At Roosevelt’s, dinner can begin with a basket of pretzel bread and beer cheese, continue with tuna wonton nachos or a tenderloin sandwich, and end beneath a ceiling crowded with oversized holiday ornaments. This Tulsa restaurant gives equal attention to the plate, the glass and the room around them.
The setting has range without seeming undecided. It can handle a relaxed brunch, a sandwich-and-fries lunch, a family dinner, a date or a more celebratory evening, with booths, bar seating, indoor dining, a private dining room and patio options giving groups a few different ways to settle in.
A restaurant that dresses for the season
During the holiday season, Roosevelt’s becomes a full-scale Christmas setting. Decorations hang overhead, lights cover the space, and festive displays turn the dining room into a place where people naturally spend a little extra time looking around before ordering.
The lights are programmed with Christmas music for recurring synchronized displays during the meal. It is a notably theatrical touch, especially for a restaurant where the food and drinks already give a table plenty to discuss.
The décor may continue beyond Christmas itself, but the timing and scale of the holiday installation are seasonal. Anyone planning a visit around the light show should confirm the current display schedule first; waits and parking can also be less predictable during the busiest holiday stretch.
Rooms for a meal or a lingering evening
Away from the holiday spectacle, the interior has an elegant, cozy, deliberately elaborate character. Booths give smaller parties a comfortable place to settle in, while the bar adds a livelier option for a drink and an appetizer.
One especially on-brand detail is a water fountain fashioned from beer taps. It is a small visual joke, but it also signals that Roosevelt’s takes its beverage program seriously.
There is also an indoor patio-style area with couches and wooden tables, plus an outdoor patio or terrace. The couch seating gives that portion of the restaurant a looser, more lounge-like mood than a standard dining room table.
Start with the shareable things
Beer cheese with pretzel bread is a natural opening move for the table. It is familiar enough to please a mixed group, but it has the satisfying, stay-for-another-round quality that suits a restaurant with a substantial beer list.
The tuna wonton nachos are a more unexpected choice. Their name alone makes them hard to ignore on a broad menu, and they offer a distinct change of pace from the usual fried starters and pub-style appetizers.
Spicy loaded fries add another casual, pass-the-plate option. If sandwiches are in the plan, hand-cut fries are a particularly good companion, including alongside the tenderloin burger.
A menu that moves easily from brunch to dinner
Roosevelt’s menu reaches across brunch, salads, soups, sandwiches, entrées, appetizers and desserts, so a table does not have to agree on one style of meal. A person in the mood for a straightforward sandwich can sit comfortably beside someone ordering a more dinner-oriented plate.
Fried chicken and chicken-fried chicken are among the hearty choices, with broccolini and mashed potatoes appearing among the supporting sides. Meatloaf, salmon and crab cakes broaden the selection further.
Sandwich fans have plenty to explore. Tenderloin, duck and chicken sandwiches each bring a different personality to lunch or dinner, while the rib-eye sandwich gives the menu another substantial option for someone who wants steak in a less formal format.
The kitchen also covers the comfort-food end of the spectrum with tomato soup, and the more polished end with presentation that makes a meal suitable for an occasion rather than just a quick stop.
Brunch has its own following
Brunch is not treated as an afterthought here. Breakfast burritos, omelets and breakfast potatoes give the menu enough range for a late-morning gathering, especially when one person wants a full breakfast and another is already thinking about lunch.
A steak-and-cheese omelet is one of the more substantial ways to go, while the breakfast burrito has been a memorable choice for diners looking for something filling and direct. Brunch also gives the cocktail menu an easy opening, particularly when seasonal drinks are available.
Beer taps and seasonal cocktails
The beer selection is broad, with a large choice of beers on tap. That makes Roosevelt’s a useful meeting place for a group in which some people are choosing dinner by the entrée and others are beginning with a look at the tap list.
Cocktails move with the season. Hot Butter Rum, poinsettia margaritas and Santa’s Little Helper have appeared among the festive offerings, while a spicy margarita brings some heat outside the holiday repertoire. Since specialty drinks can rotate, the current list is worth checking once you are seated.
Staff are known for being approachable and helpful with food and drink choices. With a menu this wide, a little guidance can be useful, particularly if the table is deciding between sandwiches, entrées, brunch dishes and shareable starters.
Save room for dessert and consider the patio
Carrot cake and key lime cheesecake give the meal a proper finish without forcing every table toward the same kind of dessert. The brighter key lime option is a nice counterpoint after fried chicken or a rich sandwich; carrot cake suits a slower, more indulgent finish.
The patio has welcomed diners with dogs, and the indoor patio-style area has also been used by parties accompanied by pets. Policies and availability can change, so it is sensible to confirm current dog seating arrangements before making that the plan.
Parking can include both free and paid options, with the situation generally easier earlier in the day and tighter during busy periods. In the Christmas season, the restaurant’s elaborate display gives people plenty of reason to arrive before the crowd does.