Bars/restaurants that are sorely missed

[MrBojangles]

Harrigans: They had the best fried zucchini, also miss their Santa Fe steak

[Toadrax]

Triples
Triples
Triples

Upside-down Pizza

[The Old Downtown Guy]

Hollies . . . home of the bacon burger . . . was a major highschool hangout . . . 1960 grad from Capitol Hill. A neighborhood friend was the nephew of the owners and we could just walk in the back door and scoop up an order of their on-site hand cut fries. McDonalds and Golden Point fifteen cent burgers had just come on the scene in those days so, nearly all of the drive inns were locally owned . . . Hamburger Spot, Hamburger Inn, Ranchers Daughter, West Oaks and one on May Avenue (name escapes me) that had candy striped decoration . . . lots of Northwest Classen traffic.

Herman's, a seafood place at 16th and Classen which became Triples . . . not bad either.

Hann's Bar-B-Que on East 23rd

The Cadet Club . . . a downtown deli

Micky's Coney Island in Stockyards and two or three other greasy spoons down there.

Cattleman's when it was owned by the Wade Family and frequented mostly by cattlemen and the Stockyard's Mafia. The cafe part was open 24/7

Knox Orange Inn . . . great hotdogs downtown next door to the Criterion Theater

Bishop's . . . an upscale white linen place downtown

The Rustic Inn . . . NW 39th and Portland . . . great late night spot.

Fine Foods . . . a mexican place about five blocks east of Shields on SE 29th.

The Classen Grill . . . late 80's early 90's era

The Wide Awake Cafe in Edmond

Dinko's in Norman . . . Oh Darlin'

Beverly's Chicken In The Rough at NW 23rd & Classen . . . when Beverly Osborn owned it.

The place below the Hi Lo Club that Vern Echols owned . . . can't remember the name for the life of me right now. Great sandwiches named after some regular patrons . . . charcoal burgers and rings . . . The Schnitzle . . . burger patty, beans and chili with a fried egg. It was also open real late.

My absolutely most missed restaurant is the Bit of Italy. It was an out of the way after hours place just off NW 39th Street about half way between Penn and May. It didn't open until 10PM and was the place to have a late night omlet or pizza. . . frequented by musicians, pimps and other colorful characters. Always a long line to get in. A guy named Eddie Peak ran the door . . . Putnam City grad that played sax in Vegas for a while.

But a new era has arrived . . . Irma's, Prairie Thunder, McNellies, 1492, Cafe Do Brazil, The Proabition Room, Rococo, Museum Cafe, The Metro, Coach House. Hopefully these and more new locally owned eateries will stem the tide of god-awful chains that populate most of the well traveled streets.

[derbynurse]

Gaucho's Grill on Expressway. *sigh* Fabulous food.

[Spartan]

The Varsity on 63rd.

I second that, bandnerd.

[kevinpate]

> Gaucho's Grill on Expressway

Having never heard an ill word on the place, it's demise was a surprise, though perhaps it was simply yet another entity that lack sufficient capital to survivie the start up phase.

One chap I used to work with dinna merely like the place, he was practically a disciple for them
8^)

[Lord Helmet]

Abe's Western Cafe - Why??????????????????????

Best onion burger EVER.

[warreng88]

Beverly's Chicken In The Rough at NW 23rd & Classen . . . when Beverly Osborn owned it.

You know they moved the location from Expressway and Penn down to Expressway and Independence? I still try to go there every once in a while. When my grandfather was still alive, he went there very weekday morning for about 15 years. Beverly was my mother's uncle, so I guess that makes him my great uncle. Too bad they closed so many of them.

[bmrsnrou]

The Bowery, OKC
Town Tavern, Norman (the greatest travesty in Oklahoma history that that closed); F Louie's (and I do like Bob Stoops) but their food and atmosphere are the suck.

I used to love going to Town Tavern before games. I always liked to look at the old schedules with the results on them. You know that The Mont has all of those now.

[The Old Downtown Guy]

You know they moved the location from Expressway and Penn down to Expressway and Independence? I still try to go there every once in a while. When my grandfather was still alive, he went there very weekday morning for about 15 years. Beverly was my mother's uncle, so I guess that makes him my great uncle. Too bad they closed so many of them.

You may recall that Beverly Osborne was quite a horseman. My former father inlaw, Ned Jones, had one of Beverly's saddles on display in his western wear store in Stockyards for severaly years. It was decorated with his name and the Chicken in the Rough logo . . . very cool. You may also recall the Big Bev Burger . . . gigantic . . . and their inhouse donuts that were almost the size of a dinner plate.

I ate at the NW Expressway location a few times, but was in the NW 23rd and Classen restaurant at least twice a week for years and years. I usually sat at the counter and was waited on by Nel . . . one of two or three waitresses that worked there for twent five or so years. I still regret that I didn't buy up all of the logo dinnerware that the sold off after the place changed hands in the late 80's or early 90's.

[jbrown84]

Where was the 23rd & Classen Beverly's?

[The Old Downtown Guy]

Where was the 23rd & Classen Beverly's?

It was on the SW corner just west of the intersection. The building was demolished to make way for the unnecessary WalGreen there now . . . . Arrrrrrrrrg! It was a very nice mid-century modern building with a 20' high glass and brick front and flat roof that sloped to the rear. It had a low bar that wrapped around the kitchen on the east side . . . lots of nice exposed brick walls inside and a terazzo floor.

I think the only remaining former Beverly's building is in Midtown and now occupied by 1492 World Cusine restaurant. Greg Banta's rehab of the building was well accomplished and replaced the outward tilted store front with new aluminum and glass materials retaining the original form. It has a similar high front and sloping flat roof as the 23rd and Classen location. The views of the downtown skyline from the bar and dining room are excellent.

[LovableGoober]

The Bowery
Town Tavern
The Patio Grill (I think this was the name. Was on Classen Blvd.)
Big Beef BBQ (Was close to the Patio Grill)
Hollie's
Circus Circus (was on I-240 about 40 years ago. Had the best strawberry pie in the world)

[CCOKC]

You guys are making me very nostalgic for the old Beverly's on 23rd. My grandparents used to take me there often. We rotated between there the Boulevard Cafeteria (still going) and Lady Classen cafeteria on N May (long gone)
Mr Osborne would come over to my sister and I after dinner and see if we ate all of our dinner so we could have dessert. As I remember it he would rub our bellies to see if we were full enough. Can you imagine an owner getting by with that today? I also remember that it was one of the first places that I had Mexican food. And also that penny drop thing in the vestibule. Can't remember what we were supposed to win because I never did.

[solitude]

It hasn't been gone too long and it wasn't the nicest restaurant in OKC, but that jukebox playing the old standards and the spaghetti sauce was sooo good! Tony & Chris were great people, too.

[windowphobe]

Tapwerks used to sit on that little angled patch at Western and Grand, more or less across the street from the old Split-T site. Originally it was a gas station; after that it mutated into Pumps Bar and Grill (Premium Food at Regular Prices).

[CCOKC]

I loved Pumps. I used to go there for lunch break when I was a senior at McGuinness.

[angel27]

My very most favorite and most missed of any restaurant was the Last Thai on NW 23rd and - near- Shartel or Dewey. They sold out during the 23rd street make over about ten years ago. Wow that place was good. They had a special for not much money that included chicken satay, pad thai to die for and I don't remember what else. I wish the owners would open another restaurant. Does anyone know them or their story?

Well, one other restaruant I loved almost as much was Between the Bread on about 28th and Classen. Great kabobs and a pasta sauce that I still crave and have never been able to duplicate or find anywhere else.

[Prunepicker]

The Patio Grill (I think this was the name. Was on Classen Blvd.)
Big Beef BBQ (Was close to the Patio Grill)

It was simply The Patio owned by Mr. Eccles. It had the best Caesar burger ever. Big Beef was directly north and across the street. Do you remember when it was in a white house?

[soonerguru]

I loved Big Beef.

I also miss the Boomerang in Norman. Not the crappy Hal Smith version, but the real Boomerang. They had the best theta burgers and fries.

It was on Lindsey where Goldie's is now.

[diesel]

Iguana that was off of Western (that supposedly is being rebuilt in automobile alley)
Bricktown Pub - Hung out there every thursday, friday and saturday!!

[bornhere]

I didn't know the Varsity was gone.

I remember Pumps, too. I don't remember what I had there, but it was something I ate pretty regularly.

[Prunepicker]

I remember Pumps, too. I don't remember what I had there, but it was something I ate pretty regularly.

I liked the M.I.P.S. (Manhattan Island Potato Skins)

[The Old Downtown Guy]

I liked the M.I.P.S. (Manhattan Island Potato Skins)

That was the only thing I ever ordered there . . . cold beer + MIPS . . . I'm good.

[julieriggs]

I met the love of my life in the middle of Western walking from T-Bar to Tapwerks. It is sad to see both of them gone, but they were absolute dives. If you want a nostalgic bar experience on Western, go to Cock O' the Walk. Just be sure to wash your hands afterwards.