Packard’s New American Kitchen, located in Midtown OKC, has a rooftop with fabulous views of downtown. Come for the atmosphere, stay for the food.
Oh my gosh, I just realized it has been 2 months since I’ve done a post about a brand new restaurant! I have done a few repeat restaurants during that time, but no new ones. The good thing is, I’m fixing that over the next couple of months. I just got back from a trip to Denver, I’m going to Eureka Springs AR this weekend; Pittsburgh at the end of June, and then to Maryland to see my family in July. If I’m not careful, I’ll go the complete opposite way and get behind.
In my 9 years at OSU, we have been very lucky to be at full capacity in our suites nearly every season. The only times we’ve had inventory available is when we expanded and built new suites. We’ve also been lucky to have very little turnover of our current suiteholders. Considering that many of our fans are in the oil & gas business, and the current state of that business, that is huge.
A few weeks ago I was meeting Terri in OKC to finalize her suite renewal. Of course, I recommended we meet for lunch, so that I could do a food blog post. Terri recommended Packard’s New American Kitchen, which was perfect since I had never eaten there.
Packard’s is in Midtown OKC. This is one of my favorite districts OKC, and I’ve visited several restaurants in the area. Packard’s is also just blocks from Automobile Alley, an historic district that at one time was home to all of OKC’s car dealerships. The last leg of the OKC Memorial Marathon runs through Automobile Alley, which I honestly never even noticed until last year. I’ve never spent time in Automobile Alley, but I need to change that. There are still several dealerships in the area, as well as shopping, dining, and many historic buildings.
Packard’s has a great location on a corner, in the Historic Packard Building. The rest of the building is still in use by other businesses.
The main entrance for Packard’s is on the main road, or you can enter through the side door in the main lobby of the Packard Building. The restaurant itself is quite spacious. A large bar along the back wall is the anchor of the space, with the main dining tables around 3 sides. Even at 1:30, when we arrived, the restaurant was about half full. On weekdays, the lunch clientele is primarily people who work in the area.
I really wanted to sit at one of the tables along the windows, but of course they were still full. I always love big windows like that, but unfortunately the scenery is just the street.
The Packard’s menu changes seasonally, and they use locally sourced product whenever possible. Packard’s is not open on Mondays, and is only open for Sunday brunch. Tuesday – Friday Packard’s is open for lunch and dinner, and they also include a mid-day menu.
Packard’s bakes their own bread daily on-site, and offers it on the appetizer menu. I normally wouldn’t order a bread basket, but when I saw homemade, I of course had to jump at that
The bread comes to the table warm, and is absolutely delicious. We had French, sourdough, and wheat, and I liked the wheat the best. It is dense but not heavy, and has very good flavor.
Terri got the Buddha bowl. You can add chicken, steak, or tofu, and she went with chicken
This dish is fantastic. It is a wonderful mix of flavors and textures, with just a hint of heat from the chili sauce.
David got the special, a salad with spinach, kale, blueberries, roasted peanuts and cheese
I didn’t try any, but he said it was very good
I originally considered the Buddha bowl, but changed my mind once Terri decided to order it. That’s the beauty of dining with friends for research: everyone gets something different. I went back and forth on several items, and finally settled on the lamb carnitas
This sandwich is delicious. I ate a few bites with the bread, but the bottom started getting soggy and it was too much bread, so I just ate the filling. Honestly, they could sell the carnitas as a bowl, and that would be perfect.
I normally always get fries as a side, but since Terri and David were eating healthy, I decided to try and be a little healthier myself. Cole slaw is another side option, and the server said it went really well with the carnitas.
Not only did the cole slaw pair well, it was fabulous. Many cole slaws can be heavy from the dressing, but this one was nice and light, and very flavorful. I wish it was a larger portion, because I could have definitely eaten twice as much.
David mentioned that Packard’s has a rooftop patio, and on a clear day you can see the downtown skyline. The patio is accessible by a separate door outside of the restaurant. It’s only open on the weekends, so we weren’t able to go up there. The rooftop is available for private event rental, which would be a very cool venue. During the week, the rooftop is open for children of all ages; on Friday and Saturday, the rooftop is 21+.
I will definitely be going back to Packard’s. The food is delicious, and I want to go and check out that rooftop.