On a sunny afternoon, diners break pita together over mezze platters of kibbeh, hummus and falafel at Saj Lebanese Cuisine. Next, they board a streetcar and travel to their next stop: a spread of sausages, fries, pretzels and roast chicken at Fassler Hall. And that’s just an appetizer of what to expect from Oklahoma Food Tours, a roving company that takes hungry customers—strangers, co-workers and friends alike—on guided tastings to local restaurants in and around Oklahoma City.
Whether by foot or by streetcar, tours are designed to provide a sampling of local flavor, while attendees get to bond over a shared love for food. It’s the vision of co-founders Ryan Rudebock and Nabeel Jamal, longtime friends who conceptualized the idea of a food tour after experiencing similar concepts in cities like Miami and Chicago. They started with the walkable Plaza District, waiting until restaurants were recovered enough from COVID and staffing shortages to comfortably host groups of 10-15. And with the help of encouraging restaurant advocates, like New State Burgers, Oklahoma Food Tours was born.
“When we went to New State with a refined pitch, they were down,” recalled Rudebock. “Once we had them, we started doing test tours. It really just started falling into place, with Mexican Radio and Roxy’s and Up-Down. Once we had the Plaza under our belt, it was an easy sell from there.”
“It was interesting: Once restaurants understood the concept and got comfortable with it, we’d hear all the time that we were the easiest table,” added Jamal. “We placed all our orders at one time, we’d pay one check. They get a lot of repeat business, and that was our plan the whole time, to support these places.”
From the Plaza to the Paseo to Edmond, tours began taking shape across the city, along with custom private tours and corporate outings. The through line since the beginning has been about supporting local businesses, shining a broadened spotlight on Oklahoma’s booming food scene, and quite simply, celebrating restaurants Rudebock and Jamal both love. With this rubric in mind, the duo maps out tours within comfortable distances. “Ryan and I make it around the city quite often, so we know what place is good,” says Jamal. “Let’s go to this area, walk around it ourselves, check this place out and build the tour like that.”
They also leave some wiggle room for spontaneous cravings.
“For the most part, our tours follow a pretty regular format,” said Rudebock. “Like the Paseo is well locked in. The streetcar has a couple of things that we could switch out, like the Joinery or Rendezvous Pizza. Plaza has a decent amount of flexibility, same with Edmond. We can just pop into another location, like RadBar or The Press, just depending on what we feel the attendees would appreciate more.”
District tours, which run about 2.5 hours and cost $75 per person, rotate throughout the month, to ensure geographic diversity. Some, like the Paseo and the Plaza, are walkable, while tours through Automobile Alley and Midtown allow participants to travel via streetcar, guides in tow. For each stop, tour guides handle ordering and payment (including tipping service staff), and the only thing not included is alcoholic drinks. As Oklahoma Food Tours grows, the organizers’ dream is to offer multiple tours on a regular basis. “Our pie in the sky long-term goal is to be able to offer every tour every Saturday,” said Rudebock. “All we need is the tour guides; we’re getting there.”
The group also offers customized private tours, from families to corporate retreats, which allows it to expand the breadth a bit more. “When it’s private, we can build a tour that’s really catered to what the business wants, whether it’s team-building or client appreciation,” said Jamal, citing a recent corporate tour that expanded into Midtown, the Wheeler District and the Plaza.
Tours like these have risen in popularity in aforementioned cities like Miami and Chicago, and as Oklahoma City’s restaurant scene grows, it’s ripe to join the ranks.
“We’ve got such great restaurants coming in, which allowed us to start these tours,” Jamal said. “We’ve always had great food, and now we’re seeing OKC gaining a lot of national attention.”
The future looks even brighter. The pair hopes to expand to new districts (Western Avenue, Capitol Hill and the Asian District all get mentions, along with Norman) and new cities. Notably, the company is called Oklahoma Food Tours, paving the way for eventual Tulsa expansion. It also offers gift certificates, and is hoping to get involved in more events, like Edmond Vibes and the Asian Night Market.
Because at the end of the day, whether it’s a district tour, a customized outing or a street festival, there’s never been a better time to dine in Oklahoma.