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Earl's Rib Palace
5508 W. Memorial Rd.Oklahoma City, OK
(405) 603-1199
Earl's is one of several "mini-chain" barbecue restaurants around the Oklahoma City area, and
is one of the most popular with locations in Bricktown, North Western (the original), and several
other areas. The name "Rib Palace" more or less implies that ribs are the specialty, and most
of what I have read on reviews indicates that this is the case.
My first visit to Earl's was at the newest location on Memorial Road near MacArthur, and
there was no shortage of customers at this location. The various barbecue restaurants in Oklahoma
City are almost as common as fast food restaurants, and I think they are almost as popular. Prices
are a little higher than at fast food restaurants, but people rightly enjoy the quality of slow cooked
meat and a variety of freshly prepared side dishes.
Earls's has combination dinners, but the Rib Dinner seemed to be the most economical
way to try the restaurant's specialty. It came with six ribs, and in full disclosue this was shared
by two persons (which is what I would recommend for others given the quantity of meat served).
Earl's also offers a "light portion" of any dinner for $2.00 less than the regular price.
The ribs were fall off the bone tender, and were well smoked with a very good flavor. In fact,
I was ready to place
this near the top of my list for ribs until I realized later that I was suffering the after-effects of
a food allergy that gave me a MSG type headache (although I understand that Earl's does
not use MSG). Because of this I don't know what other items I will be able to try, but I am
sure the brisket, turkey, ham, pulled pork, etc., all have a good flavor as did the ribs.
The side dishes were not as outstanding as some I have tried in other barbecue
restaurants. I liked the Potato Salad with the skins left on the potatoes, and I got to eat all
of them because my dining partner did not share my fondness of it.
An order of Beans I got on the side was about average.
The Okie Toast was not as good as ones I have had at other barbecue restaurants,
but it was enjoyable.
I did not get to try the corn on the cob that is pictured.
The onion that came with the dinner was so strong I wished they had served a pickle or some
other garnish rather than this one.
One thing that made the ribs taste good was that they already had a good amount of seasoning
on the meat before you add sauce. The flavor was very good, but I just had some type of
problem with it. The flavor was good enough that I would encourage others to try the ribs if they
are so inclined.
Rib dinner with potato salad and corn
RESTAURANT DETAILS
RATING: 20
Cuisine: Barbecue
Cost: $$
Accessible: Yes
Additional Locations: 6816 N. Western,
4414 W. Reno, 216 Johnny Bench Dr., 2121 S. Broadway (Edmond), 920 S.W. 25th St. (Moore)
Smoking: No Smoking
Most Recent Visit
Jun. 13, 2011
Number of Visits: 1
Best Item
Ribs
Special Ratings
Ribs: 
Potato Salad:
Beans: 
Okie Toast: