Food & Drink in Pawnee, OK

On the Way to Pawnee

In June, Don and I met up with friends Kim and Dan in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Kim made us dinner reservations for Click's Steakhouse, in Pawnee. We had quite a few adventures on the way to the steakhouse.
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Osage County

There are lots of small towns and prairies to explore, between Tulsa and Pawnee. Dan drove us through the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve.

We saw more horses than bison, but I love horses. And the wind turbines were a lot taller than the grass.  But it was a beautiful day to be out roaming with no other cars in sight.

​Pawhuska, OK

We also spent a little time wandering through the town of Pawhuska.

That was a fun adventure, searching for signs of cast or crew, involved in a new Martin Scorsese movie. The movie is based on the book "Killers of the Flower Moon".
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​Bath House

Dan and Kim know us well. They knew we would be giddy over a 1939 bath house, in the middle of nowhere. 

We didn't have much time before dinner, but we pulled up to have a quick look.

Open?

The bath house was built by the WPA, using hand cut native stone. It's still in use in 2021, but had already closed for the day.    

Luckily the doors were open. We carried some drinks with us through the doors and straight back to the open terrace. We needed to have a toast.

Cheers

Time was ticking, but we set the camera timer and toasted to our crazy reunion. 

We've had many happy hours together, since we first became neighbors, 22 years ago.  

To the Water

Next, we took a quick dash, down the steps to see the lake.

We were so quick, that I missed getting photos of the little swimming beach. It reminded me of lakes my family went to when I was a child.

There was a floating dock and a slide, I believe. It looked peaceful on that   warm evening. We took in the view and headed up to the car.

 
Click's Steakhouse

We were just minutes away from Pawnee and Click's Steakhouse. I love the idea of a small town steakhouse, on a Saturday night.

The old stone building had a modern facade. I'm guessing the building may have looked different when Clifton "Click" Nelson opened, in 1962.

Click

We saw Click's face smiling down, when we entered. He was wearing a paper "Rainbo" hat and showing us a huge platter of raw steak!

Lucky for us it wasn't 1962 anymore. Back then, the door was kept locked and customers knocked. Diners had to be checked in and women weren't allowed at all, for a few years. Kim and I would have had to go back to the bath house.

In We Go

Since it was 2021, Kim and I strutted down the entryway, looking at all the furs and antlers, while Don and Dan parked.

We were seated in the first dining room and I felt like all heads turned our direction. I'm pretty sure we were the only non-locals who were dining. In a town of 2,000, you can be sure that out-of-towners are obvious.

Food Pics?

I didn't pull out the camera to take photos of our table, or our food. No instagram steak photos. Just didn't have it in me.

I did sneak a photo of the old stove holding the kettle of steak soup. It was a little surprising to see the guests strolling around the huge salad bar and slicing off hunks of cheese, to put in their soup. June 2021. I'm still easing back into this pandemic dining thing, with caution. It didn't look like anyone in Click's had ever worn a mask. 

Steak and Pies

I ordered ribeye which is so unlike me. But when in Rome. The flavor was pretty amazing though. It  was huge and I couldn't eat more than half. 

I almost saved room for some pie. They were on display nearby and looked exciting. But by the time I spilled my water glass and made a big mess, I had forgotten about the pie. I'm sure the locals were amused.


​So this is my silly write-up. I don't have much about the food or the restaurant itself. But I will always remember this outing as a dining adventure with our friends. We adventured first, then topped it all off with a hearty meal.

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