What happened to Shorty Smalls on Reno

I thought the only one in the state was a little further south on Meridian.

What happened to Shorty Smalls on Reno

It moved south of I-40

It moved south of I-40

They took the old Kona Ranch location across from Charlestons on south of the river on Meridian.

Worst dining experience I ever had on the OKC metro ever to date was Shortly Smalls in their prior location. Won't give it a second try.

Anyone remember the name of the Mexican restaurant that was next to it years ago that now is a vacant dirt lot?

Are you thinking of Texanna Red's?

Anyone remember the name of the Mexican restaurant that was next to it years ago that now is a vacant dirt lot?

It first opened as El Zocalo then rebranded as Texanna Red

Thanks sgt pepper. My brother n law was down from N. Dakota and wanted to go. I took him to Cattlemans instead.

Worst dining experience I ever had on the OKC metro ever to date was Shortly Smalls in their prior location. Won't give it a second try.

I once gave a gift certificate to "any restaurant of choice" to someone who did me a huge favor. (He was a police officer so I couldn't give him cash. =)
What restaurant did they (the guy and his wife--my landlady at the time) pick?

Shorty Smalls. (I think they used it at a former Edmond location?) Several years later, I had lunch at the one at Reno and Meridian. I can't remember what I ordered but I seem to recall that I thought it was better than average. And far more cost/value positive than Cattlemen's. Just sayin' . . .

P.S.: The worst part of the experience at Shorty Small's was probably that Corpdroid who happened to be in the place the day we had lunch and was way "oversolicitous" about joining some sort of "Shorty Smalls Dining Club" or whatnot. Other than that, the food and the service was above average. Like I said. =)

Never ate at Texanna Red's but I'd bet they served average enchiladas with rice and beans. Pretty much what you'd get at Luby's except with more ambiance.

Please refrain from Not Liking What I [Sort of] Like. Thank you. =)
Dang. Now I'm missin' Steak and Ale (prime rib) . . . Bahama Breeze (anything) . . . The Elephant Bar (lamb shanks) . . . =)
btw: Have you tried either version of Custinos? In order to lend credence, depth and context to the phrase "worst dining experience" . . .? =)

Texanna Reds, that's it. Was back in 1988. Don't recall how great the food was, but I loved the building... Same goes for Crystals Pizza that was on Rockwell and NW Expressway.

Worst dining experience I ever had on the OKC metro ever to date was Shortly Smalls in their prior location. Won't give it a second try.

Anyone remember the name of the Mexican restaurant that was next to it years ago that now is a vacant dirt lot?

Yup, I agree, I am surprised it is still open!

I first ate there in Little Rock, 1991. For an eleven-year-old who knew mostly what good food and perks were, it was amazing. The use of antiques and assorted "junque" as kitschy decor was new then, and the vague mischief associated with the establishment was eaten up along with the substantial burgers and milkshakes with an additional tumbler; hardly a widespread practice.

With their expansion out here some years later, they retained every bit of their charm and quality, so I thought...then it faded after some time. My last real experience to be with them, unless I'm forgetting any subsequent visits (entirely possible), was passed up, just after we were seated, in favor of Charleston's across the street; a more fitting location for a post-wake dinner, it turned out.

I eat here all the time. The nachos are the best I have ever had and the catfish, pork, and ribs are amazing. I encourage all that had a bad experience to give them a second try. You must have gone on a really really bad day or the cooks were good for nothings.

I eat here all the time. The nachos are the best I have ever had and the catfish, pork, and ribs are amazing. I encourage all that had a bad experience to give them a second try. You must have gone on a really really bad day or the cooks were good for nothings.

I eat there from time-to-time when others in our group insist. To me, its only good BBQ to those who find massive chain type restaurants (aka, Chili's) to be "good eat'n."

Not a dig on that crowd - I know a lot of those people - just a different kinda taste (and not mine in most situations).

We still go to Shorty Smalls from time to time (when a Groupon or other deal makes it cost effective). The prices have gone up recently and while the building is nicer than the old something is missing. Cant quite place it, but definitely not the same ambience as when they were in the Reno location.

We have been impressed with the Emerson Biggens (next door to a Billy Sims) in the same general area. Value for the money seems to be there. The chicken fried chicken was huge and their onion rings are some of the best round.

Kona Ranch is gone???? NOOOOOO!

Went to Shorty Smalls Sunday for my moms birthday. She got the Sirloin dinner ($15.99, tender but flavorless) and I had the Rib & Brisket combo ($16.99). The Brisket was very tender but suspect that if it hadn't been drowned in BBQ sauce, it would have been tasteless as well. The Ribs were some of the worst I have ever had. Charred/burnt and tough. Not anything like what was promised in the menu"Jumpin'-Off-The-Bone Tender"(TM). "served with all the fixin's"? Hardly. There were 2 VERY SMALL sides and what amounted to a McDonald's dollar menu sized portion of fries. All of the food put together occupied about half of the huge platter they served it on. Easy cheap solution is to load up on the fries to cover the plate or serve on a normal sized plate. Noticed on the menu, they were advertising "Deep-Fried Twinkies" (TM). I asked how they were doing that since the product isn't in production anymore (thinking that maybe they had stocked up on them and had them in the freezer). But no, the waitress said they were using Little Debbie Cloud Cakes. Seriously??? While they are similar (especially after you batter and deep fry them), the cost is significantly cheaper than a real Twinkee and they were still charging $6.99 for them (not to mention the false/bait-n-switch advertising). The value for the money just isn't there any more. Just as good food at similar price point or less at many places around.

Went to Shorty Smalls Sunday for my moms birthday. . .

So . . . Based upon your two, recent, previous posts, regarding the cost/value balance of the food provided by the current incarnation/location of Shorty Small's, is it possible that it might be appropriate for an April 1st dinner?

(did they relocate that cool map with all the pins from the former location?
are the hovering corpbotdrones still making sure the staff is doing a good job?)

Went to Shorty Smalls Sunday for my moms birthday. She got the Sirloin dinner ($15.99, tender but flavorless) and I had the Rib & Brisket combo ($16.99). The Brisket was very tender but suspect that if it hadn't been drowned in BBQ sauce, it would have been tasteless as well. The Ribs were some of the worst I have ever had. Charred/burnt and tough. Not anything like what was promised in the menu"Jumpin'-Off-The-Bone Tender"(TM). "served with all the fixin's"? Hardly. There were 2 VERY SMALL sides and what amounted to a McDonald's dollar menu sized portion of fries. All of the food put together occupied about half of the huge platter they served it on. Easy cheap solution is to load up on the fries to cover the plate or serve on a normal sized plate. Noticed on the menu, they were advertising "Deep-Fried Twinkies" (TM). I asked how they were doing that since the product isn't in production anymore (thinking that maybe they had stocked up on them and had them in the freezer). But no, the waitress said they were using Little Debbie Cloud Cakes. Seriously??? While they are similar (especially after you batter and deep fry them), the cost is significantly cheaper than a real Twinkee and they were still charging $6.99 for them (not to mention the false/bait-n-switch advertising). The value for the money just isn't there any more. Just as good food at similar price point or less at many places around.

Well a Twinkee was only a small percentage of that price to begin with. lol

jn1780: True but probably the most expensive ingredient...even with real Twinkees, their actual cost was prob under $1 and charging $7. With the Little Debbie clone cakes, their cost is about 50 cents? Went from a 700% markup to a 1400% mark up. There were good but not THAT good. Heck that is approaching State Fair gouging. LOL

Radical: the map did get relocated ;)

To give you a visual, this picture was very similar to what I was served..just replace the bowl of okra with an equal amount of fries..does THIS look like anything close to $16.99 dinner???

3646

I've almost chimed in a couple of times on this thread, but typically i hate to say negative things about restaurants. But shorty smalls is terrible. I went with a groupon a few months back and had the biggest msg headache from a pulled pork sandwich. We were sitting there eating then all of a sudden full on sweat pouring down my face followed by an intense headache.

To give you a visual, this picture was very similar to what I was served..just replace the bowl of okra with an equal amount of fries..does THIS look like anything close to $16.99 dinner???

3646

$7.99 . . . $8.99 max.
(that would be a "no")

now, if they had put all the stuff on a smaller platter so that it appeared to be more food i might have said $9.99 =)
$11.49 if they had provided a little fake crystal shaker filled with MSG to overcome the "tasteless" hurdle. j/k

and a non-fried version of one of these (the coconut variety)
http://www.tastykake.com/products/juniors
would have tempted me to tip

Credit where credit is due: Wrote Shorty Smalls corporate with my food quality/quantity concerns (but no mention of the Twinkees bait-n-switch) and they did respond with a comp to give them another try. We will see.

Somehow this reminds me a bit of a matched pair of complaints voiced by some of my former students:
"The food sucks." "Yeah. And there isn't ever enough of it." =)

Glad that your letter stirred up the corpdrones at company HQ.
I sort of liked Shorty Small's the one time I ate there. As I said. Previously. =)

RadMod: Good one:p

The pasta is fair and they have a good burger. I'm a healthy eater and generally leave fries behind. If the portions are reduced it must be a recent change. I think I'll run down there and check it out.

The pasta could have been better, no change on the portions for it or the burger and fries.

I hope I'm wrong but this place is on it's last leg and it's been hard fight but it's about to come to an end. In my professional opinion, they were hot at one time but over expanded and lost control of quality, lost regulars and repeat diners because of negative changes in quality, portions, service and have been on a downward spiral and they've stopped marketing for new diners too. In business you're either growing or shrinking and they have lost a bunch of locations recently.

I've personally tried to deliver marketing reports, customer trend and customer feedback reports to them and they had no interest in customer feedback or marketing intelligence. Like most small to mid sized chains that go bust, they grow like hell for a few years and then they forget that they're serving food and hospitality to people. At some point, most of them start focusing on profit margin's at the cost of quality and leases, investors, etc. I'm rooting for them but they've either got to roll the dice and make some major changes and invest in marketing for new customers and winning back old ones or cut bait ASAP. If I'm them I'm cutting inventory as much as possible with a smaller menu of what they sell the most of right now. Their POS systems should easily supply this data. I'm looking at adding some of the hottest selling items in this area that fit into my concept and inventory. I'm running the biggest bang for my buck marketing campaign that's focused on introducing the new changes and the slick new location. I haven't been in since it's been in the Old Kona Ranch location but it used to have a very large and somewhat unique bar. If it's still there I'd start marketing as a bar more after 10pm or so. There are quite a few people that bounce between Henry Hudsons on Reno, Emmerson Biggen's, Brewsky's, etc. and there is a lot more profit in alcohol sales. I'm of the mind that if you're going to have a bar and the expense of it than you damn well better have it open during bar times and marketing it as it's own entity even if the restaurant is the #1 focus. I hope this once strong Oklahoma based company can pull out of it and I'll make an effort to support it while it's still here. It's the place that my son had his first ribs and I have fond memories of it from childhood.