I've been spreading the werd abotu McNellie's for quite some time now... I need me a burger and beer as well.

Hurry E, hurry.

I predict this place is going to be a complete homerun.

Perfect type of place in a showcase location at a fantastic time.

Glad to hear they are taking their time to get it right.

I agree, Malibu. Hopefully, it will raise the exposure of the area as well. It's a good, safe first step to making mid-town a place to go out.

I love that it's 2 stories. That's a sign of a true urban restaurant, and we have very few like that. Chelino's... I can't think of any others. I was in NYC last week and ALL the pubs were 2 or 3 stories.

If the Bowery was as legendary as described, it seems it would be worth reviving, even if it's not a strictly punk venue. We could use another alt-rock venue with the Green Door now gone.

The Bowery could never be recreated. Things are way different now.

I love that it's 2 stories. That's a sign of a true urban restaurant, and we have very few like that. Chelino's... I can't think of any others. I was in NYC last week and ALL the pubs were 2 or 3 stories.

If the Bowery was as legendary as described, it seems it would be worth reviving, even if it's not a strictly punk venue. We could use another alt-rock venue with the Green Door now gone.

Just off the top of my head -- Bricktown Brewery, Crabtown, Makers

Nonna's is also multistory

You clearly don't understand the kind of venue I mean.

Something like what the Green Door was and the Conservatory is. Indie, Emo, Punk, etc.

A nice jazz club would probably work too.

I was talking about multi-story restaurants/bars if you were addressing me...

I did forget Nonna's, metro. You could also include LiT and Bricktown Coneys & Dogs or whatever its called. And if you want to stretch it a little bit, the Petroleum Club is also multi-story. :)

I was talking about multi-story restaurants/bars if you were addressing me...

I did forget Nonna's, metro. You could also include LiT and Bricktown Coneys & Dogs or whatever its called. And if you want to stretch it a little bit, the Petroleum Club is also multi-story. :)

Your quote including my discussion of alt-rock clubs, so that confused me.

I didn't know that Maker's was more than one floor.

yeah I think John's original post confused us all. And I still don't know how the alt/rock clubs are getting into the mix. The green door never was multi story, let alone a restaurant.

I forgot to delete the alt venue portion of jbrowns quote. My apologies. :tiphat:

Yes, the multi-story restaurant discussion was separate from the alt-rock venue discussion.

How about the multi-story McDonald's in Vanita, Ok?

You clearly don't understand the kind of venue I mean.

Something like what the Green Door was and the Conservatory is. Indie, Emo, Punk, etc.

There is an article in the current Gazette about a new indie/alt-country live music venue around 23rd and Robinson, and of course the Tower Theatre will be open eventually. The Tower has the opportunity to attract some more well-known indie/rock bands because it will be bigger than most OKC venues. I'm hoping the Boomer Theatre in Norman (currently offices) meets the same fate as the Tower in OKC, both could be awesome live venues.

Yeah, the Tower Theatre will be a great addition.

Speaking of theatres in Norman, I went to the Sooner Theatre for a play a few months back and that has to be the coolest historic theatre in the state that I've been in.

Any updates... I can see trucks in teh parking lot.

It's still pretty slow going at McNellie's new Plaza Court location. They look to be just finishing out the rough in plumbing that went into the floor; lots of concrete sawing, digging etc.. They haven't committed to an opening date yet, but I can't imagine that it will be before late summer at best. The new bakery and Irma's space are coming along a little better, but still a couple of months at least before we can enjoy a burger and beverage at Irma's. The Latin Fussion location north of Plaza Court on Walker looks like a late Summer opening as well. In the mean time, the area offers good food at Cafe do Brazil and The Bean as well as El Portal at 18th and Classen and Taste of The Carribian across from The Sieber project. Eat Mo' Midtown.

Yeah, I walked inside a couple of nights ago. They have a long ways to go. Looks like plumbing work is going on in the floor like ODG just mentioned. Other than that, not much else. No drywall, kitchen plumbing, etc going on yet. I'm guesing late summer too. As ODG mentioned Prarie Thunder Bakery and Irma's are more along that McNellie's. They both have lots of drywall going up and some fixtures. Possibly late spring/early summer.

The Latin Fusion restaurant ODG is talking about is going to be New World Cuisine's (excellent) second location. I think they are going to take a little more latin flair on this one over their Edmond location. Midtown should be hopping this summer..

Isn't Kevin Chrysler one of the New World Cuisine's owners? He used to own Lotus.

Irmas and Latin Fusion are suppose to open in May. Praire Thunder Baking and McNellies are scheduled for August. Rumor is that two other restaurants are going to be announced in the building on Walker north of the Latin Fusion restaurant and that a couple of restaurants are looking at the building where Pat's Bar was at 10th and Robinson. (maybe a mexican restaurant):congrats: It looks like we are going to have a lot of eating choices by the end of the year.

trison, just to clarify again, it won't be called Latin Fusion, it's going to be New World Cuisine (a latin fusion type restaurant). Yeah I heard rumors of an Argentenian and Mexican restaurants.

McNellie's in Tulsa has a rough interior so he isn't really going to need to paint or do much to 'pretty up' the place.

I can't wait.

I do remember hearing that Gajin Sushi will be adding a restaurant in Midtown. They currently have a location in Norman, near I35 and Robinson. Great sushi by the way, and the thai toast appetizer is excellent.

Isn't Kevin Chrysler one of the New World Cuisine's owners? He used to own Lotus.

I think Kevin is involved with an operation in Edmond. New World is owned by two brothers; one from Big D and the other in OKC. I don't recall their names. Perhaps Kevin is going to manage it for them. He did a good job with Lotus, they just had way too much debt to pull it off.

It looks like we are going to have a lot of eating choices by the end of the year.

And it sounds like most, if not all, will bring truly new choices to the area, not just downtown, but for the city in general.

Everyone needs to encourage Elliott to bring his Mexican restaurant/tequilla bar to OKC. Same concept as McNellies but Mexican Food and 100's of tequilla choices. I will probably need to buy a condo nearby so that I can crawl home.

Oh man, tequila is SO nasty.

Tell me more about the tequila restaurant / bar. I have never heard of it, where is it located?

Tulsa

Has anyone heard what is going in on the building at 10th and Robinson? Maybe we can get some more restaurants there. That would make really change 10th street.

Has anyone heard what is going in on the building at 10th and Robinson? Maybe we can get some more restaurants there. That would make really change 10th street.


I've been wondering that... are you referring to the building that is gutted across from the City Church (domed church for those that don't know)

Also... Elliott's hopefully going to bring his Jazz lounge and Tequila bar if and when McNellie's OKC starts showing signs that it will thrive in ths city. I can't see how it will fail.

I agree... bring it all Elliott. Isn't the Mexican/Tequila Bar called El Guapo's?

Oh man, tequila is SO nasty.

Not the ones most real tequilia bars sell. The high end stuff is probably some of the tastiest and smoothest alcohol there is.

I was referring to the building just west of City Church. I think that building could be as cool as Plaza Court. El Guapos is the name of the restaurant that I was talking about.....I just wasn't sure how to spell it. I could see that on the second floor of the building with a large deck overlooking the skyline of OKC. Maybe a nice cafe on the corner. I think the big parking lot to the south also goes with building so there should be plenty of parking.

Plans for that building currently are for a Mexican restaurant and possible retail or another restaurant with covered parking or offices in the garage space behind it. It all depends on who comes to the table for leasing arrangements too. trison, I encourage you to read the threads on Midtown or the Midtown revival and you'll find more info there

Not the ones most real tequilia bars sell. The high end stuff is probably some of the tastiest and smoothest alcohol there is.


Oh, man I love good tequila, so smooth. I need to check out this tequila bar the next time I am in Tulsa.

Perhaps the icee-machine margarita I had wasn't a good thing to judge by...

I drove by Plaza Court this afternoon and saw a "For Lease" sign in the window of the planned McNellie's location. This prompted me to email McNellie's and see what was up with that. The reply I got seemed to indicate that they were uncertain as to why there was a "For Lease" sign in the window and that McNellie's is planning to open in December of this year.

Sounds like Tanenbaum may be helping them (just kidding). Wow, that's almost a year after they first planned to be opened. Speaking of Tanenbaum, he hasn't announced any new projects lately. His current ones don't seem to be doing the best from what I can tell.

He wants too damn much money.

His properties would be attractive at a more reasonable price.

im from tulsa and like the place alot, hopefulyl all goes as planned and they put on in here.

Anyone know if McNellie's is still on? I have seen no signs of progress and they were originally supposed to have been open for months now.

It's still on, but construction has been slow for a number of reasons. The interior build out includes a lot of structural work . . . cutting out large sections of the concrete second floor . . . several new steel beams to support the space above . . . major new plumbing work . . . the list goes on and on. I think the owner and Banta were trying to work together in some way rather than using a General Contractor. A GC has now taken over the project, but it doesn't look like they will be open until early next year, at best.

I noticed that they had a lot of steel installed when I was by there today. I think that was the big hold up so maybe they can really make some progress!

Does anybody have an idea how big the upstairs will be at McNellie's in Plaza Court?

I would love to book it for a class reunion this summer but we'll need to accomodate about 200 people.

Does anybody have an idea how big the upstairs will be at McNellie's in Plaza Court?

I would love to book it for a class reunion this summer but we'll need to accomodate about 200 people.

You might try emailing them on their website. I did that when I had some questions about their construction process and they got back with me that day.

Does anyone know when this is supposed to open? Sorry if this has been posted on another board!

I haven't even heard of this. Where/what is it? Is it the same as the one in Tulsa? If so, they have an awesome Wednesday hamburger special!

I've emailed them a few times. They've been quick to furnish me with deadlines which they would proceed to miss.

That said, they've been making (slow) progress for quite some time now.

Mid, in all fairness, they have been picking up quite a bit of steam lately, although it's been about 2 years now. Maybe OCURA was helping them out.

Yes it's the same one as in Tulsa. I heard it was supposed to open April 1. Which obviously didn't happen. The last time I went by there (about a week ago) it looked like they still had about 2 months left of work.

where is it located?

In the Plaza Court building in MidTown. There are several other threads on it if you want to search for pictures and more info.

We're going to start taking apps on Monday (4/21). We're pushing really hard to be open by June 1 at the latest, and this time we might just hit it. Major construction is mostly done and we're down to finish work, but there's a lot of it. We've got a ton of wood to stain, walls to paint, bar tops to finish, etc. The hardest part of any of these jobs is the first 10% and the last 10%, which is where we are now. Don't give up on us, we'll get there soon.

Today, they put an "opening soon" sign on their windows.

Thanks for the update, dan.

I still think this place is going to be a complete homerun and I hope it's open when I visit in mid-June.

Good news. I'm a big fan.

My company is moving to Midtown as we just purchased a building in the area. I've scoped out all the "spots" and can't wait for this place to open!

I tried to find housing in midtown just for McNellies. Too bad the Sieber is so high; would have liked to walk to McNellies! :D