The intersection of MacArthur and Memorial continues to boom, and more retail space and a new restaurant are well under construction.

"Big Dog Daddy’s Ice House is the latest venture by Singer/Song Writer Toby Keith & Hal Smith Restaurant Group featuring ice cold brews, build your own hot dogs, burgers, pizzas, & you can even build your own Jalapeño SPAM Sandwich!"

The restaurant design is described as "old classic Texas Ice House feel" and will be the third location, with the others in Norman and Lawton.

Big Dog Daddy's allows patrons to build their own burger, hot dogs or pizza.

Signature items include Keith's fried bologna sandwich and a jalapeno spam on Texas Toast sandwich.

There will be 10 beers on draft with beers ranging in price from $1.50 to $4.50. There will be Red Solo Cup specials celebrating Keith's popular song and a variety of drinks with Keith's Wild Shot Mezcal.

Opening date is set for early summer.

http://www.bigdogdad.com/




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Have visited the Norman location for work lunch on several occasions in addition to a couple of nights for a beverage. I will say the service is excellent but they've just recently raised their prices once again, and unless you are going here for drinks only, there are much better choices in Norman.

I think they'll do well at this new location.

Nothing quite like it in the immediate area, which is growing as fast as anywhere in OKC, particularly north in the Deer Creek school district.

Tons of new housing developments planned for that area.

According to the promo piece for the Shoppes at QS, there are 8,000 apartments in the Memorial corridor, with another 1,000 coming out of the ground. Good concentration of people with plenty of discretionary income to spend. Should do well.

I guess this is a good thing. I pretty much live right there on Macarthur, north of Memorial. The one thing that that immediate area doesn't have is much of a bar type setting. Tommy's has a nice sit down bar, and a rooftop lounge that is nice. Revolve, Earls Rib palace, the Hideaway and Interurban all have "bars," but none of these places are really cut loose and drink beer listen to music while you eat type place. So, I hope it can somewhat fulfill that need. However, I sure wish they would build something on the north side of Memorial. (Northeast corner of Macarthur/Memorial) Whether it be restaurant or upscale shopping...something should go there.

I would go for the name alone. Turnpike makes it easy now to get from the Mustang/Yukon area to Memorial.

I would go for the name alone.
I was actually just thinking the opposite.

I've been driving by every day wondering what was going in here...great for the residents that will be living directly west in the new 2 story apartments.

Is this a redneck place?

Do you see rednecks in the pic above?

My first instinct told me that the beer menu at this place would heavily favor domestic macrobrewers and I looked at the menu and I was right. I hope this is very successful but I don't think its going to be my kind of place.

That's okay Bchris... you stay downtown. I'm not a TK fan. Still never been to his place in Bricktown. It's all about location location location!

You might have guessed, from previous postings, that I'm a huge Toby Keith fan . . . yet I have to wonder if his business advisors have consulted with him about the effect of this Podunk, fly-by night watering hole on in the bigger picture involving traffic flow, Lake Hefner water drawdown and Carbon Footprints. Or is Toby still so involved with the War With The Dixie Chicks to be troubled by matters such as that? Never mind . . . He's from Moore. Forget I said anything . . . I'll put on the dunce cap and gaze at what's left of The Shrine to Jimmy Buffet called Margaritaville a bit further to the East. On Memorial.

That's okay Bchris... you stay downtown. I'm not a TK fan. Still never been to his place in Bricktown. It's all about location location location!

I went to a Toby Keith's in a Redevelopment of a Warehouse District up in Minnesota. It was very mediocre. Although the general location was fairly magnificent. (redevelopment-wise, imho). I think the entire experience can be Googled. I think it's called "The Shoppes at West End." They also have underground parking, a giant movie theater and an Irish Pub.

Here . . . let me make this easy:
http://www.theshopsatwestend.com/

Of all the places to dine there, Toby Keith's would have been fairly low on the list.
But I wasn't planin' nor payin' so I simply smiled and said, "yup".

("big dog daddy's ice house" . . . geez louise . . .)

I assume the new location at MacArthur & Memorial will get the new name / menu:

Big Dog gone: Toby Keith restaurant changes name, revamps menu
By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record August 7, 20150

NORMAN – In July 2014, Hal Smith Restaurant Group opened Big Dog Daddy’s Ice House in partnership with country music star Toby Keith. But the restaurant wasn’t the chart-topping hit that the company expected, Managing Partner Ross Crain said.

“People like it,” Crain said. “It wasn’t as appealing to the variety of crowd that we expected. We had a lot of regulars. They’re all dying for us to reopen.”

The restaurant at 1150 W. Lindsey St. closed in early July so the 4,000-square-foot building could be renovated and the menu revamped. It will reopen on Aug. 17 as Toby’s American Grill.

“Previously, we were mainly burgers, dogs and pizzas,” Crain said. “Guests told us they needed more variety. We’re taking it more in the direction of Toby’s I Love This Bar and Grill.”

The menu will offer customer favorites, with the new addition of steaks, salads, soups and fresh fish. Crain said he hopes the menu is more appealing to families and couples out on a date. He said the restaurant is more of a neighborhood place than an attraction to University of Oklahoma students, which the restaurant group wasn’t expecting.

The interior was updated with new Keith memorabilia, and one entry was removed. Crain said customers were often confused about the two doors. There was previously a glass wall between the bar and the restaurant, which was removed to give the space a more open feel. In order to cook the new menu items, some kitchen equipment was removed and other items added.

Large rocks were added to the exterior, covering the wood appearance. The name was changed, Crain said, because it wasn’t as popular as they expected it to be.

“If people weren’t familiar with Toby’s music, they didn’t get the reference,” he said.

The price point will increase because steak and fresh seafood were added, but it will still cost less than other concepts with steak and seafood. The menu items ranged from $8 to $9 previously.

Hal Smith also has a Big Dog Daddy restaurant in Lawton. Crain said there is discussion about changing that location to a Toby’s American Grill.

Norman Chamber of Commerce Executive Director John Woods said he is glad that Hal Smith has stayed dedicated to the location, since Lindsey Street is under construction.

“I think something that’s fantastic about the restaurant group is they’re always willing to try new lines, try new concepts and are not afraid to pull back and try something else if something isn’t working,” Woods said.

The Lindsey Street roadwork will wrap up before school starts, but will resume in seven months when the street is widened. When that happens, Woods said, the chamber has plans to help businesses in the area keep their customers.

This is now open and called Toby's American Grill

This is now open and called Toby's American Grill

Thanks!

Yes, they wisely decided to re-brand the concept, including the original in Norman.

Thanks!

Yes, they wisely decided to re-brand the concept, including the original in Norman.

Just in time for football season. Very smart indeed.

They cleaned up the exterior a bit from the old design. I think it looks nicer. I could see this going over pretty well.

Some photos would be greatly appreciated!

There is some dirty work West of Interurban... What is that going to be? I don't believe it is apart of the apartment complex.

Memorial and MacArthur - OKCTalk (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Memorial%20and%20MacArthur&page=2#post903533)

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This is now open and called Toby's American Grill

And by open.....Do, you mean the pre-existing location, has reopened? Or do you mean the new location, in which this thread was originally made for...is now opened?

And by open.....Do, you mean the pre-existing location, has reopened? Or do you mean the new location, in which this thread was originally made for...is now opened?

Crap. Wrong thread. The one in Norman is now open. It was previously Big Dog Daddy's and is now Toby Keith's American Grill.

Mornings are rough for me...

Crap. Wrong thread. The one in Norman is now open. It was previously Big Dog Daddy's and is now Toby Keith's American Grill.

Mornings are rough for me...

Its all good...I was just gonna try to hit up the new location, as its somewhat close to me...but it wasn't even close to being finished when I last drove by. So, was going to be super impressed, if they found a way top already get that one opened up.

I rode the bike to Lawton a few weeks ago. The Big Dog Daddy's there was experimenting with an expanded menu with catfish, chicken fried steak and a few other I Love This Bar And Grill style items. The bartender said they were talking about a name change. She said too many people thought Big Dog Daddy's could be anything from a restaurant to a strip club. I hadn't heard about Norman or the new store by us changing the name but I'm not surprised.

I went by the new building on MacArthur and noticed that the shell is done but nothing is being done in the end that was supposed to be Toby's. Was the new location scrapped?

Anyone know if this is still going in at the N MacArthur location?

If it is, there hasn't been any activity at the site. The building is completed.

One would think, that if it were still going to happen...that there would atleast be some evidence of progress. But, there's not much of anything.

Yet, in a fraction of the same time....the What-A-Burger across the street broke ground on a completely empty lot on October 10th, built a brand new facility...and is already open, serving up burgers.

I looked in here and the floor was still dirt, as opposed to the rest of the space to the south which was all concrete.

Dirt floors almost always mean restaurants, as they have much more extensive plumbing requirements.

I looked in here and the floor was still dirt, as opposed to the rest of the space to the south which was all concrete.

Dirt floors almost always mean restaurants, as they have much more extensive plumbing requirements.

Has anyone heard anything regarding the completion/continuation of this project? I pass by it almost every day and have seen NO activity in the past two months. Perhaps investors were oil economy based and money has dried up or at least been reallocated. Other than the urgent care facility, nothing has moved, as far as I can tell.

I believe they are switching to Upper Crust, which is another Hal Smith concept.

3 pizza joints very close (Revolve, Hideaway, and now Upper Crust)