Tulsa’s downtown vibe isn’t what it used to be. It’s better than ever, growing and thriving like never before. Inside the IDL (Inner Dispersal Loop), the highway system that frames T-Town’s downtown, there is so much to do these days, it’s hard to know where to start.

Throughout this flourishing 1.4 square mile region of Tulsa, downtown is the home not only to some great places to be entertained, but some even more amazing places to eat. Whether you’re visiting Tulsa for the first time or Boom Town is old hat to you, there’s one thing we can all agree on — no time out on the town is complete without a great meal. Here’s our list of don’t-miss-spots to chow down in Tulsa’s downtown.

Whether you were born in Oklahoma, recently moved here or are just passing through, one truth about our food is clearly obvious if you take a little drive around the area; we love our barbecue. In fact, there may be more barbecue spots in Green Country than churches, which is saying a lot in the Bible Belt.

What we’re saying is — if you’ve got a craving for smoked bologna, chopped brisket, pulled pork or wood-flavored ribs, you are in the right place. Tulsa and the surrounding towns are filled with barbecue restaurants, many of them the family-run, hole-in-the-wall joints that boast amazingly good food for a great price. A few are locally born chains that still retain that down-home feel you know and love about Okie food.

Of course, you can argue best barbecue all day in Green Country, asking questions like: Is it better to smoke with hickory or pecan wood? Is the best sauce sweet or spicy? Does great barbecue even need sauce, or should it be eaten straight up? Where’s the best spot in the area to enjoy a meal? The debate can go on and on endlessly.

Or you can just try ‘em all, and enjoy each of our homespun barbecue spots for what makes them unique, whether it’s interesting combos, classic dishes, large portions, great desserts or something else. There’s something to love at every one of the places we’ve included on our list. Go forth and taste them all. Just bring some wet wipes to clean up your sauce-covered fingers after you chow down.

Would you believe that Tulsans don’t eat as much of the seafood they should to maintain a healthy diet? It’s true. In fact, nearly nine out of 10 Americans don’t eat the recommended amount of fish from the official USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

But we really don’t have any excuse to miss out on this lean, healthy protein here in Green Country — because it can be incorporated into our diet pretty easily, in a lot of ways. Fresh seafood is shipped to this part of the country within a day of being caught. And wild-caught seafood is available at most grocery stores year-round. Quick and easy seafood recipes abound in most cookbooks at home or can be found on the internet for some surprisingly tasty meals.

In addition to cooking it yourself, Preview 918’s favorite restaurants around town provide such amazing tasting seafood that we really should be indulging ourselves by eating on the healthy side more often. From hand rolled sushi to plump, juicy shrimp, or buttered lobster to melt-in-your-mouth, Alaska-caught salmon, Atlantic cod or mahi mahi from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico — all of these and more are waiting to land in your belly at these excellent restaurants around Tulsa and northeast Oklahoma.

Whether you have just one delicious slice or an entire pie (or three), whether you eat it as a regular meal or as a special party treat, pizza is an American favorite. The National Association of Pizza Operators says Americans consume 100 acres of pizza a day. Sounds like a bunch of under-reporting to us, but the point is, Americans love themselves some pie. A different study reported in the New York Daily News estimates that the average American will eat around 6,000 slices of pizza in their lifetime.

That’s a lot of dough — both the flour-based kind that provides the base for each slice, and the green kind being handed over the counter to pay for it all. Why in the world do we love our pizza so much? The taste, of course!

Want classic? Go for a straightforward Margherita. Traditional? There’s pepperoni and sausage everywhere. Gourmet? Choices abound — from crab and roasted duck to mac and cheese. (Yes, on a pizza.) Nowadays, the type of preparation is important, too, as we’re seeing more coal-fired pizza places showing up, as well as those with fancy specialty ovens. So how do you decide where to go?

In the Tulsa area, there are so many places to get fantastic pizza, we couldn’t list them all. But here are some of our current favorites you just have to try before your lifetime of pizza loving is through.