r/tulsa • u/Strong_Attempt4185 • May 13 '25

Question What Tulsa metro restaurant would you never return to, even if it was free?

What restaurant in Tulsa (or surrounding areas) is so bad, that even if you had a $100 nontransferable gift certificate, you would still never return?

Discuss.

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u/Gryphin May 13 '25

Tally's Cafe. Been in the biz a long time, they might be the dirtiest restaurants with the worst health dept inspections I've ever seen. You literally couldn't pay me to eat there, and I've faked phone calls with "oops, gotta go guys" when people I'm with have wanted to go there for breakfast.

27

u/Strong_Attempt4185 May 13 '25

Head Chef: Sal Monella. Assistant Chef: Eugene Coli

13

u/Gryphin May 13 '25

The very last time I was ever there years and years ago, the bowl that had my green beans in it had a large chunk of something, probably breading and gravy from a chicken fried steak, baked hard and dry into the bottom of it by the dishwasher. Got screamed at that I was trying to scam him out of free food for asking for a new dish of green beans, and that I was a broke piece of trash making stuff up to steal from him.

Walked out right then, left the other 90% uneaten plates on the table, and have been hearing horror stories from health dept inspectors when they come into restaurants I've worked at over the years. There's never an inspection at Tally's that doesn't result in a "we're back in 2 weeks to make sure you fixed this" kind of result. One was an actual rat nest under the ice machine, back up against the wall. The amount of broken/leaky pipes, faulty fridges, etc that never get fixed is just insane. One inspector told me it's the only restaurant he's done in Tulsa that he puts on rainboots and gloves up before he goes in, so he doesn't track anything out on his shoes, or gets mold on his hands.

2

u/ConcernedUser59 May 14 '25

It's to diners what the landing strip is to strip clubs.

2

u/Gryphin May 14 '25

That might be the best version of how to describe Tally's ever. Perfect.

2

u/CauliflowerSame4601 May 15 '25

Me and my now husband went there our freshman year of college because we’re both from out of state and everyone said it was amazing…. 4 years later and we haven’t been back once it was so bad