Remodeling is well underway at the old Bikini's Sports Bar at 2747 W. Memorial to convert the building into Infernos Wood Fired Pizza.

The only other Infernos is located in the San Antonio suburb of New Braunfels. From their website:


Along with the fact that we are the only restaurant carrying the legendary Trinidad scorpion pepper, both by itself and infused into our signature sausage, we also follow a staunch commitment to NEVER use frozen products and to ensure that each item, whether it’s our hand toss Pizzas, crispy cold salads, or delightful sandwich, are made to order using only the freshest ingredients. You will love enjoying your fresh handmade meal in our spacious TV filled dining room, comfortable patio, or from one of the stools lining our full bar.

Infernos Menu (http://www.infernospizzeria.com/uploads/Infernos_Menu.pdf)

Construction is on-going and the new restaurant will open this spring.



http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/infernos2.jpg

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

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/infernos1.jpg

I haven't either. They have an uphill battle based on the most recent occupants of that location. Hopefully they will have more success.

There hasn't been any building permits.

And I can't find anything about them.


Did you see a sign out front?

There hasn't been any building permits.

And I can't find anything about them.


Did you see a sign out front?

Yes, I did.

http://www.okctalk.com/content/115-infernos-coming.html

http://www.okctalk.com/content/115-infernos-coming.html

Are paid subscriptions required to view these now? Says I don't have the proper permissions to view it.

Are paid subscriptions required to view these now? Says I don't have the proper permissions to view it.

No -- just a glitch.

Try it now.

Same ownership as Bikinis. Not sure if they'll need to pull any permits. There were discussions when they were Bikinis about just putting in a pizza oven, adding some beer taps and shelving behind the bar, changing the wall decor and calling it good. Then again there was some talk about taking out part of a wall or two and making the pizza oven visible to the dining area. Since they are calling for an April opening I would say they're not doing a whole lot. The whole interior was new after they reopened after the fire. That was just a year ago.

^

I was told they put over $400K into the building for Bikinis.

This will be very much a pizza & sports bar.

Anxious to see what they bring to the market in terms of wood fired pizza. Always room for more if done well.

Pizza is starting to become as competitive in OKC as burgers are. Restaurants really need to be at the top of their game to compete.

I still think there is room in this market for a genuine NY style pizzeria.

^

I was told they put over $400K into the building for Bikinis.

This will be very much a pizza & sports bar.

Anxious to see what they bring to the market in terms of wood fired pizza. Always room for more if done well.

Yes they put a bunch of money into Bikinis.

This will be pizza and sports. But Bikinis was burgers and sports if you looked past the girls. So not much really needs to change decor wise. In fact if you look at the interior pictures of the existing Infernos it looks a lot like Bikinis with different wall decorations.

BTW. I did quite a bit of work for Bikinis. And we were very regular regulars of Bikinis. I know the owners. The Infernos idea was brewing long before Bikinis closed. Some of Infernos management even managed Bikinis in the last few months before they closed.

Yes they put a bunch of money into Bikinis.

This will be pizza and sports. But Bikinis was burgers and sports if you looked past the girls. So not much really needs to change decor wise. In fact if you look at the interior pictures of the existing Infernos it looks a lot like Bikinis with different wall decorations.

BTW. I did quite a bit of work for Bikinis. And we were very regular regulars of Bikinis. I know the owners. The Infernos idea was brewing long before Bikinis closed. Some of Infernos management even managed Bikinis in the last few months before they closed.

Why did bikinis close?

Just a guess: having meals served to you by women in bikinis sounds more appetizing than it is in actual practice.

Just a guess: having meals served to you by women in bikinis sounds more appetizing than it is in actual practice.

Snap! We are up in that area a lot due to the Turnpike. A good pizza joint will be nice. Doubt if I will be trying that Scorpion chili though.

Doubt if I will be trying that Scorpion chili though.

That's what caught my attention..... Whenever I stop at Rodney's in Purcell I get a hotlink and jalapeno pizza.... Can't wait to try the scorpion sausage pizza! :D

I'm jealous. My gizzards will not let me go much past a jalapeno. I will be checking out a few of their pies. Wonder if they will have milk as a standby drink for that pizza you want?

Why did bikinis close?
Never could put a finger on why Bikinis didn't work. Food was good. Prices were right in line with everyone else. Lots of TVs that the they would put on anything you wanted as long as it was sports. I never really paid much attention to the girls being in bikini tops and daisy dukes. They could have been in sweats for all I cared. Maybe it was a big deal breaker for some.

When they opened the first time the food was not so good and the service was terrible. Maybe they never got over the bad reputation from that time. We always had excellent service but I suppose it's possible that it could have been because we knew everyone and everyone knew us.

What is it about that location that things can't seem to stick around for long?

I never went to Bikini's, but nobody I know ever recommended going there. If it really was bad when it first opened its very likely the initial reputation doomed it.

Hopefully this new Pizza place is successful.

What is it about that location that things can't seem to stick around for long?For one getting there can be a challenge. The only direct way in is to be going west on Memorial. If you're going north on May it's not bad if you know to turn and go through Barnes And Noble's parking lot or go behind Barnes And Noble. Going south on May you have to either cross May at the light going into the mall then wind your way south and east or take your chances crossing May to go behind Barnes And Noble with no light. However, the same access issue can be said for Red Lobster, Swadley's, Baker Street, etc. and they all do pretty well.

What is it about that location that things can't seem to stick around for long?
If there are successful, long-running concepts nearby (there are in this case, right?) I don't believe in the idea of a "cursed location," unless you are talking about cursed in terms of having a string of bad operators/concepts/execution/leases or some combination thereof.

We've seen this many times in other places, for instance in Bricktown. The space that currently houses Henry Hudson's Public House developed a bad rep, home to a number of places like Windy City, Daquiri Zone, Brix, and now HH. Meanwhile, it is sandwiched between one place that has been there since 1992 (Bricktown Brewery) and another that has been there since 1994 (Abuelo's). Across the street from BB stands Spaghetti Warehouse, which has been there since 1989, and across Sheridan stands Chelino's, there also since the very early nineties.

That's what caught my attention..... Whenever I stop at Rodney's in Purcell I get a hotlink and jalapeno pizza.... Can't wait to try the scorpion sausage pizza! :D

OKBBQEA,
I'm with you, I like really spicy food, but I have never had anything spicier than jalapenos on a pizza at a restaurant. I do add Jalapenos, habaneros, and hot Italian sausage to my Papa Murphy's "take and bake". And Mel, like most truly hot peppers, they are used sparingly so I really doubt it is going to be really hot. If it was, nobody would order it and it would disappear from the menu.
C. T.

Pizza is starting to become as competitive in OKC as burgers are. Restaurants really need to be at the top of their game to compete.

I still think there is room in this market for a genuine NY style pizzeria.

There is, Papa Angelo's in Bethany, but yes regardless our urban core needs several walk-up style pizza by the slice places.

There is, Papa Angelo's in Bethany, but yes regardless our urban core needs several walk-up style pizza by the slice places.

I've never been to NYC so I can't compare but Papa Angelo's is my pizza of choice here. We drive from Moore to Bethany to eat there and for the short time they had the Jones location we would drive out there also. As near as I can tell from reading descriptions of NY Style is that Papa Angelo's has a press they use to form their dough into the crust and NY Style is hand tossed.

Humble Pie in Edmond also does a NY Style pizza but I've only ever had their Chicago Style so I don't know how it compares to Papa Angelo's.

I keep being reminded of Fire Mountain when I see this thread....

As far as walk-up by the slice places go, I will still gladly recommend Knuck's Wheelhouse, which is excellent. I feel Knuck's and Empire Slice House offer the best pizza in OKC, between them.

Signs are up and they are hiring:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11001891_1415912112043921_6123685297708554128_n.jp g?oh=5ebe87c0727fe03f64734db9e3805e8b&oe=557CAF25&__gda__=1434024053_03781c5c96d72fb2dc49a95d60f0302 9

Love the signage!

Eh. Looks cheesy to me........ and not in the good, ummmmm, pizza way. :)

Yikes, that looks tacky and circa 2003.

It does look tacky. It's what's on the inside that counts, though. Hopefully they have good pizza.

Gotta admit, the "fire lane" on the curb right underneath the sign is pretty funny.

Yeah, that made me chuckle too. If it wasn't intentional, it shoulda been.

What the heck is the arch? Is that suppose to be fire? pizza slices? red stones? It distracts from the logo.

Reminds me of the trim on the openings on some wood fire ovens I have seen

Reminds me of the trim on the openings on some wood fire ovens I have seenThat is exactly what it is supposed to be.

Grand opening is set for April 27th.

They opened today:

https://scontent-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11133677_1429206864047779_448590385128677915_n.jpg ?oh=301751ab90451c21cfa85172286565f9&oe=559C0398

I won't make it out there this week, going out of town, but plan to go try some of their scorpion pepper items next week for sure.

Went here on Saturday evening and here are a few thoughts.

The menu had lots of variety, and more items than the one posted above. The bar was nice and the beer and liquor selection was big as well. We had meatballs, pizza chips, and pepperoni rolls to start out with. All were very good. The marinara and ranch seemed a bit off though. The marinara was a little too thin and runny for my tastes, and for some reason the ranch was very sweet, almost like it was made with miracle whip instead of mayo.

There was a big group of us so we ordered four pizzas. I don't remember what was down on the other end but it was custom so I can't judge that one. Down at are end we had a BBQ chicken, Pulled Pork and Mac, and a custom pizza I made that had scorpion chili sausage, feta, and basil pesto. I will say that the pizza I made was great. I wish the sausage had a bit more kick to it, but it doesn't take away that it was still hot. The pulled pork and mac was good as well, didn't think id like pasta on a pizza but it went together nicely. But the BBQ chicken left a lot to be desired. The chicken pieces seemed small, the onions were overpowering, and the bbq was way to sweet for me. Probably wont get that again.

I do have two cons but they aren't really serious. One is that I wish the pizza had a little bit more crunch to it. The crusts were great but the middle was a little droopy. Second the place has ZERO personality, which kind of killed the vibe. They had signs with pizza mottos on the walls but other than that it could have been any other restaurant. Also it seemed to have an unusual amount of open space where there could be tables, but I notice silly things like that.

All and all I will be back. Looking forward to trying some other things on the menu.

Thanks for the review.

Looks like they have some interesting takes on pizza, especially the spicy type which I love.

We went for lunch on Friday and I thought it was decent pizza. I had the Scorpion Pepper Sausage on my pizza and it wasn't overly spicy. Also tried the chorizon and cream cheese stuffed jalapenos as a an appertizer. They were good but don't know that I would get them again.

They are getting hammered on Urbanspoon already but most of the comments were polar opposites from my experience... One person even commented they couldn't see the pizza oven.... I didn't have any problems spotting it on the east side right out where anyone could see it.

I ate lunch at Inferno last week. There were not very many patrons during the lunch hour. That might explain why our server was so (almost overly) attentive, as they only had our table to wait. We ordered pizza rolls, which were very good, but not exceptional. The salad came next and was very good as well. The pizza came out too soon after the salad was presented. Like many other reviews, I found the pizza to be too doughy in the middle. The outside part towards the crust was seasoned well and tasty, but nothing to vault it above any of the other pizza restaurants in the area.

According to The Lost Ogle, Infernos closed for good yesterday.

Sure didn't last long.

According to The Lost Ogle, Infernos closed for good yesterday.

Sure didn't last long.

I was there about a month ago and noticed they had a Grand Re-Opening banner up. Made me think they had changed ownership.

It's too bad because I enjoyed the Scorpion Pepper Sausage on their pizza.

That building, for whatever reason, seems to be a restaurant black hole and that entire length of Memorial Road is a restaurant battle ground as well.

was this building around in '98? if so, what was the place called then? -M

That logo did them in. Too 2005ish

was this building around in '98? if so, what was the place called then? -M

Was built in 1996.

I know it was an Applewoods in the late 90's early 00's. Believe it was Maxwell's before that. And North Fork at some point.

Then it was Rok Bar, Charlie O'Brien's, Bikini's and most recently Inferno's.

Maybe one or two other concepts as well?

I think it went like this:

Maxwell's
North Fork
Applewood's
Rok Bar
Charlie O'Brien's
Bikini's
Inferno

^
yeah... maxwell's. ordered my first beer there on the night of my 21st birthday. a sam adams.

wasn't totally sure if this was the same building since the area has changed so much since then. i remember applewoods moving there from reno and, if i remember right, northfork continued to sell the apple fritters.

-M


edit: lol. according to the autolinked 'maxwells' thread, in 2007 not only did i remember the name of the restaurant but what i had for dinner that night.

^^^ yes applewoods before north for and the fritter legacy. Ryan parrot operated it on behalf of the deep fork group until they closed it and entered "rocky" relationship with rok bar which forced them to reformat to Dan obriens which was rok bar with an Irish name and a tap system.

I always speculate in these restaurant black holes if the landlord is the death eater here. He can charge enormous rent, since it's just about turn key with all the beer systems, walk ins, hoods, etc. these are not FF&E and have to stay when a lease ends, many default clauses state you can't remove anything from the building until you cure. So it could even include tables, chairs, even dishes. Which is likely since you're in a place where you can't pay the rent to begin with you probably can't afford to cure either.

So here's a guy with 100k he can scrape together for a sign, some decorations, a liquor license, and a $50 website. He gets tied into a big lease agreement, and if he can't make it work, (not unlike the home loans of the 2000's) the landlord just changes the locks and keeps the current tenant stuck paying rent until a new one arrives.

I dunno, paranoia maybe. But, with no insult to the people involved, it didn't look like a hit from the start. I decided not to eat there after I saw the house cocktail menu featuring gems of up-ended beer bottles into mugs of frozen slushy "flavoring" topped with a shot of cinnamon whisky liqueur. Juxtapose it against gusto perhaps, same napolatna style. The beer-Arita comment probably makes me look like a snob, but I just don't feel like we can be friends if you're drinking two mini coronas dunked into a small vat of blue raspberry slushy.

Not surprised. The food wasn't particularly good. The place needs some sound deadening material.

Not surprised. The food wasn't particularly good. The place needs some sound deadening material.

It's odd I see this same sentiment a lot but my 3 visits there were all great... They apparently were very hit and miss and I just happened to be there the days they were hitting.... But I've seen it said from so many different people I don't think it's just an anomaly.

I won an over/under bet. I said they'd be gone by Thanksgiving. Which would be a year from Bikinis closing. The owners have a lot of other successful businesses but just had no idea how to run or market a restaraunt. Best idea for that building now might be a bulldozer.

I was speaking with a friend who did some work with them. Said the lease was a three tiered lease where the rent with up with profits and that it was extremely high. Not sure if true but could be reason no one can stay there very long.

That makes sense. Also makes sense why it's a restaurant black hole. Now I'm really curious to know if they had their equipment seized by a default clause. Bikini's I never went to bikinis, but I've been to both in Austin. My scum bag brother in law loves the place. But I wouldn't classify it as a solid business model. I wonder if this landlord is a predator. Most landlord's take very great care to pick a tennent that will be successful and pay rent for a very long time.

They never said anything to me about a tiered lease. They complained about the lease being way too high. And that made it hard to find anyone to take it over when that's what they were trying to do. The franchise agreement with Bikinis was tiered but it didn't matter because they lost money so profit never came into it. I doubt that Infernos made enough to matter either if the lease was tiered.

They never said anything to me about a tiered lease. They complained about the lease being way too high. And that made it hard to find anyone to take it over when that's what they were trying to do. The franchise agreement with Bikinis was tiered but it didn't matter because they lost money so profit never came into it. I doubt that Infernos made enough to matter either if the lease was tiered.

I don't understand why a wood floor guy, thinks he can open up a restaurant and be successful....non of them had any restaurant experience and it showed right off the bat.

And kept showing and showing and showing. And I really liked the whole family until they closed Bikinis the way they did.