Last Updated on April 4, 2024, 12:12 PM | Published: April 4, 2024
“Shake a leg” usually means something like, “Get a move on,” “Hurry up,” or “Greg, I swear, we will leave you at this truck stop to die,” depending on the situation. But for the owner of Hank’s, it was the beginning of his business model.
Lakecia Day, mother of Hank, said the popular restaurant began when her son became a bit obsessed with smoking meats.
He was working at Tinker Air Force Base when COVID hit, sending the whole world into quarantine. Some people baked bread. Some people learned to knit. Hank smoked meats. One of his biggest successes was with turkey and when his daughter was making a video of him, he shook a turkey leg and the meat fell clean off the bone.
… he shook a turkey leg and the meat fell clean off the bone.
“He just thought it was a fluke, so he did it again, and it kept falling off the bone,” Day said. After he returned to work, she implored him to post the video and when he finally gave in, it went viral. “People started calling us and reaching out and I realized they really wanted these turkey legs.”
At first they were selling them out of a Walmart parking lot, but it soon became clear this was more than a side hustle. After acquiring a food truck with a smoker, he ended up signing a lease for a location on NE 63rd Street, next door to the former home of County Line.
Turkey legs are still a big draw for the restaurant, with sellouts happening regularly, Day said. And that’s a good thing, even for people who miss out. Slow-cooked foods like smoked meats that don’t sell out aren’t very good to begin with.
But Hank’s goes a step further than your usual Renaissance Faire turkey leg, both in flavor and substance. At Hank’s, diners can order smoked turkey legs (and half chickens) stuffed with mac and cheese, collard greens, dirty rice with crawfish and shrimp, and even chicken alfredo.
I’m not about to tell you that $30 for a turkey leg stuffed with baked beans, pulled pork, cheese, and barbecue sauce is “cheap,” but it’s definitely enough to feed two, three, and maybe four people. And the smoke is very pervasive throughout the meat, giving it a tender, silky texture with a big boost of smoky flavor.
Even though it’s listed as a “small plate,” the Dirty Catfish—a gorgeous piece of fried catfish served over dirty rice with sauce—is plenty big. Same goes for the Seafood Mac & Cheese, filled with shrimp and crawfish. I ate my fill of those cheesy noodles and still had more than enough left for lunch the next day.
Tuesdays at Hank’s feature a $7 hot wing or catfish special and it’s a heck of a deal. The fried wings are some of the best around, with a size that provides plenty of meat without being too big to cook all the way through, and it comes with a heaping helping of crispy and well-seasoned fries. Take Day’s advice and try the apple habanero sauce while you’re at it. There’s less heat than you might imagine, but the fruity blend of apple and pepper is big on flavor.
If you’re on the run, I think the jerk chop sandwich is a great choice (feature photo.) The bone-in chop is smoked to perfection and slathered in Hank’s Sauce. It’s just a chop sandwiched inside a bun, but it was satisfying in its simplicity.
While most of my visits have been at lunch, Hank’s does a big business at night with a menu stacked high with mixed drinks, beer, and wine. Day said the only problem is that when the restaurant closes at 8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, customers wish they’d stay open later.
“But we have to close to start getting the food ready for tomorrow,” she said.
That’s just the price of making really good food. So if you’re interested in trying Hank’s for yourself, shake a leg and get there before the turkey sells out. Take it from me: you’d much rather be at Hank’s than left behind at a truck stop.
Hank’s
- 1228 NE 63rd Street in Oklahoma City
- Tues-Thurs 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
- Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
- Sun 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
- (405) 286-1835
- hanksokc.com
Long-time food enjoyer Greg Elwell writes about food, restaurants, and trends. He has his own blog "I Ate Oklahoma" and has written for The Oklahoman, The Oklahoma Gazette, and others.
