by Jennie Lloyd | Photo by Cindy Alvarez
First thing in the morning, Dugal “is a wagging tail and a toy in his mouth,”
says Brian Hughes, owner of Queenies restaurant in Utica Square. Hughes is also Dugal’s dog dad. Every day, Dugal wakes up at 5 a.m., grabs a toy, and pads quietly up to Hughes’ face. Dugal knows Hughes is the one most likely “to get up, take him outside, feed him, and make a coffee. So that’s a great start,” Hughes says.
Dugal is a dapper, handsome gentleman. He’s a 15-month-old Golden Retriever with a vibrant golden-sunset coat, bright eyes, and a casual demeanor. Dugal “kinda grew up coming [to Queenie’s] and socializing a little bit,” Hughes says. “Dugal sometimes comes in for breakfast. He loves strawberries, but his new favorite is bacon” — served on a breakfast plate, of course.
On this midsummer afternoon, Dugal greets every passerby from his spot under a table on the shady patio. Everyone engages and shakes his hand. “He’s a restaurant patio dog,” Hughes says. “He likes going to Heirloom Rustic Ales or somewhere with us. He loves that kind of thing.”
The most charming thing about Dugal might be his love of sitting on things — things not meant to be a perch for a fully grown Golden Retriever. For example, Hughes shows off a photo of Dugal in a rainbow bow tie, grinning, thrilled, and absolutely at home on a table at Heirloom, the popular Kendall-Whittier brewery.
Dugal has a dog bestie at home, a more introverted fellow named Finn. He is a fiveyear-old rescue who isn’t big on strangers. At home, “Finn is the protective barker, Dugal is not,” Hughes says. “Dugal is the friendly ambassador.” He looks every bit the friendly ambassador too, with his lighthearted energy.
Dugal is the first dog Hughes has owned that he hadn’t adopted. Hughes and his
husband, Jason Glass, acquired Dugal as a puppy from a ranch south of Dallas. Two decades ago, Hughes rescued Great Danes, one of the largest breeds in the world. After three of those megasized friends, he and Glass decided to scale down in dog size. For the past 20 years, they typically have owned
two or three dogs at a time, now slightly smaller rescues. “For us, it’s always been organic. We just wait until we say, ‘Oh, I think that’s the dog!,’ ” Hughes says.
Dugal loves to run at the dog park and play fetch with his spiky ball. “He won’t stop, you have to stop. He never tires, although his energy is mostly like this.…” Hughes gestures to a very relaxed Dugal, still lying under his corner table at Queenies. However, in classic Dugal fashion, at one point, he attempted to get up and fit himself into a chair.
A Fresh Opportunity
Long before Dugal came along to brighten up the patio at Queenies, the restaurant was already a big part of Hughes’ life. He fell into the restaurant industry after high school and has always loved cooking. He went back to Oklahoma State University– Tulsa to earn an M.B.A. at night, which meant he was suddenly seeking a day job.
Someone suggested Queenies, so “I applied for a job as a busboy,” Hughes says. “So in the 1990s, that’s what I started doing. I did that for years, to the point when I was finally running it and doing all of the bookkeeping, and then I left for 20 years to work in design.”
In 2019, Ruth Young, the owner of Queenies for almost four decades, was ready to retire. Hughes, who loved Queenies, was
interested in a fresh opportunity. While the transfer of ownership occurred, Queenies also switched locations, a hundred yards over in Utica Square. The move gained the restaurant an attractive corner location with a larger patio, more windows, and a larger indoor space. “We felt this was the move to make,” Hughes says.
Hughes is a working owner, so you will find him at the restaurant often — with a broad smile and a casual, friendly demeanor, a little like Dugal. “I enjoy making people happy … and we were honored to perpetuate a Tulsa tradition. So we decided, ‘Let’s just do that. And have fun with it.’ ”
Comforting and Familiar
Hughes learned a lot from Young. She taught him about finding a culinary identity, about cooking and baking, about perspective. Cooking doesn’t have to be sophisticated; it just needs a point of view. After all those years, returning to Queenies “is a cool homecoming for me,” Hughes says — a new perspective.
For Hughes and for much of Tulsa,
Queenies is “a familiar, welcoming home.” Everything on the menu is homemade, like your mom and grandma used to make. Queenies is “something comforting and familiar and whole and real,” Hughes says. The menu is unchanged, classic. In the new space, Hughes has added an espresso machine serving Cirque Coffee and a bar menu with mimosas, wine, and beer.
“There’s nothing mystifying about a sandwich shop or cooking breakfast,” Hughes says. “But I like that it’s that easy.”
Hughes muses about an occasional host shift, with Dugal as maître d’ on the patio. His bow tie would work well. “He likes people, people like him. Maybe one day, Dugal can host more often.”
Until then, Dugal is always there, waiting for Hughes at the end of the day with “a wagging tail and a toy in his mouth.” Dugal is welcoming, familiar, and friendly — just like Queenies.
