Here's What's on the Menu at Reba McEntire's First Restaurant

Yes, there are "Fancy" drinks on the menu.

In the fall of 2021, during a concert at the Choctaw Grand Theater in Durant, Oklahoma, Reba McEntire took a break between songs to welcome Chief Gary Batton of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma to join her on stage. Batton had some big news, announcing that the Choctaw Nation had partnered with McEntire to open a restaurant in the tiny town of Atoka.

“We’re thrilled to pieces because it’s going to be right downtown [in] Atoka,” McEntire said. “It’s going to be called Reba’s Place, and it’s going to be in the old Masonic building. Y’all know where that is if you’ve been to Atoka. We’re really tickled.”

At the time, McEntire hoped that the restaurant would be able to open in late 2022. Last autumn came and went without Reba’s Place, but it’s finally open and promises to serve an irresistible combination of comfort food, well-mixed cocktails, and McEntire's charm to the 3,000-person town.

"This has been a long time coming,” McEntire said during the grand opening of Reba’s Place, which was live-streamed on Facebook on Thursday. “So please give all these folks here who have worked so hard another round of applause.”

McEntire told People that she “got [herself] reacquainted” with her home state after her mother’s death in early 2020. During her extended stay in Oklahoma, she was contacted by some Atoka officials about opening a restaurant in the town. After launching the partnership with the Choctaw Nation, McEntire was able to focus on her vision for the venue.

“We wanted music — on a small stage. Not big bands. Not big loud,” she told the outlet. “It's going to be something that people can remain eating, visiting, while the music's going on. I will go in and do some music, singing, absolutely. It has to be friendly. It has to be great food."

The menu leans into comfort food and "down home" classics — like a "Southern Charcuterie Board" that includes country ham, both pimento cheese, and beer cheese, boiled peanut hummus, and homemade pickles. (There's also a "Soup and Pot Pie" section of the menu). Other offerings include a "Fancy" steak dinner, chicken-fried steak, and a Cherry Coke BBQ burger.

"I told them, 'You got to have great iced tea. Great bread. I want chicken fried steak. Chicken fried chicken. I want beans and cornbread,'" McEntire told People. "I gave Chef Kurtess [Mortensen] my recipe for my smashed potatoes with caramelized onions and garlic. And have to have good drinks. That's very important."

Those drinks will be mixed behind a restored antique bar that is over a century old, and diners seated throughout all three stories can also enjoy live music, pick up some souvenirs from the attached retail area, or look at some of the memorabilia that McEntire selected to put on display.

"I'm a pack rat and have been saving things from day one," she told Garden & Gun. "I even have rodeo things that belonged to my mom and dad, and then there are outfits that I've worn for concerts and movies and album covers. We're also paying homage to the Choctaws, because everybody needs to know their long history in that area."

And if you bump into a personable local who looks a little like Reba McEntire, there's a decent chance that it is Reba McEntire. She says that she'd like to drop into the restaurant as "much as [she] possibly can." And why not? With pimento cheese, pot pies, and Reba's own potato recipe, it sounds like the kind of place where you "Can't Even Get the Blues."