I had a similar experience at Barrel a couple weeks ago when a group of us were in for Sunday brunch. It took an hour to get our food after ordering and the food was average at best. Our server was actually very energetic and upbeat and she brought us some free chips to tide us over. The interior is really done well also. I wasn't that irritated because I was enjoying the conversation, but our group was just kind of dumbfounded in how long it took. The manager stopped by and told us that's now they do things so I hope they get it together (if this is indeed a consistent problem... Obviously, people tend to post their frustrating experiences more so than those that meet their expectations).

I hope they do get it together. I really like the place and want to see it last.

Obviously it's the suppliers job to meet demand where it is at, but after traveling some, as customers we really ought to sit back and enjoy dinner more. No need to get in and out so quickly…that would at least help out some if we went in with the assumption that things were not going to be immediate and that we need to go with people we enjoy.

Barrel seems like a solid place to meet friends for drinks and light food but it doesnt strike me as a good place for a dinner date. Not that what food I have had there is bad, but I just dont see the type of service and atmosphere that makes a restaurant a good dinner location.

But its way less douchey than Nova, they have a cheap happy hour that goes to 7, and a decent patio. All things considered, its an improvement over what it used to be.

Maybe we should be praising the places in OKC that offer top-notch, consistently good service. I'll start:

Urban Johnnies -- not an "upscale" restaurant, but I've always had good (and speedy) service there.
The Park House -- While the restaurant itself has had some issues, my servers there have been superb and extremely friendly.
La Baguette -- Consistently excellent food and service
Sushi Neko -- While not always the friendliest, the service is usually very good
Guernsey Park -- Always had good service there
And, in the "Believe it or not!" category, Flint -- While others have had bad service there, I never have.

Next rung down:

Ludivine -- Almost always have good service, but have had exceptions
Packard's -- Not bad, but had a couple of experiences there that were not so good
Cattlemen's -- Russian Roulette for servers
Upper Crust -- This place is completely schizophrenic.
Cheever's -- I've by far had mostly good service there, but it's occasionally been unnecessarily snotty.

Barrel seems like a solid place to meet friends for drinks and light food but it doesnt strike me as a good place for a dinner date. Not that what food I have had there is bad, but I just dont see the type of service and atmosphere that makes a restaurant a good dinner location.

But its way less douchey than Nova, they have a cheap happy hour that goes to 7, and a decent patio. All things considered, its an improvement over what it used to be.

I agree. I see Barrel as primarily a bar first and a restaurant second. I've had a good experience there the few times I've been there, but I was there after 10pm and not for dinner. They do have good appetizers to munch on while drinking.

New menu released today:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/barrelmenu.jpg

So glad there's another place to eat breakfast past 2 PM on Saturdays... We had eaten lunch there before, but never brunch, so went on Sat and had the Chesapeake benedict (with chipotle hollandaise instead of regular, wife had regular) and it was pretty decent. Potatoes are a little bigger than the regular diced home fries and were decently spiced with onions and red peppers thrown in. Was kind of sad to see that they now serve their fantastic pretzel with salami and havarti and jacked the price up about (I think) $4. All you need is the pretzel, cheese, and mustard. :(

Heard from a good source they are closing this Sunday for a re-tool.

Believe it will be some sort of dinner club / night spot.

Heard from a good source they are closing this Sunday for a re-tool.

Believe it will be some sort of dinner club / night spot.

Thanks for the heads up! It's been on my list for a while but always forget about that little strip, just made brunch reservations for Saturday.

Heard from a good source they are closing this Sunday for a re-tool.

Believe it will be some sort of dinner club / night spot.

I really liked the Barrel when it first opened, but haven't been back in years. There are too many other places that do everything it did but better. I'm looking forward to seeing what it becomes after the retool.

I never understood The Barrel of the last few years.

It promotes itself as a restaurant and brunch spot... Even a pub.

But it looks like a club on the inside and that's how it functions in the evening.

I never understood The Barrel of the last few years.

It promotes itself as a restaurant and brunch spot... Even a pub.

But it looks like a club on the inside and that's how it functions in the evening.

yep... I've never really understood that ownership group. look across the street and see how little they spend on upkeep on the drum room, which clearly has some things that need fixed... heck last time I was in there the menu's were so beat up you could hardly read them.... but they dumped tons of money into the barrel without a clear and consistent concept

Thanks for the heads up! It's been on my list for a while but always forget about that little strip, just made brunch reservations for Saturday.

Had brunch there a few times over the past few months, and we found the best things are the crab cake benedict (not as good as Bonjour's, but whose is?) and the veggie omelet (can't remember if that's on the menu or my wife just built her own). Sad to see it go because they do brunch until 3 PM...

bring back Cafe Nova and the flower shop behind it.... oh the 00's

I never understood The Barrel of the last few years.

It promotes itself as a restaurant and brunch spot... Even a pub.

But it looks like a club on the inside and that's how it functions in the evening.

This shows how long it's been since I've been to the Barrel. It had a pub atmosphere last time I was there. It just didn't do it as well as McNellie's.

https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/37122793_10212963103939399_6672265757721624576_n.j pg?_nc_cat=0&oh=3de9a38e5bf1c9f55ff464324556f0fc&oe=5BD3D610

14 years already????????

Surely between Nova And Barrel.

Surely between Nova And Barrel.

Got to be. I went there right after they opened and it was before an Energy game during their first season

Surely between Nova And Barrel.

Got to be. I went there right after they opened and it was before an Energy game during their first season

The picture itself says both "14 years" and "Est 2014".

Not surprised at all, it was a decent place to grab a drink but the handful of times I had food there it wasn't very good. It was also a bit of a **** show with how it was being run a lot of times I was in. Good entertainment watching the staff though.

I liked it better when it was Nova, but as a lunch spot which looked and smelled like a night time party spot, it wasn't the best. Their menu was very hit or miss in terms of quality. Hope they can pull off the retool.

As an aside, I just got back from vacationing in Florida. Out there, you are hard pressed to find a restaurant that isn't a chain. We have amazing diversity in our restaurant scene here in OKC and I'm thankful for it every day come lunch time not to have my only choices be Olive Garden, Chiles and Cracker Barrel.

I like the pub atmosphere the place had when it first opened. It fell out of my rotation after it became a club.

Rococo to open in Western Avenue District (https://www.okctalk.com/content.php?r=664-Rococo-to-open-in-Western-Avenue-district)

Wow! I like Rococo a lot as well as this building. We used to go often to the Penn location but it's just not convenient enough now that we have 3 kids.

We have a serious Italian Mile on Western now. Flip's, Osteria, The Wedge, Upper Crust and now this.

Exactly what needed to happen for this space.

Awesome news :-)