Editor’s Blog

Steffie Corcoran, Editor
Photo by JOHN JERNIGAN

Prime Time

By Steffie Corcoran
February 21, 2012

Just north of where downtown proper turns into Automobile Alley is Red Prime Steak, a sexy beast of a restaurant in Oklahoma City where the cuisine is more than a match for the sophisticated and eponymous neon décor. 

Last week, I had the pleasure of dining there, one of several blissed-out occasions when I have been fully and completely satisfied by the perfect tender filet and accompaniments. Red Prime is owned and operated by my favorite restaurateurs in Oklahoma City, A Good Egg Dining Group (Read Brooke Adcox’s 2008 profile of them here). A Good Egg also operates my second-favorite restaurant, Iron Starr Urban Barbecue, in addition to Cheever’s Café, Republic Gastropub, and Tucker’s Onion Burgers.

Red Prime is located inside the gloriously restored 1911 Buick Building owned by Oklahoma City couple Rand and Jeanette Elliott. As most know, Rand is an award-winning architect of international repute, Jeanette the creative director at Ackerman McQueen advertising agency.

But back to last week’s dinner: It was a fine-dining experience that left us dazzled, dazed, and in something of a food coma for the remainder of the evening. The phrase “hurts so good” applies.

The cause of the sweet agony? A seven-ounce filet encrusted in fresh cracked pepper. And the crisp bite of a good Riesling to provide a twist of sweet against savory tomatoes topped with cheeses and spiced to perfection. Not to mention a warm chocolate cake served with a caramel sauce spiked with something delicious and, I suspect, alcoholic.

Like most top-tier steak houses, Red Prime prices everything on the regular menu separately, and indulging in several courses can produce a final tally as dramatic as the meal itself. But the fact is, some things, like a singular dining experience starring the restaurant’s dry-aged or Wagyu steaks, are well worth the higher-than-the-usual-night-out tab.

For nights when über-splurge isn’t an option, Red Prime’s prix fixe menu is the best deal in town. For thirty-nine dollars, diners can select a starter (my current favorites are the tomatoes and the tenderloin tamales), entrée (I rest my case on the filet, though other options, including seafood, are available), a side (the green-chili mac and asparagus are excellent, as are flash-fried spinach leaves that melt saltily on the tongue), and a choice of dessert (chocolate cake, please).

Whether your occasion is celebratory with no budget holds barred, practical and prix fixe, or simply to enjoy the red (and Red) ambiance with an adult beverage and an appetizer in the bar, my advice to you regarding Red Prime Steak is this: Go, go, a thousand times go.

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