So Fine Eatery and Pub

[Bullbear]

Glad to hear you are looking at making some changes with the lights on patio and planter boxes.. that would be my main thing is to change the appearance some. I pass your place all the time and it always looked like kind of a beer joint. didn't realize you had food. I definately judged a book by its cover. I love that you went smoke free and I will be in soon and bring some friends maybe for a Thunder game and check it out.

[shawnw]

Forgot about the smoke-free thing. That's huge. People in this town are definitely clamoring for smoke-free karaoke. I don't know how many times my group wanted to karaoke but it got vetoed due to smoky environments. Maybe put a giant banner outside and use social media to promote the "NOW SMOKE FREE" angle until the message gets out... your place could easily rival the crowds at Cookies if you competed with them toe-to-toe with the karaoke nights.

[catch22]

Larry, I'm not sure if you follow other threads on this site, but FYI there is a proposal to build an apartment block directly across the street from your place to the south. I suspect that will have an impact on your business!

As far as other suggestions, I would say to put some focus on Thunder game watching during the season, with some game night specials. Initially it might not do much, but once there is more infill around you, if people have a decent option to walk across the street, they will do it vs driving or walking elsewhere. I've enjoyed karaoke night there. Haven't tried the food but will at some point. Have you considered a roof-top seating area for that view of downtown? Seems to be all the rage these days...

About the name... I get why you did it... but when hearing "So Fine Club" a newcomer might think more of a place like "Club Social" where it's more about dancing (e.g. "clubbing"). "Neighborhood Lounge" seems more inviting... come stay, hang out with your neighbors, everybody knows you here. Maybe a compromise? "So Fine Neighborhood Lounge"? I don't know, just my thoughts.

Drop the "fine". It just sounds like a trashy club from the 70's that's still hanging on somehow or a restaurant that I don't want to eat at.

It's his business of course, but I am more likely to go to Neighborhood Lounge than So Fine Eatery. Name and brand means a lot...perception is very much reality when it comes to restaurants and bars.

[soonerguru]

Drop the "fine". It just sounds like a trashy club from the 70's that's still hanging on somehow or a restaurant that I don't want to eat at.

It's his business of course, but I am more likely to go to Neighborhood Lounge than So Fine Eatery. Name and brand means a lot...perception is very much reality when it comes to restaurants and bars.

"So Fine" sounds like a strip club. Could this be zoned?

[Jeepnokc]

Drop the "fine". It just sounds like a trashy club from the 70's that's still hanging on somehow or a restaurant that I don't want to eat at.

It's his business of course, but I am more likely to go to Neighborhood Lounge than So Fine Eatery. Name and brand means a lot...perception is very much reality when it comes to restaurants and bars.

Did there used to be a club in OKC called So Fine? I got the same negative connotation when I heard the name but not sure why. Nothing about the name made me think...I need to check this place out some time. They are doing a great job cleaning it up though

[shawnw]

yes

[Jeepnokc]

yes

Where was it located?

[shawnw]

Not sure, I just know it's been referenced and that there is some relation to this place.

[ljbab728]

Where was it located?

Steve's article from last year gives the answer.

Downtown Oklahoma City 'dive' resurfaces with varied clientele | News OK

If the So Fine Club at 8200 SW 3 was one of city's livelier night clubs, the opposite could be said about another longtime venue, The Neighborhood Lounge, 733 NW 4.

[Roger S]

I noticed they added some paint to the West side of the building that stated lunch starts at 11 AM and that they are serving the best burger in Oklahoma City.

Hmmmm.... That's pretty bold talk considering that Nic's Grill just showed up at #2 on a Best Burger in the nation list.

[ljbab728]

I noticed they added some paint to the West side of the building that stated lunch starts at 11 AM and that they are serving the best burger in Oklahoma City.

Hmmmm.... That's pretty bold talk considering that Nic's Grill just showed up at #2 on a Best Burger in the nation list.

So they should put up a sign saying that they serve the "second best" burger in OKC?

[Roger S]

So they should put up a sign saying that they serve the "second best" burger in OKC?

Or that they have the #1 burger in the nation. ;+)

As a food blogger I'm always leary of any place that toots their own horn to much.... Walked into way to many Q-raunts that claim to be the greatest and walk out very underwhelmed.....

Oklahoma Joe's in Broken Arrow is a great example. You walk in there and see all the awards from competitions and bold claims about their Q. While their Q isn't terrible it wouldn't score well at all in a contest and contest Q is what they claim to be famous for.

[metro]

This place should have saved the money they spent on that fancy new outdoor patio and instead bought some foundation piers to prop up their western facing wall, it tilts big time and looks like it is about to fall over onto Shartel Ave.

[catch22]

I just don't like when businesses reach out and claim to be something they aren't.

Average bar with average food? That's no problem. Just don't promise the world, do run a few specials, build up some regulars, and be the neighborhood lounge. (See what I did there?)

[shawnw]

I suspect once the housing across the street is built this place will, by nature of the demand, will change dramatically for the better (it already has, but then some).

[AP]

From cheeseburgers to fresh tortilla chips, it?s all So Fine | okgazette.com

[metro]

I suspect once the housing across the street is built this place will, by nature of the demand, will change dramatically for the better (it already has, but then some).

Yeah like fixing the wall that's about to fall over. It surely can't be up to city code/regulations.

[shawnw]

There's a big enough parking lot. Maybe someday he can afford to build a new structure, still connect it to the new patio just on the other side, and then tear down the existing building restoring his parking lot space. You'd still have 4th street frontage but you'd lose frontage on the other street, which I know is not desirable, but I don't think it would reasonable to ask him to shut down, demo, and rebuild on the same spot...

[Roger S]

Wanted a Nic's burger for lunch but the line was around the building so I decided to go give So Fine a try. Pulled into the parking lot and it was empty. Looked up at the building and one of the 1's in the 11 was painted over. So they apparently don't start serving lunch until 1 PM now.

[shawnw]

Dang.

I was wondering if the blue paint could be sandblasted off this building. Seems like it would look so much nicer with the original brick, and a neon sign. Probably suggested before.

[urbanCOWBOY]

The So Fine is my favorite bar in town. Thursday night karaoke just gave me a good persuasion.

[Pete]

The owners of downtown's So Fine bar and restaurant – formerly known as Neighborhood Lounge -- have sold to a local investment group and have ceased operations.

The nearly half-acre parcel and 2,600 square foot building at NW 4th & Shartel were purchased last week but an LLC headed by David Box for a purchase price of $800,000. It had previously sold in 2011 for just $200,000.

The new owners are seeking a new operator and have already received plenty of interest, as the property is on the northwest edge of downtown which is seeing rapid change.

Immediately to the southeast large Avana apartment complex and Sycamore Square condominiums.

To the southwest is the Civic Center area and the under-renovation 21c Museum Hotel and the proposed Residences at 21c as well as the Jones Assembly.

To the north is Saint Anthony Hospital and booming South of Saint Anthony (SoSA) residential community.

So Fine's Facebook page indicated the owners are hoping to re-open in a new location.

[Urbanized]

Good luck to them. I know they had good intentions. But they got so locked in on reviving the So Fine brand - which is fondly remembered only by folks in their 50s, 60s and even 70s - that they completely missed the solid traction that the Neighborhood Lounge brand was getting from the young, professional crowd flooding into the surrounding neighborhoods. The So Fine brand might have a future, but this definitely wasn't the place for it.

[shawnw]

I was hoping it would stick and be a future hot spot for Civic dwellers (and that they would remove the blue paint).

[Pete]

A better place will be going into that spot.

There are already several good operators interested.