ozarks
roots
the people, places and traditions that make the ozarks home
Famous and Fried on Route 66
Photo by Terry Ropp
By Terry Ropp
Since 1927 family-owned Clantons Café has been a community favorite and popular destination for chicken fried steak One of the landmarks of Vinita, Okla., is Clantons Café owned by Dennis and Melissa (Clanton) Patrick. During the dust bowl in 1927, “Sweet Tater” Clanton decided serving food for others was better than trying to raise potatoes and starving. Eleven years ago a 90-year-old customer came in and confirmed a family story about Tater cooking all morning and then stepping into the street and banging on a pot to let everyone know lunch was ready, Tater’s version of “come and get it.” Another story from a previous generation reflects the family’s commitment to the community. Sweet Tater’s daughter-in-law fixed sandwiches for young men leaving for World War II as a token of appreciation for what they were about to do.
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Dennis and Melissa took over from Melissa’s parents in 1998. Melissa’s parents had run the restaurant for almost 50 years and were ready to pass on the family tradition. Melissa said, “My earliest memory of the restaurant is coming in when I was about 7 to have white meat fried chicken, french fries and a salad with Ott’s dressing. Dennis and Melissa had a 5-year plan, which quickly became a six-month program after fire and smoke damage made the restaurant unusable. The insurance adjuster joked, “I will give you a brand-new 50-year-old restaurant in the ‘90s.” And he did. Clantons Café is the oldest family owned restaurant on Route 66 in Oklahoma. They are known for serving down-home food, much of which comes from Tater’s old recipes, prepared daily using fresh ingredients. Ozarks Farm & Neighbor • www.ozarksfn.com
Popular items include chicken fried steak, chicken and dressing, calf fries, home-style green beans and homemade salad dressings and pie. The menu even contains a quote in regards to their chicken and dressing from country music singer Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn fame which he says, “This is the best in the world.” Ronnie Dunn was not the only one to think so. Michael and Jane Stern from Gourmet Magazine with both the column and a book entitled Road Food came in unannounced one day and subsequently wrote an article featured in Gourmet Magazine. Later Dennis and Melissa were contacted by Food TV for an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. After six months of coordinating, Guy Fierra came with a crew of four to film the episode. The episode is humorous because Guy hesitated to eat the calf fries complaining, “I don’t eat any part of the animal that has a job.” Dennis responded, “Don’t worry. They don’t even know what their job is yet.” Well, Guy ate the fries and loved them. Soon Dennis and Guy were talking about classic cars and taking a ride to view the areas Angus cattle in Dennis’ completely redone ‘66 Mustang. Dennis added, “We’ve always been really busy, but Guy promised a 20 percent increase in our business because of the show, which I thought was impossible, but he was right.” Dennis has kept a comment book for the last couple of years, and within five pages of names were comments by people from Italy, Moscow, New Zealand, Barcelona, China and Australia. Melissa said, “Our mission statement is to exceed our customers’ expectations in terms of food, service and cleanliness.” Part of fulfilling that statement is table 19, a table at the back unofficially reserved for the local coffee drinkers who come in and out during two sessions per day and range from ranchers to mechanics to old retirees. Eating at Clantons Café is like eating at home during the holidays: more food and more company and a lot less work.
MAY 12, 2014