Where Friends and Family Connect

Enjoy great food and atmosphere during Friday evening dinner at The Pink House.

Margo Stewart, owner of The Pink House in Claremore, is passionate about tea, great food and customer service. ­Inside the Victorian-era building, diners can experience a cozy atmosphere, select from over 60 teas to purchase and take home, and browse through their gift shop.

Walk through the doors of the Victorian-era house and you’ll see pink everywhere. While many men might be turned off by the restaurant name and the color, once they taste the ­

made-from-scratch food, they return to the Claremore landmark known as The Pink House. “The pink doesn’t bother them once they’ve tasted the food,” laughs owner Margo Stewart.

    The Pink House ­presents dinner on Friday nights from 5 to 8 p.m. “We offer three ­specials, along with the regular lunch menu,” says Margo. “Rib-eye steaks are always ­available along with two other specials each week. In the past, we’ve offered meatloaf as well as a pork loin with a specialty ­barbeque sauce.”

    When Margo bought The Pink House restaurant and tearoom in 2007, she knew she had big shoes to fill. Opened in 1982, the business has become a northeastern Oklahoma destination for those who love not only the tasty food, but also the cozy atmosphere. “My passion was to create a place for friends and families to connect over great food and a wonderful pot of tea,” she says. However, it was an Emilie Barnes book, “If Teacups Could Talk: Sharing a Cup of Kindness with Treasured Friends,” that sparked Margo’s desire to have a tearoom. “I loved the book about Emilie’s mother teaching her how to make tea and scones,” she says.

    Originally, Margo wanted to purchase a tearoom. However, she knew that a tearoom by itself wouldn’t make it. At the time, she was in charge of human resources at a large Tulsa church. Her search for a restaurant/tearoom led her to the Claremore business housed inside the ­three-story home built circa 1902.

    Well-known for its tasty ­cuisine, The Pink House offers two hot specialty casseroles, four quiches, chicken salad and other sandwiches, fresh crisp salads, wraps, homemade soups and made-from-scratch desserts, including baked fudge. Margo says you can find many recipes for baked fudge on the Internet, but The Pink House baked fudge is unique. “It’s made with our loving care,” she adds with a smile.

    Loving care goes into each dish as well as the variety of teas offered on the menu at this fun, unique restaurant. “We are always trying new dishes and desserts,” says Margo. “For example, people come in and ask for our Key Lime Cake, a recipe from Trisha Yearwood’s ­cookbook. If it’s not on the menu that day, we tell them to give us 24-hour notice and we’ll have it ready when they come in the next day.”

    All of the delicious food is prepared on-site. “Nothing is pre-packaged. I think our fresh food and customer care sets us apart from others. My mission is to take care of customers.”

    Margo is also passionate about getting more people to drink tea. In the tradition of what is known as “tea time,” The Pink House’s “High Tea” centers around the serving of freshly brewed tea. Guests can choose from over 50 loose-leaf teas. Because Margo believes that the tradition should be passed down through the generations, The Pink House offers Little Girl Tea Parties and Tween Parties as well as mother/daughter teas, high school senior teas, church group tea parties, and teas to celebrate showers. Tea parties, customized to meet the desires of the guests, are two-hour events beginning at 2 p.m. and feature soup, savories like finger sandwiches, mini-quiche, two kinds of scones, and dessert, if requested. “High Tea” is only offered by reservation.

    Since purchasing the ­business, Margo has added ­catering to their services. Shari Beguin, catering director, says, “We specialize in catering ­business breakfasts and lunches, boxed lunches and buffet or ­formal style spreads. We’ve catered weddings, showers, ­birthday parties, anniversary events and retirement parties.”

    The Pink House is open for lunch Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and for dinner on Fridays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.  For more information about the restaurant or to schedule ­catering or a High Tea, check out their website at www.pinkhouseofclaremore.com.

For more information, contact

The Pink House

www.pinkhouseofclaremore.com

About Author Carol Beck-Round

After 30 years in public school education, Carol Round retired and moved from Grand Lake to Claremore, Oklahoma in 2005, where she writes a weekly faith-based column which runs in 14 Oklahoma newspapers as well as several national and international publications. Three volumes of her columns have been compiled into collections: A Matter of Faith, Faith Matters and by FAITH alone. She has also written Journaling with Jesus: How to Draw Closer to God and a companion workbook, The 40-Day Challenge. This past year she has written three children’s books, a series called Nana’s 3 Jars, to teach children about the value of giving, saving and spending money. All of Carol’s books are available through Amazon. In addition to writing her weekly column, authoring books and speaking to women’s groups, she writes for Value News. She also blogs regularly at www.carolaround.com. When she is not writing or speaking, she loves spending time with her three grandchildren, working in her flowerbeds, shooting photos, volunteering at her church or going on mission trips overseas, and hiking. She is also an avid reader and loves working crosswords and trying to solve Sudoku puzzles.