I don't think I repeat anything more than once a week. YMMV

Sorry meant to say month. I, like pretty much anyone else is impressed with the cash spent on the beautiful buildout. But not impressed with much else.

And I can’t help but correct jbkrems that Dan O’Brien’s was next door in what is now a saltgrass steakhouse. Both of those buildings have been a revolving door for restaurant & bar concepts.

i dated a girl who worked there for almost a year... she said that their "rush" would be only like 10 tables. and that she hated it, because she never really made any money unless she got a bar shift... Happy Hour and sporting events seemed to fill the bar up and left the large restaurant section still pretty much empty... was surprised it stayed open as long as it did.

Uptowner... what was the other bar that opened in the old Don Pablos/Buddha Tao space... if it wasn't Dan O'Brien's wasn't it something else?

Uptowner... what was the other bar that opened in the old Don Pablos/Buddha Tao space... if it wasn't Dan O'Brien's wasn't it something else?

Wasn't that called Bikini's or something?

Bikini's was next door. Rock & Brews reminds me too much of S&B's Burgers. I wonder if it would have been more successful in Bricktown where I think they were originally looking at putting it. I think it is ironic that Gene Simmons, who makes a big deal about never having had a drink of alcohol in his life, owns a concept called Rock & Brews. The franchise owner in OKC is from Overland Park, Kansas I believe. The are supposed to be building a Rock & Brews Hotel/Casino in Braman, Oklahoma with the Kaw Tribe. I wonder how that is going, I have not been up that way in two years.

Bigrayokc

Didn't Gene Simmons himself christen this place?

Didn't Gene Simmons himself christen this place?

Yeah, they did a private opening for military/vets if I recall, where Gene was there for the opening. I remember him trying to teach Mitch on Fox some tongue tricks on the morning show (sounds dirtier than it is, although not by much).

Too many other good places to eat in OKC that are not "chain" type places. Moving here from Indiana 6 years ago I really noticed that. More mom and pop places here than in Northern Indiana. More restaurants that are just local chain type also.
Plus the burger competition in this town is no joke. We had a thread a while back and it was something like 20 different local places that serve awesome burgers

The rent up here must still be too high, Obriens didn't last long, neither did Rock & Brews. This seems to be a common trend with a lot of memorial restaurants/bars. Lots of road traffic does not mean lots of customers. I believe the Baker Street location next door is still abandoned.

The mostly drinking places don’t seem to last.

Wasn't that called Bikini's or something?Bikinis was the next building to the west.

Bikini's -> Inferno's Pizza -> Alyssha's Southern Kitchen -> Saltgrass -> ???

A friend of mine growing up, this is his family's company that owns all these (and other) restaurants. Need to reach out to him to see what's up

I blame LipSmackers. People thought it was a Kiss reference and it was all over for Rock and Brews....

Sorry to see another bite the dust. What is the magical formula to be on Memorial Rd in that area??? Some thrive and some die. I don't recall them doing much marketing, advertising, etc....

Dont violate liquor laws, dont allow folks to get drunk and fight off duty cops, offer something unique, advertise, and a bit of luck?

Why on earth did they open at this location? My wife and I really liked it, but the second we saw where it was, we said it wasn't going to last. I wish they had opened in Bricktown or somewhere else.

Bricktown makes sense. I actually enjoy going to a hokey, overly themed place when I’m in the area. One of my good friends owns a brownstone and we walk across the tracks often to take in the scene. I actually had an awesome time at the dueling piano bar awhile back. Although I took a big group to Zio’s on a Sunday night recently, after not being there for over a decade, I thought it would be cute and fun. It was a complete disaster and half the folks couldn’t eat their food it was so awful. Worst of all it took so long to put the order out we couldn’t find anywhere else in the area to get a bite to eat after 10pm on a Sunday.

Oh, and what seems to last on memorial are national chains. Your red lobster, Friday’s, olive gardens, and PF Chang’s.

I think the stretch between penn and may is just a death sentence. May and memorial is always backed up, mall traffic, not easy to get too. Everything to the west and east seems to do just fine.

I think BJ's does very well but they are also right on the entrance to the mall.

I think the stretch between penn and may is just a death sentence. May and memorial is always backed up, mall traffic, not easy to get too. Everything to the west and east seems to do just fine.
Penn to May has lots of long term restaurants....way more that make it than don’t. Probably a higher success rate than national avg. for restaurants. Smash Burger, Ghengis Grille, Swadleys, BJs, TGI Friday’s, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Schlotzskis, Blaze, Mama Rita’s, Firehouse Subs, Five Guys, First Watch, Texas Roadhouse, Tom and Chee, Yummy Mummy, Jersey Mike’s, IHOP, Saltgrass. Chefs di Domini, Longhorn. That doesn’t count things around and in the mall and on Peen just north of Memorial, or May north of Memorial. It is a HUGE number of restaurants in the immediate area. Evertime on shuts down, it seems somebody always comes on the board and wants to proclaim the sky is falling. Fact is, the places that fail deserve to fail on their own merits. The one mile or so radius from QSM May be the most competitive restaurant market in OKC.

Does this have anything to do with how the successful places have access from other streets than Memorial? Bjs opens to the road around the mall, everything along Penn has multiple entry points, Places along May don't have it nearly as bad as Penn. Or do these all connect to the road behind Barnes and Noble and I just haven't noticed? Also, is there not a hotel behind these places? How is that hotel doing?

^^^ You can get to those locations (Rock N Brews, Saltgrass, etc) from May, but it isn't very intuitive, and certainly isn't well marked. No signage on May for any of those restaurants. You'd think you were going to Barnes and Noble and that's it. You also would have a hard time getting there if you were travelling southbound on May. It's possible, but just barely.14828

A demolition permit has been issued for this building.

The property was purchased 3 years ago by a local investor but no building permits have been filed.

A demolition permit has been issued for this building.

The property was purchased 3 years ago by a local investor but no building permits have been filed.I thought demolition might be the eventual outcome for that building. I liked the place but it was a pretty odd layout for a restaurant or anything else.

This building is now complete scraped.

What a short lifecycle for this project, less than 10 years from construction to demolition...

What a short lifecycle for this project, less than 10 years from construction to demolition...

this building was +/- 20 years old

I forgot it was a refurb and not a new build. But still...

Before the life cycle of this thread is over....they are opening up a Rock and Brews Casino up near the state line on I35

https://www.rockandbrewscasinobraman.com/restaurant

^

Looks like they are already open:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/rock-and-brews-casino-braman

Before the life cycle of this thread is over....they are opening up a Rock and Brews Casino up near the state line on I35

https://www.rockandbrewscasinobraman.com/restaurant
I have to keep the wife from hearing about this!

Interesting choice since Kansas already has casinos. If they didn't, I could see wanting to do to Kansas what we've done to Texas.

^

Looks like they are already open:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/rock-and-brews-casino-braman

I knew the casino had opened as I have stopped and donated to the tribal coffers. Wasn't sure about the restaurant

Interesting choice since Kansas already has casinos. If they didn't, I could see wanting to do to Kansas what we've done to Texas.

There are several Indian casinos up in that area of Oklahoma. The Kansas Casino just south of Wichita (Kansas Star) is state owned.

^

Looks like they are already open:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/rock-and-brews-casino-braman

keep in mind this is not a new casino ... just a rebrand

I recall reading about this rebrand before the pandemic, back when KISS was working the Rock & Brews and other concepts pretty hard (like the mini golf in the Rio Las Vegas).

I remember when Buddha Tao was there