Five Star BBQ & Steakhouse

Five Star's BBQ side of the menu is built on hickory-smoked meats prepared in the restaurant's smokers using the slow-low approach standard to American BBQ — meats are seasoned with the restaurant's spice rub, cooked at low temperatures (typically 225-250 degrees) for many hours, and developed in flavor through the long smoke exposure. Brisket is the marquee item, sliced to order from the smoker and served either as a plate with sides or in a sandwich with bun and BBQ sauce. The brisket is consistently well-rendered, with appropriate bark on the exterior, moist interior, and the smoke ring that indicates proper preparation.

Pork ribs are the second marquee item — full racks or half racks served with the restaurant's sauce options, tender enough that the meat pulls cleanly from the bone but not so tender that the texture has dissolved into mush. Pulled pork is the more affordable BBQ option, served on sandwiches or as a plate item. Smoked sausage (typically a Texas-style hot link) and smoked turkey round out the standard BBQ menu. Combination plates let diners try multiple meats at one sitting — a popular choice for first-time visitors who want to sample the full range.

BBQ sides are the standard American repertoire executed reliably — baked beans (with smoke and bacon), coleslaw, potato salad, mac and cheese, corn, green beans, and various seasonal options. The sides aren't trying to compete with the meats for attention but provide the appropriate accompaniment without falling into supermarket-deli territory. The restaurant's BBQ sauces are house-made and available in standard and spicy variations.

Five Star's steakhouse menu serves 100% USDA Choice meats hand-cut on-site by the kitchen — a meaningful quality marker that distinguishes the operation from steakhouses that serve pre-portioned meats from food-service distributors. Cuts available include ribeye (the kitchen's most popular steak), New York strip, sirloin, T-bone, and filet, in sizes ranging from 8-ounce to 16-ounce portions depending on cut and diner appetite. Various specialty preparations (Cajun-rubbed, herb-crusted, surf-and-turf with shrimp) appear on the regular menu and as specials.

Steaks are grilled to order on a gas grill — properly seasoned, properly seared, and cooked to ordered temperature with reasonable accuracy. The kitchen will cook to rare, medium-rare, medium, medium-well, or well-done; diners who order medium-rare typically get medium-rare without the over-cooking that some volume restaurants default to. Steakhouse sides include baked potatoes, loaded baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, salad bar access, and the various vegetable preparations. The salad bar is the typical American steakhouse-style spread — appropriate for the price point without trying to compete with high-end steakhouse preparations.

Beyond steaks and BBQ, the menu includes burgers (hand-formed from the same beef used for steaks), wraps, salads, chicken preparations, fish dishes, and various other options for diners not wanting the meat-and-potatoes focus. The chicken-fried steak is a reliable Oklahoma standard, and the burgers compete with Ruby's and the Rock Café for the title of best Stroud burger.

Five Star's dining room is a comfortable mid-sized space with the standard Oklahoma BBQ-and-steakhouse decor — wood paneling, mounted hunting trophies, BBQ-themed artwork, and warm lighting. Seating includes both booths along the walls and tables in the center, plus a few larger group tables for the family-and-friends gatherings that any small-town American restaurant serves. The dining room accommodates families with kids without difficulty; the restaurant is genuinely family-friendly rather than the more bar-and-meat-focused atmosphere that some BBQ-and-steak operations cultivate.

The drive-thru window is one of the operation's more useful features — Five Star offers full take-out service for diners who want BBQ or steak meals without sitting down in the dining room. The drive-thru handles the entire menu and operates during the same hours as the dining room. This makes the restaurant particularly useful for Route 66 travelers driving through Stroud who want a substantial meal without committing to a full sit-down dinner.

The catering operation is the family's other significant business line. Five Star's 40-foot food trailer serves weddings, corporate retreats, family functions, school banquets, and various other events across the broader Lincoln-and-Creek-County region. The catering business reflects the broader trend in small-town Oklahoma BBQ operations — the brick-and-mortar restaurant serves as the home base while the trailer extends reach to events that bring the restaurant's food to customers across a wider geography.

Five Star's location at 619 North 8th Avenue puts it on Stroud's main commercial strip just south of the I-44 interchange — convenient for hotel guests at the Hampton Inn & Suites Stroud, Cattle Country Lodge, and other I-44 cluster lodging options. The drive from downtown Stroud (Rock Café, Skyliner Motel, Centennial Monument) is roughly 5 minutes. The 8th Avenue location is the modern commercial strip rather than the historic Route 66 corridor, but the proximity to both downtown and the I-44 hotels makes Five Star accessible from anywhere in Stroud.

For Route 66 travelers staying overnight in Stroud and wanting a substantial dinner, Five Star is the natural choice when the appetite calls for smoked meat or hand-cut steak. The standard pattern combines an afternoon at the Rock Café for the Route 66 lunch experience, the various downtown Route 66 attractions (Centennial Monument, Skyliner photography, Spirit of America Museum), and a short drive to Five Star for dinner. The 9pm close on weekdays and 10pm close on Fridays and Saturdays gives travelers a reasonable evening window.

Five Star is closed on Sundays, which means travelers passing through Stroud on a Sunday will need to choose between El Tapatio (the main Sunday dinner option, open daily 10:30am-9:30pm) or the Rock Café for the all-day breakfast-through-dinner menu. Travelers planning a Sunday Stroud overnight should plan dinner around El Tapatio specifically or arrange to drive a few miles to find alternative Sunday-open BBQ in the broader region.