Last week my mom and I both took a day off work and head north to Pawhuska, Oklahoma. If you've been around here a little bit you will remember that her and I first visited the Pioneer Woman's Mercantile back in January, you can read about that trip here in this post. That time we were both on Christmas break vacation, along with the rest of the world, and we went on a Friday. Huge mistake! If you aren't familiar with the Merc there are three parts to it. The restaurant, the store and the bakery. Well they also have a grab and go station with a portion of their menu that you can get to go. Our first trip it was so busy that we had to wait an hour and a half just to go inside the store side to shop and the wait for the restaurant was over four hours. We grabbed goodies from the bakery and ate at another local spot in town.
All this to say we both really wanted to go back and eat lunch there. So off we went and we waited two hours and three minutes on a random Tuesday. We took turns going in to shop since there wasn't a line for the store this time. This made the time pass quickly and also the weather was beautiful this trip unlike the first time when we waited in the freezing January temps.
I am such a foodie but I will admit that the huge mason jar that my iced tea was served in might have been my favorite part! AND they have crushed ice, perfect! Just kidding, it was all so good but I was over the moon to see my huge tea come out after the long wait! I'm a tea gal for sure!
We decided to order the spinach artichoke dip that was made with six different cheeses and served in a mini cast iron skillet with chips and pita bread. It was to die for y'all! Very rich but I still could've eaten the entire pan of it! I highly recommend it if you visit the Merc for lunch or dinner!
I really wanted to try the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy because I just felt like I should. It is favorited on the menu and known to be the dish Ree spent the most time perfecting. However, my stomach just couldn't stomach that much food for lunch so I chose the southern fried chicken sandwich which was served with a bed of creamy coleslaw atop the chicken and finished with house made butter pickles on a potato bun. Y'all, this was delicious! It was served with house made potato chips and I could barely finish half. I took the rest home and it was just as good leftover the next day! My mom picked the beef brisket reuben which was also served with the house made potato chips. She said it was fantastic and also could only finish half.
I knew in January I would be back and before I even left this time I knew I'll be going back again! We left about a quarter till three and there was a whopping three people in line!! Ahhh so next trip and a tip for all of you wanting to visit, go first thing in the morning or late afternoon. Although I have a feeling the summer and Saturdays are probably busy all day long.
The lunch/dinner menu features several appetizers, hearty entrees including the chicken fired steak, two different lasagnas and enchiladas. There are also several soups and sandwiches to chose from as well as salads and of course desserts!
We were too full to have dessert so before we left we both took a few pecan sticky buns to go from the bakery. Oh my word, so delicious! I was wishing I would've gotten the half of dozen pack. Lesson learned!
Have you visited the Mercantile yet? Are you a fan of Ree like my mom and I are? Sadly she wasn't at the Merc but I hope to catch her on the next trip!
