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8 Oklahoma Roadside Stops And Restaurants Serving Fried Pies Worth The Detour

Trevor Maddox 13 min read
8 Oklahoma Roadside Stops And Restaurants Serving Fried Pies Worth The Detour

A pie you can eat with one hand is already making a pretty strong case for itself.

No fork. No plate. No need to pretend dessert cannot also be breakfast.

Fried pies fit road trips especially well because everything good stays tucked inside the crust. Fruit can keep things classic. Cream fillings make the decision harder.

Savory versions are perfectly capable of turning a snack stop into lunch.

Oklahoma gives these pockets plenty of room to shine.

Some counters treat them like the main attraction. Others slip them into bakery cases beside bigger meals and other pastries.

Either way, I would not commit to one flavor too quickly.

And really, who decided the passenger seat needed a cup holder more than a pie holder?

1. Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies In Davis

Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies In Davis
© Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies

A pastry placed into a paper sleeve makes an easy companion for the Arbuckle Mountains. Just off I-35 near Davis, this roadside counter specializes in folded fried pies with sweet, creamy, and savory fillings.

You can make it a short snack stop or build breakfast around the very same crust.

The family history goes back well before the modern highway shop. Maude Pletcher’s fried-pie recipe was passed through generations, and the Pletcher family acquired the Davis property in 1954.

Fried pies joined the roadside business in the 1980s and gradually became its central attraction.

That history gives the stop a connection to the region beyond its convenient highway location.

At Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies, the fruit selection includes cherry, peach, and apricot. For an easy introduction, choose one of those and enjoy the contrast between the fried shell and the soft filling inside.

Chocolate, coconut, and lemon belong to the cream-pie group, offering a change from fruit without requiring a separate dessert stop.

Arriving early? The savory selection includes bacon, egg, and cheese and sausage, egg, and cheese. Polish sausage and potato offers another way to make a handheld breakfast of it.

Save a fruit or cream pie for later, or start with something sweet if the day calls for dessert before lunch.

The shop is close to Turner Falls and other Arbuckle-area scenery. You can stop on the way to an outdoor outing or pick up pies after you’ve been exploring. A fruit pie for now and a different flavor for later is one of those road-trip decisions that needs very little debate.

Address: 4145 US Highway 77 S, Davis, OK 73030.

2. Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies

Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies
© Arbuckle Mountain Original Fried Pies

You don’t have to head into the Arbuckle Mountains to find the familiar half-moon pastry.

The Oklahoma City location brings the fried-pie format to a neighborhood stop, handy when a long drive is not on the day’s agenda.

Walk in with a flavor in mind and the display may persuade you to change it.

Peach and apple provide the familiar fruit-pie starting point. Apricot and blackberry offer other directions, particularly if you enjoy a bit of tartness alongside the sweet filling.

A fried crust surrounds each choice, giving the pies a different texture from a traditional slice of baked dessert.

Chocolate pairs naturally with coffee, while coconut and lemon take the cream-filled options in different directions. Between fruit and cream, it’s easy for a group to order several flavors and compare them over a quick break.

This Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies outpost also gives you a way to make breakfast the main event.

A bacon, egg, and cheese or sausage, egg, and cheese pie replaces fruit with a savory center. It’s a practical option when you want something handheld before heading across town.

The shop on Northwest 50th Street is a quick-service stop rather than a lengthy sit-down meal. Keep the order simple with a single pie or choose two contrasting fillings to share.

Chocolate and apricot, for example, offer an interesting comparison without turning an afternoon break into an elaborate tasting session.

Make sure to plan around the shop’s daytime opening hours, especially if you’re hoping to stop on a Sunday. Once you have your selection, a paper-wrapped pie and a cup of coffee are plenty of company for the next leg of the day.

Address: 3721 NW 50th St, Oklahoma City, OK 73112.

3. Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies In Tonkawa

Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies In Tonkawa
© Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies

Northern Oklahoma’s open countryside gives a highway break a different feel. Around Tonkawa, fields and wide skies set the scene for a quick stop near I-35.

It is a useful place to stretch your legs on a drive between Oklahoma and Kansas, especially when lunch can fit in one hand.

The menu offers fruit, cream, and savory fried pies, so the first decision is not simply apple versus peach. Fruit choices such as peach, apricot, and blackberry keep the filling sweet, while chocolate and coconut offer a creamier direction.

One pie can be a snack; two very different ones can make a more leisurely stop.

At the Tonkawa location of Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies, breakfast-style varieties deserve a look. A bacon, egg, and cheese pie is a convenient alternative to a plated breakfast. Sausage, egg, and cheese offers a similar portable format with a different savory filling.

Prefer to save the sweet treat until later? Choose a breakfast pie first and pick a fruit filling to take along. Just give the pastry a chance to cool before biting into the center, and keep napkins nearby.

It is far easier to enjoy a pie while parked than to juggle one behind the wheel.

Unlike a destination built around a formal dining room, this is about making the most of a short travel break. The fold-over pastry keeps the selection uncomplicated, and the nearby highway makes it possible to get moving again without navigating far into town.

Tonkawa’s location also gives northern Oklahoma its own place in the state’s fried-pie tradition.

Whether you’re heading south toward Oklahoma City or north toward the state line, the stop adds something more memorable than another ordinary convenience-store snack.

Address: 16560 W Fountain Rd, Tonkawa, OK 74653.

4. Amish Country Store & Restaurant

Amish Country Store & Restaurant
© Amish Country Store & Restaurant

A shelf of preserves can be almost as tempting as a bakery counter. In Muskogee, the combination of a country store and a homestyle restaurant makes it possible to turn a fried-pie stop into a longer browse.

There are baked goods, jams, cheeses, candies, and pantry items to explore alongside a meal.

The restaurant serves comfort-food dishes such as meatloaf, dumplings, and roast beef. You can sit down to a substantial lunch, then look through the bakery treats for something sweet to take back on the road.

Amish Country Store & Restaurant carries fried pies among its bakery treats, alongside fudge and other sweets.

Rather than counting on one particular fruit flavor, see what’s available when you visit. This is the kind of stop where browsing the bakery selection is part of deciding what to erat.

The adjoining store gives you a second decision: enjoy a pie right away or look for something to bring home.

Shelves of jams and jellies can turn a pastry stop into a little pantry-shopping trip.

There is also a selection of cheeses and other goods from Oklahoma Amish communities.

Traveling with different appetites? There’s room here for a full restaurant lunch or a smaller bakery treat. One person can order a comforting plate while another browses the pastry selection, then everyone can meet back at the car with something for the next stretch.

Set aside a little browsing time instead of rushing through. The shop is in Muskogee, where museums and other town sights can round out the visit. An afternoon drive feels a bit more interesting when the edible souvenir is already taken care of.

Address: 2410 N 32nd St, Muskogee, OK 74401.

5. Jimmy’s Round-Up Cafe & Fried Pies

Jimmy's Round-Up Cafe & Fried Pies
© Jimmy’s Round-Up Cafe & Fried Pies

Country breakfast and fried pie make an easy pairing, though you might want to leave the dessert decision until after the main plate.

This south Oklahoma City restaurant offers a broad diner menu, including eggs, pancakes, chicken-fried steak, and other familiar comfort-food choices.

Fried pies offer a sweet finish to the diner meal. The listed flavors include apple, apricot, peach, cherry, and coconut cream. Choose one with your coffee, or pick up an extra to enjoy after the next stop on your route.

At Jimmy’s Round-Up Cafe & Fried Pies, the hand-held pastries make a pleasant finish to a meal that otherwise comes on a plate. Start with a savory breakfast if you’re hungry, or visit with dessert as the whole plan.

Either approach makes sense; a fried pie doesn’t need a large meal in front of it.

One tempting option is apricot, which brings a different flavor from the familiar apple or cherry. Coconut cream changes the texture entirely. If you’re with a group, ordering contrasting flavors gives everyone a chance to decide what kind of pie suits them.

The chicken-fried steak comes with gravy, and the menu also includes catfish, burgers, and sides.

Go with a substantial diner plate when you’re hungry, or make a fried pie and coffee the whole reason for stopping.

Apricot and coconut cream give you two quite different dessert directions.

This isn’t a remote highway stand, but it does suit a road-trip itinerary when you’re passing through the Oklahoma City area.

Choose a proper diner meal, a pie and coffee, or a couple of pies to carry out. The only tricky part is resisting the urge to turn dessert into a second order.

Address: 1301 SW 59th St, Oklahoma City, OK 73119.

6. Old Magnolia Garage

Old Magnolia Garage
© Old Magnolia Garage

Route 66 rewards travelers who leave room for small-town stops. In Davenport, a former garage brings some roadside history to the search for a fried pie.

The brick streets and older storefronts nearby are a reminder that a road trip can be about the places between the major destinations.

The old building’s connection to highway culture is part of the appeal. You can take a moment to appreciate the garage setting, then get back to the most important decision of the stop: what kind of fried pie to choose.

The building makes a handy pause for travelers following the older road rather than the fastest interstate route.

At Old Magnolia Garage, Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies share the stop with convenience-store staples and hot food. The restored roadside setting offers a particularly fitting place to choose a folded pastry.

Choose a fruit-filled pie for a sweet break, or ask which other fillings are available when you stop.

A fruit-filled pie is well suited to this kind of visit. There’s no need to plan a full restaurant meal if you only want a snack before continuing along Route 66. Take time to sit or stand somewhere comfortable instead of trying to eat while driving through town.

Davenport also has the kind of setting that invites a short walk. Its historic downtown and the old highway give you a reason to step away from the car, even if your next destination isn’t far away. A few photographs and a pastry can fill a pleasant half-hour.

Keep this stop in mind for a Route 66 drive through central Oklahoma. A roadside garage, a familiar hand pie, and a quieter stretch of road make a simple combination, with no elaborate itinerary required.

Address: 809 Broadway, Davenport, OK 74026.

7. Boomarang Diner

Boomarang Diner
© Boomarang Diner

A booth, a diner menu, and a fried pie at the end of the meal: some road-trip breaks don’t need much more structure than that.

In Pryor, an Oklahoma-born diner chain offers the kind of stop where breakfast can be an all-day option and dessert doesn’t have to wait until evening.

Burgers, pancakes, and classic diner plates give the menu a broad range. You can come for something substantial or keep the visit short with a sweet finish. The combination works especially well when passengers can’t agree on whether it’s time for breakfast or lunch.

The Pryor branch of Boomarang Diner also serves fried pies. They make a natural finish after a burger or breakfast plate, but there’s no need to order a full meal first. A pastry and a drink can be reason enough for a break.

Looking for a simple pairing? A milkshake provides a cool contrast to a fried pastry. A hot coffee works too, particularly on a chilly travel morning.

Neither needs a complicated menu strategy: pick the drink you prefer, then see which pie flavors are on offer.

The town sits in northeastern Oklahoma, putting the diner within reach of drives toward lakes and green countryside. You could use the stop to break up a longer journey or make it part of an afternoon in Pryor itself.

Take one of the seats if you want a proper rest before getting back on the road. The diner setting gives you time to regroup, study the next stretch of your route, and enjoy dessert without balancing it over the steering wheel. Sometimes that’s the most useful luxury of all.

Address: 11 N Adair St, Pryor, OK 74361.

8. Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ

Oklahoma Joe's BBQ
© Oklahoma Joe’s Barbecue

Barbecue followed by fried pie turns dinner into a two-part Oklahoma meal. Start with brisket, pulled pork, ribs, or sausage, then change direction with a sweet pastry. The dessert is ordered separately, so you can decide how much room to leave after the main course.

The South Tulsa location offers fried pie on its dessert menu. That makes it easy to add something sweet after a meat-and-sides plate, or to order a pie to take away for later. Ask which filling sounds good when you reach the dessert decision.

At Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ, the menu includes barbecue plates, sandwiches, and sides such as baked beans, slaw, macaroni and cheese, and fried okra. A plate of smoky meat and a separately ordered fried pie make a pleasantly contrasting pair.

After a smoky barbecue meal, a warm pastry changes the pace nicely. Perhaps you’ll have it at the table with coffee, or save it for a later stop. The choice is easier when you’re not rushing to get back onto the highway.

If you’re dining with a group, family packs provide one way to share the savory part of the meal. Anyone who wants dessert can add a fried pie afterward. That gives everyone a little freedom to decide whether to finish with something sweet.

The restaurant is on East 61st Street, making it a Tulsa stop instead of an interstate roadside shack. Still, it fits nicely into a road-trip day: eat something substantial, choose a pastry, and head toward your next destination without building a complicated dinner plan.

Address: 6175 E 61st St, Tulsa, OK 74136.