Reba McEntire opened her first restaurant, Reba’s Place, in Oklahoma in 2023—and it’s been a hit ever since. Google Reviews is filled with hundreds of five-star ratings, with fans raving about the food, the atmosphere, and of course, the Reba memorabilia.
Ever since I heard the news that the beloved country star was opening a restaurant that features live music and some down-home comfort food, I’ve wanted to try it out. However, I, unfortunately, haven’t found myself in Atoka, Oklahoma, anytime in the past few years.
So when our sister brand, “People,” got their hands on an at-home recipe for one of the items on the menu, I knew I had to try it out. And when it just so happened to be a BLT recipe—one of my favorite quick and easy summertime sandwiches—I was even more excited.
How to Make the Reba’s Place BLT Sandwich
Surprisingly, Reba’s Place doesn’t make its menu easy to find online. Neither the official website nor the restaurant’s social media pages include it, so when I wanted to see what was on offer, I had to dig through Facebook check-ins—where a few users had posted photos of the menu.
In the restaurant’s early days, one Facebook user shared a snapshot that featured a BLT Sandwich made with “small batch applewood smoked bacon, heirloom tomato, leaf lettuce, ‘BLT’ aioli on cracked wheat bread.” But a few months later, another user posted an updated menu, noting that the BLT had disappeared. It seems the sandwich might be a seasonal item—hopefully making a return every year during peak tomato season.
However, with that being said, “People” shared the sandwich’s recipe, which is most notable for its “BLT” aioli—made with garlic confit, tomato paste, egg yolk, canola oil, bacon, basil, and salt.
To make the sandwich, you’ll make a garlic confit with olive oil and a head of garlic. Then, after the garlic confit is completely cooled (so it doesn’t scramble the egg yolk), you’ll combine the garlic cloves with the egg yolk and tomato paste, then slowly add the oils to create a mayo-type consistency. You’ll add the chopped cooked bacon, basil leaves, and salt—then you can assemble the sandwich.
To assemble, top a piece of toasted bread with the signature aioli, a few slices of tomato, a few pieces of bacon, and lettuce, then cover with the second piece of toasted bread. At Reba’s Place, all sandwiches are served with homemade pickles and russet potato fries, but you can serve your version with whatever you like.
Bailey Fink
We Tried the Reba’s Place BLT Sandwich
Don’t get me wrong, this sandwich was delicious, but, man, was it a lot of work for a BLT. I love a BLT because it’s so easy—bacon, lettuce, tomato, some kind of mayo, and your favorite bread. The “hardest” thing about the sandwich is supposed to be cooking up all your bacon so it’s crispy—and not eating all the strips before assembly.
So, having to make garlic confit and homemade aioli, which took about two hours in itself, was a bit disappointing. Sure, after realizing you like the recipe, you could probably big batch the aioli for easy assembly later, but two hours is a lot of time for an aioli that you can only use on one sandwich (because I cut the recipe in half to only make one). Again, though, the aioli was really tasty.
For someone who sings about the “single mom who works two jobs,” I think McEntire forgot about her target audience here. So, at the end of the day, I think I’d stick to ordering this BLT at Reba’s actual Place and make my favorite celeb BLT recipe (Joanna Gaines’) instead.
