Slaughter's Hall

[Pete]

I've told this story before but it bares repeating now that its days are numbered.


About 3-4 years ago when I was still living in California, I stopped in Slaughter's as on previous trips I had already gained an affection for the place.

On that trip, I noticed a really great, friendly local vibe and it occurred to me that OKC now had several places where you could go and just hang out and meet people. On this particular night I struck up conversations with several different people and one out-of-town group invited me to their table.

I could see the community was hungry for this sort of gathering place and Slaughter's along with The Mule and Skinny Slims and a few others started me on the path to visualizing a move back.

As this night wore on, I was chatting with the woman behind the bar and noticed what appeared to be "405" tattooed on each bicep. I asked her, "Is that the area code?? Why?"

And this hipster woman who pretty much had the Millennial "I'm almost too cool to care about anything" attitude (although her service was fine) said: "Yeah. A bunch of us have them here in some form. We're all just really proud of Oklahoma City and what is happening here."


And that was it. Right then and there I decided to move back and about a year later I did just that.

[Urbanized]

I've mentioned this before, but with very few exceptions the places that thrive in OKC still tend to be on major driving routes with lots of visibility. Of course there are other factors, which obviously include concept and management. But think about it for a minute. Almost everyplace that does well, even downtown, is in a place where tons of people drive by every day. Even a lot of crummy places survive in these locations. And the best locations take it a step further and have an outdoor presence, dining area, patio, etc. Obviously there are occasional exceptions (The Wedge is an example, but had a great following before the Deep Deuce location and opened when there were almost no pizza options in downtown, so they had time to gain loyal regulars).

In Deep Deuce I think this has made it especially challenging for places like Slaughter's. Even Second Street itself just isn't a very high-volume street. It doesn't really connect much. Conversely I believe this bodes very well for Black Walnut et al. The visibility is great and the thoroughfare is high volume. Also, I believe Walnut will ultimately be reconfigured with a lane reduction and curbside parking there and on the east side of LEVEL.

My theory really bums me out because it indicates we are still a long ways from being a good, fully-functional walking city even in our most urban districts.

[Pete]

^

To further that theory, I know The Press in the Plaza started very slowly while The Mule (same operators) became a bit of a sensation at least in part because it is arguably the most visible place in that district.

And that same restaurant group had a very tough time when Anchor Down opened in DD. Looks like they may have found a bit of a footing now.

[Rover]

Traffic is traffic. If you don't have foot traffic passing by, you need car traffic. Both produce eyeballs looking and spontaneous stopping. DD is fairly isolated and has relatively little population. I see few people out walking in DD... almost none past the SH location. Location, location, location. Without it, everything else has to be remarkable. That is why spots at the Steelyard will do better even if they aren't as "cool". Odds are really against start up restaurants, especially in isolated spots.

[Johnb911]

Well this is disappointing. SH was a great spot for lunch or a happy hour and an easy walk from downtown. Best of luck with the new concept.

On a side note, in my opinion Urban Johnnie's lack of success may be due to parking, or may be due to it just not being very good.

[Joe Kimball]

Well that's a real shame. I'll need to go one last time myself, perhaps tonight, before the concept changes. I enjoyed seeing the jazz there last year.

[loveOKC]

I think I'll stop in tonight on the way home to have the BBQ Mac & Cheese one last time.

Be prepared to wait, I went for lunch today for one last hoorah, and i felt bad for the 1 waitress and 1 cook they had working the place. Most folks didn't know they were closing so you had several parties walk out because of the wait, and one party in particular that walked out saying "we will not be back!" But I gotta give it to the waitress, she took it in stride. Also the food was still pretty good.

[MikeLucky]

I've told this story before but it bares repeating now that its days are numbered.


About 3-4 years ago when I was still living in California, I stopped in Slaughter's as on previous trips I had already gained an affection for the place.

On that trip, I noticed a really great, friendly local vibe and it occurred to me that OKC now had several places where you could go and just hang out and meet people. On this particular night I struck up conversations with several different people and one out-of-town group invited me to their table.

I could see the community was hungry for this sort of gathering place and Slaughter's along with The Mule and Skinny Slims and a few others started me on the path to visualizing a move back.

As this night wore on, I was chatting with the woman behind the bar and noticed what appeared to be "405" tattooed on each bicep. I asked her, "Is that the area code?? Why?"

And this hipster woman who pretty much had the Millennial "I'm almost too cool to care about anything" attitude (although her service was fine) said: "Yeah. A bunch of us have them here in some form. We're all just really proud of Oklahoma City and what is happening here."


And that was it. Right then and there I decided to move back and about a year later I did just that.

That is one of the coolest stories I've heard in a while. That really is a cool story.

Say what you still about the Street Outlaw guys and their shows, but damn if they don't feature the 405 pride in everything they do. It's not a small thing.

[Jeepnokc]

As a member of the ownership group (Littlepage Group), I wanted to thank all those that came out this last week to support us as we said goodbye to Slaughter's Hall. We are excited about our new partnership with Besos de Mezcal and hope to see your there. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you at our other two concepts, STAG and Omerta Cigar Co..

John