I saw this horrific news in the gazette today. I sure hope they open elsewhere very soon. Hands down, the best breakfast in the city. I have done my research, no one is even close.

Really? Do you have any more details?

Check out this weeks Gazette...they have been wrong before. They report that a clothing/retail developer has plans for that corner. I talked with the owner of Beverlys a few months ago; she was looking at a dowtown location but wasn't very close on a deal. She told me that if she found a downtown spot, it would be location #2...I guess plans have changed.

I hope it does relocate. I used to eat at the Beverly's on 23rd and Classen a lot with my grandmother when I was a kid. It brings back great memories of my childhood.

Man, I've been wanting to eat here forever. I better do so before they close. I really hope they locate downtown, then it will be within walking/biking distance from me.

Bit by bit my old OKC dining standby's are biting the dust. I'm sorry to see Beverly's go the way of the Split-T, Pump's, Doc's, Portobello, the Yippe Yi Yo Cafe and of course my late, beloved Varsity. I presume that the expanding Chesapeake footprint will eventually displace the Metro as well.

Hopefully the Chicken in the Rough sign will rise again somewhere else in town, although I'd be a wealthy man if I had a dollar for every time I've seen a restauranteur close their doors for "remodeling," "relocation" or some other allegedly temporary reason, never to be heard from again.

I read that in the 7/4 edition of the Gazzette also. It said we have until the end of the year to eat at Bev's at this location. It will then re-open at a yet to be determined spot on NW Expressway...

Bit by bit my old OKC dining standby's are biting the dust. I'm sorry to see Beverly's go the way of the Split-T, Pump's, Doc's, Portobello, the Yippe Yi Yo Cafe and of course my late, beloved Varsity. I presume that the expanding Chesapeake footprint will eventually displace the Metro as well.

Hopefully the Chicken in the Rough sign will rise again somewhere else in town, although I'd be a wealthy man if I had a dollar for every time I've seen a restauranteur close their doors for "remodeling," "relocation" or some other allegedly temporary reason, never to be heard from again.

I think you are safe with Metro staying put...Aubrey M. has a piece of it.

Does this mean some kind of upscale retail is going in across from Penn Square? That would make sense.

A Beverly's emplyee told me that they are moving a mile or so west to the old Madison's site...not downtown, but they will at least stay open.

wonderful, next time Im in the city - I will definitely give it a try for b-fast!!!

I always wanted to, but OKC has way too many food options for a quick visit!

I am new to this city. The wife and I went to Beverly's Pancake House on NW Expressway and it was precisely what we were looking for. I asked about all the pictures on the ways and the waitress told me she worked at Beverlys for 18 years and there used to be them all over the city..

What happened? What caused their demise?

Visit Doug Dawgz Blog (http://www.dougdawg.blogspot.com) and search for Beverly's on the index. Doug has a great post on it.

Thanks for the reply. I had actually found that site already, but it didn't tell me what happened to the 250 franchises of Chicken in the Rough? And why did the local Beverly's close down (except the new one)?

What I miss from Beverley's...................

Finger bowls.............

Water and slice lemon in a little metal cup........

We did not have to share with our folks or siblings.....

It was "OUR" finger bowl...........

The link in my blog is Doug Dawgz Blog: North on Lincoln: Chicken-In-The-Rough (http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2006/07/north-on-lincoln-chicken-in-rough.html) but as to why the chain folded, I don't know but a guess would be the old age and death of its owners. As far as I'm aware, it never went public and was a family held business. But, I may be mistaken about that. I've seen a sign in the Stockyards area for a Beverly's but I've not looked into it to see it was something that went south or something yet to come, or neither of the above. The sign was, maybe is, on Commerce west of Agnew in one of the strip malls on the north side of Commerce.

We use to go to the one on NWHY all the time when I was a child. We still joke about getting to go to the treasure chest if we eat all the food off our plate. Do they still have a treasure chest for kids?

The link in my blog is Doug Dawgz Blog: North on Lincoln: Chicken-In-The-Rough (http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2006/07/north-on-lincoln-chicken-in-rough.html) but as to why the chain folded, I don't know but a guess would be the old age and death of its owners. As far as I'm aware, it never went public and was a family held business. But, I may be mistaken about that. I've seen a sign in the Stockyards area for a Beverly's but I've not looked into it to see it was something that went south or something yet to come, or neither of the above. The sign was, maybe is, on Commerce west of Agnew in one of the strip malls on the north side of Commerce.

There was a Beverley's on S.W. 29Th east of May on the north side of the street. The building has been a pawn shop for many years. I only remember eating at that one and the 23rd and Classen location.

Were they all 24-hr locations?

I remember there was a "Chicken in the Rough" sign incorperated into the sign for the Lodge at Lake Texoma. It wasn't a Beverly's restaurant, but the patended "Chicken in the Rough" was served there. Does anyone else remember this?

Does anyone else remember this?

Sorry for repeat last sentence.

Chicken in the rough?.............I still have some of the metal finger bowls that the lemon was served in. Opubco did a complete story about the closing of the last Beverley's. I remember eating very frequently at the Beverley's downtown on Sheridan street....(I think it's Sheridan)....the last one was moved due to the selling of the property and the Leveling of the building. Andy Anderson's was next door for many, many years. That's an old business that I miss that we have not mentioned anywhere...

We used to eat at Beverly's many Sundays after church. I took my family to the one on NW Hiway and Penn a couple of years ago for the nostalgia and found we just about choked on the cigarette smoke. I never went back again.

We used to eat at Beverly's many Sundays after church. I took my family to the one on NW Hiway and Penn a couple of years ago for the nostalgia and found we just about choked on the cigarette smoke. I never went back again.
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Yep you're right....The smake was "free" though.....The one downtown was my favorite...There is a place in Sanger, Texas that is called Babe's and the chicken there is as good or better than Beverely's....Promise you..

Chicken in the rough?.............I still have some of the metal finger bowls that the lemon was served in. Opubco did a complete story about the closing of the last Beverley's. I remember eating very frequently at the Beverley's downtown on Sheridan street....(I think it's Sheridan)....the last one was moved due to the selling of the property and the Leveling of the building. Andy Anderson's was next door for many, many years. That's an old business that I miss that we have not mentioned anywhere...
Do you have that secret reciepe for "Chicken in the Rough" stashed along side you and the Colonel's 11 secret spices for his chicken?

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Yep you're right....The smake was "free" though.....The one downtown was my favorite...There is a place in Sanger, Texas that is called Babe's and the chicken there is as good or better than Beverely's....Promise you..
I never could stand to eat "Beverly's" chicken in the rough!! Had not eaten it since I was a kid and went over to N.W. highway after the moved and thought it was pitiful!! Just my opinion though. I think South Okc's best chicken was "Alamo Plaza" on S. Robinson!!

Had an uncle who worked for both Beverly's and the Alamo. He was a cook. At that time I think the businesses called them "fry-cooks".

Has anyone been to the "New" Beverly's on NW Expressway?, Is the food the same? I could go for a Big Bev Burger haha

Beverly's was the child of Beverly Osborne. He was pretty adanced in years when he died, under a load of dirt. He was kibitzing some landscapers at this home (near Lincoln and NE 50th) and stepped right under the back of the dump truck as it was unloading. This is the main reason for the death of Beverly's as we knew it. His heir, Randy (last name?) ran some of the stores for a while. The 23rd and Classen and NW Hwy and Penn locations as well as on over on N. May, north of 10th St.

The new location has a lot of the old dishes that old customers will recognize such as the Big Bev Burger, the blueberry pancakes with blueberries IN them, not smeared on top like IHOP does. The enchalada plate is still the same as well as most of the breakfast combinations. I eat there regularly and enjoy everything except being constantly called "honey" by the waitresses. Ugh.

I assume that you are speaking of the newer Beverlys on NW Highway across from Baptist Hospital. There was another one on NW Highway near Penn Square which has closed within the past year or two. I had tried it once or twice and was not impressed with the food or service (not horrible-not great) but that could be the reason why one by one they disappeared. As a child, I used to go to the one across from the old May Theatre on NW 16th and May. Yes it did have a clean your plate club as well as gigantic hamburgers. It is now a Jimmys Egg restaurant.

I eat there regularly and enjoy everything except being constantly called "honey" by the waitresses. Ugh.

Could be worse, they could all call ya PimpDaddyJim

I assume that you are speaking of the newer Beverlys on NW Highway across from Baptist Hospital. There was another one on NW Highway near Penn Square which has closed within the past year or two. I had tried it once or twice and was not impressed with the food or service (not horrible-not great) but that could be the reason why one by one they disappeared. As a child, I used to go to the one across from the old May Theatre on NW 16th and May. Yes it did have a clean your plate club as well as gigantic hamburgers. It is now a Jimmys Egg restaurant.

Every successful business has a "driving force" that makes it successful. Beverly's "driving force" was Beverly Osborne and when he died, it gradually died too. Plain and simple.

The Beverly's that was near Penn Square for so many years - Pancake Corner - closed and moved to its present location across from Baptist Hospital. It is the same business, with the same owner, cooks, wait staff, etc. More room, pretty much the same food. So if you didn't like it when it was located near Penn Square, you won't like it located across from Baptist Hospital.

Oh, and PimpDaddyJim might not be so bad...

His heir, Randy (last name?) ran some of the stores for a while. Mr. Randolph Shaw. Beverly Osbourne was my great uncle.

Mr. Randolph Shaw. Beverly Osbourne was my great uncle.
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In the Archives of OKNEWS.com there is a complete story and a video of the last Beverley's before it was demolished. My son did the Video work and it was pretty neat story......

Chicken in the rough?.............I still have some of the metal finger bowls that the lemon was served in. Opubco did a complete story about the closing of the last Beverley's. I remember eating very frequently at the Beverley's downtown on Sheridan street....(I think it's Sheridan)....the last one was moved due to the selling of the property and the Leveling of the building. Andy Anderson's was next door for many, many years. That's an old business that I miss that we have not mentioned anywhere...

Always went to the one on Penn. You are right about Andy Anderson's, That is why I wanted to go to Bev's. Loved that place as a kid. Wallace Wildlife would talk about it on his program, I waited every show every year for him to draw my name out of the hopper.

Chicken in the rough? I still have some of the metal finger bowls that the
lemon was served in. Opubco did a complete story about the closing of the
last Beverley's. I remember eating very frequently at the Beverley's
downtown on Sheridan street...(I think it's Sheridan)...the last one was
moved due to the selling of the property and the Leveling of the building.
Andy Anderson's was next door for many, many years. That's an old business
that I miss that we have not mentioned anywhere...

Bev Osborne was a "one of a kind" individual. He started a great restaurant
at a time when virtually every other business was dropping like flies.

Here's how my Dad tells the story. He hob nobbed with Bev and Ruby.
Ruby, his wife, made some of her fried chicken for the trip to California.
While they were eating in their Model T Ford, Ruby said, "this is eating
Chicken in the Rough". Bev stopped the car and got this brain storm. They
started selling boxed lunches called "Chicken in the Rough" to everyone
going to California.

The restaurant you're thinking of was on Grand Avenue. It was the
predecessor to Sheridan Avenue. You're old enough to remember that Andy
Anderson's was next door, and that's when Sheridan was called Grand.
He had the gun range upstairs. Duh, you know that.

I got to see Andy around 1988 or so. He was sitting in the store while his
son, Randy, was running it into the ground. Andy knew how to make
money. Randy thought he did.

Oh good grief! You probably remember the pool hall, too.

Dang! You're old! Really old!

:LolLolLol

Hey 64! How'cum you never tell me when these new, but really old, threads
starts? I like repeating myself because it helps me remember where
everything used to be.

Now, if only I can remember where everything is NOW!

Do your have my grand dad's ostrich vest? Bring it to the next meeting.

There's a Beverly's on N.W. Expressway. Is it owned by a member of the
family?

there's a beverly's on n.w. Expressway. Is it owned by a member of the
family?

and i have heard from several people that it sucks!!!!!

and i have heard from several people that it sucks!!!!!

Give a chance for yourself and then you will know. I go there once a week and think it is fine.

Give a chance for yourself and then you will know. I go there once a week and think it is fine.

Will do. Get the chicken?:tiphat:

I got a regular e-mail from a fellow several days ago ... he didn't say where he is living but I though the message was interesting. I'm withholding his name since he may not want it repeated publically:


I really enjoyed your message about "Chicken In The Rough". You see, my family represents the brand now and we are growing it, as best we can, in very difficult times. I worked for Beverely and Ruby Osborne at the Sheridan Avenue location Beverly's Grill. Our dad was Beverly's first sales rpresentative and sold a lot of people on the idea of creating new profit centers and additional business marketing the brand.

It is people like you who recall "Chicken In The Rough" when it was its most prominent times. We currently have three restaurants featuring it. One is in Canada and two are in Michigan. All three are very successful. The operation in Oklahoma City is not preparing "Chicken In The Rough" the same way as others are doing it and it is a shame.

I got a regular e-mail from a fellow several days ago ... he didn't say where he is living but I though the message was interesting. I'm withholding his name since he may not want it repeated publically:

Any reason why OKC is not preparing it the same?

Will do. Get the chicken?:tiphat:

It has probably been 20 years since I had the Chicken in the Rough. My favorites are Big Bev Burger, the enchilada plate (it has a name that I can't ever remember until I see it on the menu), breakfast - anything they have with eggs and/or pancakes. I'll be there Friday morning with a buddy, as usual.

Met my buddy at Beverly's this morning for breakfast. It was excellent. The coffee is not gourmet grade but good all the same, two eggs over easy with hash browns, toast and gravy on the side. Just a good old American breakfast with no frills, cooked right and tastes good. Yep, the waitress called me "honey" and "sweetie" but no harm done.

By the way, Andy Anderson's was next door to the old Pancake Corner location at I-44 & Penn for many years. My late father in law bought a shotgun from Andy Anderson's in 1952 and it didn't perform the way he thought it should. It was a Savage and when he brought it back in to complain, Mr. Anderson himself moved him up to a Browning A-5 semi-auto 12 gauge that he used for the rest of his life. I'm proud to say that I own that gun now. A Belgian Browning that always performs.

My "Dad" was a friend of Andy's and we helped his family move once. At the time they lived not far from the store. I remember meeting his two son's. Andy gave us a pinball machine for the help. Lotta story's about that pinball machine and that move.

My original blog post about Beverly's was made in July 2006 shortly after I started Doug Dawgz Blog and in the 4 years since then it has proven to be the most popular article, by far, I've yet written. People, near and far, from all over the country, just love Beverly's nostalgia. To date, 70 comments have been posted.

I can't find an earlier post to the original blog article to update to, so, I'll just start it fresh.

The original blog post was http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2006/07/north-on-lincoln-chicken-in-rough.html but the major update done this morning is to the artifacts part of the article, http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2006/07/north-on-lincoln-chicken-in-rough.html#artifacts, largely supplied by our fine forum member Mike Anderson. One of his grandparents worked in the Beverly's warehouse south of the Biltmore, probably on Harvey, and the update shows the pristine artifacts that Mike has in his (and his mother's) possession. Hopefully, Mike will write an article about that in the near future.

Three quick looks in this morning's update are shown below (click on an image for a 1024px wide view)

Mike's Collection:

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/restaurants/beverlys/mike02s.jpg (http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/restaurants/beverlys/mike02.jpg)

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/restaurants/beverlys/mike09s.jpg (http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/restaurants/beverlys/mike09.jpg)

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/restaurants/beverlys/mike01s.jpg (http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/restaurants/beverlys/mike01.jpg)


http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/restaurants/beverlys/mike06s.jpg (http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/restaurants/beverlys/mike06.jpg)

Enjoy!

More than anything else I remember the "finger bowls" probably from frequenting Beverly's with my parents as a child. Funny what makes different things memorable.
Anyone know why the rooster has a smoke in his mouth? Cigarette or cigar?

More than anything else I remember the "finger bowls" probably from frequenting Beverly's with my parents as a child. Funny what makes different things memorable.
Anyone know why the rooster has a smoke in his mouth? Cigarette or cigar?

Why, that's a cigar, PapaOU. Beverly Osborne was an avid cigar smoker.

Why, that's a cigar, PapaOU. Beverly Osborne was an avid cigar smoker.

Thanks! I did not know that

Had breakfast there this morning.... food was good, coffee was hot, waitress was friendly but sitting at the counter and seeing the cooks handle the food without those little plastic gloves was a bit of a turnoff.

I've never liked to watch food being prepared and handled at a restaurant.

I trust the health department to make sure they are following regulations but beyond that I don't want to see a bunch of people touching the food I am about to eat. I know it happens, I just find watching it unappetizing no matter how it's done.

Two things I'd rather not know, how my food is prepared and how my tax dollars are spent.

i had a really bad experience at beverly's and never been there again

Used to go the the old location all the time. It was actually one of the first places we ate when we were in the process of moving here. When they tore it and moved to the current location we went one time. It just lost all the cool, old, dirty charm. Never went back.

Their crispy chicken salad is the best thing on the menu.

i went there with my family the service was horrible and i want to get some chicken tenders and my dad wanted a soup and then a sandwich and he say he wants his soup first and then we were waiting and waiting and then the waitress came back and my dad told her he wants his soup so he got him to the soup and then 2 minutes later the food came out and it was cold and the waitress didn't care for us and we yelled at her when we were at the cash register and never been back there again it was waist of our money.

I've been there a few times and I've always had decent food and good service so no complaints there, just the seeing the cooks handle the food with their bare hands is what I didn't like.

Everytime I've been there it's been great.... both food and service. But, I've only been there at about 2-3am on Saturday nights... lol