Downtown ontheRange's Best of OKC

Now that I'm done writing letters to everyone under the sun, and almost finished being mad at art haters, and with the Gazette and the Oklahoman having a frenzy over their "Best of OKC" rankings right now, I thought it would be fun for me to do one of my own just to throw out the word for a few great local businesses that I've enjoyed going to this summer. Also, I have to say that thinking about the topic tonight got me hungry..so my rankings are somewhat biased as I was sitting in Cattlemen's Steakhouse not very long ago, as my send-off dinner before I go back to Calgary this weekend. I'm just going to name a best for each category, and a runner-up. So without much further ado, here goes (and if this doesn't get you hungry, I don't know what will).

Best Upscale Restaurant
1. Mickey Mantle's Steakhouse in Bricktown. (Get the pepper corn steak.)
2. Red Prime Steak in Automobile Alley.

Best "Casual Dining"
1. Red Rock Canyon Grill at Lake Hefner's East Wharf
2. Deep Deuce Grill in Deep Deuce

Best Steakhouse (the toughest category IMO)
1. Cattlemen's Steakhouse in Stockyards City
2. Mickey Mantle's Steakhouse in Bricktown

Best Cafe'
1. Two Olives Cafe in Downtown Moore
2. The Saturn Grill at Nichols Hills Plaza

Best Italian Restaurant
1. Trattoria il Centro in the Arts District
2. Flip's Wine Bar on N. Western

Best Japanese Restaurant
1. Shogun Steakhouse at NorthPark
2. Musashi's on N. Western

Best Coffeehouse
1. The Red Cup on N. Classen
2. Coffee Slingers in Automobile Alley

Best Pizza Place
1. The Hideaway, 5 metro locations
2. The Wedge Pizzeria in Deep Deuce and N. Western

Best Restaurant for a Date
1. McNellie's Public House in MidTown
2. The Mont on Boyd Ave., Norman

Best BBQ Joint
1. Iron Starr Urban BBQ in Crown Heights
2. Bad Brad's in Downtown Yukon

Best Burger Joint
1. Irma's Burger Shack in MidTown and in Nichols Hills
2. Bricktown Burgers in Bricktown

Best Time-Tested Establishment
1. Cattlemen's Steakhouse in Stockyards City
2. Anne's Chicken Fry on Historic Rt. 66, Warr Acres

Hottest New Restaurant
1. McNellie's Public House in MidTown
2. POPS on Historic Rt. 66, Arcadia

Best Lunch Haunt
1. The Prohibition Room in Historic Gold Dome
2. Irma's Burger Shack in MidTown and Nichols Hills

Best Beer Selection
1. McNellie's Public House in MidTown
2. TapWerks Ale House & Cafe in Bricktown

Best Joke About a Local Restaurant
1. Pearl's "Graveside" (the new N. Classen location)
2. Laredo's construction woes, also on N. Classen

Best Dance Club
1. Skkybar in Bricktown
2. Rok Bar in Bricktown

Worst Local Restaurant
1. Charleston's..located everywhere
2. n/a

Best Local Clothing Company
1. Mr. Ooley's in Penn Square
2. Lucca Fashion Boutique in Penn Square and in Edmond

Best Local Retail Treasure
1. Full Circle Bookstore at 50 Penn Place
2. Sage Gourmet Market in Deep Deuce

Best Place to Shop
1. Penn Square in N. OKC
2. Campus Corner, Norman

Most Missed OKC-grown Corporation
1. Kerr-McGee
2. Harold's

Best Local University
1. University of Oklahoma
2. n/a

Best Local Hotspot
1. Bricktown (obviously)
2. N. Western Avenue

Most Surprising Local Hotspot (in a good way)
1. MidTown
2. Downtown Norman

Most Underachieving Local Hotspot
1. Uptown (NW 23rd Street)
2. Capitol Hill

Best Live Music Club
1. The UCO Jazz Lab in Edmond
2. The Conservatory on N. Western

Best New Urban Development
1. The Centennial on the Canal in Bricktown
2. The Legacy at Arts Central in the Arts District

Best Historic Renovation Project
1. The Skirvin Hilton in Downtown
2. Plaza Court Bldg in MidTown

Best Downtown Developer
1. Grant Humphreys
2. Greg Banta

Best Development About to Break Ground
1. Devon Tower in Downtown
2. The Waterfront on the Oklahoma River

Best Prime Sites for Development
1. The "Brewer Family" location entering Bricktown on Sheridan
2. Vacant city block across Walker from the Stage Center

Best MAPS 3 Idea
1. Downtown streetcar
2. Convention center

Best Public Project
1. Ford Center Renovations
2. Boathouse Row

Best Downtown Attraction
1. OKC National Memorial
2. Bricktown Ballpark

Most Stylish Suburban Development
1. Spring Creek Village in Edmond
2. Brookhaven Village in Norman

Best Metro Blog
1. Doug Dawgz Blog, by Doug Loudenback
2. OKC Central, by Steve Lackmeyer

Best International Hall of Fame You Didn't Know OKC Had
1. International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in Downtown
2. International Photography Hall of Fame at the OmniPlex

Best Local Museum
1. Oklahoma City Museum of Art in Downtown
2. Fred Jones Museum of Art in Norman

Best Local Politician
1. Tom Coburn
2. Jim Roth

Best Local Eccentric Billionaire
1. Ray Ackerman
2. Aubrey McClendon

Best 'Best of OKC'
1. Oklahoma Gazette
2. Daily Oklahoman

Most Attractive Person in OKC
1. Nadia Comaneci
2. Nick Roberts, naturally

For a better "Best of OKC" directory, check out the Gazette. All of these were decided by me, so no doubt people might disagree. I also didn't bother with places I don't go to, like wine bars, or Mexican restaurants, or Chinese restaurants, etc. Although I did cover best watering hole (for beer on top) and Japanese restaurants..which is kinda close. I also, obviously, covered a lot of downtown topics not covered by anyone else; just my own spin on the "Best of OKC" thing everyone is getting in on. Anyway, keep it classy, OKC.