Poblano Grill
13593 N. May Ave.
Oklahoma City, OK

(405) 755-8111

Poblano Grill

For me Poblano Grill is somewhat of an old school Mexican restaurant that caters to American tastes, but recently it has added dishes that make the menu much more interesting and that I think are more authentic. The “old school” dishes include ones covered with cheese where they would never be served this way in Mexico and other ways of preparing food that would probably be called Tex-Mex. The problem is that I thought the Tex-Mex food was much better in Texas, and while I do not demand that everything be authentic I do want it to be delicious.

So far what I have liked here have been street tacos and green enchiladas (chicken enchiladas with tomatillo sauce), along with a few of the side dishes and any salsas besides the one they automatically bring to the table. The green enchiladas and special salsas are not on the menu and have to be specially requested, but they are always available when you ask. This seems to be a common practice in Oklahoma City Mexican restaurants, and I think is mainly done because they want to make sure customers understand the degree of spiciness of these items before they order them.

Poblano Grill had other locations throughout the years before they settled on the single restaurant currently in operation. In this process has been a menu revamp and the inclusion of some very good non-menu items such as the green enchiladas. The other thing I like now is that you can downsize just about any meal by getting a smaller portion or by eliminating one or more of the side items.

Setups
The Queso was better than at most Mexican restaurants, but the chips were disappointing. I would definitely recommend ordering the spicy Salsa Caliente which is free. The Diablo Salsa is a little too spicy for me, but is also available on request.

Tacos

Street tacos with carnitas and chicken

Street Tacos are an example of the new menu items that add some authentic Mexican dishes to the selections. These are Mexican style tacos with soft tacos, onion and cilantro garnishes, and a choice of meats. The tacos are inexpensive and very good.

I have now had two different experiences with the Chicken Tacos. The chicken tacos are usually more flavorful than most, and I thought the shredded and seasoned meat was one of the best I had experienced in the city. I have also experienced it, though, when the chicken was dry.

The Carnitas Taco made with pork was the most impressive of the different varieties on several of my visits. For one thing, good carnitas are hard to find in restaurants (and this was one of the best). In addition, these were moist, while I find the ones at most restaurants to be dry.

The Shredded Beef Taco tasted like barbacoa, and I thought it was very good. I did not think it was exceptional as the tacos calvillo at Abel’s are, but I give the ones at Poblano Grill five stars because of the flavor and the quality.

Street tacos dinner with a choice of two sides

Street tacos come with two sauces meant to give more flavor and seasoning to the meal: a chipotle tomatillo and a roasted tomato sauce. However, after trying both, I ended up using neither on the tacos. Instead, I found the spicy salsa (salsa caliente) served on request with the chips at the beginning of the meal to be perfect with the tacos (there is also a diablo salsa available for those who like it even spicier).

Street tacos normally come with two sides, but they will serve just the tacos if you wish (at a reduced price).

Baja fish tacos

The Baja Fish Tacos made with tilapia were very good, but were not comparable to the street tacos in providing a memorable experience. What I will say, though, is that I thought they were comparable to most other fish tacos I have had at good restaurants.

Enchiladas

Enchiladas with tomatillo sauce served with papas and refried beans

Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce are not on the menu, but I discovered them one time when I had a particularly helpful waiter, and I discovered on return visits that they are always available on request. I do not know if the flavor is really better than at the several other restaurants which also serve them (either from the menu or on request). What is obvious from the photo, though, is that they give you a lot of sauce, and this is a good thing. The sauce here and at other restaurants in OKC is not terribly spicy, and probably comes just short of the spiciness level of most green enchiladas served with Hatch or Anaheim green chiles. I find the tomatillo enchiladas to be quite flavorful, with a spice level that will not disappoint those who crave real chiles. (If you have ever had chipotle enchiladas, they are probably about twice the spice level of the tomatillo sauce).

Enchilada light order with calabazitas

Under the category “You Never Know Until You Ask” is the fact that you can also order a single enchilada with one side dish at a reduced price (and for me this many times fits my appetite).

Other Menu Items

Tortilla soup

The Tortilla Soup started out very good when I used to order it at the Poblano Grill at Rockwell and Hefner. The one pictured here, though, (served in 2016) seemed to be made from a different recipe. The tortilla strips were soggy and the broth had a different flavor, so possibly it was the same soup just not prepared very well. In any case, I have found better versions of tortilla soup both in OKC and elsewhere.

Side Dishes
Most of the side dishes have varied from visit to visit as to whether I would give them four or five stars. Probably the ones that come out the best over time are the corn and the steamed beans, but everything shown in the photos are side dishes I would order again.

Sopapilla

Sopapilla

The Sopapilla comes with a sweet syrup that is somewhat disappointing compared to the New Mexico sopapillas served with honey. It is free, though, and makes a good ending to the meal.

Other Observations
They do not have traditional Mexican aguas frescas drinks, but beer is served.

The former Poblano Grill at Hefner and Rockwell gave me the opportunity to try many menu items, and most are things I tried once and then moved on. With the new menu which includes items such as street tacos, though, as well as the enchiladas with tomatillo sauce which are available upon request, I think there is now a much better selection of choices.

RATING: 22

Cuisine: Mexican
Cost: $$
Hours: Open Daily
Accessible: Yes
Smoking: No smoking
Alcohol: Full bar

Most Recent Visit: May 30, 2017

Number of Visits: 8

Best Items: Street Tacos, Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

Mexican Food Details

Chile Index:

 

Special Ratings

	Street Tacos (Chicken)
	Street Tacos (Carnitas)
	Street Tacos (Beef)
	Baja Tacos
	Enchiladas (Tomatillo Sauce)
	Refried Beans
	Papas
	Calabazitas
	Steamed Beans
	Tortilla Soup
	Spicy Salsa
	Chips
	Queso
	Sopapilla

Pho Bulous

Pho Bulous does not have what I would call an extensive menu, but it has enough that there are good choices other than its signature dish, the pho. This is a suburban restaurant in a strip shopping center, but there are so many competing Vietnamese restaurants in north Oklahoma City I believe that many of them are stepping up their game, and give customers more than they may expect to find in similar restaurants located in other cities.

In the case of Pho Bulous I believe the main attraction is the pho. I found it to be one of the best in the Oklahoma City Metro, and they have several varieties of the soup including vegetarian soup that is only available at lunch (but this is one of the few restaurants that offers it). Note: as of 2020 the menu says “vegetable broth available upon request.”

Vermicelli Platter

Grilled chicken vermicelli platter

The Grilled Chicken Vermicelli Platter was better than I expected in many ways, based on a comparison with other restaurants. The chicken was very good, especially in the quantity of meat that they give, and had just the right amount of char. I liked the fact that there was a generous portion of nuts, and the other vegetables were good. It had a very good chile sauce (a must for me), and overall this was a good meal. The only drawback was that I did not taste any mint, even though the menu said that it was included. I gave the dish five stars because it was that good, but this kind of inaccurate menu description does not sit well with me. In being objective, though, I can say that in spite of this it was a very good dish.

Pho

Noodle soup with chicken

The Noodle Soup with Chicken (chicken pho) seemed to be made with the same care that most restaurants use for their beef soup, and I thought it was quite good. In fact, compared to other chicken soups this may be the best one I have had at a Vietnamese restaurant. Other restaurants (Pho Hieu in Yukon for example) add other ingredients that make them better in some ways, but the one here was pure chicken meat with chicken broth, and I was quite impressed with the flavor that it had.

The pho here has MSG, but apparently not very much because I did not have a reaction to it. Because of the soup’s flavor and the fact that it was for practical purposes MSG-free, this restaurant is definitely near the top of my list for the noodle soup.

Other Dishes
My dining companion had a Lettuce Wrap which was described as “passable.” Obviously they are trying to appeal to more people by having other items on the menu, but the Vietnamese food is what I would consider their specialty.

Drinks
In addition to the standard drinks, they have boba drinks (tea and coffee). I think the hot jasmine tea is one the expensive side, and I do not order it.

Recommendations
Pho Bulous offers some of the best bang for the buck I have found in Edmond (provided I skip the hot tea). The pho is some of the best I have tasted, and the vermicelli platter is good quality as well.

RATING: 23

Asian Food Details

Tea:	Jasmine (bags)
MSG:	Yes (in a small amount)
Buffet:	No

Special Ratings

	Chicken Pho (Noodle soup with chicken)
	Grilled Chicken Vermicelli Platter

 

Menu (Jan. 2020):

Zorba’s Mediterranean Cuisine

6014 N. May Ave.
Oklahoma City, OK
(405) 947-7788

Zorba’s

Since Zorba’s opened in 1991 it has been one of the city’s most popular restaurants for Mediterranean food. With recipes “from Cyprus to Spain” (according to Zorba’s menu), the name “Mediterranean” is very descriptive.

Zorba’s began in a small building near the Mayfair shopping center (where Sheesh Mahal is now located), and moved to the present location in 2007. The new building is much larger, with a bar and some big screen TV’s that are usually tuned to sports or news (at a low enough volume, though, so it does not disturb the conversation). Additional cooks at Zorba’s can serve a larger number of customers, and I think the menu now offers more items.

At the old restaurant I met the owner, got recommendations about what to order, and observed him cooking. I really enjoyed the quality and consistency of the food, and it was easy to know what to order (the owner would give me recommendations).

I thought when the new restaurant opened it got off to a rocky start–with the additional cooks hired to operate the new restaurant and larger menu there were inconsistencies in the food that were not there before. Some of the new items were a “miss,” but mostly I just didn’t know what was the best thing to order any more.

My current thinking is that if you want Middle Eastern food there are other restaurants in town that do it better, and there is a Moroccan restaurant a couple of blocks north of Zorba (so that is a logical place to go for that type of cuisine). Having said that, there are a number of items that I really like at Zorba’s (including a Moroccan dish), and Zorba’s also excels as a place to bring a large group who want to order different types of food. I have raised the rating of Zorba’s from my earlier reviews because I want to highlight what it does well rather than things I have found to be disappointing (many of which I am now attributing to the “growing pains” it had when it first opened).

Salads and Appetizers
Since salads are one of the better items I will start here. Several choices are available, and a salad or soup comes free with most dinners. Unlike Mexican restaurants where queso and sopapillas are usually served “free” (but built into the prices charged), the “free” appetizers here are definite enhancements and really do not jack up the prices to levels that are too high.

Tabouli at Zorba’s

Tabouli is one of the choices available as a free appetizer, but the one here is not my favorite in town. I found it to be rather skimpy on the green vegetables, and even though the flavor was good I would prefer one with less bulgar and more vegetables and herbs.

The Greek Salad (another one of the free salads) was very good when I ordered it several years ago. I have heard from readers, though, that Zorba’s is now including fewer olives and other enhancements to the lettuce.

Persian salad

The Persian Salad seemed rather simple, but it was fresh and flavorful. I would say this is a good choice, and is my favorite of the three free salad choices.

Zorba’s signature salad

Zorba’s Signature Salad is not one of the ones that comes free with the dinners, but I think is the best one I have tried (and ranks among the best in OKC). The photo shows that it has just about every ingredient imaginable, but also it is very fresh with a good flavor.

Soups

Lentil soup

Soups are also one of the free appetizer choices with some of the dinners, and there are three choices on the menu. The menu describes the lentil soup as “seasoned to perfection and cooked with the freshest ingredients.” I would say they are correct on the second part but I disputed whether it was seasoned to perfection (I think the soups at Nunu’s and Camilya’s are better).

Vegetable Sampler

Vegetable sampler

On an early visit I ordered a Vegetable Sampler that includes dolma, falafel, spanakopita, tiropita, hummus, baba ghannouj, asparagus, and salad. I thought this plate was not filling enough to make a meal, but it is now served as the “Hospitality Sampler” with some additional items. Mainly I wanted to see which of the vegetable side dishes were the best.

Dolma, or grape leaves, was one of the best items on the vegetable platter. It had a fresh, mild flavor, and was even better when dipped in the yogurt sauce that was provided.

The Falafel was the only fried food on the platter that I thought was at the level of quality I usually find in good Mediterranean restaurants. I could not tell if it was made from scratch or from a mix, but it had a good flavor. Again, the yogurt sauce helped.

The Tiropita (cheese pie) and Spanakopita (spinach pie) were fried, and somewhat of a disappointment. The spinach pie had a fried crust that I thought was too greasy, and the spinach was not spiced as well as I have had in other places. The cheese pie seemed lacking in flavor (in the photo the spinach pies are on the lower left and the cheese pies are to the right of the falafel).

The Pita was very good, and I think is something for which Zorba’s is known.

Hummus was very good and possibly one of the better ones I have eaten (although a pretty small sample came on the vegetable platter).

Shish Kabob Platter

Shish kabob platter

The Shish Kabob Platter seemed to be one of the few meat dishes that contained a balanced amount of vegetables along with the meat. This is good if you like rice, since it comes on a large bed of white rice. The vegetables on the skewer, though, seemed rather flavorless compared to most shish kabobs I have tried. Out of the tomato, onion, potato, squash, and mushroom, I cannot think of anything that really stood out. I really think Zorba’s could do better with their vegetables.

The meat on the shish kabob was all right but I thought it was not very tender. The flavor was OK but I have had better at other Mediterranean restaurants.

Moussaka

Moussaka

Moussaka seemed to be one of the better dinners served at Zorba’s, being a Greek dish I have not found even at some of the city’s Greek restaurants. I enjoyed the one here, and thought it had a good flavor. I am not saying Zorba would be proud of this dish but I think he would at least be happy.

Chicken Dishes

Chicken bandarri

The chicken dishes point out both my enjoyment and frustration with the food at Zorba’s. Chicken Bandarri was a serving of three stewed chicken thighs with a tomato garlic sauce over a bed of basmati rice. The highlight was the chicken, and I really ordered it because so few restaurants offer dark meat chicken by itself. The sauce was not quite as flavorful as I had expected, based on experiences at a number of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurants. The rice came in a quantity that was way more than I could eat, and in fact I thought the entire dinner was too big and I had to take one of the chicken thighs home. The rice was also dry (but I really would not say the same thing about the chicken).

Moroccan chicken

Moroccan Chicken is another chicken dinner available, and this one provides slow cooked chicken with Moroccan seasonings, a lemon olive sauce, and basmati rice. This was the opposite of the chicken bandarri in that the Moroccan chicken had an excellent sauce but I thought the meat was a little dry. Cous Cous Cafe a couple of blocks from Zorba’s specializes in Moroccan cuisine, and normally I would not think to order this type of food at Zorba’s, but in this case I think the Moroccan chicken is something that is quite good. The fresh raisins and olives added flavor, and I thought the sauce was done very well. This was certainly one of the “hits” I have found at Zorba’s (and the meat was not dry enough to really make a difference).

Catalan chicken

The Catalan Chicken was served with a flavorful basil butter sauce, and I thought the garlic mashed potatoes were flavorful. This stuck in my memory as being one of the two best meals I have had at Zorba’s (along with the Moroccan chicken).

Desserts

Mediterranean style dessert

The Baklava was not the best I have tried, but several types of Mediterranean style desserts are offered. I liked everything I tried, including the baklava.

The original Zorba’s offered Persian tea (either hot or cold) on the house, and I thought this was a very nice touch to the meal. The tea was discontinued at the new restaurant, but now hot tea is available at an additional price. This is not the same tea served at Cous Cous Cafe with sweetener mixed in, but it is good enough for me to enjoy (and is a lot better than the drinks that were offered when Zorba’s first moved to its new location).

There seem to be more items on the menu than previously, and even though I have been disappointed in some items I usually find others that I like. The prices are a little high at Zorba’s but not outrageous compared to other restaurants. It is a good family restaurant with lots of tables and something on the menu for everybody.

RATING: 22

Cuisine: Mediterranean
Cost: $$
Hours: Open Daily
Accessible: Yes
Smoking: No smoking
Alcohol: Beer, wine

Most Recent Visit: Jun. 22, 2016
Number of Visits: 9
Best Items: Moroccan Chicken, Catalan Chicken, Dolma, Zorba’s Signature Salad

Special Ratings

	Moroccan Chicken
	Chicken Bandarri
	Catalan Chicken
	Shish Kabob
	Moussaka
	Dolma
	Falafel
	Hummus
	Spinach Pie
	Cheese Pie
	Tabouli
	Greek Salad
	Persian Salad
	Zorba’s Signature Salad
	Pita
	Baklava

Menu (Jun. 2016):

Blue Donkey food truck

I am somewhat new to the food truck craze, mainly because I do not often make snap decisions to have a meal as I pass by something that looks interesting, but rather I am already going to a predetermined location.

Food trucks in Oklahoma City seem to travel quite a bit, although the ones I think are luckiest find a home location and only occasionally have to travel to other spots. In examining Blue Donkey’s Facebook page it lists a number of locations where the truck will be located at certain times. Its home base is the Arts District in downtown Oklahoma City (near the Oklahoma City Museum of Art). There is quite a bit of downtown traffic at lunch on weekdays, but the down times at evening and weekends afford Blue Donkey ample opportunities to travel elsewhere in the Metro where likely customers can be found.

One of these excursions was at N.W. 122nd Street and Rockwell, where the Blue Donkey truck showed up several weeks in a row, establishing enough of a pattern that I could predict when and where I could find it. This afforded me the opportunity to try all three of its menu items (tacos and two side dishes), and also gave me the desire to go back and try it again (which I did until I no longer found the truck at that location).

The Food

Tacos with donkey poo and black beans

Information on the truck indicated that this is Guatemalan food. I have been to Guatemala and did not really recognize the food they were serving as being from that country, especially considering the very high spice levels of the food that somewhat approached those of Hatch, New Mexico, the “chile capital” of the United States.

There are two types of Tacos, chicken and beef (I only ordered the chicken ones). These were quite good and whether they are actually Guatemalan or Mexican does not matter very much because I enjoyed the end result.

One of the side dishes is called “Donkey Poo” and consists of guacamole and cucumbers. Also in abundance is a very spicy chile that I was not expecting in a Guatemalan food truck, but it was good.

I thought the Black Beans were more flavorful than the guacamole, and would be my preference except for the fact that they were even more spicy. The problem with this is that it is in a food truck setting where the selection of drinks is limited, and I cannot get my usual iced tea to quench my mouth with this type of spicy food (as I recall Blue Donkey did not have iced tea, much less the refills that I would have required). I was able to take the food home and provide my own drinks, but absent this I am not sure Blue Donkey would have been an enjoyable experience.

Black bean soup

The Black Beans also come as a large side order that is in the form of a soup (but these are the same beans served as a side dish on taco orders).

Additional Comments
I am still at somewhat of a preliminary stage in evaluating the food because there were a lot of factors that entered into my experience, the main one being that this is not a regular restaurant where they could serve the drinks I would want to have with spicy food.

The tacos were certainly good, and probably better than at Big Truck Tacos (another food truck which was formerly located at this intersection). Big Truck had a much larger selection of tacos, though, so I am not sure how the two trucks really compare to each other.

RATING: 20

Cuisine: Guatemalan
Cost: $
Hours: N/A
Accessible: N/A
Smoking: N/A
Alcohol: N/A

Most Recent Visit: Oct. 4, 2016

Number of Visits: 2

Best Item: Tacos

 

Special Ratings

	Chicken Tacos
	Donkey Poo (Guacamole)
	Black Bean Soup