Chicken night at Eischens

Last night we ate at Eischen's in Okarche with some very good friends of ours.  This was our first time to eat there.  I have heard so much about the place that I was glad to finally try it.  The fried chicken was great and I am not much of a meat eater.  We had a really good time with them! 

Bar has served area since 1896



By Cass Rains, Staff Writer



OKARCHE — For more than 100 years Eischen’s Bar has been a stop-off for everyone from territory pioneers to locals looking for the bar’s famous fried chicken and cold beer.



The family owned bar and restaurant opened its doors in 1896, 11 years before Oklahoma was a state, said Ed Eischen, great-grandson of founder Peter Eischen.



But with statehood came prohibition, closing the bar. Eischen’s Bar re-opened shortly after the end of prohibition by Nick and Jack Eischen, son and grandson of Peter Eischen and Ed’s grandfather and father.



Along with the bar, the men also opened a small lunch counter, serving sandwiches, which Ed credits with keeping the bar going before it began serving its famous fried chicken.



“That lunch counter kind of kept us alive,” Ed said, noting there were several other bars in town at the time.



In the 1950s, a massive, hand-carved back bar — made in Spain in the early 1800s — was installed in the bar, making it the oldest bar in Oklahoma.







What’s on the menu







The tale of the bar’s famous fried chicken began when the Eischens tried to make money for the now-defunct family grocery store.



Ed’s brother, George, began a shuffleboard tournament for two reasons: to make money for the bar and the meat department of the grocery store, which George ran at the time.



“We used to cook them in old cast iron skillets,” Ed recalled. “He (George) served it with the same thing we serve it with now — sweet pickles, dill pickles, marinated onions and bread.”



With the recipe in place and the Wednesday tournaments gaining popularity, patrons began showing up more for the chicken than the shuffleboard.



“It just got busier and busier,” Ed said. “Then the word got out. He was only trying to make money for the meat department, and look what happened.”



In 1960, the bar began serving its now-famous fried chicken as a regular menu item.



The bar moved from cooking in cast iron to electric skillets as demand grew, and in 1964 the first automatic fryer, which could cook three chickens at a time, was purchased.



“For years and years Wednesday night was a bus-night,” Ed said. “It was chicken night at Eischen’s.”



A new item was added to the menu in the 1970s, when one of Eischen’s suppliers presented the bar with an easy-to-make snack — nachos. Ed said he wasn’t sure when someone asked for the bar’s chili on the nachos, but it, too, soon became a menu staple, along with its roast beef and barbecue sandwiches.



Some time later, a group of regulars asked Ed if they brought some okra in would the bar fry it for them. Ed obliged, and soon other guests began requesting the golden fried veggie.



“We used to have them call before 6 so we could go to the grocery store,” Ed said.



Eventually, he said, the decision was made to add it to the menu.







A fiery setback







On Jan. 21, 1993, the bar burned down. Media descended on Okarche to cover the story about the destruction of an Oklahoma landmark.



“The day of the fire all the TV stations were here,” Ed said. “It even made the national news.”



Not all was lost to the flames. Firefighters were able to save adjoining buildings and small piece of the bar’s history.



“When the fire was out there was three and half walls,” Ed “That old bar was still there.”



The bar reopened Aug. 9, 1993, with much of what was the same way it had been.



“Our first thought was to just get the doors open,” Ed said. “We kept it all the same way.”



Stories were written throughout the rebuilding process, and customers followed the rebirth of Eischen’s Bar. When the time came to open up again, Ed said a “soft” opening was planned, but word got out and it soon made it onto the news.



“We had a line out here at 9,” Ed said, laughing.



After the bar was rebuilt, workers could cook 16 chickens at a time. And, with time, the bar continued to add fryers to meet the demand for its chicken.



“Now we have eight fryers,” Ed said. “With seven of those fryers we can cook 28 chickens every 20 minutes.”



The eighth fryer is used to fry okra. The bar used to go through 10 to 20 cases of okra a week. Now, 80 to 100 cases is the norm, with up to 120 cases sold in a week last summer.



“On Saturday nights we were hitting that 300-chicken mark,” Ed said. “Since the first of the year, we’ve had one Saturday where we haven’t cooked 1,000 chickens.”



He said the bar today cooks between 2,000 to 3,000 chickens on a Saturday



Eischen’s Bar, 108 S. 2nd St., is open 10 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday and is closed on Sundays and for holidays. Cash and checks are accepted — no plastic.