Over 80 years ago, cyclopean aviator Wiley Post brought fame and glory to Dust Bowl ravaged Oklahoma by being the first person to fly solo around the world. After all of that toil on the ground and all of that turbulence in the skies just to make that historic flight, I kind of wonder how he’d feel if he knew his life’s work cumulated in being honored by a French toast dish that clumsily bears his pun-strewn name.
I’m talking about Annie Okie’s Runway Café, of course, located in the sparse Wiley Post Airport at 5915 Phillip J. Rhodes Ave. in Bethany. Mostly identifiable by the word “RESTAURANT” in block letters on the outside of the terminal, inside Annie Okie’s is actually a surprising barrel-roll of aviation fandom as breakfast foods face the desolate runway while patrons with child-like glee hope that one—just one measly plane—will take off in front of them to make this early morning excursion doubly worth it.
The menu itself is filled with clever-ish names that are based on and around the aeronautical field, from the eponymous Annie Okie Omelet with ham, mushrooms and mozzarella to the blazing B-2 Bomber featuring two eggs, bacon or sausage, hash brown and toast and jelly, all of which are marvelous choices for morning meals that most people, I’m sure, would devour at Mach speed.
As for myself, however, I haven’t really sat down to a proper breakfast lately, at least not since my rehab days. But, coming in hot with an empty fuselage, I decided to fill-up with what I hoped to be a delicious take on the aforementioned legendary airman’s lasting namesake; with effortlessly prompt service, the Wiley Toast ($5.69) came in for a landing at my table with a hearty helping of a fresh biscuit and gravy ($2.99) beautifully guiding them in.