Scratch Kitchen & Cocktails — Restaurant in Norman

My family went to Scratch in Norman for dinner one evening and we so enjoyed it that I've been back with two different friends to share the experience. The service is what every restaurant should strive for, each visit gave me an opportunity to meet some delightful people who really seem to like what they're doing. Their knowledge of the menu and ingredients was impressive and I enjoyed their recommendations. The cocktail menu is huge, and each one I've tried has been so good, with house made syrups, uncommon liquors, and other interesting mixers. My favorite is the flower cup and it's garnished with a flower. However when the fresh flower isn't available they top it with dried florals, which I request left off. The spinach dip was excellent on our first visit, on my second it wasn't thickened, but it was still delicious! We also had the coffee pork, a cheeseburger, and blackened catfish. Everything was beautifully presented and the pork was perfectly cooked and tender, which applied to all our proteins. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals, including the sides of pimento cheese risotto, Parmesan risotto, the most amazing carrots, gorgeous Brussels sprouts, and golden, crispy fries. We had their tres leches cake for dessert and it is also out of this world!! The second visit was for wine night, the wine was ok, but I wouldn't order it again. The charcuterie wasn't what I expected, it was just cubed cheese and salami and I was hoping for something a little more special with fancy cheeses and such. We split a filet and it was excellent, lovely seasoning and perfect temperature. My third visit we tried the crab cake app, the Cajun seafood pasta and the gumbo. My friend is a New Orleans native and was thrilled to see Crystals hot sauce. She was very complimentary of the gumbo. As for the pasta, I had to make myself stop eating. It's seasonings were so lively and the pasta was texturally perfection! I had to ask for more of the beautiful garlicky, buttery sourdough bread. The crab cakes were paired with arugula and I loved the bite with crab and remoulade. While we all thoroughly enjoyed the aesthetic of the restaurant, going to the restroom includes walking down a narrow hallway through a server's station. That felt awkward and it's an impossible situation because the bathrooms can't be moved, but worth noting for those with mobility...

Update: the manager Jose sent an incredibly kind card and I went back to try Scratch again today. The service from Jess was great and I recommend the truffle shoestring fries. Get them with the spicy ketchup!! I am glad this business came through and made up for a rough first experience. Definitely made me add another star to my review.

Went to Scratch Kitchen on Thursday night with friends. We ordered the crab cake appetizers, they were good especially the lemon remoulade sauce the drizzled them with. Our drinks were just as good. That's where this review comes to screeching hault on positivity. We ordered our food and proceeded to wait as every other table around us was served. Kitchens get busy, that's understandable but this was more a fault from our waitress. The same waitress we had to flag down to order more drinks from since our glasses sat empty. We were sitting directly in front of the bar so I'm not sure how that happens. She took our drink order and ran off like an Olympic sprinter before we had the chance to inquire about the status of our food. Finally everything came out at which point we asked for the bill and boxes because we had to leave not long after. Absolutely everything looked great! If only it had tasted the way it looked. A side of fries was the only good part about the Cuban, which was dry and lacked any charm that normally accompanies such a great sandwich. The burger that was ordered was dry and needed seasoning. And the other person at our table order the Sooner State Board. Which is a glorified charcuterie board. The pickled pineapple and smoked gouda were great! That's it though, because the other cheeses lacked flavor (we live in a state with great cheese!) and she ended up almost choking on a harder piece of green bean. Why were they on there? No idea. I really had such high hopes for the place since the environment was so great but what it had there it lacked in the actual food department. Scratching this off of our places...

I think scratch has somewhat of an identity problem. It's menu is not good enough to be as pricey as it is. The environment has a nice class to it however the wait staff is bland and too laid back, not prompt at all but not annoyingly late either. Everything our party of two ordered had some heavy spice in it, the meatloaf, the Hawaiian burger, the goat cheese balls, even the side of mayonnaise had spice to it! They couldn't lay off the spice. My fiancee said it best when she said, "The spice overwhelmed the dishes instead of complimented the food." Their lavender lemonade was good but at 3.50 for a small Mason jar still was over priced for what it was. They either need to lower their prices and get the casual crowd or up their service and bring in a real chef to tweak the menu. Either way it will be a long time before I try them again. There are just too many good restaurants at this price point that I like better.

Edit: To the owner. I applaud you on your responsiveness on these pages. It shows you care. Even though the dishes say spicy on the menu, there is a very big difference between spice to enhance big flavor and spice that covers up every other flavor that could be there. The price point that your establishment is at suggests that your cooks should know the difference. That is why I say, take the price down and catch the casual crowd or up your game to reflect your current prices. This is a college town and this establishment could be talked about with college memories.

Rephrasing your words: There are too many other national chains with similar selections that do it right for their price point.

It may feel like harsh criticism but it is...