R&J Lounge and Supper Club

[RadicalModerate]

I really like The Concept. And The Sign(age).
I really don't like the experiencial takes (of so-called customers) on Day One.
Cut 'em some slack. Fer cryin' out loud . . . Geez.

The day that I pay $16 for Mac and Cheese, slowly served, cold, is the day that I walk on the ambiance.

However: Unless it is German Potato Salad, potato salad is best served cold.
So they nailed it on that one . . . I guess.

All kidding aside: This reminds me of Olympic Lanes (in Boulder, CO, c. '68) except with haute (as compared to hot) cuisine.
Apparently . . . New-Age Cooking Reconstructors of the Past need to watch more Walt Disney films. (just kidding)

The one thing I know for sure:
I want to visit this place when the Hipster Swarm has migrated.
For Real.

(to add a little depth and texture to what hits the plate: I'm watching one of Rick Bayless' productions on how to make homemade Mole. not that I will ever make what he's doing . . . just to 'cred-up' my personal concerns with "fine dining" as compared to "fast food". =)

[RadicalModerate]

We had the same experience. At least I know it wasn't just me.

It wasn't just you.

In fact, it wasn't me.

It could be we . . .

Or, possibly, them and us.

(one thing I know for sure is that they can't hold a candle to MY version of beef stroganov. =)

[ChaseDweller]

Went last night for dinner and drinks. I was impressed with the decor and the ambiance. Very well done. I had the chicken and dumplings. Not at all what I expected, but very good. My friend had the shrimp and hushpuppies and liked it as well. I was disappointed by the service - inattentive and a bit slow, especially for such a small place. Our drink order was complete and sitting on the bar for about 5 minutes - the waiter walked past it several times and did other things before finally bringing it to us. It was bad enough that I almost got up and grabbed them myself. One last gripe - the upcharge for call liquors is insanely high. My friend had a martini (on the menu for $6.70) and asked for Absolut. The upcharge was $5! I had a manhattan - menu price $5.50 and the upcharge for Bulleit rye was $4. I don't mind paying a bit more for call liquor, but nearly double is too much. The tab for an entree, an app and 5 cocktails was $92.

All in all, I enjoyed the visit, but they have some kinks to iron out. I'll go back, but I'll drink house liquor for sure.

[Teo9969]

I've now had an after-work beer there and a lunch (beef stroganoff). Both times the service was friendly and prompt. The Old Style was cold and bubbly and the stroganoff (and cocktail weenies) were hot and tasty. The interior was as if the bar at Junior's and the HiLo had a baby. Except for the missing odor of stale cigarette smoke, it could have been there for 50 years. It is a hole-in-the-wall in the best possible way (as opposed to a dive bar, which it most certainly is NOT). So far, I'm a total fanboy.

BAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

The fire place looks like marshmallow and brownie mixed together in some strange dessert.

I actually really like the feel of the place, though they need to program their patio a bit better. The inside is fantastic and I LOVE the sliding door to the patio. Feels like Grandma's.

[CCOKC]

I told my husband it felt like they took my grandparents den from the seventies and transplanted it to 10th and Hudson. I hope they succeed but we experienced the same slow service as most have already posted.

[soonerguru]

I'm trying it out Saturday. If it sucks, I will rip them mercilessly here. I really am looking forward to the experience and expect good food and service. Not too much to expect. If it were my restaurant and I poured my money and heart into it, I would fight like hell to ensure it's as good as it possibly can be. I don't understand the "screw you, what kind of service are you expecting?" hipster bull****. Yes, I expect good food and service, even if your restaurant is a retro, semi-ironic joint.

Again, I look forward to a great meal, cool ambiance, and friendly, at-least-mildly-attentive, service.

[Urbanized]

Stopped last night for an Old Style. Place was slammed by 6. I had great, attentive service, including from the manager and the bartender. It's a head-scratcher to me that others haven't had the same experience as my three visits have all been great. That said, tonight will be just one week since they opened.

[PhiAlpha]

Stopped last night for an Old Style. Place was slammed by 6. I had great, attentive service, including from the manager and the bartender. It's a head-scratcher to me that others haven't had the same experience as my three visits have all been great. That said, tonight will be just one week since they opened.

I walked in around 6:30 last night and it was slammed so we went elsewhere. Definiely a positive sign for R and J, just too bad it's not a little bigger (though I know that's the vibe they're going for). Glad to hear the service was good though, I'll have to make another attempt next week.

After having several friends involved in starting new restaurants, it's pretty difficult for me to be too hard on service within the first month or so of opening. It really does take a few weeks to iron the kinks out. If I go into a brand new restaurant, I give them a pass on sub-par service as long as it seems like they're trying and are generally courteous about it. After a month or two though, I definitely expecting things to be running smoothly.

[Teo9969]

Stopped last night for an Old Style. Place was slammed by 6. I had great, attentive service, including from the manager and the bartender. It's a head-scratcher to me that others haven't had the same experience as my three visits have all been great. That said, tonight will be just one week since they opened.

Maybe the key is to go earlier in the night while the staff is still….on top of their game...

[DelCamino]

Stopped last night for an Old Style. Place was slammed by 6. I had great, attentive service, including from the manager and the bartender. It's a head-scratcher to me that others haven't had the same experience as my three visits have all been great. That said, tonight will be just one week since they opened.

It was nice to see you there and catch up a bit.

[Urbanized]

Agreed! Good to see you too!

[soonerguru]

Do not go to R&J with large parties.

[TheTravellers]

I believe capacity is 32, incredibly small...

[Urbanized]

It's 32 or 34, somewhere in there. And more on the patio. But yeah, bad idea to show up with 10 people. If you have a big group, Bleu Garten is right across the street.

[kelly73099]

3 of us went Saturday night around 8. Had cocktails and waited about an hour and a half for a table. (Absolutely no problem with that - it was our choice to wait and the cocktails were good.) Heard almost everyone on the patio complaining about service (one reason we waited on indoor seating).

Unfortunately, it went downhill from there. Our waitress had lost her voice and given the volume of the restaurant it was impossible to communicate - and why was someone so obviously not feeling well waiting tables?!?!. Ordered the shrimp and hushpuppies, two lobster rolls, lamb burger, mac and cheese, R&J potato, pound cake, and brownie sundae.

The good: mac and cheese, hushpuppies
The mediocre: shrimp (boring/bland), potato (boring/bland), lobster roll (way too saucy)
The bad: pound cake (too hard and dense, even for pound cake/bland)
The ugly: lamb burger, brownie sundae

Needless to say, it wasn't worth the wait. I had talked up the lamb burger to a companion because when I had it at Ludivine it was one of the best burgers I'd ever had. This one was so salty it was inedible. During dessert, they brought out the banana pudding instead of the brownie sundae and even though they realized and acknowledged their mistake before it reached the table they still placed it in front of us like they expected us to take it (I hate banana). When they finally brought the brownie sundae the brownie was so hard it was virtually impossible to get a bite - if you were lucky and tried really hard you might get a shaving off the edge with the spoon. Too bad because it actually had good flavor. Service speed was fine, and the waitress kept our drinks full, but there was no communication or checking on the food (maybe because of her voice?) and when we tried to flag her down - particularly about the burger - we had no luck. The entire experience was disappointing and not worth the time or the cost.

[TheTravellers]

3 of us went Saturday night around 8. Had cocktails and waited about an hour and a half for a table. (Absolutely no problem with that - it was our choice to wait and the cocktails were good.) Heard almost everyone on the patio complaining about service (one reason we waited on indoor seating).

Unfortunately, it went downhill from there. Our waitress had lost her voice and given the volume of the restaurant it was impossible to communicate - and why was someone so obviously not feeling well waiting tables?!?!. Ordered the shrimp and hushpuppies, two lobster rolls, lamb burger, mac and cheese, R&J potato, pound cake, and brownie sundae.

The good: mac and cheese, hushpuppies
The mediocre: shrimp (boring/bland), potato (boring/bland), lobster roll (way too saucy)
The bad: pound cake (too hard and dense, even for pound cake/bland)
The ugly: lamb burger, brownie sundae

Needless to say, it wasn't worth the wait. I had talked up the lamb burger to a companion because when I had it at Ludivine it was one of the best burgers I'd ever had. This one was so salty it was inedible. During dessert, they brought out the banana pudding instead of the brownie sundae and even though they realized and acknowledged their mistake before it reached the table they still placed it in front of us like they expected us to take it (I hate banana). When they finally brought the brownie sundae the brownie was so hard it was virtually impossible to get a bite - if you were lucky and tried really hard you might get a shaving off the edge with the spoon. Too bad because it actually had good flavor. Service speed was fine, and the waitress kept our drinks full, but there was no communication or checking on the food (maybe because of her voice?) and when we tried to flag her down - particularly about the burger - we had no luck. The entire experience was disappointing and not worth the time or the cost.

This kind of crap just baffles me - the owners/creators have been running Ludivine for a looooong time now and every time we're there, it's pretty much flawless (once we each had one item that wasn't up to snuff, but that's it out of probably 7+ visits). So why can't they figure it out for a different place? Yeah, I know they're different environments/spaces/concepts, but damn, guys, don't open before you're ready... Not going to hit any new place here in OKC for at least 2 months after they're open and reading all the reviews on all the sites, just don't wanna mess with it until the sh*t's together.

[soonerguru]

This seems like a fun place to get drunk -- if you can find a seat.

[Pete]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: OKC is spread extremely thin when it comes to competent restaurant and bar personnel.

The proprietors may know exactly what they are doing but in the end they rely on many people.

It's not just a matter of not enough good people, it's down to the fact that until very recently, OKC had very few good restaurant operations from which to gain good experience.


It's going to get worse before it gets better. Tons of places in the pipeline and it seems like I hear of something new almost every day.

[kelly73099]

They have got to work out a waiting list/area. There are 6 tables indoors. We saw many, many people walk in confused and then start stalking tables Eischen's-style. Then, while we were eating, I noticed a couple at a two-top that were being served cocktails by the servers, but they hadn't ordered food. They'd been there an hour+ when the host-guy goes over and asks them to move to the bar so that he can seat someone on the waiting list. So basically, they walked in and sat or were seated at one of the six indoor tables while there were others in line beforehand, and they were seated there an hour that we saw. That's simple disorganization.

[kevinpate]

Hopefully they'll get it ironed out. Though it does seem to be taking places longer these days to do so.
Another example in a far larger size format seems to be Vast. One would think all reports would be grand by this time, but I hear mixed comments still today.

Same thing with a new eatery in Norman, Jax. The group that operates it operates several places with decent to great reputations. My son and his dear lass went in the other night, and came by afterwards. Their take was it was simply meh, but perhaps has promise.

I've decided to wait until I hear a decent length period of good reports for all three (RJ Vast and Jax), and for a few others as well.

[metro]

Hopefully they'll get it ironed out. Though it does seem to be taking places longer these days to do so.
Another example in a far larger size format seems to be Vast. One would think all reports would be grand by this time, but I hear mixed comments still today.

Same thing with a new eatery in Norman, Jax. The group that operates it operates several places with decent to great reputations. My son and his dear lass went in the other night, and came by afterwards. Their take was it was simply meh, but perhaps has promise.

I've decided to wait until I hear a decent length period of good reports for all three (RJ Vast and Jax), and for a few others as well.

Great point. Wife and I ate at Vast for my birthday about a month ago. Wife's was excellent, while my $50 steak was abysmal. The flavor (crust/marinade) was good, but it was not cooked to order and vary inconsistently throughout, and the quality of the actual cut of meat was worse than a $6 steak you'd get at Cimmaron Steakhouse. For $50, I expect prime cut. It boggles me that with all the bad reviews in OKC about working the "kinks" out the first couple of months, that despite the "shortage" of good staff, new restaurants, especially from a restaurant group such as this one to know better and to run higher quality training beforehand. Glad I read these reviews first before visiting R&J, unfortunately I'll wait a few months until the "kinks" are ironed out.

[TheTravellers]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: OKC is spread extremely thin when it comes to competent restaurant and bar personnel.

The proprietors may know exactly what they are doing but in the end they rely on many people.

It's not just a matter of not enough good people, it's down to the fact that until very recently, OKC had very few good restaurant operations from which to gain good experience.


It's going to get worse before it gets better. Tons of places in the pipeline and it seems like I hear of something new almost every day.

Then don't open until you have your sh*t together, seems simple enough - delay the opening by a week or two and get it all figured out - which servers suck, which are good, which mgr can handle things and make it work and which can't. Just don't open until you're ready...

[Urbanized]

I've probably been ten times now, including one lunch, one to-go dinner pick up, and the rest stops on the way home for a drink at the bar, and have experienced ZERO problems. Food's great, service has been great. Not to say others haven't had bad experiences, but I've had none, for whatever that's worth.

[Pete]

I've probably been ten times now, including one lunch, one to-go dinner pick up, and the rest stops on the way home for a drink at the bar, and have experienced ZERO problems. Food's great, service has been great. Not to say others haven't had bad experiences, but I've had none, for whatever that's worth.

I had a friend tell me pretty much the same thing: Multiple trips, everything was great, including service.

[adaniel]

Then don't open until you have your sh*t together, seems simple enough - delay the opening by a week or two and get it all figured out - which servers suck, which are good, which mgr can handle things and make it work and which can't. Just don't open until you're ready...

That's easier said than done.

I'm guessing you've never managed people. Sometimes problems don't reveal themselves until you are actually up and running. That's why a lot of places have "soft openings" and the like. Its usually during those times you can make corrections.