Rock Cafe - Stroud, OK

Posted By Michael Stern on June 29, 2009 7:02 PM

This extremely well-worn cafe has been remodeled many times since it originally went up in 1939 as the last of Route 66 was being paved. Roy Rieves built it out of rocks removed as the highway was constructed, and from 1959 to 1983 it was operated by Mamie Mayfield, who became a legendary hostess among long-haul truckers and road trippers on the old Mother Road. For the last thirteen years, the proprietor has been Dawn Welch, a prodigious cook whose legendary hamburgers are still sizzled on the old original Rock Cafe grill.

Among Dawn's menu innovations are a fabulous chicken fried steak she makes out of a pork cutlet rather than a slab of beef. It is thick and juicy and fallapart tender, sheathed in a luxuriously brittle crust. Having been married to a man from Switzerland, she also broadened the menu with spaetzel (topped with melted jack and cheddar cheese) and apple streusel crepes. There are Mexican dishes, stir fries, po-boys, beignets, tall stacks of pancakes, and a short bowl of beans with cornbread on the side.

A cool destination halfway between Tulsa and Oklahoma City, the Rock Cafe is a cozy diner with curious booths that remind us of automobile bench seats and a couple of counters with low stools from which customers carry on conversations among themselves and with the kitchen through a large pass-through window. Every inch of cedar-paneled wall is packed with nick-nacks, souvenirs, and silly kitchen homilies. With the menu (which is in the form of a multi-page newspaper), customers are given a guest book to sign. "We are from Oslo," wrote Greta and Stein. "This is the only place between here and there," another customer contributed. Someone else drew a map of Corsica with a star marking home.

Please note: after being closed by a fire in 2008, the Rock Cafe has reopened. In June, 2009, we received this note from Rebecca Williams: "Just wanted to let you know, the Rock Cafe in Stroud has re-opened after the devastating fire last year. The food is as good as ever, and they now have twice the seating (the kitchen has moved to an addition on the back)."

Overall Rating

Chicken Fried Steak

Hamburger

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Posted By Rain Welch on June 22, 2011 1:58 PM

I really enjoy this place. I live in a nearby town and frequent the Rock Cafe at least once every couple of months. The hamburgers are good, as are the chili cheese French fries. The fried green tomatoes are a little too pricey for me, so after the first time I ordered them I switched to the chili cheese fries instead. The staff is a little lax on refills and talk to each other quite frequently, but the food is worth the visit.

Overall Rating

Hamburger

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Posted By Dallas Morris on June 14, 2011 3:55 PM

Some of the reviews must be from hard-to-please people! I found the food to be great, as was the service. I WILL be back.

Overall Rating

Spaetzle

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Posted By Floyd Caskey on September 5, 2010 5:04 PM

A highly publicized and cute little place. I was very dissappointed in my experiance there. The food, though decent, was nothing special and over-priced. I would talk about the service if there was any. We ordered three sandwiches with sides. My daughter got her sandwich but no side. 10 minutes later we asked one of the kids that was standing around if he knew where the rest of our order was. His response was "Beats me." We had to ask for silverware and any refills on our tea. Not a place to go out of your way for. I have been there twice (My first time and my last time).

Overall Rating

Hamburger

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Posted By Greg Williams on May 10, 2010 7:01 PM

We ate there a few months ago as we were driving to Tulsa.

I had a soggy chicken fry and my wife had a burger and fries. She asked for medium on the burger but it was almost burned. One of our children had the spatzle which we all tried just to see why he wouldn't eat it. I've had spatzle many times but none quite like that. It tasted like bad library paste.

Everything that was fried had an offtaste like the oil needed to be changed. And it would have been better if they had seasoned the food. The food was just plopped on the plate with little thought to how it looked. It tasted about like it looked and that's not a good thing.

Mediocre food, lousy service, an owner who doesn't seem to care about her customers. Need I say more...we won't be back!!!

Overall Rating

Chicken Fried Steak

Hamburger

Spaetzle

Beignets

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Posted By Stan Morgan on July 19, 2009 1:19 PM

Don't waste your time or money. While this small cafe has been nicely remodeled following their fire, the staff seems to take for granted their customers, the food quality, and the value of their food.

Let's start with service. We waited over 50 minutes for four sandwiches and a chicken fried steak order. Never were offered drink refills without asking and were only given any silverware if we requested it. They had six staff members working, most of whom stood at the counter and talked to each other.

Okay, now the food. The alligator burger was only $4.25, but was very small. The flavor of the meat was overpowered by the peppers in the mix. The Reuben was good enough and of decent size, but the buffalo burger was very small and not really special in any way.

That leaves value. All I can say here is, do not order any sides. An order of fried green tomatoes is $1.75 and includes two small end slices only. When asked if they missed part of the order the waitress smiled and said no.

Overall, a very disappointing experience. After nearly $45 spent, we had to stop and get food somewhere else. Never leave your customers hungry.

Overall Rating

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