Downtown Tulsa Has a Grocery Store Again: Oasis on Sixth Street, Wildflower's New Chapel Home and Take 2's Return

On Monday, Sept. 21, AJ Johnson walked through the downtown Oasis Fresh Market while staff were still stocking the produce shelves. "Twenty-one months we have been in this journey to open Oasis downtown," he told the Tulsa Flyer that day. The store was supposed to open in June. It opened in the fall, inside the ARCO apartment building at 119 E. 6th St.

Downtown Tulsa hasn't had a grocery store since Folks Urban Market closed in 2014, seven months after it opened. Homeland left in 2002. The grocery store is the biggest piece of news, but it didn't arrive alone. Within the same three weeks, Wildflower Cafe reopened on South Boulder and Take 2 came back to South Main. Each one covers a different part of the day. With the grocery store's long hours tying them together, downtown can now handle breakfast, lunch and the evening grocery run on its own.

How the hours fit together

The two cafes close by mid-afternoon. The grocery store opens before either cafe and stays open six hours after Wildflower closes. That's why Oasis is the center of this fall's changes. Until now, downtown food mostly meant restaurant hours. A store that opens at dawn and closes at 9 p.m. is what lets someone live downtown day to day.

Oasis took longer because the building is old

The June date slipped for reasons tied to the building itself. The Oklahoma Eagle reported on Sept. 4 that the store ran into historic-building code requirements and health department clearances it hadn't expected, including trouble replacing an exterior door. European equipment was also held up by shipping delays and federal tariffs.

In the meantime, Oasis opened a small market inside the downtown Western Supply apartments. News On 6 described it on Sept. 6 as a preview of the larger store. The soft opening at the ARCO building followed on Sept. 21, with short test hours while staff took feedback. The official ribbon cutting was Sept. 30. At the ceremony, Johnson told KTUL it was "the first independently owned grocery store in a downtown town metroplex in the country."

The downtown store is Oasis's third full location. The first is in north Tulsa at 1725 N. Peoria Ave. In August, Oasis took over a former Cox Cash Saver near 61st and Peoria. The company runs the downtown store itself and leases the space from Price Family Partnerships, which owns the ARCO building.

What's on the shelves, and what's still coming

The store covers 14,000 square feet, with a grab-and-go section in the middle. KTUL's opening report lists fresh produce, meats, everyday groceries, lunch specials, a fresh food bar, prepared meals and catering for local businesses.

Three details were still open when the store opened. Before your first trip, check these:

• The deli and salad bar. On Sept. 21, Oasis said a deli serving hot meals and a separate salad bar would arrive "in the coming weeks," and that report didn't give a date.
• Opening time. KTUL lists 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. News On 6's Sept. 30 story lists a 7 a.m. opening. If you're planning a stop before work, call ahead.
• Parking out front. The plan announced at the soft opening was to turn the bike lanes on that block into parking spaces. See whether that's finished before you drive in expecting a space at the door.

The Tulsa Flyer also showed what the store means for people without a car. One downtown resident told the paper that getting groceries had meant walking to Warehouse Market at 301 S. Lewis Ave., a trip of more than an hour, and that bad weather sometimes meant going without. For downtown residents who walk, the nearest full grocery store went from an hour's walk to a few minutes.

Wildflower Cafe found a chapel on Boulder

Wildflower Cafe's previous home on Route 66 closed in January. Over the spring and summer, the staff worked at a satellite location at Philbrook Art & Gardens and painted dining room walls at the new space. The Tulsa Flyer reported that every one of them stayed employed through the move.

The new location is MODE Tulsa at 913 S. Boulder Ave., in the former chapel of downtown's old First Christian Church. Regular service began Thursday, Sept. 10. The dining room seats more than 100, and there's now a private dining room. Owner Heather Linville told the Tulsa Flyer that the whole menu made the move. The Wildflower Breakfast, huevos rancheros, banana bread French toast and blueberry crepes are all still there. "We did add a few items I think people will be excited about," she said. "We have chilaquiles on the menu now, along with a French dip and a reuben." The collection of mismatched coffee mugs came along too, and servers pick a mug to match each diner.

There's one more piece coming at this address. The Tulsa Flyer's September report said the former sanctuary next to the dining room will soon be a coffee shop and event space, without naming an operator or a date.

Take 2 is back for weekday lunch on Main

Take 2: A Resonance Café reopened on Oct. 1 at 330 S. Main St. It serves lunch Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Resonance Center for Women runs the cafe, which provides paid jobs and training for women rebuilding their lives. TulsaPeople covered the Aug. 27 ribbon cutting for the new downtown space, held as the cafe marked its 10th anniversary. Questions about catering or group orders go to café manager Tom Dittus at 918-861-4555.

Take 2's short weekday window is exactly where Wildflower and Oasis overlap. On a weekday, all three are open from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

A weekday downtown, start to finish

Here's how the openings line up on a single Tuesday, using the hours each business has posted:

1. 7 a.m. Breakfast at Wildflower Cafe on Boulder, or coffee and something from the grab-and-go section at Oasis if the 6 a.m. opening holds.
2. Noon. Lunch at Take 2 on Main, or a later lunch at Wildflower, which serves until 3.
3. After 5 p.m. Groceries at Oasis on 6th Street. It's the only one of the three still open after 3 p.m., and it stays open until 9.

Weekends are a little shorter. Take 2 is closed, so Saturdays and Sundays come down to Wildflower until 3 and Oasis until 9.

Getting downtown from Broken Arrow, and around 4th Street

If you commute in from Broken Arrow, MetroLink's Route 900, the Downtown/Broken Arrow Express, serves Boston Avenue and 6th Street. The weekday schedule shows a northbound stop there at 7:20 a.m. and an outbound stop toward Battle Creek at 5:13 p.m. Check the current Route 900 schedule for the other times. With an evening departure from that stop, a grocery run fits between leaving the office and catching the bus home.

If you're driving, the City of Tulsa reported in July that work on East 4th Street between Detroit and Lansing was diverting traffic, and that parts of the street will become two-way permanently. The city's update put completion in spring 2027, so expect that detour all winter.

Having a grocery store and a good breakfast close to home changes daily life, especially when you're helping a parent choose a place where errands don't depend on a long drive. If you or your family are thinking about which parts of the Tulsa area put everyday stops like these within easy reach, Joanna Ford is happy to talk through it with you. Let's Connect.