ARDMORE, Okla. (KFOR) – Restaurants located in Oklahoma State Parks are starting to reopen to the public under a new operator.
Last month, officials announced that La Ratatouille, LLC was chosen to operate all six restaurants in state parks.
“[We are] so excited to be able to add a value to the Oklahoma State Parks to serve not only Oklahomans, but visitors that come from around the world,” said owner and operator J.P. Wilson.
The group operates restaurants like Falcone’s Pizzeria, Jonny Cakes Bakery, along with multiple food trucks.
‘The Lookout Kitchen’ locations will offer a full menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner using locally-sourced ingredients.
“You can’t go wrong chicken-fried steak. It’s truly incredible. It’s out of this world,” added Wilson.
During the summer months, the restaurants will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays, and from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
The restaurants will operate in existing facilities at:
- Lake Murray State Park in Ardmore
- Quartz Mountain State Park in Lone Wolf
- Robbers Cave State Park in Wilburton
- Roman Nose State Park in Watonga
- Sequoyah State Park in Hulbert
- Beavers Bend State Park in Broken Bow.
On Wednesday, ‘The Lookout Kitchen’ hosted a grand opening and ribbon-cutting event at Lake Murray State park in Ardmore.
“We set an ambitious goal of having the State Park restaurants open by Memorial Day weekend and The Lookout Kitchen has exceeded all of our expectations every step of the way,” said Shelley Zumwalt, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department in a previous statement to the station.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better partner to open restaurants in state parks. As Oklahomans and out-of-state visitors make plans for the best summer ever, The Lookout Kitchen will help attract more visitors to our state parks than ever before.”
Officials say ‘The Lookout Kitchen’ will have staggered openings leading up to Memorial Day Weekend.
Lake Murray’s restaurant is currently open, and will be followed by the openings of Robbers Cave State Park, Sequoyah State Park, Roman Nose State Park, and Beavers Bend State Park.
The Quartz Mountain State Park will open in July.
Prior to the opening, ‘The Lookout Kitchen’ will provide a food truck to Quartz Mountain guests.
