If you’ve been waiting for a great excuse to plan a date night or introduce your kids to truly memorable food, the reopening of Thirty Nine Restaurant at First Americans Museum this July marks the perfect opportunity to do just that.
I can promise this isn’t just a new menu — it’s a reinvention, led with love by internationally renowned Chef Loretta Barrett Oden. As a longtime fan of the restaurant and an even bigger fan of Chef Loretta, I’ve been counting the days until Thirty Nine’s reopening. With new leadership and expanded hours, Thirty Nine has evolved into the restaurant Oden envisioned: a place where Indigenous cuisine is celebrated as a vibrant, living tradition. This isn’t just a reopening. It’s a reclaiming. And it’s delicious.
What to expect on the plate
Thirty Nine gets its name from the 39 Tribal Nations recognized in Oklahoma and celebrated throughout First Americans Museum. The restaurant is now open for lunch, happy hour dinner and weekend brunch – a big shift from its previous lunch-only setup.
With a menu that changes with the seasons, the kitchen team, led by Chef Ben Hutton (formerly of Scratch), is serving up dishes that are thoughtful, intentional and full of soul. Everything – and I mean everything – is housemade, from the bread and tortillas to the sauces.
There are returning favorites, like my family’s favorite white bean hummus (now served with crisped new potatoes instead of fry bread), and plenty of exciting new additions: bison tartare, slow-braised rabbit tamals and the Studiburger — named in honor of actor Wes Studi — served on a dark, housemade bun infused with molasses and coffee. My kids would tell you not to miss the other bison burger on the menu, and I can’t wait to try the scallop ceviche, the venison tenderloin with chimichurri and the fish tacos, wrapped in housemade tortillas.
Date night diners will appreciate the extensive wine list, the majority of which is intentionally sourced from the Americas. Creative cocktails showcase a broad range of spirits, with a standout selection of tequilas and mezcals, while thoughtfully crafted mocktails offer unique flavors designed to appeal to a wide variety of diners. Local beer from Native-owned Skydance Brewery is also on tap.
Dessert is worth saving room for, too: popcorn-infused crème brûlée, a salted caramel tarte with candied pecans and housemade marshmallows, and an ice cream trio that includes flavors like spruce, sweet corn and prickly pear.
The new kids menu is designed to spark curiosity and expand young diners’ palettes, paired with opportunities to learn more about the ingredients growing the garden outside. The return of fall will also mark a newly expanded patio at Thirty Nine, giving diners the opportunity to enjoy the sun setting over the Oklahoma River along with their meal.
More than a meal
As a mom, I’m always looking for places where I can enjoy a fantastic meal and give my kids a deeper connection to the world around them — and to their own heritage. Every time we’ve eaten at Thirty Nine, they leave curious not just about the food but the cultures behind it. That’s what makes Thirty Nine such a rare find: a Native American restaurant where culture and cuisine come together in meaningful, memorable ways. It’s why the restaurant has always felt like an essential part of the museum experience: the stories we just explored come alive on our plates.
Outside the restaurant, my kids love exploring Chef Loretta’s Garden (in collaboration with Shape Your Future: A Program of TSET), where ingredients like corn, beans and squash grow beside QR codes linking to her recipes. The garden is open to the public and home to FAMcamps, where kids dig, taste and explore. It’s one of the many ways Thirty Nine blends culture and community — nourishing body, mind and memory all at once.
That’s all intentional. Oden’s vision isn’t just guiding the seasonal Indigenous-forward menu and warm interior — she’s leading the purpose behind it all. Thirty Nine focuses on ingredients and traditions from across North, Central and South America that predate colonization. These pre-contact foods sustained Indigenous communities for thousands of years, and now they’re helping tell a story of reclamation and pride.
“You can go anywhere in the world and find French or Italian food, but you don’t often see interpretations of First American food,” said Oden. “People think we’re limiting ourselves by sticking to traditional ingredients, but there’s so much bounty. I’m still learning every day. I’ve traveled extensively across the Americas and I love seeing how food has sustained families, tribes and communities — and kept cultures alive.”
Oden knows many diners are coming back with favorite dishes in mind, and she’s ready to deliver something even more memorable.
“Those who are returning — who loved the restaurant before — are coming with expectations,” she said. “It’s bigger and better, and we are going to blow their socks off!”
And for those walking in for the first time, Thirty Nine offers something rare: a Native American restaurant experience that brings Indigenous culture to life in a way that’s immersive, joyful and deeply human.
“Food is a way to put people at ease, ask questions about where it came from or what inspired the dish,” said Oden. “It cuts through that barrier and makes us [First Americans] more approachable.”
That’s part of Oden’s larger mission to use food as both a connector and a truth-teller.
“Native American food is still stigmatized — people think it’s fry bread and Indian tacos,” she said. “Till I draw my last breath, I’ll be reminding people it’s so much more. My mission is to use food to heighten awareness of who we are, how long we’ve been around and that we are still here and thriving.”
It’s clear Thirty Nine isn’t just focused on food — it’s focused on families, and how we connect to culture, land and each other.
“I think we could solve a lot of the world’s problems if we had a gigantic table with delicious food and encouraged people to talk and work things out,” she said.
Plan your visit
Where: Thirty Nine is located at First Americans Museum, 659 First Americans Blvd., in the Horizons District.
When: Open Wednesday through Sunday. Brunch is served on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lunch is available Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Happy hour is Wednesday through Saturday from 4 to 5 p.m. Dinner is served from 5 to 10 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday.
Reservations are open now. Bring your appetite, your curiosity and your kids. You’ll leave with much more than a full stomach.
