Summary:

1. Would have been fine in 1972, missing much by today’s standards.
   

Details:

1. Positives:
   

2. •Helpful, friendly staff
   

3. •moderate prices,
   

4. •wide menu selection
   

5. •quirky, pleasant decor
   

6. •Sincere intent to please customers
   

7. Negatives:
   

8. •Food quality is ‘70s diner
   

9. •fundamentals like water and coffee are iffy
   

10. •Quality control is highly variable.
    

11. 
    

12. We had two meals at Selena’s -- breakfasts and dinners for three. The visits were separated by some months, so it seems safe to assume that repetitive problems are not accidents:
    

13. •Selena’s water tastes nasty, and unfortunately that water goes into coffee, tea, sodas and food dishes. Most restaurants have a carbon filter on their incoming water, or individual carbon filters on potable water sources intended for human consumption. It is a mistake to assume that city water will be good enough for restaurant use, at least in Sapulpa.
    

14. •Selena’s hot-breads are uniformly hard on the outside and dry on the inside -- they appear to have been microwaved to warm them up for service. This is very difficult to do correctly, and probably shouldn’t even be attempted.
    

15. •Selena’s savory dishes are consistently under-seasoned and bland, an odd habit for a “steakhouse” -- normally associated with robust flavors. If this was “Selena’s Tearoom”...
    

16. On the positive side, most dishes were cooked with reasonable care, and presented with decorative garnishes.
    

Conclusion:

Selena’s seems to want to be in the “Casual Dining” class of restaurant, but they appear to be unaware of current standards in that category.  Selena’s needs to pay more attention to fundamentals like water and ingredient quality, seasoning and general quality control. If Selena’s food was as good as I think they want it to be, they’d have a winner.

But wanting isn’t enough.