I thought Louie's was started to take the place of Town Tavern in Norman. There was a commitment to help keep campus corner alive and to improve it. It was popular so expansion was inevitable. I think some of their locations do pretty well.

I don't think the Midtown Louie's store has closed. They are always busy and that's a prime area for them. I go in there for lunch at least once a week. With regards to the Nichols Hills store, it has been closed for a long while. I did not know they were going to open a Midwest City location, but they need to, so they can compete with Panera Bread and everywhere else near Tinker AFB. I'm sure many of the people stationed at Tinker will want to go there since it will be close to base.

Nichols Hills is a bad location for Louie's. Not a lot of people around there dying to spend <$15/person for dinner. I mean, you have as many upscale dining options as you do casual in this area: West, Metro, Coach House, Bin 73 vs. Saturn Grill, Hideaway, Louie's, City Bites. That ratio is usually a lot more like 2/3/4:1

For the most part though, they've made excellent decisions on where to put this concept in OKC. Expressway, Lake Hefner, Midtown, Meridian are all home runs for this concept. And for everything being under $10, it's really not too bad food wise. I think it will enjoy success for awhile.

Nichols Hills is a bad location for Louie's. Not a lot of people around there dying to spend <$15/person for dinner. I mean, you have as many upscale dining options as you do casual in this area: West, Metro, Coach House, Bin 73 vs. Saturn Grill, Hideaway, Louie's, City Bites. That ratio is usually a lot more like 2/3/4:1

For the most part though, they've made excellent decisions on where to put this concept in OKC. Expressway, Lake Hefner, Midtown, Meridian are all home runs for this concept. And for everything being under $10, it's really not too bad food wise. I think it will enjoy success for awhile.

Tell that to snow pea, earls, panera, Saturn, ect. Every time I went in here it was packed. There had to be something going on behind the scenes that we don't know about

Iguana Cafe, Mamasita's, Sonic a little further south.

Place was never full, not even the parking lot. Maybe it was a little too far north on Western, away from the rest of the pack. When I think restaurants on N. Western, I often think about Panera and Earl's being the last two restaurants on the strip. Not sure why...

It's wasn't ideal by any means. You have tons of options in the Nichols hills area and most of that clientele chose a nicer establishment for dinner. We are within a few miles of that location and eat out frequently, yet we never went to Louie's. don't forget classes curve and its 6 or so dining establishments, most of which are very good. I think the Louie's concept works better for a neighborhood eatery rather than a destination and Nichols hills was not the right neighborhoods or a $10 dinner.

There are something like seventeen Louie's now. Bob Stoops invested in the original Louie's with the Hal Smith Restaurant Group in the old Town Tavern spot to try to promote Campus Corner. He thought having a place like Louie's on Campus Corner would be good for recruiting. I do not know if he makes money off of the other Louie's. The number of places that have come and gone on Campus Corner the last twenty five years amazes me. I went to Manhattan, Kansas a couple of years ago. While the town itself is not much, I thought the Little Apple area across from the campus was pretty cool. It had lots of bars and restaurants that were open late. Although the Louie's in Nicholls Hills closed, I think Louie's as a whole are doing pretty well.

Bigray in Ok

Now, this could be entirely wrong, but I was told that Louie's was created as a highly speculative "investment" opportunity, one in which a very well-known football coach has invested. I remember the same kinds of ventures back in the Switzer days, most notably a burger joint called "Goldies," which opened up several locations, had lots of early chatter, but ultimately were only average locations...and, after a time, just started closing down...until, one day, *poof*, they were all gone. That drove quite a bit of speculation (and I stress that, speculation) that they were never intended to be profitable/successful, just as a mechanism to shelter considerable income.

When I heard one Louie's was closed, and remembered my lone trip there was decidedly unremarkable, I couldn't help but wonder if we were seeing history repeat itself :)

As I said, may be a bunch of legend/hokum, but couldn't help but wonder when I saw the thread pop up :)
The only Goldie's that I went to was the one in Edmond on Broadway (former Sirloin Stockade), usually for lunch. It was good but suffered the comparison with the original in Tulsa. In many cases it is just other, newer, fresher places open up and draw business away. Goldie's in OKC didn't have the same icon status like it did in Tulsa.

Well, there is a major difference between the Goldies and Louies story, and that is that Louies is a HSRG concept, and they are all successful. We do not see any of the Charlestons shutting down now, do we? And we all know RedRock Canyon Grill, depsite the fire, is back up and running and very successful, as well. :)

...and that is that Louies is a HSRG concept, and they are all successful.

Go easy, now....that's a pretty big statement. I wouldn't say all. Restaurant business is a tough gig.

It's wasn't ideal by any means. You have tons of options in the Nichols hills area and most of that clientele chose a nicer establishment for dinner. We are within a few miles of that location and eat out frequently, yet we never went to Louie's. don't forget classes curve and its 6 or so dining establishments, most of which are very good. I think the Louie's concept works better for a neighborhood eatery rather than a destination and Nichols hills was not the right neighborhoods or a $10 dinner.

I seem to recall that "paving the way" for the Louie's location by Lake Hefner nearly caused a Bicycle Rider/Kite Flyer Rebellion.
Hope it stays open for awhile, especially in light of all of the decimation of the natural landscape that was involved in the development. =)

Funny . . . now that I think about it, I've been to several of the various restaurants on the ever-widening shore of Lake Hefner but never Louie's . . . hmmmm

For the first time, I actually ate at a Louie's, today at the Midtown location.

All I had was soup which was perfectly fine but I enjoyed the setting. It's nice to either sit on their patio or along the windows and watch the action along Western.

I will definitely go back at some point, especially if I'm with a group that aren't adventurous eaters. Plus, the bar looked like it could be pretty fun in the evenings.

Louie's is solid but not great. Their food is pretty good and cheap so it's a pretty good happy hour kind of place. I go there when the Mrs doesn't give me a craft beer happy hour budget lol

While the food might not be quite as good: deep deuce grill has a lot more character, and better beer.

And a lot less corporate. Louie's is a copy of a copy. Done 20-some-odd times.

While the food might not be quite as good: deep deuce grill has a lot more character, and better beer.

Confirmed.

Deep Deuce is a great sit around the table and completely bs with people type establishment. The towers are awesome, especially if you do one of the nicer beers on Tap, because you get GREAT deals. Did F5 one night…nearly nobody wanted to help me…it was actually rather silly of me.

I like Louie's food. But DDG's food is super underrated. I have yet to have a bad thing on the menu. And their heated patio is choice for this time of year.

While the food might not be quite as good: deep deuce grill has a lot more character, and better beer.

Actually, I think the food at Deep Deuce Grill is superior. I like Louie's food, but prefer DDG. Their fish tacos are to die for IMO and I love their prime rib sliders too.

I actually watched the Baylor/Thunder game last night on the patio at DDG. Great spot for that kind of thing.

Just found out they closed the location at I-40 and Meridian yesterday. Their FB page is down and they are no longer listed in the locations listing on their website.

According to someone I know involved in management at this Louie's, the building will be up for sale by the group and some staff are being moved to the new Hollie's Flatron Grill at NW 150th and N. May that opened yesterday.

Midtown Location Closing? Anyone got news on this?

Midtown Location Closing? Anyone got news on this?

That's what I'm hearing.

That building is owned by Midtown Renaissance and it's a fantastic space with a great patio. I'm sure they'll have another restaurant in there before long.

That's what I'm hearing.

That building is owned by Midtown Renaissance and it's a fantastic space with a great patio. I'm sure they'll have another restaurant in there before long.

Well shoot. It was always a nice place to patio when we couldn't make up our minds on a spot.

Was there last night and it was packed inside (due to trivia night I think). Always love the east side patio, people bring their dogs too. It was a bit warm last night to sit out there and we had to fight off quite a few flies.

I drove by the location at NW Expressway and Rockwell (in the shopping center north of Target) and I am surprised to see that one still open. I couldn't think of a worse spot. There is no frontage whatsoever and just bad visibility overall.

I remember when Midtown Deli closed and Louie's opened up in 2010-11ish. Feels like forever ago. Louie's had a good run there.

I drove by the location at NW Expressway and Rockwell (in the shopping center north of Target) and I am surprised to see that one still open. I couldn't think of a worse spot. There is no frontage whatsoever and just bad visibility overall.

Haha, I’ve driven by that location at least twice a week, every week for close to 5 years now and I had no idea there was a Louie’s there until I read this. Had to check google maps just to see exactly where it’s at. I’ve eaten at that Bueno next door a handful of times and still didn’t notice it. I’ll have to stop in and check it out one of these days.

I drove by the location at NW Expressway and Rockwell (in the shopping center north of Target) and I am surprised to see that one still open. I couldn't think of a worse spot. There is no frontage whatsoever and just bad visibility overall.

I live near there and stop in occasionally. It always seem to be fairly busy. If people find it once, visibility isn't that important. It certainly doesn't compare to some of their other locations, however. I have never considered their patio like I would at others.

I drove by the location at NW Expressway and Rockwell (in the shopping center north of Target) and I am surprised to see that one still open. I couldn't think of a worse spot. There is no frontage whatsoever and just bad visibility overall.We go there often. It's usually busy. I think this is a case of lots of parking and multiple ways in and out make up for the lack of ambiance.

That's what I'm hearing.

That building is owned by Midtown Renaissance and it's a fantastic space with a great patio. I'm sure they'll have another restaurant in there before long.

Pete, I have a friend that owns a neighboring business of Louie's and I believe that one of Bob Howard's companies owns that building, as well as the 1492 and Stella buildings to the south and the retail store and coffee shop properties to the north. Midtown Renaissance does not have them listed on their corporate website, per the link below, and the billing addresses for the properties listed do not match the addresses listed for the Louie's/Stella/etc. properties.

https://www.midtownr.com/commercial-properties

Pete, I have a friend that owns a neighboring business of Louie's and I believe that one of Bob Howard's companies owns that building, as well as the 1492 and Stella buildings to the south and the retail store and coffee shop properties to the north. Midtown Renaissance does not have them listed on their corporate website, per the link below, and the billing addresses for the properties listed do not match the addresses listed for the Louie's/Stella/etc. properties.

https://www.midtownr.com/commercial-properties

midtown R owns all of those restaurant properties and shops ..

I thought Bob Howard was the principal owner of Midtown Renaissance?

I thought Bob Howard was the principal owner of Midtown Renaissance?

it is a partnership between bob howard micky clagg and Chris flemming

it is a partnership between bob howard micky clagg and Chris flemmingAhhh, got it. I had no idea and appreciate the info. Very cool.