New bar opening in the First National Building bank vault. Should be a pretty cool space. Officially opens tomorrow.


Oklahoma's City's first-ever underground cocktail bar is opening Thursday inside the First National Center. It's called the Library of Distilled Spirits.
Patrons will enter through the basement and into "The Vault," which was once the vault of the former bank.

Customers will be served cocktails and light food options while there.

They will be open from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

The bar will officially open Thursday.

https://www.news9.com/story/6296946914749a07286a1042/new-underground-bar-coming-to-oklahoma-city-

It's a little weird to find this space...

Enter on Robinson and to the left of the escalators are steps down to the basement (next image).

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Once you get down there, you'll see this area; go on through and it's actually a pretty big space with lots of alcoves.

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Pretty cool!

^^^^^^^
Wait until you see it with the furnishings. It is a RIDICULOUSLY cool spot.

Much of the delay has of course been staffing-related, but a big part of the endeavor has been getting the furnishings right. Apicii (the operator) is very exacting, and they have expended an incredible amount of effort on not just getting the crew, menu and liquor right but ALSO arranging, deleting and adding furnishings to fit their intended operational model.

They are open. Funny story... I got there right before 4 and there were about a dozen people waiting to for them to open the gate that leads to the steps down. I asked every one of them, and all said they had seen it on OKCTalk social media.

Anyway, of course it's gorgeous. It's also verrrry dark, but that just makes it look cooler, although difficult to photograph. The old safety deposit boxes can be rented for your private booze or wine stash and then they'll charge you a corkage/setup fee.

The two separate rooms (they call the archive) were closed. The 2nd to last photo is of the area behind the round vault door; the last is through another small door and has a large, separate bar.

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Is it currently wheelchair accessible?

^^^^^^
It is. You can take an elevator from the first floor directly beneath to a hallway that opens up to the vault. Even though it’s very simple to do, it’s probably worth asking directions, as it’s not immediately intuitive.

@pete, what is the social outreach stats on this post? I don't think I have seen an OKCTalk post this many times since the Chisholm Creek announcements.

@pete, what is the social outreach stats on this post? I don't think I have seen an OKCTalk post this many times since the Chisholm Creek announcements.

250,000 people reached on Facebook and that number will end up much higher.

We actually made two separate posts on Insta which have accumulated a combined 8,000 likes and those counters are still spinning.

17500

Pretty neat to see the company OKC continues to find itself in more and more often. Didn't know Apicii (I'm assuming that's who's managing this) has done this concept before OKC though - can't wait to see it.

Who is the ownership on this? Their website shows a location in NYC and OKC - which is something you don't see every day! https://www.libraryofdistilledspirits.com

Who is the ownership on this? Their website shows a location in NYC and OKC - which is something you don't see every day! https://www.libraryofdistilledspirits.com

Apicii is running all of the Restaurants/bars in first national ... (except Golden Acorn IIRC)


https://www.apicii.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4uaUBhC8ARIsANUuDjXnsGc3wM44PJy3bkf ils5qrQ9tqA5q4TKuE5IgcXL97APmH6soNhoaAiVZEALw_wcB

they are very very impressive

They are open. Funny story... I got there right before 4 and there were about a dozen people waiting to for them to open the gate that leads to the steps down. I asked every one of them, and all said they had seen it on OKCTalk social media.

Anyway, of course it's gorgeous. It's also verrrry dark, but that just makes it look cooler, although difficult to photograph. The old safety deposit boxes can be rented for your private booze or wine stash and then they'll charge you a corkage/setup fee.

The two separate rooms (they call the archive) were closed. The 2nd to last photo is of the area behind the round vault door; the last is through another small door and has a large, separate bar.

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/library060222j.jpg


HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/library060322a.jpg


HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/library060322b.jpg


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Pete,
Just curious. Is there light music playing in the background? Will there be live music like in NYC. You describe the environment as very dark, how does that add to or take away from the overall feel of the space? I"n other words does it feel like a cave or dungeon?

No, does not feel like you're in a basement, and I'm claustrophobic.

Not sure about live music and I didn't notice any music when I was down there, but I wasn't there long.

I think bouldersooner made it very clear, but just to reiterate, this IS the same company as the above-linked Library of Distilled Spirits in NYC. To date these are the only two of that particular concept in their collection. This location is even considered to be a bit of an upgrade in some areas vs the one in Manhattan. Once again, having this operator in FNC puts OKC in some very rarefied air.

Regarding music, I know from personal conversations that the VP of Operations of Apicii feels very strongly about using music to set the mood in their establishments. I do know that initially that in the Great Hall they were still having issues getting the audio system dialed in (new building stuff) so it’s possible that the audio just wasn’t ready for prime time. Im pretty confident that at the end of the day it will be well programmed.

One of the most popular social media posts of ours or any account in the state, ever:

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We went on Friday, and while it was crowded, they did a pretty good job of keeping the capacity at a certain number where they weren’t overwhelmed. Completely different vibe than Tellers… they were playing a loud, eclectic, playlist. The Mexican food that we saw come by looked great and will try that on our next trip. Drinks were pricey as expected, ~$20 for a cocktail with tip.

A friend went to Tellers last night and said the line to go downstairs was out the door and onto the sidewalk, so the word is out. There is additional space that was roped off, and they said that will open in the next few weeks.

That colorful ceiling was genius to brighten it up and break it up!

LOVE, absolutely LOVE THIS. Urbanized, you were right! My apologies. This is turning out to be world class well beyond what a national chain could do!! Kudos!

Just even this mention on their website "Library of Distilled Spirits: Cocktail Bar in NYC, NY and OKC, OK (https://www.libraryofdistilledspirits.com/)" forever links the two cities with CITY in their name - New York City and Oklahoma City. Very nice to be in a niche club (https://www.libraryofdistilledspirits.com/) that even Chicago doesn't YET have.

The counters have now mostly stopped spinning; look at the numbers for this post:

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Very cool, Pete! Congratulations and keep up the great work! :)

20 minute wait to get in last night and was longer when we left. This place. is killing it.