Coffee & Treats in Tulsa

After being grown on the owner's family's El Salvador coffee plantation, Topéca coffee is then shipped directly to its coffeehouse downtown in the Mayo Hotel, where it is roasted fresh daily by the roast-master to ensure full flavor and complexity. While the coffeehouse's socially and environmentally friendly practices feed your soul and quench your thirst for justice, Topéca's menu takes care of your more tangible needs. Sample any of the daily roasts with a double macchiato ($2.80) plus a French press full of bean juice ($5 for a medium, $7.50 large), along with an iced latte ($3.20, $3.70, $4.10) for coffee-dessert. If your body requires fuel other than caffeine, let your tongue try on a cinnamon and honey crêpe ($4.95), or have a ham and brie panini with apricot preserves, its contents slipped comfortably between two luscious slices of wheatberry bread and then mercilessly pressed between the scorching sheets of fiery-grill metal ($6.50). Topéca Coffee, named for the original Arabica coffee bean called "Typica," also sells bags of whole-bean coffee for home-brewed delights ($8.99), enabling you to trace the origins of your cup contents no matter where you're drinking it.

With its rollicking roster of sweet and savory crêpes, espresso, and creamy gelato, the recently opened Mod's Coffee & Crepes injects a much-needed shot of continental pancakery into downtown's throbbing lunch vein. Mod's crêpes are made to order, allowing diners to watch the thin batter metamorphosing into a delectably light meal-casing before it migrates southward down their esophagi. Though Mod's delights sweet teeth with classic crêperie concoctions of Nutella and banana ($4.50) or chocolate-covered strawberries and cream ($4.50), savory crêpes provide a hearty lunch in a light, airy wrapper. The club crêpe (ham, turkey bacon, brown mustard, tomatoes, mozzarella, $6.50) channels classic noontime fare, and the spicy turkey and cranberry crêpe ($6) recaptures the tryptophan-laden harvest feasts of youth. In addition to crêpes, Mod's also serves scintillating salads and soups, such as tomato basil and creamy mushroom brie (cup $3.50, bowl $6).

Every day of the summer, the backdoor of Anner's Pantry swings open to accept boxes of fresh, fragrant vegetables from organic farms. Out front, an herb garden has overtaken the lawn. Inside, the staff sorts organic produce, meats, poultry, fish, and dairy products. To help their members streamline shopping trips, they organize products into market bags. Available in produce and meat options, the bags' contents change based on what's in season. Fruit and veggie sacks may include watermelon, corn, bananas, broccoli, avocados, and pamphlets from the Tomato is a Vegetable League. The Meat and More bag brims with refrigerator staples such as organic butter and free range, antibiotic- and hormone-free eggs and meats. Alongside the bags, staffers include simple, wholesome recipes and tips on washing, cutting, and preparing more eclectic items.

Yolotti brings the inner dessert alchemists out of everyday eaters with a flavorsome rainbow of self-serve frozen yogurts and toppings. Packed with active yogurt cultures, and weighing in at about 30 calories per ounce, Yolotti’s frozen yogurt blurs the line between healthy and heavenly. Like a dessert-slinging tilt-o-whirl, this cabana for chilled confections rotates an array of 16 flavors that include standard and seasonal varietals, such as classic tart, key lime, and red-velvet cake, as well as sugar-free and dairy-free selections. Shingle creamy creations with wholesome kiwi cubes and rice-cake bits or flash back to childhood with a rubble of bubble gum and animal cookies drizzled in peanut-butter syrup. Each magnum opus is charged at $0.35 per ounce—about half the cost and twice the pleasure of appeasing a tempestuous parking meter—typically totaling about $4 per person. Bottomless cups of freshly brewed coffee ($1.29) thaw iced palates, and soft drinks ($1.29) and house-made cookies ($1.29) promise a more molecularly stable form of sweetness.

Ann's Bakery has a rich history of baking bountiful made-from-scratch breads and satisfying sweet teeth with delectable confections. Give your stomach a break from digesting cell-phone batteries with scrumptious cookies (from $.60) such as Ann's pecan sandies, frosted sugar cookies, or specialty turtle fudge concoctions. Scale your taste for cake from cupcakes (from $1.25), including red velvet and orange varieties, to cakes ranging from manageable (from $13.95 for a 7") to monstrous (from $55.95 for a 16" x 24" sheet). The fluffy, moist cakes range from traditional white wedding to german-chocolate flavors, with a fulsome fount of fillings to choose from, including lemon, strawberry, post-rock, and bavarian cream.

Years ago, Angelo Aloisio emigrated to New York City from Abruzzi, Italy, and soon became an executive chef. Inspired by his father, Lou Aloisio opened the original Mondo’s Ristorante Italiano in 1969.

Much has changed since opening day, including the addition of Lou's sons Mike and Rob to his staff. But the Aloisio family recipes, the very ones that made the eatery such a local hit, remain a guiding force behind the menu. It delights taste buds with such dishes as housemade meatballs atop spaghetti and the Abruzzi by the Sea (shrimp, scallops, and mussels over linguini), which offers a taste of the Aloisio family's origins.