Lip Smackers

[Soonerinfiniti]

We were there last night around 7 pm and there were 10 people in the restaurant, although we were the only ones left when we finished. My wife and daughter had the onion dip burger and I had a cheeseburger, with okra. Everything was delicious! I will have to try the onion dip burger next time. The owner even brought us out a slice of cheesecake, on the house! It was also very good! I didn't realize how full I was until about an hour later - I had to go walk, it was that much food!

I hope this becomes a cult hole-in-the-wall place, because the clientele of the gas station is sketchy. Please go soon so this place will get some traction!

[Thomas Vu]

Oh yeah one thing I wanted to note. Did it used to be a bubble tea place, or is that in the works? I noticed the banner and no options for it on the menu.

[Pete]

Oh yeah one thing I wanted to note. Did it used to be a bubble tea place, or is that in the works? I noticed the banner and no options for it on the menu.

That was a leftover from a previous operator.

[jedicurt]

Were you in the 5 stack? I think I may have seen you.

yes I was. where were you sitting?

[Colbafone]

Oh yeah one thing I wanted to note. Did it used to be a bubble tea place, or is that in the works? I noticed the banner and no options for it on the menu.

The Bubble Tea place was actually 2 operators ago. I sort of hope they keep it up, as if it's some inside joke.

[baralheia]

Add me to the growing list of people who've tried Lip Smackers and were blown away by the experience. I took my fiancé over there for lunch today and the burgers and the customer service were just *outstanding*. Jabbar is an amazingly friendly guy who just exudes enthusiasm for what he does... he loves his craft, and it shows. He and his two employees were busy the entire time we were there, but he still came out and made sure to chat for a few seconds with all of his customers. We got there about 2pm and there were about a dozen guests in the lobby, so business is definitely picking up for him. As for the burger: Easily among the best burgers I've ever had, if not THE best. I ordered a Mushroom & Swiss Burger and my fiancé got the French Brie Burger and we both LOVED ours, to the point where we didn't want to set the burgers down! We shared an order of fries and an order of fried okra and that okra was nothing short of amazing. The fries were perfectly cooked and seasoned too. There was one small hiccup, but I kind of expected it based on other reviews - with his business steadily increasing, he's running short on ingredients faster than expected, and today Jabbar ran out of mushrooms for my order. He actually sent one of his employees over to Braums to buy more from them, and then as an apology for the delay, he brought us a free slice of cheesecake after we finished our burgers. Y'all... that cheesecake is a religious experience. It was drizzled with a cream sauce and walnut pieces and was just heavenly. It's literally ruined all other cheesecake for me, it was that good. Everything we ordered was just fantastic and easily worth much more than what he's charging. This place is an absolute gem, absolutely lived up to the hype, and exceeded all expectations.

It's only a few minutes away from where I work... I foresee myself getting lunch there often. Not to mention I'm now planning on getting a big group of my coworkers together to go over there for lunch sometime very soon... Gotta spread the love!

[PhiAlpha]

I tired it last week as well and it was great!! I'll go back.

[OkiePoke]

Pete, I mentioned your name as well as OKC Talk to the owner when I told him how I heard about his place. He said he wants to thank you personally for drumming up all the business. Also, he said "What is this OKCTalk people keep saying?" haha

[Pete]

This all makes me so happy.

Not just that a nice man is getting the business he deserves but that so many people are enjoying the food and Jabbar's approach.

I really need to try that cheesecake as others have raved about it as well.

It seems the best plan is to go with someone else, split a burger and okra and then a slice of cheesecake.

The burger and okra alone were way too much food for me.

[Pete]

This all makes me so happy.

Not just that a nice man is getting the business he deserves but that so many people are enjoying the food and Jabbar's approach.

I really need to try that cheesecake as others have raved about it as well.

It seems the best plan is to go with someone else, split a burger and okra and then a slice of cheesecake.

The burger and okra alone were way too much food for me.

[TheTravellers]

...There was one small hiccup, but I kind of expected it based on other reviews - with his business steadily increasing, he's running short on ingredients faster than expected, and today Jabbar ran out of mushrooms for my order. He actually sent one of his employees over to Braums to buy more from them, and then as an apology for the delay, he brought us a free slice of cheesecake after we finished our burgers. ...!

OMG, this man knows how to run a restaurant! That's what places used to do when they ran out of things, they didn't just say "Sorry, we're out" when they ran out of something like they do now, kudos to him, we will definitely get there soon to try it (gotta get to Irma's first, though).

[PhiAlpha]

OMG, this man knows how to run a restaurant! That's what places used to do when they ran out of things, they didn't just say "Sorry, we're out" when they ran out of something like they do now, kudos to him, we will definitely get there soon to try it (gotta get to Irma's first, though).

I had a similar experience. He ran out of Dr. Pepper while i was there and I let him know just so that he would be aware of it. He told me that it was due to a vendor issue which I said was no big deal at all and just got something else. I barely had time to sit down before he was back at my table with a Dr. Pepper that he bought for me at the attached convenience store. I was completely fine with getting another drink but he took care of it anyway...just great service!!

[Pete]

^

Wow. That's pretty amazing.

[stile99]

OMG, this man knows how to run a restaurant! That's what places used to do when they ran out of things, they didn't just say "Sorry, we're out" when they ran out of something like they do now, kudos to him, we will definitely get there soon to try it (gotta get to Irma's first, though).

True story, S&B Burgers lost my business when I tried to order the shake of the month. I forget what it was, but chocolate ice cream was involved. I was told they didn't think anyone would order it, so they didn't have chocolate ice cream. This was a minor sin. It became unforgivable when she then asked if I wanted a different flavor, one of the offered flavors being chocolate.

I walked out. Past a grocery store in the same parking lot with chocolate ice cream inside it.

There's bad service, and then there's just plain stupidity.

[TheTravellers]

True story, S&B Burgers lost my business when I tried to order the shake of the month. I forget what it was, but chocolate ice cream was involved. I was told they didn't think anyone would order it, so they didn't have chocolate ice cream. This was a minor sin. It became unforgivable when she then asked if I wanted a different flavor, one of the offered flavors being chocolate.

I walked out. Past a grocery store in the same parking lot with chocolate ice cream inside it.

There's bad service, and then there's just plain stupidity.

They lost ours for a while - Quail Springs one ran out of the ingredients for the bloody mary of the month, and just added regular garnish, so I called them on it, they basically said "Yeah, that's what we do, sorry" and comped it. Never went back to that one. Started going to the original and twice we watched our food sit in the window waiting, and it got cold, sent it back one time, emailed them, asked them to just get a bell to ring when the order's up, not that hard, they sent us a $25 gift card. Went back to use the card, everything came out piping hot and perfectly made, so they're back on our list, but only the original location (have heard other stories about the other (franchised) locations, so not messing with them, but we live at 36th/May, so the original is closest to us anyway).

And that's the boneheaded mentality of some restaurants now - "We're out, sorry". When I was a restaurant worker (admittedly, decades ago), when we ran out of anything, the owner sent us to get it, it was not an option to say "we're out".

[Thomas Vu]

yes I was. where were you sitting?

Asian guy, right side, window table.

I also went again and got the chip * french dip burger. I didn't quite get the chip, but it was still tasty. Showed a friend this place and he was impressed too. Owner bought me a soda insisting it helps with the taste. Didn't do anything for me, but I took him up on the offer. Perhaps it's cause I don't normally have ketchup, but is it just me or is it sweet?

[Martin]

i checked this place out today based on all the glowing reviews... i actually recognize the operator and all of your descriptions are spot on. he just constantly exudes this air of positivity in everything. before opening this place, he operated a camille's franchise at the ou research park... and for the six years i've been there he has always been like this, even if you ran into him outside of the business. the camille's closed sometime within the last year and according to jabbar, ou refused to renew his lease. i had recently noticed that it looked like another operator had taken over and according to him, it's now another location of health nut cafe. that scenario doesn't surprise me as they operate a couple other locations around the ouhsc campus.

i ordered the onion dip burger with fries and it was pretty solid. i'm going to say that places like irma's and tucker's edge this place out for my personal tastes but i'd put this burger over garage and s&b any day of the week. when you factor in price and the size of the serving, lip smackers offers way more 'bang for your buck' than their competition.

i showed up not long after 11am. i think there were two people seated waiting for others when i showed up. i ordered my food to go and by the time i left, there were 15-20 people in the place.

[Pete]

It's always the way that newly found discovery places get a bit oversold.

It's very good IMO but I could understand why others would think it was just 'good'.

[marky_d]

i think there were two people seated waiting for others when i showed up.

Yeah, I was one of those guys. I told Jabbar I was waiting on my stepdaughter to show up and he gave me a free drink while I waited. I had asked if he by chance had coffee, he said no but offered to go to Starbucks for me. I declined the offer of course and just got a soda. When she was close I went ahead and hopped in line because it was getting close to ten deep and it was only 11:15. I'm more of a grazer than a big eater and expected to eat half of the burger and save the rest til later, but it was really good so I went ahead and ate the whole thing haha. Stepdaughter loved hers as well. We split an order of fries, and I don't know what seasoning he puts on those things, but it's good stuff.

[sooner88]

We went today at lunch and there were around 20-25 people there at 11:45. I got the fried jalapeno burger with bacon and caramelized onions with okra. It was all great and Jabbar was as friendly as described. He said when he opened 7 weeks ago they were doing ~10 people a day, so he was very appreciative of everyone being in there. I'll definitely be back to try more of the burgers.

[SoonerScot]

Add me to list of people that tried it out because of the reviews on here. I went for lunch today and I got there about 11:40 and they were quite busy. However, Jabbar really does seem to really care about persons order. He kept coming up to me and apologizing about how long my order was taking. I will go back based on that fact alone. The burger was delicious on top it.

[Rover]

Friend of mine just took me to the Garage on May. It's the first time I've been to the Garage since starting to frequent Lipsmackers. I've always liked the Garage, but the difference is amazing....Lipsmackers better by a mile... and for the same prices. WOW.

[SSEiYah]

I've been there twice now. Its great. Jabbar knows how to cook a burger. My other half thinks its too salty but I think they are seasoned just right. I was the only person there last month where a few days ago there were a dozen other people there so it seems like business is picking up.

A social media presence is really helpful these days for new restaurants, hopefully he will think about. Its far less expensive than it used to be to hire a company to handle social media.

[BBatesokc]

I too was there this past Friday at noon. Wife hadn’t tried it so I met her there. She and I both did the olive burger. While we were there, literally two additional groups came in that I knew and both said they were there because I posted about it on my personal Facebook page. Both groups said they too really liked their burger.

Only hiccups were what is all too familiar to small business owners - staff turnover screw-ups. Wife and I’s Olive burgers arrived with no cheese. No biggie, fixed within 2 minutes. One of the groups I knew I went and sat with when my wife left. Their order literally got lost somewhere in the shuffle and we had to inquire about it. Again, not a huge deal and Jabbar made up for it with some humor, a genuine apology and a free piece of cheese cake - this one had a red and white sauce and was unbelievable.

This will probably be a twice a month stop for us.

[billokc]

Went back again and brought a friend this time. I tried the olive burger this time. Very good. Jabbar was training his son to run the register. Nice steady crowd around noon (Saturday). Yeah, this will be a regular spot for me, at least once a week.