Classen Grill

Classen Grill has been a favorite breakfast destination in Oklahoma City since the earliest editions of Roadfood. We love to start the day with fresh O.J. and taquitas (tortilla-wrapped packets of eggs, cheese, and vegetables) or chinook eggs (salmon patties topped with poached eggs) accompanied by a block of cheese grits.

Those who arrive with insatiable appetites should consider “biscuits debris” – two big ones split open and mounded with gravy choc-a-bloc with ham and sausage chunks, cloaked with melted cheddar cheese.

Zooming through town a while back on a quick trip from Tulsa to Albuquerque, I stopped for a plate of migas — a felicitous mix of eggs, tortilla strips, veggies and (if requested) sausage, too.

On the side of breakfast, it is possible to enjoy some serious potatoes – hash browns with or without chili or cheddar, or a specialty known as Classen potatoes, which are mashed, seasoned with garlic and rolled into little balls, then deep fried until brittle gold on the outside. The result is a kind of prairie knish.

The place is an ultra-casual cafe with paintings of fruit and other gastronomical items posted on its pink stucco walls. During Sunday breakfast, nearly half the customers sit at tables reading the morning paper while leisurely enjoying their meals.