Grateful Bean

Well I finally ate there since the re-opening. I failed to make it to the grand re-opening on Monday. I ate there for lunch today and man am I stuffed. The ambiance and nostalgia, you can't beat!! The place was packed, even at 2pm when we arrived. We were greeted and seated right away. The service wasn't much to write home about though. They took forever to order our drinks. They make all of their drinks (except Coca-Cola the old fashioned way with phosphate soda and mix it by hand). I asked what their most popular flavor was and the lady had an extremely hard time getting what I was asking. I clarified several times. After I finally settled on a Dr. Pepper (freshly mixed) just to make it easier for her, I still hadn't received it after 10 minutes. I finally had to remind her to see what the hold-up was. She finally brought it out 5 or so minutes later along with 5 excuses why it took so long. She seemed to have a hard time taking our order as well and kept asking "is that on the menu". Their menu was perfect, not too short, not too long. It is a two page menu, mostly vegetarian dishes although they did have some chicken dishes. They also serve all-day breakfast. When our food finally arrived, she didn't ask if we needed anything else. I ordered a 3-egg omelette with everything that came with a side of rye toast, homestyle potatoes, and mixed fruit, and my girlfriend got a cheese omelette, same sides came with it also. She never asked for a refill or if we needed anything, but she brought us our check right away, even though we intended on sampling some drinks and dessert. We ended up getting Hyla's Old Fashioned Sundae for dessert with two scoops of their homemade vanilla icecream, fudge (which was the best I ever had, thick but not too rich), cracked pistachios, a cherry, and fresh whipped cream (only when she brought it out 10 minutes later she gave me 5 excuses why they were out of fresh whipped cream).

The food was fairly good, I'd give it a 7 out of 10. The drinks and dessert I'd give an 11 out of 10. Needless to say, the service was very lacking. I don't know if it was because they are new, or because of the people they hire. They seemed very lost and confused and weren't familiar with anything on the menu. I know they hire at least 50% of their staff being underpriveledged people, people from rehab, out of prison, etc. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the service or not. I'm glad they try and hire the unemployable, but I think the service level showed.

Despite the service, I highly recommend this place. I will still go back many times. Especially since I just moved to this area. If nothing else, you must go for the nostalgia and the old-fashioned soda jerk drinks. Just the ambiance of the place and looking out and envisioning OKC's newest hippest district, Midtown, you can just feel the revival. The Plaza Court is well underway, Cafe' do Brasil, Brown's Bakery,Subway and more right across the street and the pedestrian friendly atmosphere.

If your not familiar with the place. I recommend you to check out the Grateful Bean thread in the "OKC Metro Area Talk" section of the website for some background info.

Well, this place is becoming my favorite local hang-out. I stopped by after work yesterday for a soda. I ordered the orange creamsicle, unfortunately, they ran out of orange cream earlier in the day. I instead ordered it with lemon, and it was surprisingly good although not the same as orange.

I ate their again today for lunch. I had the chicken quesadilla and an old fashioned dr. pepper. The quesadilla was good, too vegetarian for me, but it was good. I guess for a place that touts themselves as vegetarian, adding chicken to it is pushing it.

If you haven't been yet, I highly recommend it.

Well, I've eaten here about half a dozen times now. It's right down the street from me so it's nice and convenient, plus it's very nostalgic. I've concluded that the food is mediocre at best and a little over-priced. The soda's, ice-cream, and other desserts are definitely worth it. As I heard someone stay, stick to what you know best! The old-fashioned soda's and homemade icecream are the best in OKC! And like I said earlier, you have to go for the nostalgia!