While going through the always voluminous TLO mailbag not too long ago, Patrick passed me a letter from a reader named Todd. Here’s most of it, in a highly-edited form:
"Lip Smackerss a recently-opened burger joint…looks like it used to be one of those half-size gas station McDonald's, but now it's got spiffy plastic table cloths and chalkboard menus… bottom line, I had the best blue cheese and grilled onion burger I've ever had today. I didn't find out until after I ordered that they make their own potato chips, and so now I've got to go back and get their specialty burger topped with french onion dip and fresh-fried potato chips…on top of all that, I'm pretty sure the dude running the register was the owner, and he was just delightful. – Todd”
Thanks for taking the time to send me a tip, Todd. I actually liked your suggestion to sample Lip Smackers Restaurant, 4200 N. Penn Ave., especially because of Twitter, where it’s been a relative cause célèbre among the hip 40-something crowd. I haven’t heard this many people rave about a burger joint in Oklahoma City for long time, and especially one in my typically destitute price-range.
As I pulled into the parking lot though, I thought the address seemed a bit familiar: that filling station happens to share space with one of the city’s most cursed dining rooms, with restaurants constantly going in and out of business, usually within a six-month period. It’s been everything from a piss-poor Burger King to a piss-fantastic Funny Lam’s—now, however, it’s Lip Smackers, a name better suited for an adult bookstore’s coffee-shop, but hey, I had lunch at one of those before in New York City and it really wasn’t so bad.