Confirmed: Lunch Box Closed

[Pete]

This came up in another thread.

A couple months ago someone said they saw a "closing soon" sign on the front of the Lunch Box on Sheridan. Someone else said they thought it wa already closed.


I just called and while the guy that answered the phone didn't know all the details, he said they just signed a new lease.

So, they are at least safe for the short-term.

[Joe Kimball]

This came up in another thread.

A couple months ago someone said they saw a "closing soon" sign on the front of the Lunch Box on Sheridan. Someone else said they thought it wa already closed.


I just called and while the guy that answered the phone didn't know all the details, he said they just signed a new lease.

So, they are at least safe for the short-term.

And if I didn't have such a poor-quality photo of the sign I saw affirming this, I'd post it.

[EBAH]

HUGE bummer, it will be sorely missed, I hope someone does something good with the space that preserves it's "time capsule" attributes

[UncleCyrus]

Went by the Lunch Box on Tuesday at noon and they were closed. Just one sign on the door that said "Closed - reopen soon". Anyone know what's up and when they might be reopening?

[Garin]

Maybe they are cleaning that s.o.b.

[Soonerus]

Landlord changed the locks on them on July 1...

[Pete]

Landlord changed the locks on them on July 1...

Any idea why?

[Soonerus]

No idea, it seems like harse treatment for an OKC icon...

[SoonerDave]

Yeah, but the original owner sold out some time ago. New owner basically bought the name, and from what I understand, trashed most of the original recipes and replaced them with his own, and the place went in the toilet. Mind you, that's 2nd hand information, so take it FWIW.

[Pete]

Did we ever confirm that the Lunch Box has closed?

Anybody have a status?

[Pete]

The Lunch Box is definitely closed.

I saw a listing for their space on Loopnet with the words "recently closed restaurant".


Talk about going out with a whimper... People predicted a big backlash when discussing the idea of Preftakes redeveloping that property, and now that it's happened there is not a peep -- not even a blurb in the newspaper.

Very strange.

[UncleCyrus]

That is too bad. Where else am I going to get a thick cut Reuben sandwich with a side of Brussels sprouts?

[metro]

The Lunch Box is definitely closed.

I saw a listing for their space on Loopnet with the words "recently closed restaurant".


Talk about going out with a whimper... People predicted a big backlash when discussing the idea of Preftakes redeveloping that property, and now that it's happened there is not a peep -- not even a blurb in the newspaper.

Very strange.

Very sad.

[Larry OKC]

meant to go there someday...

[LuccaBrasi]

It is strange that an legendary place like the LB faded away with no mention. Surely someone out there knows something.......

Maybe they will resurface at some point.

If not, that's too bad.

[kevinpate]

meant to go there someday...

Number 1 phrase used when a place goes out of biz

[Mr. Cotter]

It's a neat building, but I didn't really care for the food.

[Pete]

Nothing cooking at Johnny’s Lunch Box: Fate of longtime downtown OKC spot uncertain

By Brianna Bailey
Oklahoma City reporter. Contact: 405-278-2847, brianna.bailey@journalrecord.com, @briannabailey80.
Posted: 06:47 PM Wednesday, August 22, 2012

OKLAHOMA CITY – It remains a mystery whether Johnny’s Lunch Box, one of downtown’s most celebrated noontime eateries, has served up its last plate of corned beef and cabbage.

A note scrawled in black marker on a torn piece of brown paper promising that the cafeteria-style restaurant will open again soon has hung in the window since sometime in July. However, the restaurant space at 411 W. Sheridan Ave. has been listed as up for lease on the website of building owner Nick Preftakes’ real estate firm Precor Ruffin.

A listing for the 3,900-square-foot property describes the space as a recently closed restaurant that includes a fully equipped commercial kitchen, with furniture and fixtures in two dining areas.

Preftakes did not respond to multiple attempts to discuss the Lunch Box.

Managed by Preftakes, over the years the entity Sheridan Redevelopers LLC has purchased most of the block where the Lunch Box has stood since 1929.

Sheridan Redevelopers purchased the two buildings long inhabited by the Lunch Box in 2008 for $750,000.

Calls to Joe Johnston, who bought the Lunch Box restaurant business from Aristotle “Johnny” Papahronis about 10 years ago, were not returned.

Attorney Robert Haupt, who was a Lunch Box regular, said he holds fond memories of the restaurant’s Friday meatloaf specials and coconut cream pie.

“It was always such a bustling, diverse place,” Haupt said. “You would see plenty of suits and plenty of people doing work with grit under their fingernails.”

Haupt said he’s sure the restaurant will soon be replaced with a new lunch spot, but laments the Oklahoma City history that might be lost with the Lunch Box’s closure.

“Those kinds of places give us our personality – we need the new and the shiny, but there’s something special about the wrinkles in our character,” Haupt said.

Former Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphreys, who dined at the Lunch Box at least once a month, said he too is sad the restaurant seems to have closed. The lemon garlic chicken was Humphreys’ favorite order.

“You would see the city manager to heads of city departments to attorneys and laborers there, just all mixed together,” he said.
It was an unspoken rule that diners had to have an invitation to eat at the table nearest the cash register.

Butcher paper now hangs over the windows, preventing passersby from looking in, but there seems to be no noticeable activity at the restaurant space, and no building permits have been filed with the city for the space.

[Pete]

There is also a rumor that Preftakes bought out the current owners.

Given his recent acquisition of the neighboring bus station, it seems something finally may be brewing on this block.

[Urbanized]

I think you hit the nail on the head regarding the bus station purchase being the linchpin, Pete. I ran into Nick some weeks ago, and though I didn't press him for details (sorry folks, that would have been bad form - plus I knew he wouldn't divulge them), I did tell him that I was excited to see what he was planning, and from the response I got I'd agree that bus station acquisition was key to whatever he is working on.

I'm bummed about the Lunch Box too, but I can't imagine that we know all of the details. I'm anxious to see what Nick is going to do with the block. He's a real guy, and like most REAL developments, we are unlikely to see or hear much until the broad strokes are set in stone and work in earnest is about to start.

[Pete]

In a live chat today, Steve hinted at the possibility of the LB being relocated to One Hudson, as Preftakes had mentioned in the past possibly moving them.

However, the Precor/Ruffin ads list their current equipment as part of a lease deal as well, so that seems like a highly unlikely scenario.

I think they are gone for good.