Oklahoma Burgers, Frozen Drinks, and Creative Comfort Food Arrive in Allston

Oklahoma onion burgers at Sloane’s. / Photo by Earl Studios

Chef Sarah Wade knows comfort food. From serving up hearty dishes as opening executive chef at Lulu’s Allston to winning on Chopped to opening her first restaurant, Stillwater, where she serves over-the-top pancakes and French toast and Best of Boston mac and cheese, the Oklahoma native knows how to make food fun. Next up? A second restaurant—Sloane’s, with the tagline “unapologetically delicious comfort food and cocktails”—where she’s continuing to cook up creative twists on classics. The fries are curly, the condiments are flavor-packed, and the desserts are nostalgic. Sloane’s, named for Wade’s daughter, opens on Monday, August 7 in Allston.

Topically, there’s an ode to the The Bear on the menu, a pulled beef pot roast sandwich with melted jack, pot jus, sweet peppers, and giardiniera. (Pot roast also shows up in pretzel crumb-topped mac and cheese.) There are plenty of other sandwiches, too, including a vegan sweet potato-chickpea fritter sandwich on a potato roll and a turkey club with smoked bacon marmalade and harissa mayo. Plus, Wade’s giving a nod to home with an Oklahoma onion burger. 

Sarah Wade. / Photo by Earl Studios

One dish Wade is most excited to serve, she tells Boston, is the pretzel-crusted chicken. “The pretzel-y crust is so nice with the honey mustard butter,” she says, “and I love the way the braised red cabbage brings the elements together. It’s reminiscent of all my favorite things: mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and vinegary cabbage.”

Don’t want to make any decisions? She recommends the following order for a table of two as a good way to see what Sloane’s is all about: Drink the Dirty Dill martini and Cool as a Cucumber, which each feature locally made spirits. Split the pub cheese and crackers and pigs in a blanket to start; get that pretzel-crusted chicken and “pastrami” cured salmon for entrees. A house-made Snickers bar sweetens the deal—and grab a couple scoops of ice cream to go, too, served Hoodsie-style. She recommends rum raisin and chocolate chip cookie.

Visit our Ultimate Guide to Boston Restaurant Openings, Summer 2023, to learn more about other exciting new openings this season.

Sloane’s also serves brunch daily, with plenty of egg dishes, blueberry pancakes “as big as your face,” and spiked cold brew. Speaking of spiked, the restaurant features what Wade is dubbing a “swim-up bar”—no pool or bathing suits here, unfortunately, but the patio has direct access to the bar, which is whipping up frozen drinks and boozy floats galore.

Desserts at Sloane’s. / Photo by Earl Studios

The Allston space—formerly home to Our Fathers, which is being revived in Fenway—has been warmed up with jewel-toned colors, dark stain on the millwork, three large chandeliers, and a mural above the bar by local artist Catherine Owens, says Wade. There’s room for about 100 people inside, including 20 bar seats, and 18 on the patio outside. Kerry Farr of Boston-based firm Farr North designed the space.

“Allston was my first restaurant home when I moved to Boston,” Wade previously told Boston, “and the neighborhood holds a special place in my heart. I’m coming home, baby!”

197 North Harvard St., Allston, Boston, sloanesboston.com.