A half-century after it first opened its doors, Classen Grill is once again serving up cheesy grits and chicken-fried steak to Oklahoma City regulars who remember when the diner was young. The restaurant reopened under new ownership in 2024 after closing during COVID, and its new owners made a point of keeping the name and honoring the identity that made it a neighborhood fixture in the first place.
An Art-Filled Diner Born in the 1970s
Classen Grill traces its roots to the 1970s, when it was opened in Oklahoma City by local art and theater enthusiasts, according to Classen Grill. The founders envisioned it as a venue for artists to meet, showcase their work, and enjoy food and drinks, per the same source. That spirit lives on today, with local artwork adorning the walls and available for sale, a detail reported by News 9. The diner has become a 50-year Oklahoma City culinary staple, with customers whose family memories of the place stretch back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, as News 9 notes.
Shannon Roper, an owner with Happy Plate Concepts, told News 9 he remembers going to Classen Grill when he was younger. Rather than rebrand the space after the pandemic-era closure, Roper's group kept the Classen Grill name and made a deliberate effort to honor the restaurant's original identity, per the outlet's report. Manager Jon Wheeler, who runs the diner's front of house, has his own history with the place — he ate at the diner back in the 1980s.
A Menu That Blends Old Favorites With New Additions
The current menu leans into brunch, with donut holes and fried green tomatoes opening the lineup before giving way to cheesy grits, garden hash and chilaquiles, according to 405 Magazine. Diners can also get fresh-squeezed orange juice alongside classic dishes that have become staples in Oklahoma City, per Classen Grill's own description. The coyote chicken sandwich, made with smoked pulled chicken, caramelized onions and focaccia bread, has always been on the menu, News 9 reports. Classen Grill also serves grit cakes made with green chiles and cheese — the dish earned a spot in a national Route 66 cookbook, according to the outlet.
Banana nut French toast has also joined the menu and was named the best in Oklahoma City, according to the same News 9 report. Wheeler didn't hold back when describing the kitchen's output, saying the food is amazing and that the chicken-fried steak can compete with any in the state. 405 Magazine describes the overall result as a retro diner with contemporary touches — rotating artwork and farm-to-table ingredients — that update the space for a new generation of hungry road-trippers along Route 66.
A Corner Shaped by a Vanished Traffic Circle
Part of Classen Grill's staying power comes from its location, on a corner that was once part of Classen Circle before Interstate 44 was built. The circle used to stop right at the corner where the diner sits, and I-44's construction changed that intersection by opening it up for highway access, per News 9. Manager Jon Wheeler has called the corner nostalgic, tying the physical setting to the diner's decades of history.
Roper's ownership group also runs all the Sunnyside diners around the Oklahoma City metro, along with Sunnyside Bakery, which supplies all of the group's bread, News 9 reports. Despite the network of restaurants behind it, Classen Grill does little advertising and instead relies on word-of-mouth marketing.
