A beef round steak pounded thin, dredged in seasoned flour, dipped in buttermilk, coated again in flour, and pan-fried until the crust is golden and shattering. It arrives blanketed in white cream gravy made from the pan drippings, with mashed potatoes and green beans completing the plate. The gravy-to-steak ratio is taken seriously in Oklahoma: it should be generous.
Chicken-fried steak arrived in Oklahoma with cattle-drive cooks who adapted German Wiener Schnitzel to the tougher beef cuts available on the range. The frying method tenderized the meat; cream gravy made from pan drippings replaced the butter sauce. By the 1920s the dish appeared on Route 66 diner menus across Oklahoma, and Tally's on South Yale remains the most-cited example in Tulsa.
2 editor picks for Chicken-Fried Steak in Tulsa, ranked by editorial score. All Tulsa signature dishes · Chicken-Fried Steak across every city.
Also in: Austin, Oklahoma City.
Polo Grill ★ 4.5
brookside · 2038 Utica Sq, Tulsa, OK 74114
Open since 1983 at Utica Square, Polo Grill holds DiRoNA and AAA Four Diamond recognition alongside a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence wine list.
Tally's Good Food Cafe ★ 4.3
route-66-corridor · 1102 S Yale Ave, Tulsa, OK 74112
Tally's Route 66 diner has held the same corner of Yale Avenue since 1987, serving the chicken-fried steak and cream gravy that made it a Tulsa institution.