whiskey cake kitchen & bar

absolutely adore everything about this place! great new addition to okc. i was lucky enough to be invited to the soft opening and everything was excellent! i'm a vegetarian and so they offered to let me switch to the edamame and mushroom burger. my girlfriends ordered a pork dinner and turkey sandwich and they loved their meals. i couldn't say enough positive things about my veg burger! it was delicious! the atmosphere is very earthy, kitschy, farmhouse, even down to the bartenders who wear suspenders and newsboy hats. ;) the whiskey cake was just sinful...sooooooo delicious!! homemade whipped cream and the most decadent cake i've ever tasted! this is definitely our new favorite spot! chef kenneth kills it here! keep it up whiskey cake! :)

may be opening pains. our sandwiches were tasty & well served. hostess group was disorganized, soft drink had no carbonation & water(ac condensation) dripped on us and our food the entire time. yes, our wait person was aware & i spoke to two managers when they walked by our table. aware but not concerned..

bad experience. menu for lunch has only a few entrees. pork brisket was served pink and flavorless. pink sauce has horse radish--poor combination. manager did not charge for dish, thank god.

organic choices with a menu that "blows anything out of the water of many other organic restaurants we have tried," (my in laws words). delicious appetizers -- deviled eggs with slaw, and roasted peppers. our table had the mesquite smoked duck, morracan lamb skewers, omg burger, and smoked pork. all six of us agreed it is maybe the best restaurant we've wver been to stateside and we all want to return -- 3 generations of satisfied customers!! yum! ask for cameron to be your server and he will give you the richest descriptions of food and beverage you can imagine, 10 out of 10!!

i get knocked down by whisky cake. whisky cake is a hipsters paradise. looking at the previous comments i realize the a lot of people in okc aren't getting it. look people, not everyplace in okc has to be for you. since there aren't a ton of new places popping up it seems like everybody has to go visit every place that opens up. that's cool and all, but just try to remember that they may not be trying to appeal to you. whisky cake is a concept restaurant. it's not trying to appeal to grandparents, instead it's targeting aging hipsters that want an upscale restaurant that "reminds" them of their grandparents food while falling in-step with their current social and political views. their beer and whisky selection is excellent. whisky cake beats the republic gastropub hands down. republic just tries to have everything in kind of a "look mommy what i can do" kind of way. whisky cake actually tasted and decided what was worth carrying, and they'll change things out every once in a while. this place has found a new place in my okc food heart. the "hangover burger at whisky cake beats s&b burger joint's "fatty". that's saying something. is it expensive... yes! it's not trying to be a discount eatery. the place is well thought-out. if you want a cheap brunch go head to ihop. are the drinks expensive... yes! but they're good and they've got plenty of alcohol in them. if you want $2 margaritas go down the street to mamasita's. i can tell you that the food
i had was worth it. the service was excellent. the burger meat was high quality and oh yeah, the bun bread was fresh baked. the egg on top was farm-fresh free-range. i raised hens growing-up and i can tell you they ain't lying, those eggs are farm fresh. are the servers all dressed like a bunch of aging hipsters... yes! get a clue, that's who they're trying to attract. i highly recommend this place and if you leave there without trying the whisky cake kick yourself in the pants because it's friggin amazing.

really enjoyed everything about this place! the interior designer was amazing! waitstaff was very informative and told me just what to expect in my order since there are absolutely no pictures on the menu. the food was exciting, very flavorful, and fun. there were more pages of bar drinks than there were food but i was very happy with the offerings. can't wait to go back for lunch instead of brunch.

saturday brunch - 5-25. four women went to the new restaurant to celebrate a birthday and were sad to see the elephant bar all gone. still, we were pleased with the new ambience and were seated immediatley, although the place was crowded. we thought the menu was all about alcoholic drinks with four pages of drinks and only one with the brunch offerings. we started to leave but then decided why not stay and try it, a new restaurant at least deserves one try. we ordered a variety of eats, including the home made tomato soup. upon tasting our entrees and soup we quickly changed our minds about the place and decided it would be one of our regular eateries now. the manager, who recognized our little group from his last restaurant job, was most pleasant, welcoming and informative. the foods are prepared from fresh foods daily and were extremely tasty. one of the things i found really wonderful was the bread. i haven't had bread like that since i was in new england. thin, crisp exterior with a warm, ever so soft center. the soups change daily and are also made from scratch. someone in the kitchen really knows how to "scratch"! it was unbelievebly good and not acidy like most tomato soups are. mmmmmm, we'll be back again very soon.

dessert was great...the rest was just okay.. tried this place last night. i really like the concept. the service was not great. after being seated our drink order was taken immediately, a beer and a glass of wine. twenty minutes later they came back to take our meal order. our entrees came out before our drinks and we had to ask for them. i had the steak and frites. the steak had really good flavor and the tomatos that came on the salad were probably the best i've ever had. the portion sizes for the price were not great. i love to eat at high end places, but i do not think i will be back here for dinner. we did get the whiskey cake though and it was amazing. maybe if i have a night i just want a glass of wine and dessert, i will be back.

be prepared for drink up charge. went to check the place out on may 10th. good ambience, interesting decor. food was eclectic and reasonably good. prices were average to a bit high, but the whiskey cake was excellent. complaint is to warn fine whiskey drinkers to be aware of the up charge when ordering your drinks on the rocks. i ordered the tom handy rye at $25 a pop, on the rocks, and was surprised to see the bill for $27. upon inquiring, i was told by the manager that this is the "up charge" for the larger pour furnished on the rocks and quote "every bar does the same thing". sorry to say, but the manager, who looked 1/2 my age admitted that he had not been to a number of restaurants i named in la, nyc, boston, vancouver, san francisco, london, frankfurt, seattle, vegas, phoenix, dallas and all of the more upscale places in okc, which have never charged me more for a drink poured over ice. the issue wasn't the 5 - 6 dollars that he eventually refunded, it was the underhanded way they tried to squeeze a few extra bucks onto the tab and the condescending manner in which they tried to "educate" me as to the finer points of bar tending finesse. even though you can find this practice by googling it, i have never, ever, ever, been charged more than the price listed just because i ordered ice with my drink, anywhere in the world. so go, enjoy the average food at slightly higher than average prices and hope you don't have to deal with anyone other than your server.

for all those 'poor service' reviews, especially those who believe the youngsters got better service, our experience was totally opposite. we had drinks, appetizers, and a piece of the heavenly whiskey cake and had exceptional service by austin. i'm 65 and my wife is 63...so much for the young theory. we will be back!! ps. the sazerac is authentic and very good.

i went in for dinner last friday night and then again this last week. second time, not by choice (co-workers wanted to try it out). the place looked pretty cool when i drove by so we decided to stop in. walking in, there was a wait. no problem. it's friday night. when we were seated, we sat in an almost dark part of the restaurant. i couldn't even read the menu. our waitress taylor, came about 5 minutes after we were seated. she hardly spoke to us the entire time and came off a bit snooty and cold. which must be the theme of this place since it was about 40 degrees in the restaurant. the menu was different, which i liked since my wife and i are pretty adventurous eaters. we ordered a couple drinks from the bar, which were delecious but not worth the 20 minute wait to actually get them. our waitress took our order (i had the omg burger and my wife got the lamb dip). food was actually really tasty and came out in a timely manner. thank goodness, because my wife was frigid cold. also, the floors were wet throughout the place. it made it look dirty, and i even saw a waitress nearly fall. anyway, we didn't see our waitress for a while, i guess she was too busy with the table of young men she was constantly hovering over. all together, that visit was about a c average. food was pretty, but service was sub-par.

later in the week when my co-workers and i went for lunch it was a different atmosphere. no wait, lots of employees helping each other out, and everything was efficient and delicious. our waitress tamara was so sweet and knowledgeable. she seemed passionate about the place and told us what the place was about, unlike out waitress from friday night. i loved hearing about all the local oklahoma products they use. even the fountian drinks! pretty cool. the lunch menu is just about the same as the dinner menu. i must say, the bredding on the fried green tomatoes is amazing. i tried the bahn mi, which was pretty good. not sure its worth the price, but very tasty. also, i cant forget about how amazing the whiskey cake is! its to die for. id come back just for that heavenly whiskey cake! this may sound odd, but the only thing to really complain about was how many people, managers and wait staff kept bothering us. it was a working lunch, so it would have been nice to not have a different person coming up to the table every 4 minutes asking how things were. a manager (i think and hope it was a manger, management apparently do not wear name tags or uniforms) asked us 3 times how we were. we kind of joked about this woman, who looked about 21 in wrinkled clothes who kept coming by as if she forgot she talked to us every 10 minutes. maybe there's a lack of communication, i don't know.

so all in all, i'd recommend everyone try this place at least once. it's nice to have a different and new restaurant here in okc. but be prepared for an expensive experience! it is a little overpriced but a refreshingly different expirence.

my wife and i are officially addicted to whiskey cake. we are both on diets and we choose to spend our date nights and diet cheat nights there. salads are great for everyday and the whiskey cake is an amazing reason to cheat. we come to see lori every time. she is always happy, super knowledgable about the menu and is interested in helping find the best menu item for the night. she has never been a let down nor has the food!

**updated** total turn-around!. after i wrote my initial review (below), i received a call from the manager, apologizing and asking us to call ahead next time, so he could guarantee us a fantastic experience. my husband and i decided to go in tonight on a whim, and it was a night-and-day experience! excellent service, outstanding food (i had the chicken melt and my husband had the smoked duck), climate control issues fixed. we were seated within the promised wait time, and offered drinks while we waited. darnell, our server, was very attentive. overall, it was a great experience -- no call-ahead to the manager necessary! i guarantee we'll be back!

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we went with some family members -- party was 9 people total. the restaurant was freezing cold, and our server told us the thermostat was not working properly and they couldn't adjust the temperature up. a member of our party ordered a mixed drink, the rest of us ordered "standard" beverages. our beverages came fairly quickly (with the exception of the drink), but we sat for 20 minutes before our server took our order.

after another 20 minutes, the kids' meals came out. when the member of our party who had ordered the drink asked about it, our server told her she "would have to check on it" with the bartender. when our party member said she'd rather cancel it, the story instantly changed to "oh, the bartender is mixing it now. it'll be right out". fascinating, since you never left our table -- but suddenly you know exactly where the drink is in the bartender's queue. the drink then arrived in 5 minutes (it's magic!).

15 minutes after the kids' meals were served, most of the rest of the table's food arrived -- in stages. different members of the three tickets received their food at different times, and three items were left off entirely. the food was very good, but frankly overpriced. after another 15 minutes, when our server reappeared, we asked about the items missing (2 salads and a side of green beans). we were told (again) that she would check on it. we asked to cancel the items, since we were done eating and beyond ready to go. our server left our table -- 5 minutes later, a runner with a salad appeared at our table and was insistent that we take it. we told him "no, we asked our server to cancel it." after we argued with him and repeatedly refused the salad, he left. our server came back -- we reiterated to her that we no longer wanted the items, we just wanted our checks. another 10 minutes went by -- and another runner showed up with a salad, insisting it was ours. we declined it, but he set it down on the table next to one of the kids (who isn't going to argue with him about it because she's 7!) and walked away without a word. closer inspection of the salad revealed it wasn't even one of the salads we had ordered.

it took another 30 minutes to wrap up the checks and get out. we were offed free dessert (no thanks, we don't want to wait another 45 minutes), and we were not charged for the items the kitchen left off our order (i don't even want to think about how long that would have taken to sort out). our server was very attentive, when she was present. but she was mia for some fairly long stretches, and we never saw anyone who resembled a manager on the floor, checking on service or guests.

while the food is tasty, the service is abysmal. the kitchen seems to have some serious organization issues, and i have to assume that servers have been instructed to do whatever it takes to prevent guests from cancelling items because they're tired of waiting -- which is sad in and of itself. i lost count of the number of times i saw kitchen runners go to a table with hot food, have the table tell them that's not what we ordered, and then wander until they found a server who could point them in the right direction -- as the food rapidly cools in the frigid restaurant.

for the price ($15-25 per entree), it's just not worth it. the food is very good, no question -- but the restaurant is incredibly loud, compounding the ridiculously slow service.

best burger in town (not pictured)!

for apps you must try the deviled eggs. make sure to leave room for dessert because the whiskey cake is not to be missed!

had a lunch pickup today and while the chicken & cheese melt was good the to go aspect was not. i forgot to order a piece of the whiskey cake when i called and did not get the chance to order one before the bartender presented me with my check. she didn't even check to see if the order was mine or correct.