OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE: Food, animals ties Kilpatrick's life together

Restaurant co-owner Susannah Barns Kilpatrick says she loves the unpredictability of food service.

“You never put yourself in a box, you never know what you’re going to be doing,” she said. “I guess that’s why I love this work, I hate to be one of those people who just goes to work and does the same thing every day.”

She has become quite familiar with such unpredictability.

Kilpatrick recalls working at Charlie’s Chicken during college. She said she studied teaching in college.

“I was managing restaurants and making more money than I would have if I was teaching,” she said, adding that she still does bookkeeping for the chicken chain.

She and her husband, Darren, have done several restaurant and catering ventures over the years. They built and operated Kilharen’s Lodge from 2008 to 2020.

They also had a food trailer, KH Pit Barbecue, which they took to state fairs and motor events in several states.

“We worked with a company called Levy Restaurant group and they contracted us with NHRA, NASCAR, and other state fairs,” she said.

Working out of two semis, they did the Colorado State Fair and Stillwater’s Calf Fry Music Festival for a few years.

“Calf Fry was most taxing because we were the only vendor,” she said. “But it was also a lot of fun.”

All this, while operating Hamlin’s Mexican Restaurant, JL’s Barbecue in Pryor and a roasted sweet corn booth at Tulsa State Fair.

Kilpatrick said they’ve eased up on their schedule to focus on the restaurants and sweet corn stand. They also handle some rental houses.

When she’s not around food, Kilpatrick loves being around horses and cattle. They have three horses on their 40-acre spread on Fern Mountain Road, and have a herd of show cattle across the street.

“I love it when it’s calving season, it’s fun to see new life,” she said. “There’s nothing like it.”

Restaurant business keeps her on her toes

Susannah Kilpatrick keeps an unpredictable schedule at the restaurant.

“The weeks are so different,” she said. “Some weeks, you might work for 60 hours and the next week you might not be here but 30. “It’s based on staff and issues that arise.”

Many of those issues involve scheduling.

“You have filling in for an employee who doesn’t show up, or a host that doesn’t show up, or a cook,” she said. “You never know what you’re going to be that day. You have to be flexible.”

Kilpatrick said she handles accounting, scheduling and payroll. She also waits tables or rings up orders if needed.

“Every Sunday morning, we come straight from church, so it’s all hands on deck,” she said. “And we love it because that’s when we’re the busiest. He’s cooking and I’m in front, and we just have so many customers who are like family to us.

She said the restaurant has a great crew.

“In the past six to eight months, things have changed drastically for us,” she said. “We just have a really strong crew now.”

SHE travels country

with food trailer

Kilpatrick recalls taking the barbecue trailers to many major motorsports events.

A favorite gig was Route 66 NHRA Nationals hot rod races near Chicago.

“If you’ve never been to those races, it’s one of the craziest, loudest places,” she said. “Their fan base is incredible.”

She recalled “a completely different culture” at the track.

“It’s kind of like money is no object,” she said. “It’s like people are just throwing dollars at race cars. It’s really something to see. It’s so loud, oh my goodness.”

Fortunately, many spent dollars at their trailer.

“We had lines just as far as we could see,” she said.

She appreciated the set times for the races, which meant she could plan for crowds when each race was over.

“That was always fun about those was because there were breaks,” she said. “You knew when you were going to be busy as opposed to not knowing when they were going to hit.”

She also recalled working the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.

”There was about 395,000 people in line with that outfit, insane amount of people,” she said. “After being with all those people, it’s so nice to be back to wide open spaces.”

Horses soothe

the daily grind

Kilpatrick said time with her horses offers relief at the end of a long day.

“They’re the best listeners,” she said. “Going to the barn is my wind-down time. My favorite smell is the smell of a barn, dirty leather and feed and wood chips.”

She said the everyday busy-ness of the world stops when she’s with the horses.

Kirkpatrick said she goes out to feed the horses every night.

“They each have their own stall,” she said. “Everybody gets their own feed, the fatties versus the needs to be fatter.”

During summer, the horses eat in the pasture.

Their three horses are Ahna, a paint she’s had for five years; Chocolate Chip which her husband has owned for 22 years, and Lucy, who has been in the family for two years.

“And she’s just precious to me, my new baby,” Susannah Kilpatrick said.

“The girls rule the roost,” she said. “Chocolate Chip is the low man on the totem pole. The girls are the first to everything and just push him out of the way when it comes time to eat.”

She said she and her husband try to ride horses once or twice a week when the weather cools down.

“It’s the ultimate relaxation,” she said.

HOW DID YOU COME TO BE AN OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE?

“My parents have both been here a long time. My dad’s gone now, but Mom is still here. My grandparents were both pillars of the community.”

WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT MUSKOGEE?

“It’s just a small town feel. Everybody knows your name. The conveniences. If you like rural living, like I do, this is the perfect place. But, I think you have to go back to the people.”

WHAT WOULD MAKE MUSKOGEE A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE?

“It’s all about pride and responsibility, everybody’s got to take care of their little piece of the pie. We have a great place. We just need to be proud of it.”

WHAT PERSON IN MUSKOGEE DO YOU ADMIRE MOST?

“It would have to be my grandfather, Nolen Denton. He always taught me to put others first. His faith and good deeds are still talked about today; he’s been gone 20 years. Someone the other day told me about the impact he made, his legacy.

WHAT IS THE MOST MEMORABLE THING TO HAPPEN TO YOU IN MUSKOGEE?

“That’s hard to say since all of my joys and heartbreaks have all happened here. I don’t know if I can put just one. We’ve always been here. Everything’s memorable.

WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?

“I love to ride horses. This year, we started closing on Mondays, and we don’t know what to do with ourselves because we’ve always worked seven days a week, so we’re enjoying fishing.

HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP MUSKOGEE IN 25 WORDS OR LESS?

“Muskogee is what you make it. If you get plugged in with the right people and the right community, it can be a wonderful place to live.”

AGE: 44.

HOMETOWN: Muskogee.

EDUCATION: Harris-Jobe Elementary School; West Junior High; Muskogee High School, class of 1997; degree in elementary education, Northeastern State University.

PROFESSION: Restaurant owner.

FAMILY: Husband, Darren; son, Wyatt; three stepchildren, Suzie, D.J. and Parker.

CHURCH: First Baptist Church.

HOBBIES: Three horses, working out, running, fishing, traveling.

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