If it seems finding a place to eat in downtown Tulsa is easy these days -- or at least easier -- you'd be right.
It's no secret that downtown Tulsa's renaissance includes new living spaces, businesses, art galleries and areas for public gathering, and much of that growth includes a significant increase in the number of restaurants downtown.
According to the Tulsa Health Department, measuring a four square mile grid encompassing downtown, the area has seen a nearly 40 percent increase in the number of places serving food since 2010.
That doesn't even include the city's dozens of food trucks or bars.
From the up and coming East Village to the more established Blue Dome District and Brady Arts District, patrons can grab cocktails, burgers, pizza, sushi and dessert at any number of places.
Among the restaurateurs in Tulsa making a lasting imprint and contributing to downtown's continued rise is JTR Group owner and chef Justin Thompson.
If you ask Thompson, there's something for every palate in Oklahoma's second largest city.
"I think it's really diverse. I don't think you need to nail it down. I think that there are a lot of different styles of cuisine, different styles of chefs in Tulsa that bring lots of different flavors," Thompson explained.
Thompson should know. The man who runs four downtown restaurants -- Juniper, Tavolo, Prhyme and 624 Kitchen and Catering -- has been an active participant in the Tulsa restaurant scene since 2002.
Thompson knows he wasn't the first person to flip sauté pans in downtown, but says his career in Brookside in the 2000s helped to pave the way for a fine dining experience in area once thought to be just a place for business.
"They came down here and ate dinner here and thought oh, there's life down here. There's something going on," he said.
If Thompson drives patrons to downtown seeking a fine sit down experience, fit with a fork, knife and glass of wine, Adam Myers, president and owner of Burn Co Barbecue, lines them up outside his East 18th Street and South Boston Avenue location ready to get down to business with their hands.
"I don't ever assume there's going to be a line. I think one day I'm going to unlock the door and nobody's going to be there," Myers says as he takes a break from cooking the day's lot.
Each day, as Myers puts it, the team at Burn Co, who is famous for their ribs, hedges the bet. They cook every piece of meat, every potato, every macaroni noodle and every piece of bacon with the hope that they'll sell out.
"Whenever it's gone, it's gone. That's the thing about a fresh made product like this," Myers said.
The long line attracts many customers and taste buds, including a famous guest: Alton Brown from the Food Network, snuck in undetected on May 10.
Hey Tulsa, I just walked by this place called Burn. Is it worth the wait? pic.twitter.com/Eh9PjIwEIt
— Alton Brown (@altonbrown) May 10, 2016
Finally inside @BurnCoBBQ but so worried about the rib situation. pic.twitter.com/scgiM6lV2i
— Alton Brown (@altonbrown) May 10, 2016
Brown was in Tulsa for his tour, "Eat Your Science," and decide to try some local food.
Burn Co has been slinging meat since February 2010. The first restaurant opened in January 2011, and the barbecue business found its footing in the downtown area three years later.
For Myers, Tulsa's food scene not only provides the diverse tastes Thompson mentions, it allows restaurateurs to make imprints as they see fit.
"We have a big, corporate food scene that exists like any other metropolitan area, but in Tulsa, some people reject that, right? And they say, look, I want to do something else outside of the norm, and people here support that," he said.
Tulsa, of course, is just one section in a greater Green Country makeup that is a huge industry.
Measured in the state's first and second congressional districts, according to the Oklahoma Restaurant Association, more than 2,500 places serve food and at least 50,000 people work in those places.
Statewide, according to the ORA, the restaurant industry figured to bring in $5.5 billion in revenue last year, as well as employ 10 percent of the state's workforce. That number is expected to reach nearly 14 percent by 2025.
For Thompson, downtown Tulsa's changing landscape isn't just about restaurants. He attributes the area's growth to a collaborative spirit shared by philanthropists, the arts community, business owners and real estate developers who see Tulsa as having the ability to become something bigger.
The restaurants, he says, have a unique responsibility within that community.
"It's our responsibility to make sure that they have the best possible time so they want to come back to downtown and support what everyone down here is doing."
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