Best Things to Do in Tulsa, OK
Our picks for culture high and low will keep you busy in T-Town.
Limited time? Here’s ApartmentGuide’s itinerary of top places from local business owners. Below find more recommendations for our favorite spots downtown.
Welltown Brewery
best brewery
For well-crafted beer in a well-designed space, Welltown ticks all the brewery boxes. Head upstairs for an outdoor deck with splendid views of downtown.
Arts District | 114 W Archer St
welltownbrewing.com
Bohemian
best Pizza
This delightful ristorante is home to Tulsa’s best pizza. There’s not even a close second. Wood-fired, Neapolitan-style pies are made with ingredients imported from Italy and brought to life with love in Tulsa. Choose from 25 pizzas and pastas, and don’t overlook the heavenly s’mores pizza for dessert. Boho’s intimate, eclectic atmosphere is a perfect date spot or prelude to a late night of cocktails at Hodges Bend across the street.
East Village | 818 E 3rd St
eastvillagebohemian.com
Valkyrie
Best cocktails
Classy yet casual, Valkyrie is a place to impress a date, rally your mates, or fly solo. Expert mixologists craft top-notch cocktails in a well-appointed interior with banquettes and bar stools. Best of all, there’s no pretentious attitude like at big city cocktail bars. This is one of the rare places in Tulsa that gets it all right — interior design, drink quality, client service — all the time.
Arts District | 13 E Reconciliation Way
valkyrietulsa.com
Soundpony
best dive bar
Our cycling bias makes this an easy choice, but bicycle-themed Soundpony captures the original soul of the Arts District formerly known as Brady. This is one of those quirky, funky, inclusive places that helps makes Tulsa, well, Tulsa. Soundpony isn’t just a bar, brand, and cycling team — it’s a state of being. College kids play arcade games at The Max. Smokers puff at Arnie’s. Wage workers cash paychecks over cold ones at Orpha’s. There are other dives, but there are no other Soundponies.
Arts District | 409 N Main St
thesoundpony.com
Elgin Park
best sports bar
Airy, sportsy brewpub to watch the big game. At its best in warm weather with the garage door windows open. At peak buzz with an event at the ballpark across the street. Menu of sandwiches, pizza New Haven style (eh sorta), and wings (half price Wed after 5pm). Everywhere you look are flatscreens to take your mind off the average food in front of you. Come thirsty on Thursdays when house brews are just $2 after 4pm.
Arts District | 325 E Reconciliation Way
elginparkbrewery.com
Roof Sixty Six
best rooftop bar
This superlative is sure to change, but for now the best rooftop view is at Hotel Indigo. From the indoor/outdoor bar Roof 66, gaze west over downtown skyscrapers and north over ONEOK Field. Smoking is allowed on the terrace section. Avoid Friday and Saturday nights unless you want to party with the early 20s crowd.
Blue Dome | 121 S Elgin Ave
facebook.com/roofsixtysixbar
BOK Center
best large venue
The world’s top performers rock out this 19,000+ capacity arena designed by starchitect César Pelli (famous for the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur and World Financial Center in Manhattan). This is also home ice for the Tulsa Oilers. Btw, it’s pronounced “Be-OK” Center.
Arena District | 200 South Denver Ave W
bokcenter.com
Philbrook Museum of Art
best Museum
Waite and Genevieve Phillips built Villa Philbrook, a 72-room Italian Renaissance-style home with 23 acres of formal gardens. In 1938, the couple donated their home to become a museum, which opened a year later. The general art collection is stocked with Native American pieces along with holdings in American, African, Asian, European, modern and contemporary art. If you only have time for one museum in Tulsa, this is it.
2727 S Rockford Rd | philbrook.org
Black Wall Street
best Mural
Murals are popping up all over town, but the most powerful and symbolic is this one. Each letter stands for something about Black Wall Street, a prominent Black neighborhood destroyed by a marauding white mob in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — a dark, underreported chapter of American history.
Greenwood | North side of I-244 at Greenwood Av
Tulsa Tough
best Annual Event (Spring/Summer)
Tulsa’s biggest party weekend is as much fun as it is competitive. Three days, three different ways. Watch cyclist buzz Blue Dome streets as Friday night falls. Saturday the crit takes over the Arts District, including Soundpony (see Best Dive Bar). There’s also Grand Fondos anyone can register to ride. The best of the trilogy is saved for last. Sunday’s Cry Baby Hill is Mardi Gras meets Tour de France. Spectators are participants and spectate fellow spectators. Let your freak flag fly. #MindtheGap and #TakeMondayOff.
June, second weekend | various locations
tulsatough.com
Oktoberfest
best Annual Event (Fall/Winter)
Unless you live in Munich, our Oktoberfest is better than yours. How is this possible? Held in late October, Linde Oktoberfest imports talent from Deutschland after all other Oktoberfests are done. Action centers around the tented Lufthansa Technik Biergarten, but don’t miss hourly performances at Das Glockenspiel. Tulsa is a city that drinks above its weight. Such relaxed camaraderie and conviviality are only possible in a mid-sized city. Be prepared to make new friends, get your shoes caked in mud, and ride share home. Prost!
October, third week | River West Festival Park
tulsaoktoberfest.org
Cain’s Ballroom
best smaller venue
Best known as the home of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Cain’s was built in 1924 as Tate Brady’s auto garage and then became a dance academy before morphing into a concert hall. Despite the modest capacity, it’s hugely popular among touring bands and ranks among the top in ticket sales for venues of its size. March and September have the the most shows. An outpost of Burn Co fires up the grill during showtime. Midwest concert-going at its best.
Arts District | 423 N Main St
cainsballroom.com
St. Vitus
best club
An apartment-sized setting with stylish seating, St. Vitus pours seasonal cocktails on tap. Named for the patron saint of dancing and founded by a Valkyrie guy (see Best Cocktails), St. Vitus is a cozy lounge before the DJ’s electronic beats take over. After 10pm the room fills, but the arcade of mirrors creates an illusion of spaciousness. With better drinks and no dress code, St. Vitus is a more sophisticated yet still casual and inclusive alternative to Club Majestic — and without the cover.
Blue Dome | 112 S Elgin Ave, Suite B
(enter from alleyway between Elgin & Detroit)
stvitustulsa.com
ONEOK Field
best stadium
Home of the Tulsa Drillers (AA minor league affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers) and the Tulsa FC, a soccer team in the Division II Professional League. The stadium has panoramic views of the downtown skyline and is a relaxing place to catch a game regardless of the home team’s fortune on the field. Robust fireworks often follow games. It’s pronounced “one-OK” or “that baseball field.”
Greenwood | 201 N Elgin Ave
milb.com/tulsa/ballpark/oneok-field
Golden Driller Statue
best Landmark
Our most iconic landmark stands 75 feet tall over the Tulsa Fairgrounds, a 10-minute drive east of downtown. The driller was a symbol of the International Petroleum Exhibition, a world-famous energy event that gave Tulsa its reputation of “oil capital of the world” from the 1920s-50s. No word on if the big guy was witness to the more recent Expo Square embezzlement scheme the FBI is now investigating.
Tulsa Expo Center | 4145 E 21st St
Gathering Place
besT Park
Just south of downtown is a stunning riverfront park that cost north of $465 million — the largest privately-funded park in U.S. history. The Gathering Place was named one of the world’s 100 greatest places by Time and the #1 best new attraction by USA Today. With an Adventure Playground, Swing Hill, Mist Mountain, Slide Vale, Skate Park, Picnic Grove, and Reading Tree, your kids may never want to leave. The Lodge has a cafe for coffee and ice cream while The Patio serves burgers and pizza. Local food tucks are also on-site. There are more than 500 parking spaces, but it’s easy to ride your bike or scooter along the river trail to enter Tulsa’s greenest and greatest attraction.
2650 S John Williams Way E | gatheringplace.org
Scooters
best Transportation
Stop circling the block and just park on the sidewalk when you use a Lime green or black Bird scooter. You’ll need the app, a credit card, and driver’s license to get started. New users get a free ride by using this code: XZJVEPK for Bird (download Bird app). You’re only supposed to ride in the street (obeying traffic laws, of course), but if you scoot on the sidewalk to feel safer, nobody’s gonna fine you. Watch out for cracks and curb cuts. Scooters are fast and fun, but they can also be the quickest way to urgent care.
Tulsa Club
best hotel
After devastating fires and decades of neglect, Tulsa Club has been resurrected as downtown’s sleekest sleep. Built for both the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce and Tulsa Club in 1927, this is where high society businessmen (and white men only) came to rub elbows and dine in the ballroom. Now a Hilton affiliate with new and restored Art Deco accents, Tulsa Club snatches the crown of most luxurious hotel from the equally historic Mayo Hotel four blocks away.
Deco District | 115 E 5th St
curiocollection3.hilton.com