JR's BBQ

[selk1]

Went by for lunch today. They were closed with a sign on the door saying
they were looking for another location with a drive thru. They closed on Monday. Where do you think they will end up?

[Jesseda]

wow that was quick, they have not been there that long, hey maybe thats what is taking over popeyes

[Charlie40]

After doing some research on JR's Website I found this to explain what is happening at the Moore location. Hopefully they will open up again in Moore soon.

On the JR's business front, we are flipping our newest JR's Family BBQ in Moore, Oklahoma to a Louie's Sports Grill of which my business partner has 12 already successfully operating. For the BBQ biz to be successful one needs a drive thru and we were unable to build a drive thru in Moore plus we wanted to downsize in this economy. The Moore store seated about 200 and we have learned that keeping our seating to 100 or so works best for our genre. We have several other locations in the Moore area we are currently looking at as well as other locales in Oklahoma City and we still plan on expanding to the Tulsa area in due time as well. By "flipping" concepts in our old Moore location, I will be able to spend much more time in our Norman store at I-35 and Main (exit 109). Hopefully our regulars in Moore, only about 10 miles from the Norman store, will make the easy drive down to Norman and continue to enjoy the best BBQ in the State. We are also preparing to change our menu by adding 4 or 5 Mexican food items to go along with our slow, hickory smoked BBQ and country cooking. Sunday April 12 was the last day the JR's/Moore was open.

So now we own a thriving BBQ joint and an interest in one of the fastest growing sports grill concepts in the country. Financial experts call this diversifying while I simply call it making a smart business decision and not putting all of one's eggs in one basket while our professional politicos figure out how to fix our economy.

So it is all good on our end. We will continue to strategize our BBQ expansion plans and positively move forward.

[Martin]

i'm no expert here...

drive thru window... good. the typical barbecue joint has more take out customers than anything.

downsized seating... good. again, many customers don't eat on site so the extra square footage is not as profitable as it could be.

mexican food... wtf? i think any business is better off focusing at doing one thing well over being mediocre at several things... those two cuisines really don't compliment each other and i'd think that the restaurant's identity will therefore suffer.

-M

[Charlie40]

Yeah I agree on the Mexican I kinda did a huh to that one as well I hope they can pull it off we shall see.

[bluedogok]

Most "good" BBQ restaurants that I know of do not have drive-thru's, the places that do have them are generally aren't the ones you would want to buy BBQ from.

[Charlie40]

Most "good" BBQ restaurants that I know of do not have drive-thru's, the places that do have them are generally aren't the ones you would want to buy BBQ from.

Well JR's is about the best there is drive thru or not.

[shaws007]

It seems to me that there is more to it than the "drive thru" issue he is stating. The food was pretty good but business just did not ever pick up and to close the restaurant so suddenly with nothing more than a sign on the door and a paragraph on his blog about the closing. Had to be a financial issue with the turning over to Louie's. Will be very happy to have Louie's there if it does turn out that way and lastly I will be very suprised to see a JR's back in Moore.

[kevinpate]

> JR's is about the best there is

To each their own opinion, but, and this is merely ausggestion, you might want to try some places you've never tried before if JR's strikes you as the best of all possible choices

[selk1]

I was trying to think of existing building in Moore, that would have a drive-thru and seat 100 people plus be in a good location. While the old Popeye's has a drive-thru, I don't think it would seat 100. Where would you suggest?

[Charlie40]

> JR's is about the best there is

To each their own opinion, but, and this is merely ausggestion, you might want to try some places you've never tried before if JR's strikes you as the best of all possible choices

What places would you suggest for me to try to compare it to JR's?

[Charlie40]

I was trying to think of existing building in Moore, that would have a drive-thru and seat 100 people plus be in a good location. While the old Popeye's has a drive-thru, I don't think it would seat 100. Where would you suggest?

Only places I can think of are the old Taco Bell on 12th street it is pretty run down and ratty though and the old Mr Burger where Van's is now on 12th again small and kinda ratty. Only places that have a drive thru available

[mrbubba81]

Never even ate at this JR's. Hope the Louie's thing does pan out.

[kevinpate]

To compare to JR's, rib crib and earl's. To leave it in the dust without so much as an eye blink or traveling far, Vann's and Red Zone come immediately to mind. There are many others. Even if you decide I'm dead bang wrong, think of all the fun you'll having finding out as you try new places.

[bluedogok]

Earl's has good burgers, their BBQ is average, Rib Crib is bad...never tried JR's but when we get back to OKC, Leo's is at the top of our list.

[AAC2005]

> JR's is about the best there is

To each their own opinion, but, and this is merely a suggestion, you might want to try some places you've never tried before if JR's strikes you as the best of all possible choices

I'd have to agree with that...JR's = FAIL

[Charlie40]

I'd have to agree with that...JR's = FAIL

What is wrong with JR's?

[AAC2005]

double post, sorry.

[AAC2005]

I wasn't happy with the way the ribs were cooked (tough and hard to eat), and the dryness of the brisket...but the coleslaw was very, very good!

I hold a selfish grudge against JR's because I had folks visiting from out of state who were looking forward to "good" Oklahoma food (my brother-in-law specifically mentioned brisket, too). My inner voice told me to take them down to Rudy's, primarily because of the good things I'd read about it here on OKCTalk and heard from co-workers, but nooooo, I played it safe and went to the place closest to my house...FAIL! (except for the coleslaw, which really was good)

However, I went from zero to hero after I took them to the Ranch for dinner, and they got their brisket later somewhere down in Texas.

[Charlie40]

I wasn't happy with the way the ribs were cooked (tough and hard to eat), and the dryness of the brisket...but the coleslaw was very, very good!

I hold a selfish grudge against JR's because I had folks visiting from out of state who were looking forward to "good" Oklahoma food (my brother-in-law specifically mentioned brisket, too). My inner voice told me to take them down to Rudy's, primarily because of the good things I'd read about it here on OKCTalk and heard from co-workers, but nooooo, I played it safe and went to the place closest to my house...FAIL! (except for the coleslaw, which really was good)

However, I went from zero to hero after I took them to the Ranch for dinner, and they got their brisket later somewhere down in Texas.

Must have been a bad day because both ribs and brisket are to die for.

[MonkeesFan]

I honestly think that JR's was in a bad location, that is just me...

[SoonerDave]

I think most of us don't appreciate just how good the BBQ in OK really is. I went through Memphis on vacation last year, and had two big-time references for some "really good" Memphis barbecue.

I came away unimpressed with two completely average BBQ joints that lived on reputation because they were "Memphis" BBQ. Lousy service and cold food at one, and a very average sandwich at the other.

I arrived home and had one of the best BBQ rib dinners I've ever enjoyed at the Moore Earl's. Hot, fresh, wonderfully cooked, good service.

Won't knock JR's as I've never been there, but the point is I think we've got some darned good BBQ in OKC...

[kbsooner]

They have painted the old JR's location (looks a bit discontinuous with the rest of the strip center). Louie's soon to follow?

[yukong]

I work in Norman and most everyone at my office loved JRs until we discovered Ray's BBQ. It's on Lindsay and is owned by Darrol Ray of OU fame. It beat JR's by a mile in all our opinions. And the best thing is Darrol is there every day, usually is the one taking your order and he seems to care about your opinion. He came by our table 2 or 3 times. And a funny thing is he has a picture of Billy Sims eating ribs in Ray's, holding up a #1 finger. Darrol put a caption under the picture saying..."Even Billy knows who is #1 in BBQ". I have to imagine that Billy's business people were not happy about that situation.

Anyway, if you haven't tried Ray's go. It's in the old Pizza Hut on West Lindsay.

[SoonerDave]

Ray's used to have a location here in the MWC area around I-40 and Sooner, and it was really good stuff...but that location closed a loooooong time ago. Glad to know he is still successful in serving up the Q in Norman!