Lorena

Lorena brings modern Southern comfort food to Midtown Oklahoma City. Opened in summer 2025, it is named after Lorena May Ware, the 104-year-old grandmother of owner Lori Burson, whose photo greets guests at the door and whose handwritten recipes line the walls. Burson also owns the neighboring Stella Modern, and Lorena was named one of the city's top 10 new restaurants within six months of opening. Executive chef Cally Johnson spent years researching Southern cooking to build an intentional menu of scratch-made classics: fried green tomatoes, deviled eggs, chicken and dumplings, fried bologna sandwiches, red beans and rice, fried chicken, and shrimp and grits. Standouts drawing diner praise include the pimento cheese ball, peach hand pies, and gulf shrimp with pork belly, plus wine on draft. A separate elaborate bar serves a bourbon-forward cocktail program with bourbon flights for the bourbon drinker, plus cocktails like the Fig and Folly. Lorena serves lunch Tuesday through Friday, dinner nightly, and brunch on weekends. The restaurant keeps an active events calendar with themed evenings such as National Dessert Day.