Thirty Nine Restaurant
Restaurant · Oklahoma City ·
Indigenous cuisine with bison, corn, and heritage ingredients
Indigenous cuisine with bison, corn, and heritage ingredients
"Guided by trailblazing 82-year-old chef Loretta Barrett Oden — a Citizen Potawatomi Nation member and Emmy Award-winning chef who recently cooked for over 3,000 guests at the museum’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day event — the museum restaurant remains rooted in Indigenous food traditions. "My garden is where it all starts," Oden explains, and she uses its produce in recipes like her silken, flower-adorned butternut squash soup: "It’s about growing the ingredients, understanding the cycles of nature, and cooking with what the land provides." The restaurant, located within Oklahoma City’s First Americans Museum, pays culinary homage to the state’s 39 distinct First American Nations; it opened in 2021, closed for reconceptualization in 2023, and is slated to reopen in early 2025. Its outdoor kitchen and expanded garden — tended by Native youth and supported by the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust — include corn, beans, squash, and edible flowers and serve as a hands-on learning space about planting, harvesting, and traditional foods. The menu highlights high-protein and precolonial ingredients, avoiding pork and dairy in favor of bison, turkey, and wild greens, and aims to educate and nourish guests; playful items include the Prickerita (a prickly pear margarita) and Oden’s described "kick-ass buffalo chili," a bold, spicy bison stew, while a Thanksgiving-inspired plate of sautéed turkey breast with cornbread dressing and cranberry au jus has been particularly popular. Oden’s culinary advocacy extends beyond the restaurant: in 2023 she published the cookbook Corn Dance: Inspired First American Cuisine, with approachable dishes like spicy sage popcorn and braised bison short ribs, and as a founding member of the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance she champions food sovereignty and cultural preservation. Signature dishes that honor multigenerational wisdom include her Three Sisters sauté (corn, beans, and squash) and a pineapple, jicama, and avocado salad that blends teachings from two grandmothers — one who taught her to grow and cook Indigenous foods and another who instilled modern etiquette. On reclaiming and transforming difficult culinary legacies, she explains: "I have a puffy, fried bready-like thing, almost like a pita, that I do in a Lincoln Impinger oven, forced-air conveyor belt oven that is air-baked, and it puffs and has the same feel of fry bread. I call it my healthy, unfried bread. Fry bread was born out of hardship," she explains, "but we want to move forward by reclaiming the foods that truly sustained us." - Mary Ladd
"Oklahoma is home to 39 different Indigenous tribes. Some of those groups have always lived in the region, but others arrived as part of the U.S. government’s deadly displacement campaigns. The First Americans Museum of Oklahoma City honors their resilient history in its exhibitions and performances, and at its on-site restaurant. The restaurant’s name, Thirty Nine, is a direct nod to the number of Indigenous groups residing in Oklahoma. Its menu was crafted in part by Indigenous chefs Loretta Barrett Oden (Potawatomi Nation) and Matthew Johnson (Cherokee) and highlights the ingredients that have been grown, gathered, and hunted in the area for centuries. Appetizers at Thirty Nine celebrate the glory of the Three Sisters: a white bean hummus comes with toasted piñons, sumac, and chickweed; butternut squash soup is topped in crisped sage, wild rice crackers, and sage-piñon pesto; and corn ribs are coated in sumac rub, brown butter, smoked jalapeño aioli, and queso fresco. Meanwhile, the hearty mains emphasize local game, such as a bison burger loaded with pickled red onions, tomato jam, garlic-sage aioli, and squash pickles. And turkey breast—a meat often criticized for having a bland flavor—gets a decadent flavor boost from cornbread dressing, sage chimichurri, green beans, crispy onions, and cranberry gastrique. Afterward, visitors can walk off their meals by viewing the museum’s priceless cultural materials (many of which were recently returned to tribal governments by the Smithsonian) and audio narratives of oral histories." - ATLAS_OBSCURA
"Oklahoma is home to 39 different Indigenous tribes. Some of those groups have always lived in the region, but others arrived as part of the U.S. government’s deadly displacement campaigns. The First Americans Museum of Oklahoma City honors their resilient history in its exhibitions and performances, and at its on-site restaurant. The restaurant’s name, Thirty Nine, is a direct nod to the number of Indigenous groups residing in Oklahoma. Its menu was crafted in part by Indigenous chefs Loretta Barrett Oden (Potawatomi Nation) and Matthew Johnson (Cherokee) and highlights the ingredients that have been grown, gathered, and hunted in the area for centuries. Appetizers at Thirty Nine celebrate the glory of the Three Sisters: a white bean hummus comes with toasted piñons, sumac, and chickweed; butternut squash soup is topped in crisped sage, wild rice crackers, and sage-piñon pesto; and corn ribs are coated in sumac rub, brown butter, smoked jalapeño aioli, and queso fresco. Meanwhile, the hearty mains emphasize local game, such as a bison burger loaded with pickled red onions, tomato jam, garlic-sage aioli, and squash pickles. And turkey breast—a meat often criticized for having a bland flavor—gets a decadent flavor boost from cornbread dressing, sage chimichurri, green beans, crispy onions, and cranberry gastrique. Afterward, visitors can walk off their meals by viewing the museum’s priceless cultural materials (many of which were recently returned to tribal governments by the Smithsonian) and audio narratives of oral histories." - ATLAS_OBSCURA
"Oklahoma is home to 39 different Indigenous tribes. Some of those groups have always lived in the region, but others arrived as part of the U.S. government’s deadly displacement campaigns. The First Americans Museum of Oklahoma City honors their resilient history in its exhibitions and performances, and at its on-site restaurant. The restaurant’s name, Thirty Nine, is a direct nod to the number of Indigenous groups residing in Oklahoma. Its menu was crafted in part by Indigenous chefs Loretta Barrett Oden (Potawatomi Nation) and Matthew Johnson (Cherokee) and highlights the ingredients that have been grown, gathered, and hunted in the area for centuries. Appetizers at Thirty Nine celebrate the glory of the Three Sisters: a white bean hummus comes with toasted piñons, sumac, and chickweed; butternut squash soup is topped in crisped sage, wild rice crackers, and sage-piñon pesto; and corn ribs are coated in sumac rub, brown butter, smoked jalapeño aioli, and queso fresco. Meanwhile, the hearty mains emphasize local game, such as a bison burger loaded with pickled red onions, tomato jam, garlic-sage aioli, and squash pickles. And turkey breast—a meat often criticized for having a bland flavor—gets a decadent flavor boost from cornbread dressing, sage chimichurri, green beans, crispy onions, and cranberry gastrique. Afterward, visitors can walk off their meals by viewing the museum’s priceless cultural materials (many of which were recently returned to tribal governments by the Smithsonian) and audio narratives of oral histories. Know Before You Go You can visit Thirty Nine without paying the museum fee. Simply enter through the door near the gift shop." - Sam OBrien
Aaron N.
Annette F.
FirstAmerican A.
Renee J.
savannah H.
Kim B.
Alex S.
Ali P.
Samantha J.
Masaru O.
Gloria S.
mon k.
Joan S.
Hunter S.
Alex G.
Linda R.
Christie B.
Gina M.
Lauren U.
Victoria N.
Cynthia E.
Lynna M.
Misti F.
Jennifer H.
Josh S.
Alejandro R.
Abbi H.
Geraldine B.
Char W.
Hailey P.
Ryan P.
Nadia P.
Roscoe W.
Carleen H.
Ande C.
Chandra A.
Becca R.
Kathryn H.
Ernest G.
Jessica S.
Jessica T.
Dennis W.
Sabrina B.
Ed S.
Kevin J.
Corina F.
Gary W.
Sarah M.
Annika B.
Barb N.
Stephanie G.
Cecelia E.
Glenna S.
Nellie C.
Dennis G.
Sundance W.
Scott H.