Te Kei's, Tulsa

Te Kei’s takes its name from the Chinese words for special guest, reflecting the restaurant’s efforts to make guests feel at home. Inside the dining room, situated in a building marked by an angular stone tower and a vine-draped terrace, guests lounge in red upholstered booths as they tweezer their chopsticks around sushi medleys of yellowfin tuna, tempura shrimp, and eel. Classic Asian dishes such as general tso’s chicken and mongolian beef also grace the menu, along with new menu items, such as a burger perfected in August of 2012 after the chef spent years selflessly taste-testing local varietals.

The restaurant’s lengthy drink list offers more than two dozen red and white wines to pair with entrees, as well as plum wine and Asian beers such as Asahi and Sapporo. A gluten-free menu accommodates dietary restrictions with rice bowls, sushi, and salads. While patrons savor sweet mustard sauces and pan-blackened chilis, they can admire the dining room’s ornately carved wooden paneling or the decorative vases tucked in stone alcoves.