Okie Foodie

Meers Store and Restaurant

I would not be an Okie Foodie without going to an Oklahoma classic, the Meers Store and Restaurant.  This place is known for their amazing longhorn burgers that are literally the best burgers I have ever eaten in my life.  And believe me, I know burgers.  I like to think of myself as a connoisseur of sorts.  The southwest Oklahoma classic is located in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE just steps from the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge.  To get to Meers, you have to travel around some curvy country roads with a beautiful wind farm (go clean energy!) for scenery, and then you pop out at the famous Meers Store and Restaurant.

The famous Meers burger

Pulling up to the restaurant, you will think that you have gone back into time when the area was out in the wild frontier and the Wichita Mountains were supposedly rich with gold.  Meers began as a gold mining town which boomed to 500 people at one time, but now just has living there the family that runs the famous store. Whenever you walk into the place…you will notice that the store is about 4 different buildings combined into one.  Everything in this place is as old as the hills.  I have never been here where you didn’t have at least a 15-20 minute wait (sometimes longer!).  But believe me, it is well worth it.

Meers burgergoodness and fries

I was very excited to bring Joe Bob here for the first time.  Me being a southwestern Oklahoma native have indulged myself in one or two Meers burgers in my past, but Joe who is from Green Country has never had the pleasure.  He actually didn’t hear about it from me, but the Meers Store and Restaurant is quite a favorite pit stop by Air Force pilot trainees (my hubbadub is an Air Force pilot if you didn’t guess already).  When any of them stop in nearby Ft. Sill or if they are in training at Altus Air Force Base, it becomes almost tradition that they grab a Meers burger.  Whenever you walk in, you will notice class patch stickers on the door and covering the walls.  This of course made Joe Bob all sorts of nostalgic!

Joe wouldn't be still long enough for me to take his picture... Joe=FAIL

They have a wide array of food on the menu, food that will stick to your bones, but I have to recommend that you stick to the classic Meers burger.  This MASSIVE burger made from lean longhorn beef packs the flavor punch.  It fills up your whole plate (I think I heard it was 7 inches in diameter!) and will be sure to fill your whole belly.  The buttered bun with the flavorful longhorn beef is just to die for.  What makes this even better is the family that owns the place actually raises all of the longhorn beef that they use in the restaurant.  So that will make all you hippies and localvores happy out there.  You can tell by taking that first bite that this beef is different from what you can get at your local store.  It is lean, flavorful, and simply delicious (there is literally no grease…).

Beautiful Wichita Mountains!

I suggest to anyone who wants an outing on a Saturday afternoon to make the drive on down to the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge.  Take in the sights of buffalo roaming the prairie, the fun and fabulous prairie dog towns, and longhorn grazing the range.  Seeing this place and the beauty of nature (without barbed wire fences in the way!) is breathtaking.  But, the real gem of the area, has to be the Meers Store and Restaurant.  So get your tail-end off your couch on a Saturday afteroon, and make the drive down to eat (in my opinion) the best burger in Oklahoma.

In other news…the Okie Foodie is headed to New Orleans for the weekend.  I can’t wait to eat some of the amazing food in the city.  Any suggestions foodiers?