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Ann's Chicken Fry House

4106 N.W. 39th St.
Oklahoma City, OK
(405) 943-8915

Ann's Chicken Fry House on Route 66

Historic U.S. Highway 66 went through its own evolution before being made obsolete by Interstate highways, with the original circuitous two-lane route being replaced by the then modern highway known as N.W. 39th St. Expressway. It may be hard to find the original route without an old map, but the expressway built through Oklahoma City lives on in Route 66 style buildings, signs, and memorabilia.

One restaurant that takes advantage of the theme is Ann's Chicken Fry House, a rather small but popular place that has been operating in the same location since 1971. The restaurant is not quite as old as the vintage 1950's police car parked in front and the other memorabilia in the restaurant that remind customers of the days of Route 66, but to me it seems as if Ann's has always been there. I am not sure why, but it was never on my radar screen as a place to eat until after it had been operating over 30 years, but it always seemed to serve as a landmark for locating many other restaurants that have come and gone along 39th Street over the years.

I know Oklahoma is famous for chicken fried steak, but somehow I always thought this was something you did not order at restaurants when it could be cooked at home. That feeling changed, however, when I went to Ann's for their version of this classic dish. I had seen a glimpse of chicken fried steak glory at two or three restaurants in Austin, Texas, but overall I never thought it was even worth trying in commercial eating places. Ann's, though, brings back the memories of the few really good ones I have experienced. My diet has changed to the point that this is not the type of food I would seek on a regular basis, but it is nice to know it is available for those special occasions when I will allow myself to indulge in this type of treat.

Small order of chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes at Ann's

The main attraction at Ann's, of course, is the Chicken Fried Steak. This is a breaded cube steak covered with a milk gravy that is so thick that only the faint outline of the steak can be seen underneath. I have seen many places try to attain the ideal of a proper chicken fried steak but few have succeeded as Ann's has. This seems to be a simple process but some common flaws I have seen include gravy that was too thin, breading that was so thick it covered up the other flavors, and even brown gravy instead of white (I think this is just about as bad as salsa made in New York City). Ann's was notable for not having any discerable flaws, thus I can say it was a very good chicken fried steak.

The steaks come in two sizes, small (shown in the picture), or a large one that I believe is actually two steaks served on the plate. I thought the small serving was plenty, and was in keeping with the size of dinners I used to get in Austin.

Pork chop served Thursday through Saturday

Some other dinners, sandwiches, and burgers are also available at Ann's. Some, such as the Pork Chop, are available only on certain days (the pork chop is available Thursday through Saturday). I will have to say that we ordered the pork chop more out of curiosity than expecting it to be as good as the chicken fried steak, and I certainly did not think it was anywhere near as memorable as the chicken fried steak had been. Still, it will be of interest to many people.

Fried chicken served only as a special on Friday and Saturday

Fried Chicken is available on weekends, as one of Ann's daily specials (I think the only one I have not yet mentioned is meat loaf served on Wednesday). I had an inkling the chicken might be good, but I was a little surprised when it turned out to be as good or better than the chicken fried steak. This had a perfect golden crust, and although the pieces of chicken were rather large (and thus in my opinion not as flavorful as smaller chickens), I really was quite satisfied with the meal. The chicken was moist and cooked perfectly. The only problem I can think of is that they cook a limited quantity so it is best to go early.

Salad

I was not very impressed with the salad, and I would say anything made with vegetables is probably not the restaurant's specialty.

A choice of vegetables comes with each dinner, and I enjoyed the Navy Beans that came with my order. I would guess that these were not vegetarian, especially since they tasted so good.

Mashed Potatoes came with the dinner and tasted a little dry. The gravy was really the best part of the potatoes.

I have heard that Ann's is the best place in Oklahoma City for chicken fried steak. I might even expand the geographical area to include Oklahoma and most of Texas. Ann's is certainly comparable to some of the best ones served in Austin.

On Friday and Saturday, though, I would give equal recommendation to the fried chicken.