There I was, standing in the middle of the dusty road, waiting for a cement truck to allow me to cross over into the parking lot of the Powerhouse, 1228 SW 2nd Street. The Farmers Market, the latest in Oklahoma City’s rejuvenation (read: gentrification) projects, still managed to hold on to its Old West appeal and it’s hard not feel like the protagonist of a Spaghetti Western while standing in front of the New Mexico-retro bar and restaurant that wouldn’t seem out-of-place in the background of a Robert Rodriguez vampire flick.
I gotta be honest with you: it was nothing like I pictured in my head.
I wrote off the Powerhouse pretty early on, mostly after seeing pics of Hipster Boo-Boo holding court amongst her vapid entourage on one of those obscure local social blogs, immediately figuring it was just another wannabe Plaza District spin-off for the fashionably local to consort in, listening to unsustainable local music and drinking overpriced local brews because, well, that’s just the thing to do here.
That all changed, however, when TLO head honcho Patrick and I got into a conversation about chile verde. Having moved here a couple of years back from Colorado—down the road from those fresh New Mexico green chiles—I was accustomed to a certain premium level of concoction, prepared by people who understood it was an artform and not just some “spicy stew.”
“You need to go the Powerhouse!” Patrick said.