The cluster of restaurants at Riverwalk Crossing handles the bulk of dining in Jenks. The format is overwhelmingly casual — burgers, tacos, wood-fired pizza, American bar food — and the main selling point is outdoor seating with a view of the Arkansas River rather than any particular kitchen. The crowd is mostly aquarium visitors during the day and Tulsa day-trippers in the evenings.
Waterfront seating fills quickly on warm weekend evenings, so arriving early pays off. Several of the restaurants have full bars, and the outdoor patios are busy from spring through fall. If you want something more low-key, the older commercial blocks along Main Street, away from the river, have a handful of diners and barbecue spots that have been feeding the local population since long before the aquarium arrived.