Red’s Southern Diner

Red’s Southern Diner
840 W Danforth
Edmond, OK 73003
405.509.2635
website (Still under development)
Open only for dinner except Sunday

Sadly, this restaurant is now closed.

Listen up families! You’re going to love this place.  My kids were happy campers …and by kids, I mean “young adults”.  But this place would be a great family visit for any age.

As we drove up, I had a flashback that I’d been here before.  Yes! This is the former digs of Mama Veca’s located at the end of the strip mall.

From the funky farm decor to the home tasting cooked southern food, I think kids of young and old ages will enjoy this place.  I know we did.

From the waiting room seats that looked freshly pulled out of various cars…

To the hip pink 50’s retro mirror and counter in the bathroom, the decor in Red’s is eye catching for sure.

We were ushered back through an eclectic maze of diner-type tables and walked under things like this giant rotating chicken bucket.

And maybe a lawnmower ceiling fan or two.

And then, our waitress sat us directly in front of…

Yes, yes that IS a silver, old-school, pull-type camper trailer that you can dine right inside of way in the back of the diner.

Even the hostess station was an odd mix of a tractor and a feeding trough of sorts.

But anyway, our entire clan was there for southern-cooked food…and we got it.

Here is the concept at Red’s.

There is no menu.

You simply pick one of the meats offered from a large board on the wall.  There is your preference of pot roast, fried chicken, chicken fried steak, BBQ grilled chicken, catfish, chicken tenders and chicken pot pie.  For $11.99 you just order your meat and it and the rest of your meal (various sides) will come out served home-style on the hugest platter you’ve ever seen and in large serving bowls to pass around.

But first, they’ll bring you these.

Some of the best homemade tasting biscuits I’ve had in awhile.  These were tender and flaky and delicious.

And refillable.  But don’t get too full on these…you have a lot of food coming your way.  Soon your ginormous platter will arrive, bringing with it all the meats and side dishes that can fit on this platter.

When they dumped this tray off on one end of our table…my grown-up kids’ eyes got real big.  As in, “this is all for us?” big.

The center of the plate was piled with chicken fried steak and BBQ Grilled Chicken. It was surrounded by a ridiculous amount of fried okra, a bowl of creamed corn, and separate bowls of mashed potatoes and cream gravy.

I had ordered the BBQ Chicken and so had my son.  The sauce was smoky and spicy and sweet and the chicken itself was moist and delicious. I think we both received one-half of a chicken..

My daughter had the chicken fried steak and it was as large as her head.

It was the perfect fry with the inside being tender and moist, and the outside nicely breaded and crisp.  One thing you need to know ahead of time at Red’s is that they bring out everything fresh and cooked to order.  You may have a bit of a wait, especially if you get something like chicken pot pie.  Which brings me to our next order…my daughter Tori ordered the pot pie.

This was southern cooking at it’s best.  A large oval dish filled with creamy chicken and vegetable goodness and topped off with a pie crust overlapping the edges of the bowl.

She was a happy camper for sure.

Mr. Wonderful ordered the pot roast…I think he liked it but in retrospect, I would probably not order this…the other meats were just so good…this almost seemed boring.

The okra was hot and crispy and this was delicious…the creamed corn.

If you are a creamed corn lover, this pleases.  It’s nothing fancy..just corn and sweet cream..no fancy spices, no exotic herbs…just plain and simple southern goodness.

Dessert wasn’t an option for us…we were stuffed beyond belief..but for $5 you can get a choice of biscuit bread pudding, brownie sundae and strawberry crumble.  Our waitress assured us two could easily finish off one of these sweet offerings.

I saw numerous families at Red’s.  If you’re taking a large group, know that the most you can have at a table is eight.  They won’t join them up and block the aisles.  We had to split our party and that caused a bit of havoc.  But they have a system and you must follow it. There were many tables with young and older kids.  This place is a family pleaser.  My daughter posted a comment on Facebook the next day saying “that food was the BOMB!”.  She’s twenty two and a little picky…if she loves it anyone will.

Everyone should take their family to Red’s..it’s a great deal..with kids at $4.99..you just can’t beat it!  It’s fun,  moderately priced, and if you’re craving down-home comfort food…this is the place.