Last week Markies Deli on Robinson across from the Memorial reopened as Blu BBQ. I ate there on Friday afternoon. Since I am a vegetarian, I had a baked potato, a salad and fried okra. I am sorry I can't review the meat first hand but my husband seemed to enjoy his sliced brisket sandwich. There are so many restaurants in Midtown and Auto Alley but this is the only BBQ restaurant remotely close. The management also informed us that they will be open until 9 pm every evening and later on Thunder game nights.

I did not particularly like the food at Markies, so perhaps this will be an improvement.

New Niche, New Name:
Veganaganza!: All sprouts/etc. all the time! With the aroma of smoked meat pulsing through the air conditioning.

i didn't realize markie's had closed... they weren't my favorite, but i kinda liked them. will have to try this barbecue place out. -M

I used to office upstairs from Markie's when they first opened years ago. I ate there fairly often for breakfast and lunch. The food was always fine to good - it was just not anything I craved once I moved out of the building. Surprised I hadn't realized they'd closed as I jog past there quite often.

Ate at Blu's BBQ today for lunch with 5 others.

In a word..... "Terrible"

Got there with my usual lunch group at about 12:20pm. The place is as one would expect if you had ever patronized the former establishment (Markie's Deli). The place is spacious, clean and nicer in appearance than your average BBQ joint (except Iron Star, which many don't classify as a BBQ joint anyway). That however, should have been our first clue that something was amiss.

The place was actually about 1/4 full and maybe a dozen people in line when we walked in.

Right away we were suspicious when we looked into the open air cooking/prep area. Only 2 guys 'coooking' the orders, not even a hint of BBQ in the air and not even a faux smoker anywhere to be seen.

The menu was robust with lots of choices of meats, burgers sides and such. Most lunches seemed to be in the $7-$9 range.

Our fears were confirmed when after 15 minutes no food had arrived. 10 minutes later and two orders showed up - it was another 20-25 minutes before the next 3 orders arrived (two containing the wrong meat and/or side). The 6th order literally NEVER arrived.

I ordered the bologna sandwich with a side of sliced brisket and baked beans. The bologna, as it appears was the case with all their meats, was some sort of pre-cooked Sam's Club variety that was either reheated to death or microwaved. The Bologna, while in abundance on the sandwich, had zero flavor and was room temperature at best. The buns were straight out of a grocery store bag (bargain isle). The sliced brisket was literally so bad you couldn't even eat it. I've never had brisket this tough and this void of flavor. You had to have a knife to cut it and it chewed like jerky. The baked beans were obviously some sort of pre-made reheated slop. A $9 lunch I couldn't eat.

Everyone at our table had a similar encounter. The ribs were TINY, tough, slim on meat and big on bland.

The hot link was a one-alarm at best and the BBQ sauces most likely were some generic 5 gallon no name brand poured into squeeze bottles.

One in our group had to leave before their order could arrive, the order that was forgotten was offered as a 'togo,' a side of okra that was forgotten was delivered in a togo sack and nobody at our table ate even half their meal.

We also noticed several people at other tables complaining about wait times (place was only 1/4 full), wrong orders, toughness of the meat, etc.

There is no way they prepare any of this meat in-house. I give them 2-6 months tops.

Avoid at all cost unless you like throwing money away on food high school kids wouldn't even eat in their cafeteria.

Appreciate the head's up. Now I am happy I dinna go ahead and bite on the Groupon offer earlier today.

Hmmmm... I gave them a try on Monday and my experience wasn't as bad as Brian's sounded.

I don't want to go into to much detail because I'll be blogging my visit soon but I will agree with Brian on the brisket. I had mine chopped and chopped brisket should never be that dry. I don't even want to know what the sliced might have been like.

I couldn't see their smokers but I would bet money they are using some kind of an electric commercial smoker.

Couple of pics I took from today.....

2765

2766

Food actually looked fine on the plate (except the extra rib side a friend ordered - $2 for one TINY meatless rib that was tough as nails).

No idea if the use electric smokers. But I can say with confidence they don't smoke the meat at that location. The meat is either precooked by a supplier or by themselves and then reheated to death on site.

Its a shame, because they did most everything else right..... nice location, nice atmosphere, friendly enough staff, large selection, prices are okay (tiny bit high IMO - but not if the food was GREAT) and presentation was good. But none of that overcomes God awful food.

Not hearing much other buzz about this place....

Good Q is something folks will go out of their way to enjoy. It's definitely not a location rules the day meal.

There are several Q offerings in the metro that are better than being merely acceptable. Because of that, if someone is going to enter the market segment, they need to have a solid product and a strong hook to get folks to try it over their favorite place. So far, this place sounds like it has neither.

It is definitely an odd spot...

This doesn't really sound like a place that I should make the drive out to.

I had lunch ther on Friday. I had the St. Louis Ribs. They were great. The price was really reasonable tooo.

Still say they won't be there this time next year.

Reading BBQ Eater's blog about his visit, I'm getting serious flashbacks to what happened with BBates' review with Divine Swine.

Reading BBQ Eater's blog about his visit, I'm getting serious flashbacks to what happened with BBates' review with Divine Swine.

That guy that went after people on Urbanspoon and then started making comments on my blog (which I really didn't think was all that harsh) has probably done more damage to them than the poor quality brisket they served me.

I would love to see them make a go of it. I'm a huge fan of the mom & pop joints. Their non-Q menu might be able to carry them along with plenty of foot traffic at lunch time but right now their Q makes them just another run of the mill Q raunt.

Now there is a woman named Kathy leaving comments on Urbanspoon who first stated to be a customer seated next to what may have been Brian's group and now claiming to be an owner and accusing me of slander for commenting on the lack of parking in the area.

It's getting kind of sad. Mediocre food can be fixed. Bad PR from overzealous friends and family is hard to overcome.

Yeah, definitely shades of 'Divine Swine' - micro management that wears their feelings on their sleeve and don't when to just let their product speak for itself. Problem is, Blu's product is screaming "The Worst BBQ in OKC!" Kathy is probably a very close connection to the owners and is interjecting herself. Literally within hours of the Urban Spoon acct being set up they had scores of glowing reviews.... Totally smelled of the owners trying to fool their customers. Big difference though between Blu's and Divine is that Divine actually had some menu items that were really good.

I'm shocked they haven't posted here yet.

OK BBQ Eater Anonymous - wish you'd put a link to your blog in your signature or on your profile. Every time I go looking for it I gotta do alot of searching.

OK BBQ Eater Anonymous - wish you'd put a link to your blog in your signature or on your profile. Every time I go looking for it I gotta do alot of searching.

I haven't actually found where I can set my signature. I have added it as my home page on my profile. If anyone could walk me to where I set the signature I'll add it there too.

What I really find funny about this Kathy person is that she called my comment on limited parking to be slanderous. She didn't even note that I compared their chopped brisket to hickory chips.... well ok, I said hickory chips were probably better.... Does that mean she is agreeing that the brisket they served me was poor quality?

I was kind of shocked by how you said your bologna was served. Mine actually had some color and the most smoke flavor of the three meats I ate that day. Tells me there are some major consistency issues right now and if you read through any of my previous blogs you'll see me comment several times that no one should be able to screw up smoked bologna. :)

My lunch bunch like to seek out lesser known establishments and we are going to try and work our way through some of the one's on your blog.

As for my reviews, I simply call it like I see it. I've even reversed reviews when owners took note of issues and made real strides to change things.

Some places I really didn't like on the first visit but soon grew to really like are Big Truck (though, the last few visits have left me slightly disappointed), Mutt's (same owners as Big Truck), Waffle Champion, Cheddars, and a few others.

I didn't even see the Urban spoon stuff. Yeah, US is pretty bad about people signing up with multiple accounts just to prop up their own restaurants ratings. When their reviews just show up to criticize "haters" who give bad reviews, or directly to contradict other users, it's a bad sign.

I've got a lot of BBQ places to try already, so I don't see this one jumpin to the top of the list.

My lunch bunch like to seek out lesser known establishments and we are going to try and work our way through some of the one's on your blog.

Should make for a good time. I know I've had a lot of fun with what I am doing.


As for my reviews, I simply call it like I see it. I've even reversed reviews when owners took note of issues and made real strides to change things.

I try to remain as objective as possible without being to condemning but when I eat something that is bad I'm going to call it what it is.

I have also handed out praise at places I really didn't like the food that much but enjoyed the experience (Big Smokey (http://okbbqea.blogspot.com/2012/08/big-smokey-bar-b-q-big-smokey-character.html)).

I also have the disclaimers all over my blog that my opinion is mine alone and that people should go try it for themselves. I could very well be a complete BBQ idiot. :D

I've noticed a lot of the Urbanspoon comments made by who I believe was the same person commenting on my blog have disappeared now. That was a very smart PR move by someone.

Yeah, they tried to insinuate a friend of mine's negative review was based on a past incident he had with the owner (owner apparently threatened him and police were called). My friend didn't realize he owned Blu's (or he wouldn't have ever gone there to begin with). Sounds like the guy is a bit crazy based on the story I was told.

Yeah, they tried to insinuate a friend of mine's negative review was based on a past incident he had with the owner (owner apparently threatened him and police were called). My friend didn't realize he owned Blu's (or he wouldn't have ever gone there to begin with). Sounds like the guy is a bit crazy based on the story I was told.

Yeah, I saw that comment before it was removed.

I had intended to go back and give them another try but after all the drama I've seen I doubt I will now. There are still a lot of places in just the OKC area that I haven't been to or haven't been back to since I started the blog. So I'll just keep on checking names off the list and re-visiting the places I've liked.

When you guys hit up some of the places I've been please leave a comment on the blog. I always appreciate hearing other peoples thougts about their experiences. Helps me to see if places are consistent or if I just caught them on a good day and BBQ is also very subjective. So what I like doesn't always appeal to others.

I

i picked up some lunch from blu's today... i'd judge the quality of a place's barbecue primarily on how well they do ribs, brisket and pulled pork. so, of course, i ordered hotlinks and turkey. hey... what i judge on quality and what i'm hungry for are sometimes two different things.

the folks who helped me out were friendly and courteous, both on the phone and when i picked up my order. i paid around what i'd expect to pay in okc. the hotlinks have more smoke flavor than many other places in the metro and i liked that... so i'd rate that better than many other places in town. the turkey is pretty much the same as many other places. while it didn't stand out, it was definitely good. the sauces are pretty average. if anything, to me, this was the weakest part of the meal. the regular sauce is pretty sweet, which happens to be my preference. the hot seems to be a doctored up version of the regular, with the addition of black pepper and (maybe) some pepper sauce. the sauce wasn't bad... just not great.

i enjoyed the meal and given the proximity of where i work, i'll probably drop in from time to time when i feel like a little barbecue for lunch. -M

I see Blu's has a groupon right now. Over 800 purchased so far. This should go a long way to either helping in their success or nailing their coffin closed. Time will tell, and I hope them well. Blu's BBQ and Burgers Deal of the Day | Groupon Oklahoma City (http://www.groupon.com/deals/blu-s-bbq-and-burgers?pt=aUKgWszAAAADZYfo4WNNxayICvNvIcG27)

A mass redemption before year end would appear to be a potential landmine more than a potential gold mine. Luck to them.

My marketing experience tells me that marketing endeavors such as a Groupon are not well advised unless a company is VERY well funded. A $5 for $10 means they are only getting $2.50 for each $10 of food purchased - which I would assume is close to break-even or even a loss. I get the impression Blu's cannot operate at a loss for long at all. I'm sure they are thinking this is a loss leader to get repeat business. Maybe so, but not so much in the winter months.

I think your numbers are spot on. If the G person comes in with 3-4 friends who pay full price, or even lunch special pricing, not so significant a hit. Especially if the folks are not yet regular customers, like it and then make it a new spot, sans coupons, on their regular rotation. That's simply a successful promotion in action.

Conversely, if a large number of the 800+ sold are solo diners who eat light and barely exceed the 10 price point, the business better have their game face on and be praying mightily to convert those folks to regulars. Bringing in only 2.50ish on a tenner meal isn't even remotely close to break even. If many of the 800+ are sold to G chasers (folks who decide where they eat primarily based on which Groupons in their inventory will expire that week) this could be a big train wreck for a fledgling business.

I think your numbers are spot on. If the G person comes in with 3-4 friends who pay full price, or even lunch special pricing, not so significant a hit. Especially if the folks are not yet regular customers, like it and then make it a new spot, sans coupons, on their regular rotation. That's simply a successful promotion in action.

Conversely, if a large number of the 800+ sold are solo diners who eat light and barely exceed the 10 price point, the business beer have their game face on and be praying mightily to convert those folks to regulars. Bringing in only 2.50ish on a tenner meal isn't even remotely close to break even. If many of the 800+ are sold to G chasers (folks who decide where they eat primarily based on which Groupons in their inventory will expire that week) this could be a big train wreck for a fledgling business.

My first dining experience at a well-known--vaguely italian-sounding--restaurant, not far from the former location of "Boca Boca" in The Collonade that turned into Sean Cummings Irish Pub and then moved closer to a bigger, multi-tasking, kitchen was lessened by The Invasion of The Grouponers. This does not mean that I won't go back . . . but . . .

Perhaps when the great playing field is leveled out it will look like something along the lines of CiCi's Endless Cornucopia of BuffetStuff . . .

("Blu BBQ" indeed . . . heh heh heh)

went there last week for the first time and was hoping I could find great brisket in OKC. Absolutely not, dry and rubbery. No bark or smoke ring. Won't be back.

With Back Door BBQ about to open at 23rd and Hudson. The BBQ game is going to get serious in this area of OKC.

If the food I've been seeing on their Facebook page tastes as good as it looks. Blu's and Bubba's are going to have to bring their A+ game or take their toys and go home.

Back Door has been on the road researching some of the top Q-raunts in the Oklahoma and Texas area and if they are learning anything from them Oklahoma City could finally score a destination Q-raunt.

With Back Door BBQ about to open at 23rd and Hudson. The BBQ game is going to get serious in this area of OKC.

If the food I've been seeing on their Facebook page tastes as good as it looks. Blu's and Bubba's are going to have to bring their A+ game or take their toys and go home.

Back Door has been on the road researching some of the top Q-raunts in the Oklahoma and Texas area and if they are learning anything from them Oklahoma City could finally score a destination Q-raunt.

We could use one. OKC BBQ pretty much blows.

went there last week for the first time and was hoping I could find great brisket in OKC. Absolutely not, dry and rubbery. No bark or smoke ring. Won't be back.

You will not find bark or a smoke ring on their meat because what they are selling is not barbecue. People in this city need to demand better or this is what they'll get. It's so bad I'm not even sure if we know what good barbecue is anymore.

I went a couple of weeks ago and got a burger. While it was tasty, it was a bit on the dry side. The lady that was running the register asked about my meal, and apologized and offered me something else (even though I had finished it). They were out of Fritos for the Frito chili pie so I got the onion rings. They were fantastic. Some of the best onion rings around. I will definitely get them instead of the fries next time. I asked her what I owed her for the rings, and she said "nothing". Will definitely be back as they understand customer service and trying to make things right. The decor was nice nice and very clean.

My marketing experience tells me that marketing endeavors such as a Groupon are not well advised unless a company is VERY well funded. A $5 for $10 means they are only getting $2.50 for each $10 of food purchased - which I would assume is close to break-even or even a loss. I get the impression Blu's cannot operate at a loss for long at all. I'm sure they are thinking this is a loss leader to get repeat business. Maybe so, but not so much in the winter months.

You're very correct about the restaurant needing to be well funded. One thing to consider in this restaurant's case is waste though. BBQ is a high waste restaurant type so if their tables are only 1/4 full, they may be looking at it as though they'd rather make $2.50 off it because it was going to be loss of -2.50 otherwise and maybe the coupon customer will bring others and will come back. That's a big maybe though. Where mass coupons and restaurants fail is that their quality of service, experience and maybe even food isn't delivered to the mass coupon customer. The service staff isn't typically a fan of coupon customers because they don't make any money serving them and the customer has a bad experience, doesn't come back and creates bad word of mouth. This thread is a perfect example of how bad negative word of mouth can be.

My marketing experience tells me that marketing endeavors such as a Groupon are not well advised unless a company is VERY well funded. A $5 for $10 means they are only getting $2.50 for each $10 of food purchased - which I would assume is close to break-even or even a loss. I get the impression Blu's cannot operate at a loss for long at all. I'm sure they are thinking this is a loss leader to get repeat business. Maybe so, but not so much in the winter months.

Even way back before Thanksgiving--and even to this very day--you nailed it, Brian. (no kidding).
Next thing you know . . . there will be something involving the quality of the food with a check list for complaining/comps/discounts. (Burger: Great, Acceptable, Dry, Too Dry, Too Rare, OK)

I think people tend to forget that good businesses (including restaurants) need good customers to live long and prosper. And by good customers I mean folks who come through the door to make you money not cost you money. The world cannot live on Walmarts alone. =)

Business response to social media complaints is crucial, experts say | News OK (http://newsok.com/business-response-to-social-media-complaints-is-crucial-experts-say/article/3806522)
Business response to social media complaints is crucial, experts say | Oklahoman.com (http://www.oklahoman.com/article/3806522?e_id=52616e646f6d49561671ba4c22e6f2b432d61 d9a261afb48)

This restaurant has been excoriated on this board and I don't know why. I haven't been there much in part because of what has been written here, but they're still in business so they must be doing something right.

The above links are to the same Sunday article on Blu and its owner Kathy Chyzy. The story angle is not specifically about Blu, but how various businesses deal with reviews that are overwhelmingly negative, and posted by possibly suspect reviewers.

I'll drop by for lunch in the next week and post my opinion.

I'm not a suspect reviewer, I just like good BBQ and what they serve isn't close

If I could talk directly to the owner I'd say, if you don't like bad reviews then serve better food.

This restaurant has been excoriated on this board and I don't know why. I haven't been there much in part because of what has been written here, but they're still in business so they must be doing something right.


The reason why is because of how they handled the situation. Kathy and Ryan both jumped to a lot of conclusions about who wrote the reviews and why. They even went so far as to say that BBatesokc and I were the same person and accused me of slander for commenting that there was limited parking.

I try and remain as objective as I can when I write my blogs and I'm almost always willing to give a place a second chance. Blu's is the reason I say almost.

Feel free to read my blog BIG RED ON TAP AT BLU'S BBQ & BURGER (http://okbbqea.blogspot.com/2012/10/big-red-on-tap-at-blus-bar-b-q-burgers.html) and see if you feel I was to harsh. I went back and re-read it after everything blew up and I really didn't think I was anything less than honest about my experience there.

I wished them success in my blog, and I still do, but I will personally never do business with them again.

Business response to social media complaints is crucial, experts say | News OK (http://newsok.com/business-response-to-social-media-complaints-is-crucial-experts-say/article/3806522)
Business response to social media complaints is crucial, experts say | Oklahoman.com (http://www.oklahoman.com/article/3806522?e_id=52616e646f6d49561671ba4c22e6f2b432d61 d9a261afb48)

This restaurant has been excoriated on this board and I don't know why. I haven't been there much in part because of what has been written here, but they're still in business so they must be doing something right.

The above links are to the same Sunday article on Blu and its owner Kathy Chyzy. The story angle is not specifically about Blu, but how various businesses deal with reviews that are overwhelmingly negative, and posted by possibly suspect reviewers.

I'll drop by for lunch in the next week and post my opinion.

Since they can't get the byline, somebody at Saxum should at least get a raise for this.

I really didn't pay much mind to the bad reviews because it seemed to me the reviewers went beyond offering up their two cents and entered vendetta territory. The biggest turnoff was the owners response. I hope for their own sake they take to heart the advice given.

I'm a frequent vacation property renter mostly homes for rent by owners. If an owner goes all defensive in their reply to a neg review I see that as a red flag and move on whereas if the owner sincerely acknowledges the complaint that gets them closer to my business. Like the Don said, its not personal it's business.

I always pay attention to reviews, but I do look for consistancies. We stayed at the Magnolia hotel in Dallas a few years ago and I saw reviewers who rated it lower because the TV stand was dusty or they didn't have exactly what this person wanted for breakfast. I then saw about five people in a row say it was a nice hotel, service was good, but the elevators are incredibly slow and the valet (there was no option for self park) has to get your car from a parking garage two blocks away. Sure enough, when we get there the elevator takes a while and the valet took 20 minutes to get our car out. I do the same with restaurants. If one person says the food was horrible, they are never coming back and don't explain why they didn't like the food, I usually just look over their review and move on to the next one.

...This restaurant has been excoriated on this board and I don't know why. I haven't been there much in part because of what has been written here, but they're still in business so they must be doing something right.

The above links are to the same Sunday article on Blu and its owner Kathy Chyzy. The story angle is not specifically about Blu, but how various businesses deal with reviews that are overwhelmingly negative, and posted by possibly suspect reviewers.

I'll drop by for lunch in the next week and post my opinion.

This restaurant hasn't been singled out with negative comments any more than any other restaurant that is sub-par. There have been plenty of constructive and crazy negative comments about a laundry list of local eateries.

Personally, I really don't get the Oklahoman article - but maybe that's because I'm too close to it.

I don't know how you write such an article and allow quotes that accuse the reviewers of a vendetta and then as a journalist make ZERO attempt to actually interview those who posted the negative reviews.

I'm not even sure how they singled out Blu's for the topic of the article to begin with....

Take virtually any restaurant on UrbanSpoon and you'll find great reviews, good reviews, neutral reviews, bad reviews and over the top negative reviews. What made Blu's so special?

A better example would have been to interview the ladies who own Big Truck. Their onslaught of negative reviews (some before they even opened) were so suspect that I believe Steve L. with the oklahoman even commented on it here in this forum.

Yet, they have grown to be very successful and still attract some pretty harsh criticisms.

Or, how about interview the Good Egg Group - they have lots of eateries, are successful, are very social media savvy and get there fair share of negative online comments and handle them very professionally - even I have left one or two gripes and they were handled promptly and professionally and I patronize them regularly because of it.

Better yet, put the article in perspective..... The reporter could have actually gone to Blu's for lunch and then asked people at their tables or online what motivated them to try Blu's and if they are even aware of the reviews on UrbanSpoon. The reporter acted as if the reviews are posted on the establishment's walls like a health report. A tiny percentage of the dining public even reads reviews on UrbanSpoon - yet that was never put into context.

In reality the entire article was spotlighting a restaurant that has only been open less than a year, has only a couple hundred votes and only 40 reviews - what is that? The equivalent of an entire single day's lunch business.

Not to mention the Oklahoman mentioned the uptick in positive reviews but didn't bother to mention most of the recent favorable reviews come from people who just happened to have been so moved by the fabulous BBQ at Blu's that they created their UrbanSpoon account on the very day they left a positive review and haven't been so moved since to post any other reviews - yet the negative reviews are suspect?

Of course, then there's the whole fact that one of their UrbanSpoon accounts was blocked by UrbanSpoon due to multiple positive reviews from different accounts using the same IP address.

I posted before I hope their business does well. And patronage may indeed be up, but their financial situation is not - and I know this for a fact.

Its a non-issue to me, just another among dozens of bad restaurants in and around the city.

I'm sure I'm to blame for Divine Swine going out of business too!

I haven't really tried the food, but anytime an owner goes online to viciously insults someone who made a negative comment, it just makes me think that they're not professional enough to run a restaurant and makes me much less likely to try them out.

And yeah, I agree that positive reviews need to be looked at critically too, review inflation is common on internet review sites.

went there last week for the first time and was hoping I could find great brisket in OKC. Absolutely not, dry and rubbery. No bark or smoke ring. Won't be back.

Bubba's has good brisket.

Experiences can certainly vary. My limited experience (redeeming Groupons) has been nothing but an overall positive. I went after work (5:30) so the place wasn't crowded with a lot of the DT folks that I would expect during lunch time). The folks behind the counter were friendly and personable (found out after the fact that the lady was the owner). She came out and asked how my food was. Told her while tasty, the burger I ordered was a bit on the dry side. i didn't ask for or expect anything in return, but she did offer to "make it right" by asking me if i wanted anything different (this was after I had ate the whole burger). I wanted someting else to sample so I tried the onion rings (which were some of the best I have ever had...in the top 3 for sure). On the return visit, tried something else and was pleased. I will be back.