Steak the Experience

[Dob Hooligan]

I saw an item in today’s Oklahoman that the former Luby’s at N May and Britton road has been leased by “Steak Experience”. Anyone familiar with this?

[Pete]

All I know is that it's supposed to be 'upscale'.

[Dob Hooligan]

All I know is that it's supposed to be 'upscale'.

Wow...nothing makes me think upscale like the name "Steak Experience" in a cavernous, 35 year old cafeteria location in the end of a 60 year old, suburban strip mall. Almost as good as Las Vegas!

Man, I'm a little salty this morning. Sorry, last night's drugs have worn off and this morning's haven't kicked in yet.

[Pete]

It will be run by Jeff Rogers (Pig & Butcher) and will be 'super high end' with a nightly dinner show (bands, piano, etc.).

To be modeled after similar places in Vegas.

[Dob Hooligan]

It will be run by Jeff Rogers (Pig & Butcher) and will be 'super high end' with a nightly dinner show (bands, piano, etc.).

To be modeled after similar places in Vegas.

I change my tune, then. Pig & Butcher is doing very well. And with this across the street, oversight of both should excellent.

[HangryHippo]

That name though. Woof.

[tsou89]

Sounds like someone needs to go revisit Las Vegas!

[soonerguru]

That name though. Woof.

It is probably a placeholder name, like "Oklahoma City Boulevard." Oh wait....

[Teo9969]

They better hit the ground running...getting to be way too much steak in this town.

[Thomas Vu]

They better hit the ground running...getting to be way too much steak in this town.

Which ones are considered the good ones nowadays?

[catcherinthewry]

Which ones are considered the good ones nowadays?

Ranch
Red Prime
Mickey Mantle's
Bob's Chophouse
Mahogany's

[SEMIweather]

They better hit the ground running...getting to be way too much steak in this town.

Bad news for the vampires in this town.

[Jeepnokc]

Which ones are considered the good ones nowadays?

My teenage son and I did an OKC steak tour last year (6 steakhouses over six nights when the ladies of the household were out of town). Balancing in sides and service along with the quality of the steak, we agreed the ranking was:

Ranch
Mahogany
Red Prime (Very close between Mahogany though)
Cattlemans
Broadway 10
Boulevard

[Teo9969]

I never ate there, but St. Mark's seemingly folded. MMR never took off. The George couldn't hang. Broadway 10 seems to have kept a particular following but I nearly never hear it mentioned as good from a steak perspective.

By area:

Edmond 1 - Boulevard
NW OKC 2 (+1) - Mahogany + Ranch (and soon to be Steak Experience)
Central OKC 4 (+2) - Broadway 10 + RedPrime + Mahogany + Mickey Mantle's (and soon Bob's + Ruth's Chris)
South OKC/Norman 1 - Ranch

I think you could get one more in NW OKC because of all the money/business up there, but dropping it right next door to The Ranch means you have to actively steal that clientele (or offer something wildly different that causes people to consider them to be 2 completely different concepts). If you had opened east of Broadway Extension and North of 150th you could at least draw some Edmond and Deer Creek folks. (I see that Opus is somehow still operating looking at Google hours).

I mean, truly, best of luck to them, but I just don't see their target clientele giving them multiple shots to get it right.

[Mballard85]

I never ate there, but St. Mark's seemingly folded. MMR never took off. The George couldn't hang. Broadway 10 seems to have kept a particular following but I nearly never hear it mentioned as good from a steak perspective.

By area:

Edmond 1 - Boulevard
NW OKC 2 (+1) - Mahogany + Ranch (and soon to be Steak Experience)
Central OKC 4 (+2) - Broadway 10 + RedPrime + Mahogany + Mickey Mantle's (and soon Bob's + Ruth's Chris)
South OKC/Norman 1 - Ranch

I think you could get one more in NW OKC because of all the money/business up there, but dropping it right next door to The Ranch means you have to actively steal that clientele (or offer something wildly different that causes people to consider them to be 2 completely different concepts). If you had opened east of Broadway Extension and North of 150th you could at least draw some Edmond and Deer Creek folks. (I see that Opus is somehow still operating looking at Google hours).

I mean, truly, best of luck to them, but I just don't see their target clientele giving them multiple shots to get it right.

This is my fear for them, they are going to battle the Ranch head to head. They are going to have that clientele give them a shot when they open and if they mess up even a little bit, they are done. The Ranch will eat them up and spit them out, its very tough to battle with an established juggernaut like the Ranch.

[Rover]

This is my fear for them, they are going to battle the Ranch head to head. They are going to have that clientele give them a shot when they open and if they mess up even a little bit, they are done. The Ranch will eat them up and spit them out, its very tough to battle with an established juggernaut like the Ranch.

The Ranch clientele seems like they aren’t the Vegas group to favor entertainment with their meals. Lots of expense account meals there.

[Teo9969]

The Ranch clientele seems like they aren’t the Vegas group to favor entertainment with their meals. Lots of expense account meals there.

I don't necessarily disagree with this - I mean, i will say the Ranch's clientele is pretty diverse among the eligible pool (i.e. all of these steakhouses have a price point that pretty well ensure a minimal volume of people under a certain income threshold), but no, I don't think Pharma dinners and business expense accounts are Rogers's target.

My thing is this: The entertainment aspect is awesome. I honestly think we *neeeed* this to work either here or elsewhere for our city to take a step forward in our dining entertainment game. But doing this as a "steakhouse" means that you have deliver on that item in a crowded market. Nobody is going to go somewhere to pay $100/head for a meal to get a steak that's noticeably "less than" any of the other competition. The general exception to that rule is that some people may sacrifice quality for convenience in location (i.e. go to Olive Garden instead of Moni's). But if the steak is meh, then from a food perspective, they're not going to bring in any of that Nichols Hills crowd just coming in to grab a bite.

[acumpton]

I never ate there, but St. Mark's seemingly folded. MMR never took off. The George couldn't hang. Broadway 10 seems to have kept a particular following but I nearly never hear it mentioned as good from a steak perspective.

By area:

Edmond 1 - Boulevard
NW OKC 2 (+1) - Mahogany + Ranch (and soon to be Steak Experience)
Central OKC 4 (+2) - Broadway 10 + RedPrime + Mahogany + Mickey Mantle's (and soon Bob's + Ruth's Chris)
South OKC/Norman 1 - Ranch

I think you could get one more in NW OKC because of all the money/business up there, but dropping it right next door to The Ranch means you have to actively steal that clientele (or offer something wildly different that causes people to consider them to be 2 completely different concepts). If you had opened east of Broadway Extension and North of 150th you could at least draw some Edmond and Deer Creek folks. (I see that Opus is somehow still operating looking at Google hours).

I mean, truly, best of luck to them, but I just don't see their target clientele giving them multiple shots to get it right.

Is there a Ruth's Chris coming to OKC? We love the one in Tulsa.

[BoulderSooner]

Is there a Ruth's Chris coming to OKC? We love the one in Tulsa.

yes in first national

[Dob Hooligan]

I don't necessarily disagree with this - I mean, i will say the Ranch's clientele is pretty diverse among the eligible pool (i.e. all of these steakhouses have a price point that pretty well ensure a minimal volume of people under a certain income threshold), but no, I don't think Pharma dinners and business expense accounts are Rogers's target.

My thing is this: The entertainment aspect is awesome. I honestly think we *neeeed* this to work either here or elsewhere for our city to take a step forward in our dining entertainment game. But doing this as a "steakhouse" means that you have deliver on that item in a crowded market. Nobody is going to go somewhere to pay $100/head for a meal to get a steak that's noticeably "less than" any of the other competition. The general exception to that rule is that some people may sacrifice quality for convenience in location (i.e. go to Olive Garden instead of Moni's). But if the steak is meh, then from a food perspective, they're not going to bring in any of that Nichols Hills crowd just coming in to grab a bite.

Looks to me like The Ranch is so busy every night that Steak Experience should have a pretty good head start just on overflow. There also can be a positive from having like-type businesses near each other. Britton Road from May Avenue to Lake Hefner is becoming a restaurant row.

[Teo9969]

Looks to me like The Ranch is so busy every night that Steak Experience should have a pretty good head start just on overflow. There also can be a positive from having like-type businesses near each other. Britton Road from May Avenue to Lake Hefner is becoming a restaurant row.

No doubt they could feed off of each other. Restaurants tend to better in groups than they do being on an island. But that's just a little bit less true for restaurants that are aiming for >$75 PPAs (per person average). Signature Grill is probably the best example of how being a destination restaurant overcomes concerns of location.

Basically, these high-end restaurants realistically are relying on business clientele + >$200k household income regulars to account for the lion's share of sales. Special occasion diners provide a nice boost, but they're not a reliable driver for a high end restaurant, so they're going to have to win some of that >$200k crowd, or be a small enough operation that special occasion could carry you home. But that small enough operation on the high end is around max capacity 80...maybe 15-25 tables? Much bigger than that and the scale starts requiring business clientele regardless.

[BoulderSooner]

No doubt they could feed off of each other. Restaurants tend to better in groups than they do being on an island. But that's just a little bit less true for restaurants that are aiming for >$75 PPAs (per person average). Signature Grill is probably the best example of how being a destination restaurant overcomes concerns of location.

Basically, these high-end restaurants realistically are relying on business clientele + >$200k household income regulars to account for the lion's share of sales. Special occasion diners provide a nice boost, but they're not a reliable driver for a high end restaurant, so they're going to have to win some of that >$200k crowd, or be a small enough operation that special occasion could carry you home. But that small enough operation on the high end is around max capacity 80...maybe 15-25 tables? Much bigger than that and the scale starts requiring business clientele regardless.

signature and their smaller bistro concept just down the way are the correct size to be neighbor hood gems ..

they might not be able to survive in that location if they were 2 or 3 times bigger than they are ..

[Teo9969]

signature and their smaller bistro concept just down the way are the correct size to be neighbor hood gems ..

they might not be able to survive in that location if they were 2 or 3 times bigger than they are ..

Agreed - and I'm also not convinced they would survive at that price point if the only people eating there came from a 5 mile radius. I mean, survive might be a little much, but certainly they thrive due to the massive influx of people who come in from well over 5 miles out.

[Thomas Vu]

Glad to see ranch as a consensus. Usually my go to, although I do enjoy the cup of bacon at b10. Keep forgetting red prime is a thing, granted I'm also usually eating by myself.

[Zuplar]

The Ranch used to be our go to until we got bad service. I pointed it out at the time and the guy acted like he didn’t care much. When the manager came around I let him know that I thought service was sub-par compared to previous times. He apologized and comped the dessert we already had. It happens so I honestly didn’t think much about it at the time but the next time we wanted a good steak we decided to go to Mahogany’s. Service was excellent and IMO exceeded any time we had went to the Ranch (not just comparing to sub-par time). Since then we’ve never been back to the Ranch.

As far as the others go, Red Prime, Mickey Mantle’s,etc, they to me are in a tier lower than Mahogany or the Ranch and for the money I don’t care to patronize them again. Service at all those is hit or miss and I don’t go out to pay $50 for a steak to take a gamble on service. Part of the price is the experience.