Eischen’s Bar

Ok, seen all the stuff on food network so we had to go. Had the best dining experience since we’ve moved to Oklahoma hands down. Beer was ice cold, okra was good but the chicken was great. The bread and pickles are perfect with it, sounds strange but just the chicken skin and onions on bread is so tasty. Will be back and for sure will take our out of town guests there very impressed.

Delicious fried chicken. One «whole chicken» feeds 2 people easily. Side of okra is a must!

Eischen’s Bar has been on the list for quite a while for my wife and I to take a road trip and sample some of their famous fried chicken.
We loaded up one Saturday in Tulsa and drove Highway 33 through Drumright, Cushing, Langston, Guthrie and Kingfisher then South to get to Okarche and find this legendary bar.
Although the bar has expanded into a couple of adjoining buildings the center core appears to be original and still functions as a bar.
Of course our food choice had to be fried chicken and there is only a whole chicken on the menu. We ordered a chicken to split along with an order of okra. The chicken was delivered in a paper tray with some squares of butcher paper for plates. The okra came out in the same size paper tray as the chicken except heaped with okra. Way more than we could possibly eat at one sitting. Some slices of sandwich bread, onions and pickles also came with the food.
Drink chocies are limited. Beer, Water or Soft Drinks (in a can). There is no tea and no coffee on the menu.
Another thing we found out is that eating utensils are not delivered to the table and you must go looking for them. We didn’t discover that until we had consumed our chicken and okra with our fingers and were on our way to pay! Next time we will remember to look for silverware.
The chicken was pretty good. Not the best I have ever had, but pretty good and it was a fun adventure to get to Eischen’s Bar and soak up some history while filling up on their famous fried chicken.
I doubt we would ever saddle up and travel to Okarche again for the sole purpose of visiting Eischen’s Bar but if we are ever in the area again we would certainly stop by again.

Eischens bar and food is awesome. They have good chicken. It was the BEST CHICKEN in the world. It has been around since 1896. Thats 120 years and hasnt closed. I honestly loved the chicken.

Oh my… go hungry! Best fried chicken around these parts! Drove from Tulsa to try this place… will be making the drive again in the future.

Is this the best fried chicken I’ve ever had? No. Is this chicken freaking amazing though? Yeah! Perfectly crisp skin and super juicy meat. We also got an order of fried okra, which was equally as amazing.
If you don’t want to deal with waiting for a table or waiting a long time for food, just don’t go at peak times. Simple as that. I went at around 11 am on a Saturday and had no problem with getting a table or food. If you’re worried about being the weirdo eating fried chicken at 10 – 11 am, don’t be. There were a good number of other people there at that time also.

Ok when I have to travel out west for work I always stop –buy two chickens fried okra and the pickles and bread. They wrap in foil so its still warm by the time I get to NOKC. Highly recommend but all they really have is chicken and beer, just FYI

OMG. I was skeptical I have to admit. I’ve not been to a lot of places that have lived up to the hype. We heard about this place when we saw it on an app we have about restaurants that have been on TV such as Triple D. We are in the area working, and decided to check it out.
I ordered the chicken (of course!) and my husband ordered the Frito pie. The chicken came out so hot from the fryer I could barely bite into it. The outside was crispy, but light, and the chicken was tasty and perfectly cooked. Not sure how they seasoned it, but it was perfect!
My husband loved his Frito pie, and I agreed since I took a bite :)
The sides were ok, white bread, sweet and dill pickles, and raw white onions. They serve it all in paper containers, with a side of butcher paper :)
Love this place!

Even though they don’t have sweet tea, still the best fried chicken ever. Hands down.

I eat here all the time. The fried chicken is unlike anywhere else. It’s a bar, get some beer, eat some chicken, Fritos pie is good too.

Nearly everyone has heard of Eischen’s, and for good reason. The chicken is amazing as is the fried okra. This is a great place to socialize with friends and family and just hang out and eat some chicken. I recommend you drink some beer while you are there, just not too much since you’ll be driving home. The folks are always friendly and the place is packed. Hope to see you there and I might even buy ya a beer if your sitting next to me!

At Eischens the chicken is delicious. I mean finger lick-​in good; this place is actually bigger than you think. Warm vibe a place for family and friends.

I’m writing this review about six years removed from having been to Eischen’s…yeah, it made that lasting an impression on me. Came here in a group, with my brothers and our wives, and my cousins and their husbands. This is a great place for a group!
It’s beauty is in its simplicity and the fact that it is the absolute best fried chicken I have ever had (how is it possible to be so juicy yet not taste greasy?!); add fried okra, beer on the paper on the table you’re eating off of… simply happy!

I’m no fried chicken expert, but have been to a few places that serve fried chicken as their specialty. That being said, if hot and juicy (that’s white and dark meat), crispy but not a hard crust, and freshness are the only things that determine how good fried chicken is well, it was fantastic. Now my opinion, it’s nothing fabulous, just thought there would be more flavor. Okra had a thicker crust than most fried okra you find, which was the only difference between other places. We drove a pretty good way to try it, don’t think I would purposely come back but you never know. Service was nothing but Oklahoma kindness, real friendly and nice.

Off the beaten path, Eischen’s boasts being Oklahoma’s Oldest Bar. With a simple menu of just 8 items, they are able to keep their prices down. The menu and portions are designed for a family-​sized appetite, so I suggest bringing friends! They do have a full bar as well.
The fried chicken really is good, as is the fried okra. It is a whole fried chicken that comes with bread, sweet pickles, dill pickles, and onions for only $ 14! Wow! One way they keep those prices down is by only accepting cash, so don’t forget to bring that with you!
While I would like to suggest the Chili Cheese Nachos, which we often order to have a little variety, they are not really that good, and then your appetite is satisfied before you get any of that good chicken.
With such a limited menu, you really need to go ready for fried chicken and fried chicken only. Instead enjoy Happy Hour drinks as your appetizer, and then when the chicken comes, enjoy another happy hour, as the chicken is often fresh out of the fryer, very hot, and needs time to cool.
The menu truly is limited, and if your kids aren’t into fried chicken you might want to get a babysitter for the night. Remember, there is no kids menu, and they don’t even have tea or coffee, just beer, soft drinks, and coolers.

Greasy goodness! Plain and simple. Beer by the pitcher, nachos swimming in cheese, okra that’ll make you slap yo mamma and fried chicken … Come on! (CASH ONLY)

Until last month, I had never been to this Oklahoma staple, as Maggie F. oh so correctly called it. What better way to go than with an Okarche-​ite, is that right?, so Kayla C. showed us exactly how to enjoy the oldest bar in Oklahoma.
Do not go during the lunch rush was her first tip. We arrived about 2 pm and could still barely find a spot for our group of 5! Crazy, right? Next, a whole chicken will feed about 2 – 3 people, especially if you get some sides. We had 2 between the 5 of us and had some leftover. Granted we started with the chili cheese nachos and got okra too. The okra was excellent! I’m also a fan of the chili. It’s cheaper to get a pitcher of beer and split it than to order individual beers. I love being able to order pitchers! Last, you have to try a skin sandwich. Yes, a skin sandwich. White bread, onion, pickle and the skin of the chicken. It sounds insane, but it’s actually pretty good, if you can get over the fact that your eating a skin sandwich.
So glad I finally came to Eischen’s!

Here’s the quick brief breakdown on Eischen’s: Great chicken and great chili, but rude customers, terrible service, cash only, and dirty venue.
Here’s the lengthy version…
Cash only. I cannot even begin to express how much that makes me rage at every restaurant I encounter it at. There is no excuse in the 21^st century to not accept debit and credit cards. They simply don’t want to pay any merchant fees associated with credit card processing (and their wait staff can’t hide credit card tips from their income taxes like they can cash tips). Most restaurants factor in what percentage of customers will pay with a card and what their average fees on those transactions will be and include that cost in their menu prices. Perhaps that’s just over the head of the owners here. Maybe they should take some of their fried chicken profits and take a few business courses at the local community college. There is a bank next door with an ATM if you don’t have any cash on you. I imagine that Eischen’s customers are 90% of that bank’s fee revenues.
There is no host. It’s seat yourself. The problem with seating yourself in a super popular restaurant is that people aren’t very good at queuing up for the next available table. So, people seat themselves ahead of other people, small parties steal large tables, and whatnot. You really just have to be rather assertive and when you see a table take it with complete disregard for anyone else waiting to be seated. If you don’t, then you may just find you spend most of the day standing near the entrance being polite rather than eating and getting on with your life.
Their fried chicken is indeed very good, but I find it no better than, for example, Evelyn’s Soul Food in Tulsa. So, odds are you have a fried chicken joint in your city that is just as good as this place, so why waste the time driving to Okarche and putting up with all the negative aspects of Eischen’s just to eat fried chicken? Are you that big of a Food Network disciple?
When I visited in 2012 there was no iced tea or coffee. Soda is sold by the can and the cans are warm. So, you’re pouring warm soda over ice which results in you drinking watered down soda and you’re going to pay every time you want a refill. The only have a couple of domestic beers on draft. Considering this place is supposed to be a bar you would expect a better selection of beer.
This is one of those restaurants that’s been featured on a couple popular TV shows as supposedly having the best fried chicken. Consequently, they’re always mobbed with out-​of-​towners stopping in to try the place. Since they’re always mobbed they’ve stopped trying to provide good customer service. They’ve realized that no matter how lazy, rude, or incompetent they are that people keep coming. Consequently, service sucks and they have no motivation or incentive to improve it.
I find it amusing that they’re so proud of being the «oldest bar in Oklahoma.» It isn’t much of a bar and almost no one comes here to drink. Their selection of beer and alcohol is a joke. Their own website even admits they’re more of a restaurant than a bar. So, I’m not sure why they keep trying to call themselves a bar. They should rename the place to Eischen’s Chicken or change the slogan to, «Oldest bar in Oklahoma that’s not really a bar!»
The icing on the cake is the room of Eischen’s souvenirs and other junk you can buy. They essentially want me to pay them for one of their logo items so I can do their advertising for them, but they won’t pay to process my credit card. I think not. They can do their own damn advertising.
Overall, the place is a bit of a dive. The restrooms are disgusting, but somehow I knew they would be before I even went into them.

Oh eischen… you know how to please me. We drove 45+ minutes for their chicken and it was a good decision. The skin was perfectly fried, and the meat was perfectly juicy. You don’t get plates, but could have some plastic silverwares. I love a place where the décor doesn’t matter bc it is about the food. Cannot wait to go back!

I paid a visit to this place since it wasn’t too far from my hotel in OKC. It’s also a Diners Drive ins and dives joint and I am committed to visiting as many of them as I can during my travels.
The ride their was cool, I watched the sun set over the prairie unusual for an east coast boy.
You arrive in Okarche and its like You went back in time. The place is old! Supposedly the first bar in Oklahoma or the oldest.
The menus is simple. Chicken!!! That’s pretty much it. Fried Ocra nachos chili Frito Pie. They make a roast beef sandwich but all I saw was fried chicken coming from the pass.
You can only order a whole chicken. The place was packed for a Monday night. Chicken everywhere. It’s all about the chicken here. Now it’s okay chicken. I can’t bash it but I have had better. Please add se spices to the flour! No that would take away the old-​ness of the place and the entire town would get pissed off at the mafia looking wise guy with the black leather jacket.
What’s with the pickles and onions? 5 slices of white bread? It’s all too weird.