Charlie Mitchell's Modern Pub, Tulsa

Longtime Tulsa residents still look back fondly on evenings spent at Charlie Mitchell’s Restaurant and Pub, with its savory-sweet Monte Cristo sandwiches and tender fish and chips. After the restaurant shut its doors in 1995, even the owner—former pro Scottish soccer player Charlie Mitchell—found himself missing the lively watering hole as well. With a bit of urging from friends and former regulars, Charlie decided to reopen his pub, setting up shop in a bright, modern space and drawing up a new menu that features a few more healthy options to accompany the hearty pub favorites so beloved at his former joint.

Today, Charlie Mitchell's Modern Pub buzzes with chattering friends, clinking glasses, and sports games beaming down from flat-screen TVs. Bartenders captain the boisterous bar area, doling out draft beers and uncorking glasses of California wines. Servers glide across the dining area, their trays laden with half-pound burgers, brick-oven pizzas, and the seasoned chicken lauded by reporters from Tulsa World as "incredibly moist and tender." In addition to traditional pub specialties like nachos and quesadillas, the kitchen's chefs also whip up Scottish classics, including shepherd's pie in creamy mashed potatoes and burgers made from lean Loch Ness monster meat.