 dishes from restaurants all over the metro -- sorry, exurbs -- to highlight exactly how diverse our culinary scene really is, and while I don't use it as an inviolable standard, I do give preference to restaurateurs making their own cultural dishes. That means white folks doing "soul food" won't be considered, nor are TexMex joints clearly designed to appeal to gringos considered traditional Mexican, irrespective of how often they use "authentic" in their marketing and signage.

This year, we have 31 countries, plus a dozen regional variations. For the first time, Cameroon and Turkey make the list. One of the primary upsides of immigration for our food scene is that it just gives us more and (hopefully) better options of traditional dishes. I'm here for all of it. Africa is represented by Cameroon, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria. Again this year, Pakistan outshines India in terms of Desi cuisine, and Nepal's impact is growing. Palestinian options in the metro have gone from one OG (Zam Zam in Warr Acres) to four options now, including Zam Zam in Auto Alley, Zeus the Greek in Midwest City, and Shawarma & Co. in the liminal area of OKC/Edmond. I'm hoping that Afghanistan is represented next year, and it's great to have Yemen on the list, the first from the Arabian Peninsula.

We've played with the idea of creating a passport for this project, but I also realize most people don't have the time to eat out like I do, so I'm pretty sure its best use is to inspire you to try something brand new with less risk and to have an answer for the non-Okies who still don't understand that we're not the OKC of 20 years ago.

1. Black pepper clam chowder at Lorena Southern Twist

2. Nam khao at Ma Der Lao Kitchen

3. Crab cake at Le Parisien

4. Harissa honey wings at ZamZam Mediterranean Grill

5. Banh xeo at Phở Sài Gòn

6. Hashwa at Nunu's Mediterranean Cafe

7. Oxtails at Eastside Eatery

8. Carnitas surtidas at Birriería Calvillo

9. Pollo adobado at Púchica Muchá Que Rico

10. Rib eye at Symmetry

11. Black cod at AKAI Sushi

12. Smash burger at The Goose

13. Banh cuon at Café Tí Bo