Unearth The Voyage
There is a little restaurant in eastern Oklahoma that has regulars driving an hour each way just to sit down for breakfast. The name alone is enough to make you slow down as you pass it on the road.
The menu runs all day, the portions are generous, and the staff greet you like they already know your order. By the time you finish reading this, you will understand exactly why people keep coming back to this place every single chance they get.
The Address and Setting That Sets the Mood
Some restaurants earn their reputation through fancy decor or a prime downtown address. This one does it differently.
I Smell Bacon sits at 540 Selmon Rd, Eufaula, OK 74432, right in the heart of McIntosh County, a part of Oklahoma that most road maps barely bother to highlight.
The building itself is modest and unpretentious. There is nothing about the exterior that screams “destination restaurant,” which is exactly part of its charm.
The parking lot is easy to pull into, and there is plenty of room, which matters when the weekend crowd rolls in from all directions.
Eufaula is a small lakeside town that sits along the shores of Lake Eufaula, one of the largest man-made lakes in the United States. The town has a relaxed pace, and the restaurant fits right into that energy.
You are not rushing through a meal here. The whole experience encourages you to slow down, take a breath, and enjoy something made with real care.
First-timers often do a double take when they find it, but nobody leaves wishing they had skipped it.
A Name You Will Never Forget
The name does exactly what a great restaurant name should do: it stops you mid-thought and makes you grin. There is a reason people remember this place long after they have left Eufaula.
Before you even walk through the door, the name has already done its job.
Inside, the bacon theme continues with playful decor that includes bacon-themed shirts, mugs, and small novelty items displayed around the dining room. It is the kind of place where the personality of the owners comes through in every corner.
You can even pick up a souvenir on your way out, which makes it feel more like a full experience than just a meal stop.
The humor behind the name also sets the tone for the whole visit. This is not a place that takes itself too seriously, and that relaxed, fun energy filters into how the staff interact with customers and how comfortable you feel the moment you sit down.
A restaurant that can make you smile before the food even arrives has already won half the battle, and this one wins the other half with the food itself.
The Biscuits and Gravy That Start Conversations
Country gravy has a way of revealing a kitchen’s true character. The moment a plate of biscuits and gravy lands on the table at this spot, the rich, peppery aroma tells you something good is about to happen.
The gravy is thick and loaded with sausage, the kind that coats the biscuit rather than just drizzling over it.
The biscuits themselves are fluffy and buttery, baked to a soft golden color that holds up well under the weight of the gravy without turning soggy. It is a balance that not every diner gets right, but this kitchen has clearly been doing it long enough to know exactly what works.
Regulars who have eaten here multiple times consistently point to the biscuits and gravy as a highlight of the menu. A few visitors have compared the experience to sitting at a grandmother’s kitchen table on a Sunday morning.
That kind of memory-triggering comfort is hard to manufacture, and it is even harder to find in a restaurant setting.
At I Smell Bacon in Oklahoma, it happens on a regular basis, which is why the tables fill up fast most mornings.
Chicken Fried Steak Done Right
Not every restaurant that puts chicken fried steak on the menu actually knows how to make it. The version served here has developed a reputation that goes well beyond the local crowd.
Self-described chicken fried steak enthusiasts have called it the best they have ever had, and that is not a title that gets handed out easily in Oklahoma.
The steak is cooked to order, which means it arrives at the table hot and crispy rather than sitting under a heat lamp losing its texture. The batter has a satisfying crunch that gives way to a thick cut of beef that has been physically tenderized to a tender, juicy consistency.
Cutting into it releases a visible burst of steam, which tells you everything you need to know about how fresh it is.
You can order it with the breakfast option, which pairs it with two eggs cooked your way, hash browns, and biscuits, or go with the lunch option and choose a side and a roll. Either way, it is the kind of plate that commands your full attention from the first bite to the last.
The chicken fried steak alone is worth the drive to Eufaula.
The Breakfast Menu That Runs All Day
One of the most genuinely satisfying things about this restaurant is that the full breakfast menu stays available all day long. The kitchen does not flip to a limited menu after 10 AM and leave you disappointed if you rolled in late.
Whatever is on the board in the morning is still on the board at noon.
The breakfast special is a crowd favorite and delivers real value: two eggs cooked to your preference, a choice of bacon or sausage, hash browns or home fries, and toast or a biscuit with gravy. For the price, it is a generous plate that keeps you satisfied well into the afternoon.
The portions here are not shy, and first-timers often learn that lesson by accidentally over-ordering.
Beyond the classic breakfast plate, the menu includes omelets like the Spanish omelet and the Big Pig omelet, both of which are packed with ingredients and arrive at the table still steaming. The eggs are cooked fresh to order, and the hash browns come out golden when you want them that way.
The variety gives everyone at the table something to look forward to, no matter what kind of morning eater they are.
Lunch Options That Hold Their Own
Breakfast gets most of the attention here, but the lunch side of the menu is not just an afterthought. The kitchen produces solid comfort food through the early afternoon hours, and regular customers who work nearby often call in their lunch orders because they know exactly what they want and trust that it will be ready.
The chicken pot pie is one of those lunch items that keeps showing up in conversations about this place. It has a loyal following among the midday crowd, and on any given weekday you will see a good number of plates with that golden crust making their way out of the kitchen.
The fried okra has also earned a devoted fan base, with some visitors saying it is the best version they have ever tasted.
Popcorn shrimp rounds out the lunch offerings in a way that surprises first-timers who expect only egg-and-bacon territory. The fact that the kitchen handles both breakfast and lunch with equal confidence says something about the range of skill in that kitchen.
Whether you come in at 6 AM or closer to the 2 PM closing time, there is something on the menu worth ordering, and the kitchen will still make it fresh.
The Cinnamon Rolls and Pie Worth Saving Room For
Most people show up at this place for the savory stuff, and they are right to do so. But leaving without at least glancing at the glass display case near the counter would be a missed opportunity.
The cinnamon rolls sitting in that case have stopped more than a few people mid-exit.
The rolls are large, soft, and coated in a generous layer of frosting that makes them look almost too good to eat. Almost.
Several visitors have called them the most amazing cinnamon rolls they have ever had, which is a bold claim that the rolls apparently back up without any hesitation. They are the kind of baked good that makes you wish you had saved more room.
The pie selection changes but is consistently worth trying. A slice of pie at the end of a big breakfast sounds ambitious, but the quality here makes a compelling case for it.
The display case also holds fruit bowls and other small treats that round out the sweet side of the menu. At a restaurant with this much going on in the savory department, it is a pleasant surprise to find that the dessert game is equally serious.
Order the cinnamon roll early so it does not sell out before you get to it.
The Staff and the Small-Town Welcome
There is a particular kind of warmth that small-town diners either have or they do not. At this restaurant, it is clearly something the staff takes seriously.
Regular customers are greeted by name, orders are remembered, and the overall atmosphere feels less like a transaction and more like a visit with people who are genuinely glad you stopped in.
The owners are a visible presence in the dining room and have built the kind of rapport with their regulars that makes people feel like part of a community rather than just a table to turn over. New visitors often comment on how quickly they felt at ease, even walking into a room where most other customers clearly know each other.
One story that circulates about this place involves a regular customer who once picked up the tab for a table of strangers before they had finished eating, simply because that is the kind of place it is. That kind of generosity reflects the atmosphere the staff and owners have cultivated over time.
In a world where dining out can feel rushed and impersonal, this corner of Oklahoma offers something genuinely different, and the staff deserves a lot of credit for maintaining that standard every single day.
Hours, Pricing, and Tips for Your Visit
Planning your visit to I Smell Bacon takes a little attention to detail, because the schedule has a few quirks worth knowing before you make the drive. The restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday from 6 AM to 2 PM.
Monday and Tuesday are closed, so showing up on those days will leave you standing in an empty parking lot with a serious craving and nowhere to put it.
The pricing falls firmly in the budget-friendly category, which makes the generous portion sizes even more impressive. The most expensive item on the menu, the chicken fried steak, is still accessible by almost any standard.
You can have a full, satisfying meal here without spending much at all, which is part of why the local crowd keeps coming back so consistently.
A few practical tips worth keeping in mind: the place is small, so a wait during peak weekend hours is common. The staff have been known to seat guests even right before closing and still prepare the full menu, which speaks to their hospitality, but arriving earlier gives you a more relaxed experience.
If you want to call ahead, the number is 918-689-2686.
Parking is easy, access is straightforward, and the whole visit tends to feel effortless from start to finish.
Why People Keep Making the Drive Back
A 4.5-star rating built on nearly 1,000 reviews does not happen by accident. It reflects years of consistent food, reliable service, and a dining experience that people want to repeat and tell their friends about.
The numbers behind this restaurant tell a story of a place that has earned its following one plate at a time.
What keeps people returning is not just the food, though the food is genuinely good. It is the combination of everything: the familiar faces behind the counter, the comfort of knowing what to expect, and the satisfaction of a meal that costs little but delivers a lot.
Road trippers passing through Eufaula, lake visitors spending a weekend at Lake Eufaula, and locals who have been eating here for years all share the same basic experience.
Oklahoma has no shortage of diners and breakfast spots scattered across its towns and highways, but few of them have managed to build this kind of loyal, enthusiastic following. The name is memorable, the food is real, and the welcome is genuine.
Those three things together are rarer than they sound, and they are exactly why I Smell Bacon continues to be one of the most talked-about breakfast spots in this part of the state.
