Month: July 2023

Christy’s Top Places to Eat in the Ozarks Part 4

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As always, when eating out I’m looking for a few things that I have personally experienced when visiting these restaurants.  When a restaurant can serve me well, bring me delicious food for a reasonable price, and stand up to my cleanliness standards I let you, my readers know about it.  Some of these places are a little pricier than what I normally like to pay, but for a good experience, ambience, and service I am happy to part with my money.  As always, my experience of any establishment may not match your experience.

Orleans Trail Resort and Restaurant 15828 S. 1525 Rd. Stockton MO 65785 orleanstrailresort.com.  This quaint spot overlooking Stockton Lake is located down a winding drive and was easy to miss.  They also have limited hours on the weekend and are generally open until 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, so plan accordingly if you are checking them out on a weekend.  The price for the amount of food was spot on, the server was friendly and helpful and the drinks were amazing.  Occasional live music and check out the patio in nicer weather!

The Ozark Mill Restaurant at Finley Farms 802 Finley Farms Ln, Ozark MO 65721 finleyfarmsmo.com.  An excellent place for a special occasion, this historic mill has been refurbished and overlooks the Finley River.  An excellent farm to table menu, seasonal drinks, and excellent service.  We had a largish party, and they took very good care of us.  The meal was phenomenal, and the lavender gin fizz was perfect.  I loved the deck space outside overlooking the river with cozy seating surrounding private firepits for your party.  Anniversary dinner here I come!

Missouri Mike’s 1724 E. Battlefield Rd, Springfield, MO 65804 missourimikes.com. All locations are closed as of 4/27/24 Comfort food and a quick helpful bar staff before I needed to meet my friends for ax throwing http://howtodotheozarks.com/2023/02/26/tommyhawks-ax-throwing/.  Their meatloaf was very good, and I watched a lot of other dishes being served that looked just as tasty.  They have opened another location on Chestnut Expy. so make sure you check them both out.  The one on Battlefield is perfectly located next to Hobby Lobby and across from the mall.  Lunch then shopping!

Arris’ Pizza (pronounced like heiresses)  1332 E. Republic Road, Springfield MO 65804 arrispizzapalace.com  Always busy with a brisk take out trade, this fun Italian restaurant is our number one go-to for pizza for Tim.  Their Greek sausage pizza with mushrooms is the best in Springfield.  I really like their sandwiches and their more adventurous Greek style offerings like Spanakopita which is a spinach and feta cheese pie in phyllo dough.  They have multiple locations-one in Columbia and one in Republic so they’ve got the Ozarks covered!

Georgia Mac’s

Georgia Mac’s 1440 E. Republic Rd, Springfield MO 65804 georgiamacs.com was a very recent discovery which I had previously seen but never entered.  Located in Steeplechase Centre near Harter House on Republic Road, they have outdoor seating and a very large indoor venue as well with plenty of TV screens spread around for sports fans.  Their appetizer menu is the largest I’ve ever seen in Springfield and with most of my party of 19 ordering one or another, we were all able to test taste quite a few.  The fried mushrooms, fried green tomatoes and loaded tots were excellent.  Between the apps and the beer, I didn’t need any more food.

C-Street is a sweet little street with all kinds of neat shops

Van Gogh’s Eeterie 334 E. Commercial St. Springfield MO 65803 vangoghseeterie.com For something fun and different, check out Van Gogh’s on Commercial.  Eclectic just like C Street and a menu full of delicious things that are a little tough to pronounce, I counted on my waiter to understand what I was pointing at and to help me avoid pitfalls during ordering.  The coffee was perfect and the atmosphere soothing.  The food is fresh, presented well and our server was very helpful.

Wire Road Brewing Company 4453 S. Timbercreek Ave, Battlefield MO 65619 wireroadbrewing.com I am only adding Wire Road to this list because they have food trucks that are set up outside.  Their food truck offerings change and can be found on Facebook at Wire Road Brewing for the night you want to hang out.  Wire Road has an indoor area as well as a large outdoor area with some coverage in rainy weather.  They offer live music, bingo and other activities.  The night I chose was Bingo night and Pa Chans was the food truck.  They gave me an enormous helping of General Chicken that was delicious and I gave the rest of my rice to my coworker’s dog, which he very much appreciated.  Very fun spot and I even met up with an acquaintance I hadn’t seen in years!

Florentina’s Ristorante Italiano 2690 Green Mountain Dr. Branson MO 65616 florentinasristoranteitaliano.com After checking out Seasonal Encounters Branson http://seasonalencountersbranson.com, Florentina’s was open and ready for business last winter with excellent food, a clean atmosphere, fun for my granddaughter and a really nice waitress who doted on her.  Branson restaurants are generally incredibly busy and we really lucked out that it had been overcast and cloudy the day we went down, keeping the crowds minimal.  Florentina’s had a lot of menu options and we tried their pizza, salad, and pasta all with good reviews.  Good size portions and enough to share between 4 adults and one kiddo for a not bad price.

There are so many delicious and reasonable places to eat here in our beautiful Ozarks region. Get out there and check out one of these small businesses today!

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

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Lone Bison grazing in Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge

Missouri is surrounded by eight states all with unique offerings in climate, terrain and challenge level for outdoor lovers. This year for our Mother’s Day hike, my son Cole, who desperately wanted to see something other than oaks trees, chose Oklahoma as our destination. Approximately 6 hours west of Springfield Missouri lies the Wichita Mountain range, home to the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge https://www.fws.gov/refuge/wichita-mountains. Full of bison, long horn cattle and elk, this 55,000-acre treasure boasts a visitor’s center, plenty of camping opportunities, and a different terrain for hiking.

Taking the Kia Optima on a three day trip with four adults meant creative packing including using the car top carrier that has been in my she shed for 5 years. After clearing out the spiders, I loaded that puppy upside down on the roof of the Kia, packed it full of our soft luggage and off we sped toward Oklahoma. A short 50 miles into the trip we stopped at an Ace Hardware to buy ratchet straps, strapping down the precarious luggage holder more securely to the roof of the car. Talk about hillbilly ingenuity with ratchet straps through the doors and crossed over behind the driver’s head!

Now Oklahoma is a LOOOONNNNGGGG state and we needed to get almost to the other end of it, just two hours northwest of Dallas Texas. We passed 80 mile per hour speed limit signs, but with the drag from the car top carrier bringing down our gas mileage I decided to limit our speed to 72 mph no matter who was driving. And that’s not to mention the noise that darn thing made while driving down the road at that speed. Maybe I should have flipped it over right side up.

Doris Campground #26 Wichita Wildlife Refuge

A non-electric campsite at Doris Campground ran $35 for two nights-not a bad fee for the expansive space we had between campsites. Campsite 26 was right next to Quanah Parker Lake which even had an area (though sketchy) for launching a kayak. There’s nothing like lying in a tent hearing the rain pounding on the roof and listening to the wildlife calling throughout the park. Our belongings did get a little damp even though Cole and I had waterproofed the tent and coated the seams with sealer. It could have been worse. We did have a lively discussion about charging campgrounds for our presence, as it always seems to storm wherever we decide to camp!

40 Ft gorge on the Kite and Bison Trails

There are several hikes available within the park and I recommend checking out this site: https://teaspoonofnose.com/wichita-mountains-wildlife-refuge/ for tips on accessible trails for all skill levels, whether dogs or children are recommended for the trail you want to test out, and for some great pictures. We were able to get in 2 hikes, one approximately 3 miles and the other 2 miles with excellent scenery. My hiking sticks did come in handy and I now leave them in my trunk full time. The first trail’s (Kite) blazes were easier to follow than the second (Narrows).

Scenic part of the Narrows Trail.

Every time we camp together, we learn, grow and get better working as a team to get out gear sorted out, cook, clean and help each other navigate the trails. This year, Darby’s boyfriend, Tristan joined us, and he definitely made a good addition to our camping team. His strength and humor helped get us through the soggy weekend and he is a flexible traveler. I highly recommend checking out the part of Oklahoma when you have an opportunity. It was definitely worth the drive. Oh, and I flipped that darn car top carrier over on the way home-made a world of difference!