Bricktown pioneer Avis Scaramucci today announced “Bricktown West” restaurant as the new tenant to occupy the iconic Oklahoma City space at the corner of Mickey Mantle and Sheridan, formerly home to local favorite Nonna’s Euro-American Ristorante and Bar.

West is an upscale modern American restaurant and bar concept established by brothers Rick and David Haynes. Bricktown West is expected to open later this year following an extensive remodel project beginning next month. The Bricktown restaurant will be the second West location, mirroring the style and menu of the original in Nichols Hills.

The longtime Oklahoma City restaurant family also operates Urban Johnnie near Bricktown, located at LEVEL Urban Apartments at Second Street and Walnut Avenue, along with their original local hamburger specialty chain Johnnie’s Charcoal Broiler.

The group hopes to start work in early April and the first phase will feature a significant interior renovation to the first floor and upstairs bar area which includes a large patio.

A new bar will be added to the first floor. The large amount of private dining and meeting space on the 2nd floor will be redesigned in a later phase.

Architect is Bockus-Payne Associates of Oklahoma City, who also did the design for Urban Johnnies in Deep Deuce.


http://www.westbar.com/templates/west/images/west-logo-top.png

http://www.westbar.com/



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So, I think this is all fantastic news.

I believe most agree that while Nonna's was pretty inside, the vibe in the bar area in particular was a bit off. And a consequence, the great 2nd level patio never reached its full potential.

Also, the decision to deal with all the closed off dining and meeting space at a later date is wise. Nonna's was massive and that would be a lot for anyone to take on all at once; to spend the money to renovate and to have operate as a restaurant.

It sounds like the whole thing will be more bar-oriented which is a better use of the space IMO.

Also, I'm really glad this went to a local group rather than another big chain.


They will be starting work soon and should be open for the summer.

Always enjoyed West. Now bricktown has a nice brunch spot

Happy for a local spot.

Hopefully they cruah it so they can makebest use of the massive spacr.

I hope they have access to the patio without having to go through the restaurant. (I don't know if Nonna's was set up like that or not.) The original West and Urban Johnnie are exceptionally dog-friendly.


Ween on the Scene (http://weenonthescene.blogspot.com/)

No such access exists as currently configured.

I really like their food. Great news.

OKCTalk - First look at plans for Bricktown West restaurant (http://www.okctalk.com/content/151-first-look-plans-bricktown-west.html)

Looks like a great layout. Hope they do the outdoor dining option, despite the plans not really indicating that.

Looks like a great layout. Hope they do the outdoor dining option, despite the plans not really indicating that.

The full menu will be available outside and everywhere within the restaurant.

From https://twitter.com/dtOKCbuilds:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLBH7TrUAAABPvw.jpg:large

The new bar is coming together nicely:

11322

From their Facebook page. Getting pretty close to being open:

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xla1/v/t1.0-9/11988628_924012241009268_913836638381870909_n.jpg? oh=6099e6e7a35412734d22ec4e30b0af08&oe=5671BE60

From @Bricktown twitter:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPiN5fgWUAAAnlP.jpg


From West's FB:

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/t31.0-8/12038789_930360230374469_7291534089871757558_o.jpg

Wow! Very nice.

This is going to draw in lots more people than Nonna's.

I don't like the sign. Looks really cheap and basic. Interior's looking good, though.

Including the can - which was originally used for Nonna's - that signage probably cost north of $20K.

Including the can - which was originally used for Nonna's - that signage probably cost north of $20K.

That's a lot of money to look so cheap.

Including the can - which was originally used for Nonna's - that signage probably cost north of $20K.

I don't doubt it. My issue is more specifically with the logo used then the actual signage. The logo at the top of the page looks pretty good. The logo on the sign does not.

Just went by there and it doesn't look cheap in person.

I'm excited to see this place open. That 2nd level deck should become a great spot and was always under-utilized before.

Just went by there and it doesn't look cheap in person.

I'm excited to see this place open. That 2nd level deck should become a great spot and was always under-utilized before.

I agree. I saw this picture in this thread earlier today and had a negative reaction but after seeing it in person this evening, it works.

I agree. I saw this picture in this thread earlier today and had a negative reaction but after seeing it in person this evening, it works.

Wait...YOU had a negative reaction to something in OKC?

Just took this.

I'm actually excited about this project. Really think the upstairs and bar will become a great hangout spot and along with a more live street level, bring more energy to that prime corner.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/west092415.jpg

Some great shots of this project which is getting close. The one of the patio shows a new fire pit and there will be a bunch of outdoor heaters as well, so that patio should see much more use than in the past.

The upstairs bar will be called the Copper Lounge and they'll have live music on Friday & Saturday nights.



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Nice!

A couple shots upthread there is a second, higher balcony seen; what restaurant is that a part of? Is that West as well?

I think the upstairs seating is a miss. I was hoping for a more relaxing environment than a bunch of plain tables and chairs, maybe some booths and couches.

They aren't finished yet.

Had dinner there monday night. The place looks great. I've always enjoyed going to Nonna's and it has always been easily my favorite view of downtown.. they made the patio a lot more usable than before. The whole restaurant will be a great upscale place to watch football. Lots of Big Screen TV's everywhere; very cool bars; upstairs and down. I do think direct access to the patio would be cool, but i dont see any EASY way to add it. The glass fireplace on the patio is really cool. They have a local art company providing them with a featured artist's work every 60 days on a rotating basis

We had a little bit of everything, but the Ribeye w/ shrimp and Potatoes was awesome. My wife had stuffed Portobellos (not my thing) but also really good. The fish looked good too. for a soft opening everything looked very polished, can't wait to go back when they have live music on the patio.

Official opening Monday October 19. 11am

Going to lunch there today... excited to check out the updates.

I went today for a soft opening lunch. The interior is all very nice, with different feels downstairs and upstairs. I forgot how big this space is... I think the upstairs area will be great to grab a drink, watch a game, listen to live music, etc.

As for the food, it was a limited menu, but it all looked like food at the West on Western (I assume the menu is virtually the same). The food ranged from great to mediocre... partly due to overcooking, overseasoning on one of the chicken dishes. We all had the chicken chile verde to start, which was the highlight of the meal. The service overall was very good for a new restaurant. Hopefully they can work out some of the kinks, becuase they did a great job with the remodel.

Love the pics on this place. If someone passes by there at night get a pic of the sign. Sometimes plain janes really wow you when lit up.

Finally had a chance to try this out. I was gobsmacked at how empty and bland it all looked. It was completely stripped of any of the life that Nonna's had left behind - from the beautiful and unique lighting and cozy, colorful furnishings of the Purple bar, to the intimate banquet rooms with their beautiful furnishings and interesting wall designs - it was all gone, every bit - replaced by industrial grade gray carpet, vinyl tile floors, colorless walls and cheap-looking furniture. It is completely lacking in personality design-wise.

Food and service weren't much better. We went as part of a large group for a birthday celebration (11 in the group). They got our parties mixed up with another one, and put us in one of the meeting rooms that had been set up for 30-something people, so we squeezed two round-tops together to make our party at least at one larger table.

I ordered a soup and salad for lunch instead of my entree, and they came out within five minutes. Problem was, no one else had ordered a "starter," so I sat there and sat there with food in front of me waiting for everyone else's entrees to arrive. Some twenty minutes later, they finally did. It was awkward if not uncomfortable.

The tomato bisque I had ordered, while tasty, was not at all of a creamy consistency. It was a step less solid than tomato paste, and still rather grainy. The brussels sprout salad, which had great promise per the description, was pretty bland and flavorless.

I hate railing on new restaurants, especially those with local investment. But with this, they've taken a Bricktown icon and have reduced it to something that is not at all tourist-worthy.

We give every new OKC restaurant 6 months to get their **** together, been burned waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many times by going before then. Yeah, I know it's important to support local places early on, but we're gonna let someone else take the bullets first (wife was thinking about Meat Market Refectory for NYE, but ain't no way, maybe next NYE). Having said that, we weren't too impressed with their Western Ave location, so we might not even try the Bricktown one, unless it's for the rooftop patio.

West closes its doors tonight (http://www.okctalk.com/content.php?r=355-West-in-Bricktown-closes-doors-tonight)

I am not surprised at all. I had one of the worst restaurant experiences of my life here and the food was terrible. I hope something much, much better takes its place.

Is it closing because it didn't do well?

If Republic did want a downtown location, this would be a great spot...What else would succeed here?

If Republic did want a downtown location, this would be a great spot...What else would succeed here?

Ooooh maaaan. Since we lost out on the bus station, and the Bricktown Ballpark won't play ball (thank you, thank you), I would love for RePUBlic to take this space! They would murder it here!

Will likely continue to see restaurant comings and goings until DT reaches a critical mass of rooftops and other elements of DT development are completed

Will likely continue to see restaurant comings and goings until DT reaches a critical mass of rooftops and other elements of DT development are completed

Has nothing to do with that. The previous tenant had been there for years and the owner just decided to retire.

I never tried the Bricktown location. Sorry to hear about them closing, but this is a great location. Confident something else will come in and make a killing here.

Hope there's a great tenant out there for that location. Was never impressed with West (or any of the restaurants in their group). Best of luck to the old and new tenants!

It's a great location and the remodel was top notch. Aside from Urban Johnnies, the Haynes' concepts aside from Johnnies have never done much for me. This would be a great place for a national chain or for a strong local group to step in.

Love the western location, but went here one time and it was very underwhelming on all accounts.

If Republic did want a downtown location, this would be a great spot...What else would succeed here?

I think A Good Egg is in a holding pattern on new restaurants for a little while. Keep in mind, they opened three new restaurants (Republic CC, Tucker's Norman and Barrio's) all within a couple of months of each other. That's a lot for them...

When your prices are comparable to Mickey Mantles, The Mantle, and Mahogany I expect your service, food, and atmosphere to also compare.

I only dined here twice but it never felt remotely close to the others mentioned. It wasn't too busy, the staff was far from professional, and the food was sadly subpar. If i'm going to to spend $200-300 on dinner and wine for two, I EXPECT to have an experience to go along with it.

West on Western is nice but a far cry from fine dining and trying to morph that concept into fine dining in Bricktown was the kiss of death.

Sadly, I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did.

If Republic did want a downtown location, this would be a great spot...What else would succeed here?


Ooooh maaaan. Since we lost out on the bus station, and the Bricktown Ballpark won't play ball (thank you, thank you), I would love for RePUBlic to take this space! They would murder it here!

Lackmeyer is on board with our plan in his chat this morning.

Lackmeyer is on board with our plan in his chat this morning.

A Good Egg has said they do not have any interest in Bricktown and I doubt that has changed.

A Good Egg has said they do not have any interest in Bricktown and I doubt that has changed.

Yeah, especially now with the recent opening of three restaurants.

A Good Egg has said they do not have any interest in Bricktown and I doubt that has changed.

I'm sure you're right. It's too bad though because it'd be close to me and they could print money.

Whatever goes in there next needs to chuck the ground floor space -- which is big and windowless -- and just focus on the great upstairs space and patio.

I went into West two different times and on both occasions the upstairs wasn't even open, so I sat in the windowless, lifeless bar.

It's all way too much space for a restaurant anyway. Even a lot of the upstairs is private / event space.

The only way a restaurant would work downstairs is to ditch Painted Door and provide windows and access out to Sheridan. But that's not going to happen because Avis just remodeled Painted Door.

LULZ at West blaming their closing on the Streetcar. WTF?

They in no way blamed it on the streetcar. They stated that with the streetcar going in they knew business would be ever harder and made the decision to leave now. Not very difficult to understand.

You're right. That's not blaming the streetcar, just claiming it's the reason they went under.

It's a copout, if your place is worth visiting, people will find a way around construction, at least I would.

I'll disagree with that logic. Trattoria Il Centro was well worth visiting and P180 put them out of business. That said, West Bricktown was an enormous managerial clusterf*#k. I have numerous friends and acquaintances that worked at West North that refused to work at Bricktown if they had enough seniority to pull that off and a bunch more that quit soon after and went elsewhere if they didn't. By all reports, it was a nightmare. Really poorly executed from a management standpoint. Promoting your party buds rarely works in your favor.

I'll disagree with that logic. Trattoria Il Centro was well worth visiting and P180 put them out of business.

I believe the conventional wisdom is that they were struggling mightily before P180 caused them any problems.

And long after the roadwork, they could not get another restaurant to go into that space, which is now offices.