1101 N.E. 50th St.
Oklahoma City, OK
Sleepy Hollow
During the summer of 2008 I made two visits which turned out to be the last I was able to make to the revived Sleepy Hollow Restaurant, not knowing that it would soon be closed for good and ultimately demolished (an event that sealed the fate of one of the city’s longest running and best purveyors of comfort food).
At the time the restaurant had reopened after the original owners had retired. After the original closing a neighboring church and perhaps others had used the opportunity to protest the restaurant’s liquor license which previously had been grandfathered to the establishment which by current rules was too close to its neighbors. Sleepy Hollow’s demise was ultimately hastened by a multitude of factors, but even with its new situation the restaurant had food that reminded me of the reasons I had enjoyed going there for as long as my family had been taking the kids with them when they went out to eat. One reason for my blogging was to give people ideas of good restaurants to try, but my on-line article in 2008 (and the much more widely read article in the Oklahoman newspaper) failed to persuade enough people to visit the restaurant in order to keep it afloat. For people such as my dad, though, it was simple–without the liquor license it was not the same, even with good food.
Sleepy Hollow, located in a wooded suburban area north of the State Capitol, had long been known for its fried chicken. I was told that I should try the steaks, but with so many good steak houses in OKC and so few places that served truly outstanding fried chicken, I stuck with this on my last two visits in 2008–including a family style portion when my parents joined me on my last visit.
Rumors of the restaurant’s closing that summer were not helped by the fact that I tried to call Sleepy Hollow several times with no answer (I believe the number listed in the previous phone directory was not correct). It seemed that many glitches occurred in the reopening process, and the restaurant certainly did not have the large crowds that used to be found. The promising news at the time, though, was that any problems the restaurant had did not affected the food, which seemed to be as good as at the “old” Sleepy Hollow.
The Continued Attraction of the Restaurant’s Secluded Setting
The glass enclosed dining room
One very nice feature of Sleepy Hollow was its glass enclosed dining room (one of two dining rooms available) that overlooked an adjacent wooded creek. A large screen television that was usually playing kept it from being a quiet place for contemplation, the idea I probably had when I first thought of a creek flowing nearby with fireflies putting on a show, but I do not remember the “old” Sleepy Hollow ever being that quiet either.
The glass dining room used to serve as the bar, but when the original restaurant closed it dropped its liquor license, and the new owners were unable to renew it. I’m sure this was a devastating blow for a restaurant so close to the State Capitol, but for anyone content to order iced tea this was still an excellent place to come.
Salad
Sleepy Hollow’s salad
Salad was included as one of the side item choices with dinners, and since the chicken seemed to take about a half hour to cook, I would say it was an excellent idea to start with the salad while you were waiting. Any salad sprinkled with grated cheddar cheese is not my idea of a great one, but the one here was good. The lettuce was fresher than most, and the tomatoes were not too bad. I probably enjoyed the croutons more than most, which was good because there were more of them than usual. The dressing was good, and I believe I got the one the waiter recommended.
Fried Chicken
Fried chicken served family style
Fried Chicken orders came in various sizes to feed any number of persons, and the flavor was just about unmatched. Like Eischen’s Bar in Okarche, northwest of Oklahoma City, Sleepy Hollow seemed to take patrons back in time when fried chicken was a special treat, and there was a special art in preparing it. These are the two places I had found that still had the “old fashioned” fried chicken that we used to all love before too much of it seemed to fall into mass production. I cannot say any more about Sleepy Hollow’s fried chicken than to say it was as good as I anticipated.
An order of white meat
On my first of my two visits to Sleepy Hollow I wanted an order of all white meat (shown in the above photo), and of course it was excellent. My preference later, though, was to get a mixed order, since I have found the dark and white meat to be equally good. To me this is one of the main differences between good quality chicken (such as is served here) and the “commercial” chicken I find in many places where the dark meat is pretty much flavorless, greasy, and unsatisfying.
The Mashed Potatoes were also quite good, and the waiter indicated the side dishes were “all you can eat” (and more would be provided if requested).
I enjoyed the Peas although more than likely they came from a can.
The Biscuits were not quite as light and fluffy as I remembered from before, but my memory could be faulty. They were good enough, though, that I thought they made the meal a lot more enjoyable.
A Closer Look at the Sides
Mashed potatoes
Biscuits were some of the best around (but a little disappointing in 2008)
An Update
An article in TulsaPeople reminded us that there was a Tulsa location of Sleepy Hollow from 1968 until about the time the Oklahoma City restaurant closed, with both restaurants serving the popular pan-fried chicken, canned peas, and mashed potatoes. In 2020 Tulsa restaurateur Robert Merrifield (along with Director of Operations Omar Galban) brought back this nostalgic combination in his Blue Dome Market and Bodega on Sundays in what was dubbed as “Sleepy Hollow Sundays.” A check of Google Maps reveals that Blue Dome is now closed, so perhaps the Sleepy Hollow legacy has now run its course.
The complete story of the restaurant can be found in these sources:
Steve Lackmeyer, Hope Remains for two Closed Legendary Northeast Oklahoma City Restaurants
Dave Cathey, Classic Restaurants of Oklahoma City, Charleston, S.C., American Palate, 2016
RATING: *
Cuisine: American
Cost: $$
Accessible: Yes
Most Recent Visit: Aug. 15, 2008
Best Items: Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes
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Fried Chicken |
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Mashed Potatoes |
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Salad |
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Biscuits |