Wild Fork — Restaurant in Tulsa

There’s a certain kind of place—comfortable, upscale, quietly smug—that thrives in wealthier zip codes. You know the type. The lighting is dim enough to flatter, the menu is safe enough for your retired uncle, and the wine list is just French enough to impress your accountant. Wild Fork, nestled in the manicured lawn of Utica Square, is exactly that kind of place. It’s the kind of restaurant that doesn’t really need to be good. It just needs to be there. A reliable landing pad for the leisurely lunch crowd—ladies in athleisure sipping Chardonnay, the kind of guy who calls his server "darling" and tips like its 1998. They come for consistency, not surprise. For a prix-fixe version of a feeling. The menu? It’s vaguely European Americana with its shirt tucked in—Steak Diane, crab cakes, some kind of burger, and a $14 Caesar salad. Not bad, certainly not great, just enough flavor to suggest effort, never enough to risk anything. Dinner is a solid “meh” with a side of garlic mashed potatoes. Brunch is the better play, if only because eggs are harder to mess up and you can drown your regret in a mimosa. And the service? Well—let’s say casually indifferent. You’ll wait too long to order your drink, then be rushed to pay like you're squatting at a booth in Times Square. It’s a weird dance—slow, then fast. Like the servers are trying to make up for time they weren’t there in the first place. It’s not bad service, it’s just... distracted. There’s a guy at the host stand—possibly a manager. Always moving a little too much, blinking a little too often, sweating just enough to make you wonder if it’s too much espresso... or something a bit more motivational. Whatever he’s on, it must tickle his nose—because he sure does sniff. A lot. And yet, the place hums along. Busy on weekends. Packed at brunch. Packed with folks who could afford better, but don’t necessarily know where to get it. Wild Fork isn’t about the food. It’s about the illusion of taste. The kind you can charge $27 for a bowl of pasta under. The kind of expensive that signals value, even when there’s very little of it on the plate. Ten or so visits in, I still don’t quite hate it. I just can’t figure out why I keep coming back. Maybe it's the ease. The quiet certainty of knowing what you'll get. Or maybe it's just proximity—because not every meal has to be memorable—some just need to be expensive, well lit, and walking distance to somewhere that sells...

If I could give it no stars, I would. September 28th, 2014 was the second and last time I will eat at Wild Fork. The food was decent, but they got our order wrong (and did not care). It was my mother's birthday and we met her there to celebrate. She arrived a little before they closed for the afternoon. We were about 5 minutes behind her and the waitress had her call us to get our order over the phone because she said multiple times "our kitchen is closing" rudely. I asked when we arrived if we could get an appetizer to start. She told me two or three things they had but would not bring me a menu to look at when I asked her. She told me "The kitchen is closing". I ordered a side salad with creamy herb dressing and they put balsamic of some kind on it. Instead of making a new salad the just left that dressing on and put the creamy dressing on it too... gross. My husband's sandwich was smashed flat and thrown together. The gave my mom the wrong side and the waitress blamed it on her when she brought it out and said that is what she had ordered. She did not even ask if she wanted something different or try to remediate the situation...AGAIN, "The kitchen is closing" her response. We were there to celebrate my mother's birthday and she did not even offer us dessert, but instead, brought us our check less than five minutes into our meal asking us to pay her. We all had run out of iced tea before our meal was over. She came out to ask if we wanted a refill and we said yes, and she said, "I can bring you a soda if you want, we dumped out the tea for the day". I have never in my life felt so rushed during a meal or felt like I put someone out so much. I will NEVER eat at Wild Fork again. DON'T...

This place is a favorite of mine. Particularly for brunch. I love to sit at their tables out early in the morning before it gets too warm outside. Food and service are nothing spectacular. At first I loved both, but I think I realized the quality and food and service were not as great as I would expect for the area. I think I loved the location more than anything.

The only complaint that I have about sitting outside is that I have seen servers who will dump leftover drinks into the flowerbeds before clearing the rest of the tables. I don't think there is anything terribly wrong with this other than it is unseemly and it attracts flies. This morning there were quite a few that were landing on old lemons (probably from water glasses) and fruit.

I usually get the pancakes and breakfast potatoes. The potatoes were soggy from the cooking grease. They are usually very crispy have great texture. (Every time I bring friends here for the first time I always tell them that the breakfast potatoes are some of the best I've ever had) The potatoes weren't great, but it wasn't so horrible that I just overlooked it. The pancakes have been very dense and doughy the past few times I've been by for brunch. I only ate a few bites before I asked the waitress to take them. I don't usually send items away like this, but they were not pleasant to eat. Our waitress (or management) was gracious enough to take the pancakes off of the ticket, and there was an offer to remake them, but I declined the remake since this has happened the past few visits. Hopefully, the kitchen manager can correct whatever issues they are experiencing in...