Unearth The Voyage
Tucked into the small town of Krebs, Oklahoma, a family-run Italian market has been quietly winning hearts for decades. Lovera’s Italian Market is the kind of place that stops road-trippers cold, turns a quick gas station detour into a two-hour adventure, and sends people home with arms full of things they never knew they needed.
The shelves are packed with imported pastas, specialty olive oils, house-made cheeses, and scratch-made sauces that feel worlds away from anything you’d find at a chain grocery store. Whether you’re passing through on Highway 69 or making a dedicated trip, this market earns every mile.
A Hidden Corner of Little Italy in Eastern Oklahoma
Krebs, Oklahoma carries a nickname that surprises most first-time visitors: Little Italy of Oklahoma. The town has deep Italian roots, and Lovera’s Italian Market at 95 NW 6th St, Krebs, OK 74554 is the living, breathing centerpiece of that heritage.
Drive a few minutes off Highway 69 near McAlester, and you’ll find yourself somewhere that feels genuinely removed from the ordinary grocery store experience.
The market is housed in a quaint two-story building that reads old and well-loved in the best possible way. There’s a rustic, settled-in quality to the place, the kind that only comes from decades of family ownership and genuine community purpose.
Shaded outdoor patio tables line the side and back of the building, giving the whole scene an easy, unhurried charm.
Lovera’s holds a 4.8-star rating across more than 800 Google reviews, which is a number that speaks for itself in a state where Italian markets aren’t exactly on every corner. The store functions as both a specialty grocery and a deli counter, pulling in campers from nearby Lake Eufaula, road-trippers cutting between Texas and Arkansas, and devoted regulars who’ve been shopping here for forty-plus years.
Generations of Family Behind the Counter
Family businesses carry a certain weight that corporate grocery chains simply cannot replicate. At Lovera’s, that weight shows up in the way staff greet first-timers, the consistency of the house-made products, and the fact that regulars mention returning for forty years without blinking.
This is not a trend. This is a legacy.
The Lovera family has built something rare in rural Oklahoma: a specialty food destination that competes on quality, not convenience. The store stocks items you genuinely cannot find at a standard supermarket, and the house-made products reflect a level of craft that takes years to develop.
Sausages, cheeses, pasta sauces, and baked goods are all made in-house, carrying the kind of consistency that only comes from doing something the same careful way, year after year.
Staff are frequently described as warm, knowledgeable, and genuinely happy to help. First-time visitors who mention it’s their first trip are often invited to sample house-made cheese and sausage before buying.
That kind of hospitality is not a marketing strategy. It’s just how the family runs the place, and it’s a big reason why people keep coming back long after that first visit.
The Cheese Counter and What Makes It Worth the Drive
Fresh cheese wrapped in wax casing is not something most Oklahoma grocery stores carry. At Lovera’s, it’s just a Tuesday.
The market makes its own cheeses in-house, and the selection behind the counter is legitimately difficult to choose from, which is a good problem to have.
The cheese arrives fresh enough that the wax casing is still intact, a detail that signals quality before you’ve even tasted anything. Regulars describe standing at the counter trying to decide between varieties, each one looking better than the last.
Staff will cut portions to order, which means you’re never stuck buying more than you need or less than you want.
For shoppers who want to try before committing, first-time visitors can ask for samples of the house-made cheese and sausage. That sample moment tends to settle the question of whether the drive was worth it.
The answer is almost always yes. The cheese selection alone has turned casual drop-ins into dedicated return customers, people who plan road trips around a stop at Lovera’s specifically because they can’t find anything comparable closer to home.
Imported Goods, Specialty Oils, and Shelves Worth Exploring
Beyond the deli counter, Lovera’s functions as a full Italian pantry. The shelves run deep with imported pastas in shapes and cuts that go well past what any chain grocery carries.
Olive oil selection alone is worth the stop, with multiple varieties lining the shelves in a range that gives home cooks real options rather than a single default choice.
Alongside the oils and pastas, you’ll find pickled items, specialty spices, Italian cookies, artisan breads, and seasonings that fill gaps in any serious home kitchen. The store also carries house-made pasta sauces, including marinara and pizza sauce, which shoppers frequently take home in multiples after tasting one jar and wanting backups.
Take-home and bake meal kits, like a Chicken Parmigiana package that genuinely feeds four, round out the grocery side of the store.
Every visit tends to surface something new. Regular shoppers mention discovering products they hadn’t noticed on previous trips, which keeps the browsing experience fresh even for people who’ve been coming for years.
The store manages to pack a serious amount of variety into a compact footprint, and the quality-to-price ratio across the imported and house-made goods consistently earns praise from shoppers comparing it to big-city Italian markets.
The Deli Counter and Sandwiches That Earn Their Reputation
Sandwiches at Lovera’s have developed a following that goes beyond casual lunch traffic. The deli counter in the back of the store turns out several options that regulars talk about with the kind of enthusiasm usually reserved for restaurant discoveries.
The muffuletta is a standout, generous enough to split between two people and built with the layered flavors the sandwich is supposed to have.
The brisket sandwich appears frequently in conversations about the market, served on toasted flatbread with a sweet and savory BBQ sauce that bridges the Italian market setting with Oklahoma’s deep love of smoked meat. Pulled pork and pork loin sandwiches round out the BBQ side of the menu, each priced around ten dollars.
The Bada Bing sandwich has also earned serious fans among people who make a point of ordering it every visit.
Cannolis are hand-filled to order, which makes a meaningful difference in texture compared to pre-filled versions that sit too long. House-made Italian cookies and blueberry cheesecake give the dessert side of the counter something worth lingering over.
The deli operates within store hours, but arriving early gives you the best shot at freshly cut sandwiches before the counter gets busy on weekend afternoons.
House-Made Sausages and Fresh Meat Selection
Meat at Lovera’s goes well beyond what the word “grocery store” typically implies. The market makes its own Italian sausage in-house, and it’s the kind of product that ends up in coolers and ice chests headed back to Tulsa, Dallas, and Bentonville after people make the stop on a through-trip.
The sausage has a consistency and seasoning that’s hard to replicate at home, which is exactly why it moves the way it does.
Fresh cuts are available at the counter, and staff will slice and portion to order. The meat selection covers a solid range of Italian-style deli options alongside the house-made varieties, and buying fresh rather than pre-packaged is the approach most regulars recommend.
The market also offers meat bundle boxes for purchase, though the store’s own guidance leans toward fresh cuts for the best experience.
For shoppers who want to take house-made sausage home, buying it the day of and keeping it properly chilled is the straightforward play. The in-house production means the sausage reflects the same family recipe that’s been driving repeat visits for years.
It’s the kind of product that makes people reroute road trips just to stock up before heading back across state lines.
Outdoor Seating, Atmosphere, and Who Loves This Place
Around eight shaded patio tables sit along the side and back of the building, giving Lovera’s a casual outdoor dining setup that works well for anyone grabbing a sandwich and wanting a few minutes to breathe after a long drive. The setting is unpretentious and comfortable, with the kind of low-key charm that fits the overall personality of Krebs itself.
The crowd at Lovera’s is genuinely mixed. Campers swinging through from Lake Eufaula pick up take-home meal kits and fresh cheese.
Road-trippers on Highway 69 between Texas and Arkansas stop for sandwiches and end up leaving with bags of groceries. Tulsa day-trippers make the roughly two-hour drive specifically for the market, often pairing it with a meal at Pete’s Place restaurant nearby, which has its own long Italian-American history in Krebs.
The atmosphere inside the store runs warm and unhurried. The space is compact but thoughtfully stocked, and the staff keep things moving without making anyone feel rushed.
Online ordering is available through the market’s website at loverasmarket.com for shoppers who want to plan ahead or ship products home. The store also accepts EBT cards for non-hot food items, which broadens access beyond specialty-food shoppers.
Hours, Getting There, and What to Know Before You Go
Lovera’s Italian Market keeps consistent hours that reward early arrivals. Monday through Saturday, the store opens at 8 AM and closes at 6 PM.
Sunday hours run shorter, from 9 AM to 2 PM, so weekend timing matters if Sunday is your travel day. Arriving closer to opening gives you the best deli experience, with fresh-cut sandwiches and full counter availability before the afternoon rush.
Getting there is straightforward from Highway 69. The market sits at 95 NW 6th St in Krebs, about five minutes from the highway and just outside McAlester.
GPS handles the routing cleanly, and the drive through Krebs itself is a pleasant few minutes through a small town with genuine character. Parking is not a complicated situation at this scale of destination.
The phone number is 918-423-2842 for questions ahead of a visit, and the website at loverasmarket.com covers online ordering for anyone who wants to ship products or plan a pickup. Prices across the deli and grocery sections run reasonable by any measure, with sandwiches around ten dollars and grocery items priced well relative to what comparable specialty markets charge in larger cities.
Plan for at least thirty minutes inside, because browsing always takes longer than expected.
