LEFT: 818 Diner owner Terri Parsons – and the other owner/operators who are not in the photo: Don, Max and Joe Parsons – combine retro chic and timeless Americana favorites with modern day tastes and expectations, creating a comfortable but somehow unique casual dining experience. RIGHT: Shelly Bouziden enjoys some chicken-fried steak at 818 Diner, and says it's among the best she's ever had. "The mashed potatoes are homemade," she said. "The gravy may be a mix, but it's not frozen. The meat itself tasted fresh, not frozen, Bouziden said, adding that it had been well-tenderized and that the breading hadn't been "gobbed" on, but was "just right."
TOP LEFT: Morgan Garner (left) of Pearland, Texas, stopped for a hot homestyle bite at lunchtime with colleague Derick Graves. Bringing Graves his lunch is Gwen Valderrama, who works at the 818 full-time. How do the oilfield friends like the food? Garner says it's tasty, and Graves -- well, Graves has already started his own tradition. "I always order the same thing," he said, laughing, "so it must be good!" TOP RIGHT: Sandie and Tom Killian of Mercy Partners (mercy-partners.org) stop by 818 Diner on their travels through Oklahoma and Kansas to raise awareness of their efforts to provide basic health care in South Sudan and Uganda. BOTTOM LEFT: Members of law enforcement met up last Wednesday morning at the new 818 Diner for Coffee with a Cop – a time designated to encourage communication and positive interaction between law enforcement and the public. Pictured from left are State Ranger Steve Rogers, Alva City Councilmember Brandon Sherman, Ben Orcutt, Sean Farris, Pat Hawley, retired Game Warden Terry Swallow and current Game Warden Breton Sloan. BOTTOM RIGHT: Each booth in the diner is decorated with vintage items hung on the corrugated metal walls.
As you drive down Oklahoma Boulevard, you might easily overlook the unassuming exterior of 818 Oklahoma Blvd. You'll probably notice the large sign out front, though, and when you do, remind yourself to go there soon and see what's inside.
Walk through the front door, and chances are you'll find yourself smiling, relaxing, and anticipating one of America's great gastronomic inventions: the diner, replete with old photographs, vintage Coke signs, and even display cases of gimme caps from what looks like most of the businesses in the area.
To the right is a smaller dining area that co-owner Terri Parsons said they plan to turn into a coffee shop. Straight ahead is the door to a larger dining area – large enough to have booths along the walls and tables scattered down the middle, but all of them spaced well apart so that the rambunctious conversation going on at this table doesn't interrupt the rowdy laugh-fest going on at the next table over.
It's more than a diner. It's a community gathering place, and that's exactly what Terri and her family – because the whole family is involved in this – were hoping to create. In fact, some area organizations are already holding meetings there.
The 818 Diner is a new venture by the Parsons family, which owns and operates the Holiday Motel in Alva. The diner is open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day except Tuesday.
"I wanted it to be open Sunday and Monday when other places are closed," said Terri.
A Family Affair
The whole family is involved in the diner: parents Terri and Don, and sons Max (19-year-old student at Northwestern Oklahoma State University) and Joe (17-year-old at Alva High School).
Max's talents have flourished in the kitchen, Terri said. Max plans to stay in the area after graduation; "I can see him running all this someday."
Terri wrote all the recipes, and husband Don took care of having the wide-screen TVs and a music system installed, and "keeps us all focused," Terri said.
Joe focuses on what Terri calls "development" and on the restaurant's décor. He attends auctions and yard sales looking for cool retro items, especially those that reflect Alva's history or identity.
When the Parsons got the building, corrugated metal covered the dining room walls. They decided to leave the metal, and it works very well with the vintage items everywhere.
Those items may well draw you away from your table (well, at least until your food arrives) to examine the old photos from Alva's history and other vintage items that are displayed with a lighthearted whimsy.
Old-Fashioned Diner Food – Parsons Style
The menu is pretty extensive for a diner.
For lunch, appetizers include Prime Rib Potato Skins, nachos, and "loaded" fries. Salads are available, as is a soup of the day. Burgers make up about a quarter of the menu. They all include all-beef broiled hamburger patties, and then toppings for the various specialty burgers include Monterey Jack, guacamole, sauteed mushrooms, bacon, or chili. Or you can choose a veggie burger on a gluten-free bun (though you may get pitying glances from your fellow diners).
There are plenty of sandwiches to choose from, including a French dip (a French roll stuffed with sliced prime rib topped with Monterey Jack cheese, served au jus).
Bigger meals are available too, including two versions of chicken-fried steak: Terri's version (topped with cream gravy) and Max's version (served on a bed of chili and topped with cheese). Or you could choose Don's Hamburger Steak (with brown gravy, sauteed mushrooms and onions) or Joe's Chicken Tender Dinner (southern-fried chicken tenders with cream gravy).
Iced tea and soft drinks are poured over crushed ice and served in red, textured, hard plastic cups with OU emblazoned on them. "We got the cups from Coke and they had the OU logo on them," Terri said. "We don't have OSU, but if someone cannot drink out of an OU cup, we do have clear cups with the Dr. Pepper logo," she said, grinning.
Breakfast is served from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. and features gorgeous big breakfasts like Grandma's Country Eggs (potatoes, onion, ham, scrambled eggs and cheese served with tortillas or toast, sour cream and salsa), or breakfast plates with eggs and your choice of hash browns, grits, refried beans, ham slice, sausage, bacon or steak. Or choose an omelet with your choice of ingredients. Then there's Joe's Chicken and Waffles (a Belgian waffle topped with two chicken tenders and whipped butter, syrup and gravy), or a breakfast burger (a hamburger topped with cheese, fried egg, hash browns and bacon). Or have pancakes, waffles, biscuits and gravy, a breakfast sandwich or a breakfast taco.
Breakfast prices range from about $3 to about $9; lunch prices range from about $5 (for the dinner salad, for example, although the cup of soup is just $3.50) to about $13 for the burgers. Sandwiches run from about $7 for the BLT to $12 for the French dip; the bigger meals run around $12. The most expensive item on the menu is Max's Chicken Fried Steak, which is $15.
But able as the Parsons family is, they can't do it on their own. Terri said she had to let people know how great her staff is.
"Everybody said that (staffing) was going to be the hardest thing, but I've got the most wonderful staff," Terri said.
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