LOL wow...i guess I know where the liberals hang out. wow

LOL wow...i guess I know where the liberals hang out. wow

I'm a registered Republican. I just hate corruption.

"Witch Hunt" /s/

LOL wow...i guess I know where the liberals hang out. wow

I'm a registered Republican, but I'm tired of Stitt's crap. Second time in my 50 year voting history I didn't vote republican was the last cycle.

Stitt's a dirtbag, there are multiple shady deals with his appointments. I worked for OTC for several years and he damned near destroyed it.

There's been a number of threads over the years I've decided that there is no way I'm jumping into this. This one has become the all-time leader.

Head over to politics section to get all your discussion out :)

If I ever went to Swadley’s and got a two-meat plate, what would y’all suggest in terms of the meats and sides? Lololol

If I ever went to Swadley’s and got a two-meat plate, what would y’all suggest in terms of the meats and sides? Lololol

Depends how much of a food critic you are. Lol

Most of the fraud, waste, etc can usually be contributed to your everyday government employee who did a lousy job auditing/ reviewing contracts.

Most of the fraud, waste, etc can usually be contributed to your everyday government employee who did a lousy job auditing/ reviewing contracts.

That may be true in most cases, but certainly not in this one. To refresh my memory I went back in this thread to review what was being reported this time last year. It was worse than I remembered. Go back to Post #172 and check some of the subsequent posts and links. I really hope Drummond is serious about investigating everyone involved in this fraud.

That may be true in most cases, but certainly not in this one. To refresh my memory I went back in this thread to review what was being reported this time last year. It was worse than I remembered. Go back to Post #172 and check some of the subsequent posts and links. I really hope Drummond is serious about investigating everyone involved in this fraud.

I went back and read that and if that is the worst of it lol...what a nothing burger.

I went back and read that and if that is the worst of it lol...what a nothing burger.

The AG and possible Grand Jury will be the shot caller on whether or not it is a so called "nothing burger".

The more I read posts from any user who's name ends or begins with "Sooner" the more I believe it to be some dude in his old OU sweater plugging AI chatbots with the last post of two and copying/pasting the results to OKCTalk... I can't even tell who the "real" sooner account(s) is/are.

I went back and read that and if that is the worst of it lol...what a nothing burger.

potentially committing fraud against the taxpayers of Oklahoma to the tune of hundreds of thousands, if not a couple million dollars, is a "nothing burger"? then I think your definition of a "nothing burger" is vastly different from mine.

beyond parody

Most of the fraud, waste, etc can usually be contributed to your everyday government employee who did a lousy job auditing/ reviewing contracts.

Not the everyday govt employee. Try pointing the finger at high ranking politicians who make the deals with friends and friends of friends. Quit scapegoating the wrong ones. Look at SWADLEYS AND WHO THEY MADE THE DEAL WITH.

I spy a Swadleys truck at the defunct Steak The Experience.

for whatever reason, swadley's is now selling breakfast burritos. i took one for the team and tried one this morning. it was extremely salty, and the sausage had dried out as if it had been in the warmer all day... and i arrived around 6 minutes after opening. there are much, much better options in the city.

Rudy's has been doing breakfast burritos for a long time and every time someone brings in a bag to the office they have been great. If Swadley's can't tell they are putting jerky in to their burritos I won't even bother trying one. It is not hard to do a little quality control.

Are they actually selling them for breakfast? Could be leftover sausage from Foggy Bottom. ;)

Rudy's breakfast burritos have always been solid on the handful of occasion I've had them.

Are they actually selling them for breakfast? Could be leftover sausage from Foggy Bottom. ;)

Rudy's breakfast burritos have always been solid on the handful of occasion I've had them.

Agreed on Rudy's breakfast burritos. I'm not a huge fan of Rudy's for lunch/dinner, but those breakfast burritos are delicious.

one of swadley's breakfast burrito options is brisket... there's a 0% chance that isn't leftover product from the previous day.

i'd try rudy's, but each one would be about a 30 mile round trip detour on the way to work for me. my all-time favorite is the boxcar burrito from kamp's, but i don't get over there very often any longer since we moved our offices to the suburbs.

One of the oddities of the restaurant business.... serving breakfast = terminal agitation.

one of swadley's breakfast burrito options is brisket... there's a 0% chance that isn't leftover product from the previous day.

i'd try rudy's, but each one would be about a 30 mile round trip detour on the way to work for me. my all-time favorite is the boxcar burrito from kamp's, but i don't get over there very often any longer since we moved our offices to the suburbs.

I had the boxcar from Kamp's. It is top notch. Same here I haven't had one since my office moved north.

one of swadley's breakfast burrito options is brisket... there's a 0% chance that isn't leftover product from the previous day.

i'd try rudy's, but each one would be about a 30 mile round trip detour on the way to work for me. my all-time favorite is the boxcar burrito from kamp's, but i don't get over there very often any longer since we moved our offices to the suburbs.

Rudy's makes me sad.

It's a chain, but it's also better than darn near anything else around. Puts anything in town not named Clark Crew to shame.

And I don't always go for the meats there, they have a vegetable stew that is pretty great.

And I used to enjoy Swadley's, but quit going after they apparently swindled the taxpayers.

Rudy's makes me sad.

It's a chain, but it's also better than darn near anything else around. Puts anything in town not named Clark Crew to shame.
...

Even Edge Craft? Haven't been there yet, might be a while, don't relish standing in a parking lot in this heat, so I don't have a personal opinion...

[QUOTE=TheTravellers;1236144]Even Edge Craft? Haven't been there yet, might be a while, don't relish standing in a parking lot in this heat, so I don't have a personal opinion...[/QUOTE

I can't claim a comprehensive expertise on all charred meats in the metro, though I wish that was the case.

So I won't rule out Edge Craft being good stuff.

But Rudy's, for a chain, is extremely solid.

Even Edge Craft? Haven't been there yet, might be a while, don't relish standing in a parking lot in this heat, so I don't have a personal opinion...
I’ve eaten there a couple of dozen times by now and I’ve never had to stand in the parking lot, or even longer than 15 minutes or so in the air conditioning.

Even Edge Craft? Haven't been there yet, might be a while, don't relish standing in a parking lot in this heat, so I don't have a personal opinion...

No standing in the parking lot required unless you get there before they open.

I’ve eaten there a couple of dozen times by now and I’ve never had to stand in the parking lot, or even longer than 15 minutes or so in the air conditioning.

GTK, thanks, there was talk about long lines in the beginning and I haven't kept up with them much, too many other places. We really need to check out Dead People's Stuff, so once we get a free weekend, we'll move it to the top of our list.

Regarding Rudy’s, it’s fine for chain barbecue. But having been to the original in the Texas Hill Country maybe 15 years ago, the stuff they serve at other stores doesn’t compare. The O.G. is pretty great, or at least it was then.

Rudy’s is consistent (at least the one in my neck of the woods). Not great, but not bad either. I’m never disappointed but I have had much better. I’m in a BBQ desert so Rudy’s is about the best I can get.

I'm not a fan of fat on brisket and Rudy's goes a good job on trimming that off their lean sliced brisket. At least they have every time I've gotten it there .We usually get Rudy's when we are needing a lot of BBQ for a party or gathering.

With all the Rudy's talk I have to bring up something I've wondered about for years. The location in Norman is very busy. Often very, very busy. The location on Memorial never has very many cars in the parking lot even on weekend nights. Why?

With all the Rudy's talk I have to bring up something I've wondered about for years. The location in Norman is very busy. Often very, very busy. The location on Memorial never has very many cars in the parking lot even on weekend nights. Why?

I have two guesses:

1) It's the only restaurant in the area.
2) They've established themselves as somewhat of an OU institution with all of the coaches shows having taken place there for many years.

Grand jury hearings have begun in the Swadley's scandal.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2023/08/18/swadleys-oklahoma-scandal-grand-jury-hears-first-testimony/70614146007/

Grand jury hearings have begun in the Swadley's scandal.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2023/08/18/swadleys-oklahoma-scandal-grand-jury-hears-first-testimony/70614146007/
Someone once said a grand jury could indict a ham sandwich, how about a plate of BBQ ��:wink::wink::wink:

Grand jury hearings have begun in the Swadley's scandal.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2023/08/18/swadleys-oklahoma-scandal-grand-jury-hears-first-testimony/70614146007/

It'll be interesting to see what sort of crime was committed. I can't imagine one. I'm mad as hell at the Swadley's owners and personally won't darken their door unless they sell. But the worst I think you can accuse them of is being good negotiators and the state under Winchester and overseen by the former AG could be called horrible negotiators. Completely incompetent. The Swadley's team probably was astounded at the idiotic things the state would agree to, and while I can fault them and not patronize them because I do think they abused the taxpayer, it made good business sense to do it--and it wasn't theft. It was spelled out in a publicly available contract.

But that's the kind of leadership we've elected. We get what we deserve every single time something like this happens.

It'll be interesting to see what sort of crime was committed. I can't imagine one. I'm mad as hell at the Swadley's owners and personally won't darken their door unless they sell. But the worst I think you can accuse them of is being good negotiators and the state under Winchester and overseen by the former AG could be called horrible negotiators. Completely incompetent. The Swadley's team probably was astounded at the idiotic things the state would agree to, and while I can fault them and not patronize them because I do think they abused the taxpayer, it made good business sense to do it--and it wasn't theft. It was spelled out in a publicly available contract.

But that's the kind of leadership we've elected. We get what we deserve every single time something like this happens.

Presumably the crime is the state not following anti-bid-rigging laws

It'll be interesting to see what sort of crime was committed.

Fraud for one. I don't want to go back through what has already been rehashed several times on this thread, but the contract was fraudulently rewarded and many of the charges sent to the state were ridiculously overpriced or double billed. Yes, the state gave them a very favorable deal, but in their greed Swadley's still went overboard and defrauded the state. Their own even owner admitted that his business practice was to go beyond the letter of the law.

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree: :iagree: :iagree: :iagree: :iagree: :iagree:

Indictments are in.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2024/02/08/swadleys-bar-b-q-owner-brent-swadley-two-others-indicted-oklahoma-grand-jury/72515925007/

I would love to serve on that jury.

Holy cow, looks like a complex fraudulent invoicing scheme; at least alleged.

Grand Jury indictments are very bad for plaintiffs... Over 90% are ultimately convicted.

But as usually happens in these cases, there will likely be tons of back-and-forth and denials for months or years before a plea is struck before trial.


As this plays out, it is going to be devastating to Swadley's BBQ. They still have 8 operating locations around the state and I'm sure their business has already suffered.

BTW, there are still huge questions around Jerry Winchester's role, who resigned as Director of Tourism for the state after all this blew up. He's the one who oversaw the Swadley's contract and ran the department throughout this mess.

Matt Pinnell appointed him and the state auditor said there were deep lack-of-control issues within that department.


Reading between the lines, even if Swadley's did engage in fraudulent invoicing, there are more issues here and more investigations that need to fully play out.

You have the Attorney General who was negligent at best here. His job was to review all state contracts. If the AG had done his job, we wouldn't be talking about this right now as it appears to me that Swadley's just took the state to the cleaners because the state didn't even try to take a reasonable shot at caring what they paid out on this deal. And I still think Swadley's and their principles are going to have some criminal liability here because a lot of what was done looks pretty bad.

You have the Attorney General who was negligent at best here. His job was to review all state contracts. If the AG had done his job, we wouldn't be talking about this right now as it appears to me that Swadley's just took the state to the cleaners because the state didn't even try to take a reasonable shot at caring what they paid out on this deal. And I still think Swadley's and their principles are going to have some criminal liability here because a lot of what was done looks pretty bad.

I did read in the article that Swadleys kept an invoice of equipment they paid then sent different ones to the state for reimbursement. If that's true then it is clear to see some fraud.

This is why we have rules about bid contracts. These no-bid contracts need to be looked at even closer.

You have the Attorney General who was negligent at best here. His job was to review all state contracts. If the AG had done his job, we wouldn't be talking about this right now as it appears to me that Swadley's just took the state to the cleaners because the state didn't even try to take a reasonable shot at caring what they paid out on this deal. And I still think Swadley's and their principles are going to have some criminal liability here because a lot of what was done looks pretty bad.

That was the disgraced Mike Hunter at that time.

Good thing he's out otherwise you'd have to worry about another cover-up.

As this plays out, it is going to be devastating to Swadley's BBQ. They still have 8 operating locations around the state and I'm sure their business has already suffered.
I highly doubt both predictions

I highly doubt both predictions

You think Swadley's hasn't lost business due to these horrible headlines?

Maybe it's a case of "no such thing as bad publicity".

You think Swadley's hasn't lost business due to these horrible headlines?

Maybe it's a case of "no such thing as bad publicity".

I don't think they have. Those that like mediocre bbq are going to keep eating there. This isn't a huge deal to every day oklahomans. As long as they are offering average food at a good price they won't lose business imo

I hope they find and drag each of the people involved with this grift to jail, and hit them with insane fines. I want justice for the Oklahoma People!
I also hope they lost every category they paid to be a part of in 405's best of.

I don't think they have. Those that like mediocre bbq are going to keep eating there. This isn't a huge deal to every day oklahomans. As long as they are offering average food at a good price they won't lose business imo

I would stop by Swadley's for lunch once a month or so and haven't been back after I heard about all the shenanigans. I know the $15 a month I used to give them isn't make or break but I'm sure I'm not the only one.
I don't think that this will cause the fall of the restaurants but I can't imagine that this hasn't hurt them in the pocket and will continue to for a while to come.

I know a bunch of their locations are franchised.

Not sure I'd want to be one of those restaurant owners.

I know a bunch of their locations are franchised.

Not sure I'd want to be one of those restaurant owners.

Interesting... Breuklander argued with me on more than one occasion that they were family owned when I called them a chain.

I've not noticed any less traffic at the Ardmore location. Still seeing a lot of cars in the parking lot when I'm in Ardmore. So not sure how much business they may have lost.... I wonder how educated most of their diners even are about this topic.

The other thing that frustrates me about this entire situation is that I've always wondered why we couldn't have a nice restaurant at the state lake lodges. And while I'm not a fan of their BBQ. I thought the food, and service, at Foggy Bottom was pretty solid, at least at the Lake Murray location, and they were busy every time I was there. Makes me think they could have made a go of it.

^
I was attempting to verify their franchises but it’s possible that was a brain cramp on my part.

You think Swadley's hasn't lost business due to these horrible headlines?

Maybe it's a case of "no such thing as bad publicity".

TBF, they lost my business because of their mediocre BBQ, but this would have sent me over the edge otherwise.

The other thing that frustrates me about this entire situation is that I've always wondered why we couldn't have a nice restaurant at the state lake lodges. And while I'm not a fan of their BBQ. I thought the food, and service, at Foggy Bottom was pretty solid, at least at the Lake Murray location, and they were busy every time I was there. Makes me think they could have made a go of it.

I agree, this is a huge frustration to me too. From what I read, they were doing good business at the Foggy Bottom locations they had opened - people were enjoying the food and it was bringing more visitors into state parks. I'm not usually a big fan of public/private partnerships and outsourcing, but this could have been a solid win for all... It's a damn shame that it was all squandered due to what sure looks like malfeasance and greed.

... It's a damn shame that it was all squandered due to what sure looks like malfeasance and greed.

Thank you... I was trying to say this without outright saying they're guilty..... It sure looks like they are but it's up to the court to decide that. Not public opinion.

You have the Attorney General who was negligent at best here. His job was to review all state contracts. If the AG had done his job, we wouldn't be talking about this right now as it appears to me that Swadley's just took the state to the cleaners because the state didn't even try to take a reasonable shot at caring what they paid out on this deal. And I still think Swadley's and their principles are going to have some criminal liability here because a lot of what was done looks pretty bad.

You are referring to the former, not current, AG. It's important to point that out.