Lip Smackers

[jennydahl]

I wish Jabbar was more social network/website savvy... he could / should really update both his FB page and his website. This silence can't be good for hanging on to business... I'm not about to give up on those burgers and fresh okra, but not everyone's as obsessed as I am with a good burger and fried okra.

[Ward]

What I find interesting is what I perceive as no sense of urgency.

He's had what seems an inordinately long time to get the NorthPark location up and running, yet has not, as it seems.

Maybe he's independently wealthy and only runs a burger joint for fun.

Otherwise, how has he been able to support himself/family since the first location closed?

Maybe he's got a job going on somewhere else.

Who knows?

Not me.

[TheirTheir]

Has the gas station it was formally attached to closed down? I drove past the other day and it looked like a ghost town.

[Pete]

Has the gas station it was formally attached to closed down? I drove past the other day and it looked like a ghost town.

Yes, been meaning to post about this. The entire property is now vacant and has been for a few weeks.

Hopefully it finds a higher and better use. That station is an eyesore.

[Jeepnokc]

Yes, been meaning to post about this. The entire property is now vacant and has been for a few weeks.

Hopefully it finds a higher and better use. That station is an eyesore.

It has been sketchy a long time. The signs in the bathroom telling you not to shoot up drugs in there was the first sign.

[Pete]

And the convenience store was a jumbled mess.

It's a great location and hopefully we see something better there soon.

[securityinfo]

I hope Jabbar can reopen... we often had long conversations about the restaurant business in OkC. His big problem was being crushed by his own success; he could not scale to his popularity, and the OkC crowd is fickle and demanding. I am afraid his re-opening will be a zoo of unhappy folks. To an earlier poster's point, I tried to impress on him the power of social media in today's business world, but to little effect. I would suggest to him that he have an invitation-only soft opening. If he just throws open the doors, that might be enough to sour the customers who don't get perfect service. He was struggling at the gas station, and had little overhead and only word of mouth advertising. I shudder to think what he is paying for the space at NorthPark, and the costs to permit and build out...

[OKCretro]

Just curious when did the burger king open and when did it close? seemed pretty nice when it was a burger king in the late 90's

[BBatesokc]

I hope Jabbar can reopen... we often had long conversations about the restaurant business in OkC. His big problem was being crushed by his own success; he could not scale to his popularity, and the OkC crowd is fickle and demanding. I am afraid his re-opening will be a zoo of unhappy folks. To an earlier poster's point, I tried to impress on him the power of social media in today's business world, but to little effect. I would suggest to him that he have an invitation-only soft opening. If he just throws open the doors, that might be enough to sour the customers who don't get perfect service. He was struggling at the gas station, and had little overhead and only word of mouth advertising. I shudder to think what he is paying for the space at NorthPark, and the costs to permit and build out...

The restaurant business and patronage is fickle enough without an owner throwing away all their positive momentum. Lots of missed opportunities here and an unwillingness to even do the most basic of marketing and customer engagement. Seriously how much effort does it take to edit your Facebook page so that it doesn't indicate your former location is still your active location? I just hope all those customers who loved his Penn location actually drive and dine that far north. Otherwise, he is starting all over again.

[TheTravellers]

Ha, I can imagine a Restauranteur 101 class instructor saying "For a prime example of what *not* to do when moving/opening a business, see exhibit A: Lipsmackers in OKC". And yes, I know, he built up a huge following at his original location despite not doing any of the things he's supposed to do, but as BBates said, hope he doesn't have to start completely over. Having said that, we probably won't be patronizing his new location, just too far for us to drive for a burger and maybe-frozen/maybe-not okra when there are multiple pretty-equivalent burger places much closer to us (we live near NW 36th/May).

[Pete]

Huge difference in being able to cook and being able to run a business.

Very, very common problem in the restaurant industry.

[TheTravellers]

Huge difference in being able to cook and being able to run a business.

Very, very common problem in the restaurant industry.

Yep, and probably one of the top (if not the top) things that make a restaurant close. Vuong Nguyen is another example - can cook his *** off, but can't seem to get a business together (although hopefully the stint at The Collective will help him towards that end, we still need to try him there).

[SEMIweather]

I wish him the best of luck, but I just can't imagine there's a large cross-section of people that spend a lot of time around both I-44/Penn and NW 122nd/May. That's a 15 minute drive on a good day.

[RangersYear]

I think there is still a niche for a good drug store-type burger (i.e. Nichols Hills Drug, Jones Belew). The small cafe on the east side of Northpark that served burgers and chicken salad sandwiches with chips survived for a long time. Times have changed, yes. But if done right, I think Lipsmakers could fill a need for quite sometime.

[jennydahl]

I wish him the best of luck, but I just can't imagine there's a large cross-section of people that spend a lot of time around both I-44/Penn and NW 122nd/May. That's a 15 minute drive on a good day.

We don't spend much time at all at I-44 and Penn... but we drove down from the Village to eat at Lip Smackers. I bet quite a few will take the time to drive up to 122nd/May. Then there are all the people in the North who have yet to discover his food... IF HE'LL EVER OPEN, dag-nab-it!!

[Pete]

I went by the Northpark location and the paper is still up on the windows and I couldn't tell if they've made progress.

[Pete]

I'm sorry to report that I believe this restaurant is dead.

My understanding is the construction was more expensive than anticipated and the long delay (was supposed to be open in August) caused a big loss of income, and now Jabbar is pretty much out of money.

Was told the landlord is already seeking another tenant for that space.


Maybe they'll resurface somewhere else down the line but for now, it looks like Lip Smackers is no more.

[OKC Guy]

Wow, sorry to hear. Many here were spot on.

Couldn’t he look at that consortium place where they fund you and get part of profits?

[TheirTheir]

Unfortunately I feared this would be the case after the long delay. Fingers crossed that he opens up in one of the new food courts once a spot opens.

[BBatesokc]

Hopefully someone with some real financing and marketing savvy can team up with him and get LipSmackers back up and running and doing so correctly in the near future.

[jennydahl]

I do hate to hear that... even though it's what I feared as the 'down time' stretched out into 'this is ridiculous' time. I'll keep my fingers crossed he gets his feet under him and makes another go at it - but not unless he's got some guidance that he'll listen to and follow.

[Pete]

I wonder why he attempted this move in the first place. It could be -- since the attached service station has subsequently closed -- that he didn't have much choice.

If not, it's yet another cautionary tale of how expensive it can be to setup a new restaurant.

And beyond all that, they were never consistent enough in their hours to build steady business, as word of mouth had already brought many people through the door. Even if he had completed the new place, how many of those same people would have driven an extra 5 miles? He would have been starting completely over for the most part.

[BridgeBurner]

Rip

[Pete]

I went by today and their "coming soon" signs are gone and if there was any doubt, this looks completely dead.

[jedicurt]

I went by today and their "coming soon" signs are gone and if there was any doubt, this looks completely dead.

(Assumes Mary Shelly's Frankenstein position)NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!