Does anybody know anything this place going in at Plaza Court 1016 N Walker?
It supposed to be a sports bar/ grill / comedy club. I'm curious who the owners are and whether it is affiliated with the bar of the same name in Ohio.

Funny (haha) you should ask:

OKCTalk - Restaurant, bar and comedy club coming to Midtown (http://www.okctalk.com/content/191-restaurant-bar-comedy-club-coming-midtown.html)

Very exciting news! Midtown continues to dazzle.

I'm surprised a place called Gigglez only plans to have comedians 2-4 times per month. I feel like if I'm going to Gigglez I'm going for comedy, not as much burgers, tea, etc. No?

I hope they do great.

Seems like they're trying to do too much...burgers, pho, comedy, health shack, bar...

For those that haven't been to Loony Bin, it is totally fantastic. This sounds like a smaller scale version, really more restaurant than comedy club. With that said, this is awesome. I LOVE comedy clubs. Want an awesome night? Go to one. Downtown lacks something like this entirely, with any luck, this place will br a blast.

Seems like they're trying to do too much...burgers, pho, comedy, health shack, bar...

Completely agree. Even though the guys wife is vietnamese, I can't imagine that people are going to be coming here for her pho. Food menu will have an identity crisis

I love comedy clubs. I was sad when Jokers went away. But the question is why did it go away. Was there enough demand for it?

I love comedy clubs. I was sad when Jokers went away. But the question is why did it go away. Was there enough demand for it?

I'm 34 and have never stepped foot in a comedy club. I don't know any friends that go... I'd imagine they have demand issues. And comedian availability issues?

I'm 34 and have never stepped foot in a comedy club. I don't know any friends that go... I'd imagine they have demand issues. And comedian availability issues?

Loony Bin has always been sold out every time I have been there and they don't really bring in big names.... They also recently went totally smoke free.

Loony Bin has always been sold out every time I have been there and they don't really bring in big names.... They also recently went totally smoke free.

Smoke free is good.

"GiggleZ?" Really? (Chuckle)

"GiggleZ?" Really? (Chuckle)

Should that not be (ChuckleZ)? ;+)

"Gigglez" might have been more appreciated if they attempted actual humor by calling it something like "Schitz and Gigglez".

"Gigglez" might have been more appreciated if they attempted actual humor by calling it something like "Schitz and Gigglez".

LMAO....Maybe you should try to market that to them!

Odd concept. Bad name. Curious spot for it.

^^^^
agreed. this has fail written all over it.

Are there any live music venues along 10th street in this area?

As a matter of principle, I will not be going to a place called Gigglez with a z. Especially not for the food.

Are there any live music venues along 10th street in this area?

R&J has a jazz guitarist occasionally, and he's really great. And believe it or not, Sidecar has the occasional live musician.

Fassler Hall has live music on it's outdoor patio.

R&J has a jazz guitarist occasionally, and he's really great. And believe it or not, Sidecar has the occasional live musician.

Fassler Hall has live music on it's outdoor patio.

The Bossa Nova rooftop has occasional jazz music. Bleu Garten brings in musicians every now and then too.

I wish them success.

However, I do think they are trying to do too many different concepts under one roof.

They need to focus their resources on either becoming the absolute best boba tea shop, the absolute best bar, the absolute best comedy club, or the absolute best Pho restaurant in the area.

Trying to do all of the above will be a real drain on them, and will as a result dilute all 4 services they are trying to offer.

As a matter of principle, I will not be going to a place called Gigglez with a z. Especially not for the food.


I concur. it should have two z's ... double the z's, double the flavor (sorry, I rather enjoyed Rock of Ages, even the lame bits)

Don't have a pic but drove by last night and noticed final signage was up both on the "front" and side of the building.

Opens tomorrow night.

Ate at Go Go for lunch and stopped in to take a look. I will try to eat here soon and take some pictures.

Chef for Bonjour has taken over here, should be pretty good.

Chef for Bonjour has taken over here, should be pretty good.

Is he splitting his time between here and Bonjour, or has he left Bonjour?

Is he splitting his time between here and Bonjour, or has he left Bonjour?

I'm inclined to say splitting time. Bonjour isn't open at night, and he's doing the dinner stuff.

I'm inclined to say splitting time. Bonjour isn't open at night, and he's doing the dinner stuff.

Good to hear, and yeah, makes total sense (he was actually talking about opening Bonjour for dinner last time we were in, but I guess that won't happen while he has this going on)...

Good to hear, and yeah, makes total sense (he was actually talking about opening Bonjour for dinner last time we were in, but I guess that won't happen while he has this going on)...

Last time I talked to him about it, he said he was looking to have dinner stuff come up sometime in Jan/Feb. Hopefully by then somebody else is doing Gigglez.

I went here for the first time yesterday evening and here is my review:

Positives:
1) The service
2) The staff
3) The food
4) The beer selection
5) Amount of TV's

Negatives:
1) Name of the establishment
2) Beer prices are a little high in comparison to other competition
3) Lack of parking

There were not many people there when a big group of us showed up. They offered us bubble tea which I thought was a little strange. It seemed to have more of a sports bar feel than anything else. Overall I was pleasantly surprised with how things were run. Everything you would hope for in a bar/restaurant was pretty much on point. However, I CANNOT get past the name.

For anyone that is interested, they are having several comedians come in Saturday, January 16th (I think that's the correct date).

11988 11989 11990 11991 11992

^

Thanks!

Did you stick your head in the space to the west; where they have the comedians?

It's a separate bar I believe.

^

Thanks!

Did you stick your head in the space to the west; where they have the comedians?

It's a separate bar I believe.

That's where we sat Pete. The east room had a different feel and was completely empty. Apparently the loft area in the west room is for VIP and includes bottle service.

I think I'm going to eat lunch there today.

Such an unfortunate brand. I want the place to do well, but admit that I have been slow to check it out almost entirely because the brand turns me off, and I know others (and I'm talking people who frequent downtown places almost exclusively) who feel the same way.

Nothing special about the place... It wasn't bad by any means. But, nothing that makes me want to come back soon.

The menu naming was definitely an off-put.

11994
11995
11996
11997

Yeah I think the brand "Gigglez" is a big fail and will handicap the potential of what otherwise seems like a big hit.

The overuse of the letter Z in their branding and menu is absolutely one of my pet peeves and, along with the "creative" item names, is definitely off-putting. As petty as I know this sounds, I'm pretty sure I'd avoid this place specifically because of it. Agreed, all of this is a total handicap to the potential success of this place.

I kindz of likez the brandingz

I kindz of likez the brandingz

Did you see their menu items?

That menu is painful to read

What is too bad is that there is no question in my mind that they really put a lot of effort into all of it. I just get the idea that it was either done in a silo or that everyone they showed it to didn't want to hurt their feelings or be negative. They just really, REALLY would have benefitted from some professional branding advice. That is a corner that some people are often too quick to cut, but it DOES matter.

Their location isn't the greatest either... Not saying a successful restaurant can't operate in this space. It is just another hurdle to overcome. Basically no parking.

Some marketing and changing the "Why did the Chicken Cross the Road? Sandwich" to "Grilled Chicken Sandwich" and then have their pun below it would be so much better...

What is their obsession with the Blazers hockey team? Is there a team still called the Blazers? I was confused by that.

Does SA own the lot directly to the south of Gigglez?

Its a block away from McNellie's and Fassler Hall. People shouldn't have issues walking to Gigglez. In an urban environment, people can't, nor should they always park right in front of their destination.

Soooooooo, we giving it 6-8 months?

As a matter of principle, I will not be going to a place called Gigglez with a z. Especially not for the food.

Haven't changed my mind.

Haven't changed my mind.

Thought the same then gave it a try last night. The place is cool, the food is pretty good, and he staff is great, the owner even came out and talked to me for awhile. It really has an opportunity to be a good sports bar with comedy shows. I hope this place makes it....but also for a name change.

Maybe we can get them on Bar Rescue...they will make them change the name to something less stupid and would get a lot of publicity from it.

Thought the same then gave it a try last night. The place is cool, the food is pretty good, and he staff is great, the owner even came out and talked to me for awhile. It really has an opportunity to be a good sports bar with comedy shows. I hope this place makes it....but also for a name change.

Maybe we can get them on Bar Rescue...they will make them change the name to something less stupid and would get a lot of publicity from it.

Agree with this.

The branding is the issue. Everything else about this place is a hit. As long as the current branding remains, I don't see how this lasts more than 6 months. It would be cool to get it on Bar Rescue.

They could easily rename it 'Gigs', as in a gig for comedians.

Might even be able to rework their expensive sign.

Like my favorite brand in town that recently closed. It was called D N T. Formerly "donuts" the ingenious new owners just removed some letters to transform of from a donut shot to DNT convenience store.

What is too bad is that there is no question in my mind that they really put a lot of effort into all of it. I just get the idea that it was either done in a silo or that everyone they showed it to didn't want to hurt their feelings or be negative. They just really, REALLY would have benefitted from some professional branding advice. That is a corner that some people are often too quick to cut, but it DOES matter.

What's interesting is... Given the fact that the only modern tenant was Saturn Grill. A reputable and well known brand failed there, for many reasons including 5 parking spaces, poor street visibility, plus the fact that nearly all the traffic comes E\W across 10th or south from walker above 10th. So it doesn't afford nearly the amount of eyes the area round about does.

Why would someone throw all their chips into a location like this? It feels like a desperate attempt to grab a piece of midtown banking on the moniker "if it's in midtown it will be a hit."

Like my favorite brand in town that recently closed. It was called D N T. Formerly "donuts" the ingenious new owners just removed some letters to transform of from a donut shot to DNT convenience store.l

Did they ever even open as the donut shop? From what I saw and heard, they set it up as a donut shop, hoping for a buyer to snatch at the same time the many other donut shops were opening. When they removed the letters, and turned it into a convenience store, I thought it was a joke.

The back alley needs improvement by the city as well. I took the alley the other day while taking a peeking inside the space and was like whoa this sucks...

What is too bad is that there is no question in my mind that they really put a lot of effort into all of it. I just get the idea that it was either done in a silo or that everyone they showed it to didn't want to hurt their feelings or be negative. They just really, REALLY would have benefitted from some professional branding advice. That is a corner that some people are often too quick to cut, but it DOES matter.

Problem is, that everyone thinks there are professionals in branding. Sometimes you just have to let someone figure things out on their own and if they don't figure it out and fail, then consider it a lesson learned for the next time. All I know is that if I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail on my own with my own ideas. Not with what a "professional" suggested I do.

The back alley needs improvement by the city as well. I took the alley the other day while taking a peeking inside the space and was like whoa this sucks...

I do agree that this building needs some help from the city and parking is not the best situation. If a well established place like Saturn Grill couldn't make this location work, what does that say about the location?

Problem is, that everyone thinks there are professionals in branding. Sometimes you just have to let someone figure things out on their own and if they don't figure it out and fail, then consider it a lesson learned for the next time. All I know is that if I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail on my own with my own ideas. Not with what a "professional" suggested I do.

There most certainly ARE branding professionals, and if they are worth their salt they will draw out facilitate the owner's own ideas and then help refine them and fill in whatever the owner lacks in marketing know-how.

Just because you (it seems) happened to do OK in that area doesn't mean everyone else has the same instincts, nor should they be expected to have them. They SHOULD be experienced restaurant/bar professionals. But a good owner also recognizes where they could use professional assistance. A place shouldn't succeed or fail based on whether an owner (who's untrained in branding/marketing) can GUESS how to do something or luck into the right high school art student nephew drawing their logo. It should come down to whether the food, service and location are good. THAT is the expertise area of an operator. If they have experience in other areas, great.

By the way, you probably shouldn't wire or plumb your business unless you are a trained electrician or plumber, and you probably shouldn't do your business taxes unless you are a CPA or professional tax preparer. And by the way, I'm not looking for a plumber to prepare my food, either.

I think the "everyone thinks..." line was supposed to say "everyone thinks they are professionals in branding"...

^^^^^^^
I don't think so. Read the last two sentences of his post.

There most certainly ARE branding professionals, and if they are worth their salt they will draw out facilitate the owner's own ideas and then help refine them and fill in whatever the owner lacks in marketing know-how.

Just because you (it seems) happened to do OK in that area doesn't mean everyone else has the same instincts, nor should they be expected to have them. They SHOULD be experienced restaurant/bar professionals. But a good owner also recognizes where they could use professional assistance. A place shouldn't succeed or fail based on whether an owner (who's untrained in branding/marketing) can GUESS how to do something or luck into the right high school art student nephew drawing their logo. It should come down to whether the food, service and location are good. THAT is the expertise area of an operator. If they have experience in other areas, great.

By the way, you probably shouldn't wire or plumb your business unless you are a trained electrician or plumber, and you probably shouldn't do your business taxes unless you are a CPA or professional tax preparer. And by the way, I'm not looking for a plumber to prepare my food, either.

Yep, absolutely this! Not sure why tons of OKC folks (both in private and public/gov't jobs) seem to think that they can do everything themselves without asking professionals with expertise and experience in other states/cities/nations (or right here in OKC) how it's done. There are so many things not done right here that *could've* been done right if only somebody doing it had thought "Hmm, wonder how it's done elsewhere successfully?" instead of just "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead, we're independent and pull ourselves up by the bootstraps all the time, we don't need no stinkin' professionals". Doing it on your own works sometimes, but not all the time, and if you can stack the deck for success by hiring someone that has expertise and experience, why not (if you have the money), you can ignore them when it's over if you want, but at least you'll get a reality check on your own ideas. Rant over, back to topic, Gigglez is a silly name, and all the silliness on the menu is gonna be distracting...