When I was kid back in the 70's, my family would ocassionally come down to Oklahoma City and we almost always ate at Shotgun Sam's pizza. I don't really remember the pizza but I have fond memories of the place (I remember we ate there right before going to see JAWS......good times.

I often wonder where exactly Shotgun Sam's was located. For some reason I have the idea that it was on May either just North or South of I-44. I'm not sure if I've read that somewhere or if its my memory. When I drive down that stretch of May I always look for buildings that might have been it.

Am I looking in the right place and if so, is the building even still standing? There are two buildings, one north of 44 and one south, that I think might have been Shotgun Sams but I dont' remember.

Shotgun Sam's was south of 39th Expressway (I-44) on May. There is a David Stanley car dealership in that location now.

Bigray in Ok

Long gone and never to return dang it.

There was also one at the NW corner of may and britton where a asian resteraunt sits today.

Does the David Stanley dealership use the same building or was it torn down?

Also, I didn't know there were two of them! Is the Asian restaurant the same building? I'll have to drive by there and check it out.

The thing I remember is that there was a large round window where you could stand and watch them making the pizza dough. Loved that as a kid!

There were three Shotgun Sam's that I know of. There was another one in Midwest City. The shotgun Sam's building at 39th and May was torn down. The Asian restaurant at May and Britton is in the same building. I do not know about the Midwest City building.

Bigray in Ok

I believe the MWC location, on Air Depot, was torn down and a Grandys built on the location.

Bigray, Are you sure that wing at Britton and May hasn't had a complete remodel since Shotgun Sam's?

We used to go there weekly (39th & May location) when I was growing up, our whole group from the neighborhood to have dinner on Friday nights. According to the Google Earth historical imagery the building was still there in the 1990 and was used as a car dealership in the 1995 image. The 2002 image shows the lot cleared and vacant until the 2005 image when David Stanley was under construction.

The Britton & May location was Joker's Comedy Club for a long time, we went to the midnight shows weekly there. They moved from Lakeshore Mall (NW Expressway & NW 63rd) to the former Shotgun Sam's and Pop's that replaced Shotguns. I worked at the Payless Shoe store on the corner that Cellar is in now in the summer of 1983 and I think it had already changed to Pop's at that time. Joker's moved to the former Faces location in front of Best Buy around NW 59th & May and the Asian restaurant open after Joker's moved. The building is the same building, it has just had interior remodels with the various restaurants that have been in there. The center to the north and east to the old Albertson's was built separately and later I believe, it had a good family, semi-fast Italian restaurant in there for a long time, Dall Italia.

There was also a Shotgun Sam's on Northwest Highway just north of Dallas Love Field, it was like the one at 39th & May and there was one at 21st & Sheridan in Tulsa (some info about the Tulsa location including a menu at TulsaTVMemories.com (http://tulsatvmemories.com/brownie.html).

El Rancho Sanchez was next door where the Oklahoma Baptist Vatican is located now.

Sounds like they are trying to revive the old Kens pizza at mazzios

Ace of spades your pie is ready.

I loved Shotgun Sams. Long tables, thin crust. Hmmmm. I can't imagine why it went out of business. I went there often enough as a teen to keep it going, single handedly.

Spent a lot of football Friday nights there (39th and May location) in high school (NWC '71). Lots of good memories...

Spent a lot of football Friday nights there (39th and May location) in high school (NWC '71). Lots of good memories...

Yes, indeed! Back when NWC had great sports teams and it was a...uh....real school. Today it's a 90%+ reduced/free lunch school and is a chaotic zoo. And that's from people who've worked security there. A nightmare. Things changed so dramatically with forced busing and the immigration invasion. Sad, too, because Northwest was a good school. Of course, forced diversity and trying to mingle clashing cultures forced those who really wanted to get an education to leave. I can't blame them. Sacrifice your children on the altar of multiculturalism which brought crime and intimidation to the school? Nope.

Yes, indeed! Back when NWC had great sports teams and it was a...uh....real school. Today it's a 90%+ reduced/free lunch school and is a chaotic zoo. And that's from people who've worked security there. A nightmare. Things changed so dramatically with forced busing and the immigration invasion. Sad, too, because Northwest was a good school. Of course, forced diversity and trying to mingle clashing cultures forced those who really wanted to get an education to leave. I can't blame them. Sacrifice your children on the altar of multiculturalism which brought crime and intimidation to the school? Nope.

Post of the day^^^^

If I remember right, Shotgun Sams and Shakeys were similar styles. If you ever go the Banjo Museum in Bricktown they have a replica of a Shakeys. Brought back some memories walking into it, I tell ya.

Yes, indeed! Back when NWC had great sports teams and it was a...uh....real school. Today it's a 90%+ reduced/free lunch school and is a chaotic zoo. And that's from people who've worked security there. A nightmare. Things changed so dramatically with forced busing and the immigration invasion. Sad, too, because Northwest was a good school. Of course, forced diversity and trying to mingle clashing cultures forced those who really wanted to get an education to leave. I can't blame them. Sacrifice your children on the altar of multiculturalism which brought crime and intimidation to the school? Nope.

We did not have real segregation until we integrated.

Ace of spades your pie is ready.

Yep! Instead of a number they would give you a giant playing card when you placed an order.

It was a unique and creative idea -- surprised no one else has picked up on it (that I know of).


From that same era, I liked the food at Pizza Planet even better. It was a "pieceful place to be"!

http://www.tnttri.com/OKCTalk/Shotgun Sams.jpg

http://www.tnttri.com/OKCTalk/planet.jpg

Here's a menu from a Tulsa site:

http://tulsatvmemories.com/imag2009/shotgunm.jpg

Yes, indeed! Back when NWC had great sports teams and it was a...uh....real school. Today it's a 90%+ reduced/free lunch school and is a chaotic zoo. And that's from people who've worked security there. A nightmare. Things changed so dramatically with forced busing and the immigration invasion. Sad, too, because Northwest was a good school. Of course, forced diversity and trying to mingle clashing cultures forced those who really wanted to get an education to leave. I can't blame them. Sacrifice your children on the altar of multiculturalism which brought crime and intimidation to the school? Nope.



+1

"You're lucky I was not here last night........I would have shot your liver."

The live music at Shotgun Sam's was always fun. After NWC games at the May location, I remember hearing a young Vince Gill play a few times. He went to school with us at Northwest and his band Mountain Smoke used to play in the auditorium. They won the group talent contest two years in a row (surprise!).

Shotgun Sam's was largely patterned after Shakey's, which was the big player at the time.

They both had piano players and singers in the busier evening hours and their food was pretty similar.

And both were popular places for after high school football and basketball games. I went to Putnam City and the Shakey's on 39th near Ann Arbor was a real hot spot -- as was cruising up down 39th, of course!

I use to work at the Tulsa store back in 1971 for 6 months. Had a great time there. R Adams

The live music at Shotgun Sam's was always fun. After NWC games at the May location, I remember hearing a young Vince Gill play a few times. He went to school with us at Northwest and his band Mountain Smoke used to play in the auditorium. They won the group talent contest two years in a row (surprise!).
We would always go to Shotgun's on Air Depot. I can still hear the live band playing No one knows what goes on behind closed doors. Great memories, thanks for the post.

I used to love the pizza crust. They put corn meal or something on the bottom so it cooked up almost as crisp as a cracker.

mugofbeer: there are a few places that put corn meal on the bottom. While I don't care for their regular crust all that much, have you tried Cici's Italiano (thin crust pizza)? it is very thin and crisp cracker like. I always special order an all-meat with onions & cheddar added. Their deep dish is also very tasty, some of the best I've had...most places, it isn't cooked all the way through and still doughy in the middle. Not sure how they do it but it is slightly crispy on the outside, soft but cooked on the inside. Delish.

My parents watched them roll a trashcan full of dough down the ramp of a truck and the lid came open and spilled the dough on the ground!! Never knew if they used it anyway!
I can picture the inside of the place and watching them swirl the dough in the air thru the window but don't recall much else.

A group is going to try and recreate Shotgun Sam's in Tulsa:

Shotgun Sam's Pizza Palace re-opening in Tulsa | www.krmg.com (http://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/shotgun-sams-pizza-palace-re-opning-tulsa/nfWgy/)

A group is going to try and recreate Shotgun Sam's in Tulsa:

Shotgun Sam's Pizza Palace re-opening in Tulsa | www.krmg.com (http://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/shotgun-sams-pizza-palace-re-opning-tulsa/nfWgy/)
In OKC the Sam's at NW 36th and N May hired real musicians to play on
weekends. As a kid I didn't totally appreciate it. But when I grew up I
was playing with the same guys on other gigs! Talk about cool.

This article doesn't state whether or not the original recipes will be used.

At any rate, I hope it works.

Great memories ! In the early 70's I had a roommate that played piano at the 39th street Sams. His name was Jack Bailey, and he always made sure I got plenty of free pizza. I was also friends with the guitar/banjo player, for some reason I can't remember his name. I do remember he had a cheesy mustache. Once I was going through the buffet line and a little boy in front of me picked up too much pizza and dropped 3 or 4 pieces on the floor. He picked them up and put them back on the plate. the guy behind me didn't see this, and picked up several of the dropped pieces. He seemed pretty happy when I told him what had transpired. Shakeys is still open(at least on the east coast). I was in D.C. a few years back and was pleasantly surprised to find one.

Great memories ! In the early 70's I had a roommate that played piano at the 39th street Sams. His name was Jack Bailey, and he always made sure I got plenty of free pizza. I was also friends with the guitar/banjo player, for some reason I can't remember his name. I do remember he had a cheesy mustache.

It may have been Kenny Munds of the group Brush Arbor (I think they won a Grammy or something back in the 70s). I used to occasionally sit in on bass with him when he was doing the Shotgun Sam's gig.

I really like seeing what things cost back then. Extra large pizza for under $3. It gives me an idea of what it cost my dad to take the family out for dinner back then.

"my horse's name is Alice!"

Tulsa Gal: Tulsa Pizza (http://www.tulsagal.net/2010/05/tulsa-pizza.html)

The yelp reviews of the one in tulsa are less than spectacular.

It may have been Kenny Munds of the group Brush Arbor (I think they won a Grammy or something back in the 70s). I used to occasionally sit in on bass with him when he was doing the Shotgun Sam's gig.
I can't remember if that was his name, he was kinda small receding hairline and a big stash. Really friendly guy.