Another restaurant deal has been signed for the massive Chisholm Creek mixed-use development at Memorial and Western, this time Yokozuna.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/yokozuna1.jpg

Yokozuna is the sushi, noodles and bar concept by the McNellie's Group which operates two locations in Tulsa. The group also operates McNellie's pub, Fassler Hall and Dust Bowl, all with locations in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa. They also own a few more concepts in Tulsa.

Yokozuna will be taking 5,000 square feet in Tract 30 and will be located at the far east end, closest to Western. They will also feature a 2,000 square foot rooftop patio which will overlook the wildly popular TopGolf.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/yokozuna2.jpg

Just last month, Republic Gastropub announced plans (http://www.okctalk.com/content/171-republic-gastro-pub-coming-chisholm-creek.html)for an expansive new location at the west end of Tract 30. Fuzzy's Taco has also been announced as a tenant.

The restaurants will join a thriving TopGolf (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=TopGolf) and Oklahoma's first Cabela's (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Cabelas) is set to open September 16th.

iFLY (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=iFLY) is also under construction at Chisholm Creek and will feature indoor skydiving.

Tract 30 is under construction and the restaurants and other tenants should open in spring of 2016.



http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/yokozuna3.jpg

This has me thinking:

When will OKC restauranteurs begin expanding into other markets, particularly Tulsa?

Much as I love the Eliot Nelson concepts, we are sending at least some of our money up the turnpike.

I guess with the Thunder what we send to Tulsa probably pales in comparison, but still…I'm greedy :D

Hal Smith has done that with Louies, Mahogany and others. Beyond Tulsa as well.

The other locals are too busy busting out new concepts and locations for OKC to need other markets.

I know of 5 or 6 local restaurant groups all with ambitious plans to expand in OKC.

I'm fine with sending money to Tulsa groups. I consider it state local.

Hal Smith has done that with Louies, Mahogany and others. Beyond Tulsa as well.

The other locals are too busy busting out new concepts and locations for OKC to need other markets.

I know of 5 or 6 local restaurant groups all with ambitious plans to expand in OKC.

Speaking of Hal Smith, the Mahogany in Tulsa has long been his baby. It will be interesting to see if the new downtown OKC location overtakes it.

A couple pictures from today:

13184 13185

Opens Monday.

McNellie’s rolls out Yokozuna at Chisholm Creek

By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record October 28, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY – Yokozuna sushi and Pan-Asian restaurant in Chisholm Creek’s Tract 30 building has nearly twice the seating of its two Tulsa-area predecessors.

McNellie’s Group Operating Partner Matt Leland said the restaurant is only working with about 150 of those seats right now because the remaining 100 spots are outside. The rooftop patio is still under construction.

The delay in opening the patio will help the crew get used to the larger area, Leland said.

McNellie’s Group owner Elliot Nelson said it will take some time to figure out the patio operation piece. Leland said he still has some hiring to do so people can be trained to work on the patio, which opens in March.

The patio with Yokozuna isn’t the only new feature with this McNellie’s Group concept. It’s the first time the company is opening a metro place outside a bustling commercial district like Midtown or Norman’s Main Street.

Leland said the second Yokozuna in south Tulsa was well-received. The restaurant opened four years ago.

“A few years back, we started looking at our mission as a company,” Leland said. “Our clientele was older and had moved to the suburbs. For many years, the suburbs had a lot of national chain restaurants. (Residents) didn’t feel appreciated by local businesses. (When we opened in South Tulsa) people were very receptive and thankful.”

Yokozuna offers several sushi rolls and a variety of Asian-inspired entrées such as ramen, pad thai, pork belly tacos, sweet and sour chicken, and General Tso’s chicken.

Nelson said building the restaurant in the suburbs was easier than working downtown.

“Urban projects are more challenging,” he said. “They take more time and they’re more expensive.”

McNellie’s Group worked with Fitzsimmons Architecture, Lingo Construction, and Medallion Group on the restaurant.

Nelson said working in the suburbs doesn’t come with the satisfaction of helping transform a neighborhood, but the company is still making a difference, providing health benefits to the 60 employees at Yokozuna. Leland said some former Yokozuna employees who left for college have returned to work.

“We feel like we’re providing a service to those neighborhoods,” Nelson said.

He said he’s excited to be part of Chisholm Creek and be one of the first businesses in the development. He said he probably wouldn’t have considered the site if it were just a regular retail strip center, but Chisholm Creek has more to offer. He said he knows or at least hopes it will become the destination that has been envisioned.

I went to the soft open last week, and the service and food quality were good. Hoping the interior is getting more decor; felt pretty spartan, and not in a Japanese minimalist sort of way. The space itself is really nice though. The other thing I found a LITTLE odd was the menu. I don't know that this is a knock; it is just a little bit Asian catch-all. I hadn't been to the Tulsa location, but I was surprised to find sushi, ramen, pho and (American) Chinese dishes like General Tso's chicken all inhabiting the same menu.

The name screamed Japanese, and the identity as far as I knew it was sushi. I like experimentation, I love fusion foods, but random groupings of pretty faithful renditions of different ethnic foods strikes me as a little odd. It's like seeing hamburgers and tacos on the menu at a pizza place. You get the feeling that at least one thing will miss the mark.

That said, the food we ate was perfectly good, so maybe ignore everything I said. :)

The name screamed Japanese, and the identity as far as I knew it was sushi. I like experimentation, I love fusion foods, but random groupings of pretty faithful renditions of different ethnic foods strikes me as a little odd. It's like seeing hamburgers and tacos on the menu at a pizza place. You get the feeling that at least one thing will miss the mark.

Maybe they are following Genghis Grill's lead.... They are now serving burgers for people that don't want a bowl of Mongolian BBQ.

Its kind of like nice places having chicken nuggets on a kids menu. Of course, it won't taste that great, but what else are they going to eat. Yokozuna's primary identity is always going to be sushi.

I went to the soft open last week, and the service and food quality were good. Hoping the interior is getting more decor; felt pretty spartan, and not in a Japanese minimalist sort of way. The space itself is really nice though. The other thing I found a LITTLE odd was the menu. I don't know that this is a knock; it is just a little bit Asian catch-all. I hadn't been to the Tulsa location, but I was surprised to find sushi, ramen, pho and (American) Chinese dishes like General Tso's chicken all inhabiting the same menu.

The name screamed Japanese, and the identity as far as I knew it was sushi. I like experimentation, I love fusion foods, but random groupings of pretty faithful renditions of different ethnic foods strikes me as a little odd. It's like seeing hamburgers and tacos on the menu at a pizza place. You get the feeling that at least one thing will miss the mark.

That said, the food we ate was perfectly good, so maybe ignore everything I said. :)

I want you to be right so bad.

Agree with Urbanized about the menu and the interior. And TONS of cream cheese in the sushi. Felt like close to half the sushi menu. The food (had a cup of miso soup and tried four different sushi rolls) wasn't bad, but overall, I was really unimpressed.

Agree with Urbanized about the menu and the interior. And TONS of cream cheese in the sushi. Felt like close to half the sushi menu. The food (had a cup of miso soup and tried four different sushi rolls) wasn't bad, but overall, I was really unimpressed.

That's depressing.

It's certainly a more populist appeal that no doubt translates into plenty of business.

Their two locations in Tulsa do very well.

We ate here the other night. Yokozuna is definitely a much broader menu than a traditional sushi restaurant. We enjoyed it but had been to the Tulsa location and knew what to expect.

If we are looking for good sushi, we usually stick to Sushi Bar or Tsubaki, both of which are on Memorial.

Agree with Urbanized about the menu and the interior. And TONS of cream cheese in the sushi. Felt like close to half the sushi menu. The food (had a cup of miso soup and tried four different sushi rolls) wasn't bad, but overall, I was really unimpressed.

I can't stand cream cheese in sushi. I don't get it.

Reminder that this location has been open less than a week. Maybe final judgments are a bit premature? ;)

I can't stand cream cheese in sushi. I don't get it.

'Merican sushi

Not a final judgement at all. Just a few facts and a few opinions about a restaurant I was really excited about opening. That's the point, right?

Reminder that this location has been open less than a week. Maybe final judgments are a bit premature? ;)

FWIW in my comments I pointed out that the food and service were both good, which is a definite recommendation, ESPECIALLY considering it was a soft opening night, which I acknowledged..

I did make the observation that the interior seemed a little half-baked that night - which is understandable if they were still adding finishing touches and which may or may not change going forward - and that the menu was oddly eclectic and unfocused, which has nothing to do with the newness and which will NOT change. I also said I'm on the fence as to whether the last item was a good thing or a bad one; only that it was unexpected.

So all of that said, I think my comments were pretty fair, soft opening or not. :)

I can't stand cream cheese in sushi. I don't get it.

It's truly the worst.

So all of that said, I think my comments were pretty fair, soft opening or not. :)

Agreed.

I can't stand cream cheese in sushi. I don't get it.

I also feel this way but there is a huge market for this type of "sushi". We prefer sashimi or raw rolls but many of my friends wont eat anything too raw or without cream cheese. I just wish they had more of the traditional style rolls.

We stopped by around 5:30 tonight. Wasn't very busy and all staff was very attentive. We had some chicken fingers and fried rice for the toddler, and my wife had a selection of sushi. And they both enjoyed theirs.

I came for the ramen:

13237

It was delicious.

Had dinner with the family there on Saturday night. Not too busy.

We had sushi, ramen, stir fry and pad thai. The sushi was ok (better places in OKC), I liked the ramen but the pad thai was pretty awful.

Not a bad place but not really good enough to make it on my list of rotations.

I stopped by here today. Had the cauliflower appitizer which was the best thing I had. Ramen not great (which is fair cause they don't hang their notoriety on ramen), and I got that cause there was no 1 roll that I found myself interested in.

When I get rolls I try to go for the following: 2 fish, no imitation crab, no cream cheese.

Well, that is kind of unfair... it is owned by McNellies which is an American based establishment. You can't expect this place to be an authentic sushi place. However, for being what it is, they do have some good rolls, e.g. the tempura shrimp roll, and the volcano roll (which I order without jalapeno). It is in my weekly rotation for different places, I try to be there once a week or every other week, for sure.

I know it's owned by McNellies and love McNellies and was expecting it to be really good.. Rolls in itself aren't authentic, the place just wasn't for me and that's fine. I'd stop by during happy hour for the apps.