Nonna's

[metro]

Well zulu, before you jump to conclusions, you may want to know my reasoning, I only patronized it once, the first time I went, since then, I have had business meetings in which I have no control over the venue, I refused to buy anything however.

[HKG_Flyer1]

I've spoken to two other socialites who dine out often (admittedly, this isn't a scientific sample), and they both told me:

a) they've been dissatisfied with food and service personally; and
b) their friends haven't been very happy dining out there, either.

Specific complaints I've heard (most of which I've also experienced):

1) wait staff that appears to have virtually no training/highly unprofessional;
2) extremely slow/inept bartender;
3) cold food;
4) slow service.

[metro]

As I mentioned, I went again yesterday for business, despite my bad experiences there. I only ate the complimentary bread, sounds cheap, but I think just due to my past experiences I wasn't going to patronize them. The bread was excellent this time. Those who did eat had mixed reviews. The waitstaff was as usual, unprofessional to no surprise.

[BG918]

I have a hard time believing the service is so bad, I have heard only good things from the few people I've talked to who have been. Off subject, but has anyone here been to Museum Cafe? If you haven't you should definitely give it a try, it's wonderful. The style is modern (like the museum) and the selections are eclectic and extremely good. There's also a great view of downtown.

[HKG_Flyer1]

I like Museum Cafe. Ironically, one of the managers from Museum Cafe moved over to Nonna's. Go figure.

[John]

I've dined at the MuseumCafe a few times, most recently Valentine's Day. It's a semi-hidden gem.

I haven't made it to Nonna's in Bricktown yet, though I had been to the original location a number of times. Let's hope the team gets their act together, though with any establishment, be it new or an expanded concept, it takes 6-9 months or more to iron out all the wrinkles. Don't give up on it yet.

[Doug Loudenback]

My wife and I went to Nonna's for the first time last night, spur of the moment thing, arriving around 6:15 or so. In reading through some of the negative comments here (I'd not read this thread before we went), our experience was certainly different than those expressed.

All that she and I experienced was wonderful and elegant, and we'll certainly be returning and taking out-of-town guests there when we want them to have something very special.

Service bad? It was great ... we were very pampered, but not bothered. Environment: absolutely gorgeous! Food? sumptuous. Price? High. But it was worth it! We toured the 3 floors ... several beautiful private dining areas and a nice bar on the 2nd floor. As an aside, I found a wonderful 1st book for my yet-to-be-born granddaughter at the gift shop.

All in all, from this first visit, I've not been to a restaurant in Okc which I think matches up to Nonna's in Bricktown. So, for us, it was a very exceptional evening!

Doug

[Patrick]

I think Avis may finally be getting things straightened out. We went there on our wedding night (May 14th) and had great service, awesome food, and just a good time. I really didn't experience any of the negative things that were posted here. But, that doesn't mean that the negative events didn't occur. I'm sure over time things have improved and will continue to improve at Nonna's. Not having 2 locations to keep track of will definitely be a plus for Avis, and will probably raise the quality of service.

Overall, I think Nonna's is a great addition to Bricktown....just what we needed for the area.

I encourage you guys to try Nonna's again until she finally gets things right. I'm sure she will eventually.

[HKG_Flyer1]

Encouraging news, I will go back and give it another try.

[BDP]

Overall, I think Nonna's is a great addition to Bricktown....just what we needed for the area.

I agree. I had lunch there a couple of weeks ago and I was very impressed with the place. OK, the food was not the best I have ever had, but it wasn't bad by any means. It was fresh and tasty, which is more than I can say for many Bricktown places. If anything, the place itself may have outdone its food, leaving some people less than impressed due to expectation. But it's certianly better food than a Tap Werks, Brewery, or a Vasrity type menu. Personally, I think it's originality, ambiance, setting, and design along with it's good food elevate it above just about every other Bricktown eatery, more than justifying it's prices.

[Patrick]

At least Avis admits she's still learning. Hopefully things will continue to improve at Nonna's. Last time I went to Nonna's (a few weeks ago) I had a pretty nice experience. But, I know that's varied for different people over the first few weeks of her opening.

--------------
"Growing Pains: Scaramucci reflects on fast growth, sharing she has learned much from her ‘mind-boggling’ Bricktown experience

By Heidi Centrella

Avis Scaramucci, owner of Nonna’s and The Painted Door in Bricktown, began her career worried she wouldn’t be able to fill the mere 25 chairs at her original, but now-closed, Nonna’s on South Western Avenue.

Just 10 short years later, she now serves hundreds each day in Bricktown and is unabashedly amazed at how a 58-year-old career homemaker, mother and grandmother would achieve such success so late in life and in an industry in which she had no prior experience.

“I had no idea whatsoever of what I was doing,” Scaramucci said of her entrance into the restaurant business. She admitted, “people weren’t overly eager to come and work with me. Vendors told me it wouldn’t work.”

Despite working around the clock, Scaramucci said she just couldn’t seem to get off the ground. Those first years were tedious, Scaramucci said, because everything she learned was trial and error, on her feet and with no reference point.

However, the entrepreneur succeeded in never making the same mistake twice and, before she knew it, the skills honed from years of baking for friends and making sure her family got three, healthy square meals began to pay off in ways she never imagined.

With a small, cookie-jar investment, the southside location grew from a mom’s bakery with homemade recipes to a 7,000-square-foot space that seated about 120 for lunch and required a staff of 50.
That growth, Scaramucci said, was at times overwhelming. “There were times when I said to my husband, ‘This thing is bigger than I am and I just can’t do this.’”
Growth is a very effective teacher, however. What Scaramucci learned during the process, she shared, is starting a business, a successful business, means being capable and willing to cover all the bases solo, she said.

Her latest endeavor, opening a near $4 million, 22,000-square-foot restaurant, bar and retail space in Bricktown, was a risk she felt compelled to take. Though she feared losing touch with her local customers at the southside location, the ones she’d grown to know so well over the past decade, she saw the opportunity and potential of ever-expanding Bricktown.

With 150 employees, she said the move has been “mind-boggling” and taught her, again, that it’s necessary to cover all the bases solo, to be intricately involved in every aspect of the operation.

“I’m still the only owner and even though I have all these managers and positions, it still comes down to the fact that I’m responsible for this operation,” she said. “The buck stops with me.”

As with opening any business, untold amounts of hours are put in to the project, and the building process takes time. But Scaramucci said the process moved along much quicker than expected with both great challenges and endless possibilities.

Nonetheless, there’s always the unexpected. And “you’re always going to mess up.”

But the inevitable mess-ups can be blessings in disguise, she said.

“People will tell you that doesn’t happen, I don’t care what business they’re in,” Scaramucci said. “What I can tell you is that we all have moments of reorganization, even if you’ve been somewhere a long time. If you don’t clearly set aside time periods where you rethink and look at your business, restructure and reorganize, I think you tend to get old and passive.”

Perhaps it’s this way of thinking that has skyrocketed the Altus native’s business.

Scaramuuci said sales in a day at Bricktown’s Nonna’s and The Painted Door are similar to what she would do in a week at her southside location. But that’s not altogether a fair comparison, she said, as the Bricktown location has other amenities, such as 10 meeting rooms, a bar, second-story patio and an affluent dinner crowd.

While the South Western location averaged 120 people a day for lunch, the Bricktown location attracts approximately 400 people daily.

Nonna’s growth, however, won’t be limited to the restaurant. Scaramucci plans to expand her 1,400-square foot Painted Door retail store because of the extent of its popularity. She once staffed the gift shop with just two people and closed at 6 p.m. However, traffic into the store made it necessary for her to hire a third person recently and to extend store hours to 8 p.m. and on weekends. Scaramucci said she still doesn’t think that’s going to cover it, though, and shared she thinks more staffing is needed.

“I thought it would take a couple of years to establish that kind of business, when the truth of the matter is, people are excited to be down here and they want to partake in all of it,” she said. “People are more aware of Oklahoma City… and the heart, if you will, of the city is becoming healthy again. And what I’ve learned from my travels is if the downtown is alive and well, it seems to me the whole city is alive and well.”

Scaramucci speculated one year of growth in Bricktown might take four years elsewhere. And, she said, she is thankful for the experience of her southside location because it equipped her with the experiences and skill sets needed as a business owner to thrive, rather than buckle from fast growth.

“I just knew that this area held an abundance of possibilities and I’m well seasoned enough now at what I do, I’m willing to tackle that,” she said. “To say that this neighborhood is alive and well is just an understatement.”

The closing of her original location was unexpected, she admitted, but when her southside customers started driving north to Bricktown, she found herself competing for her own dollar. While it was an emotional decision, deciding to close the location was the necessary decision given the pattern of growth.

The Painted Door on South Western will close after today and the original Nonna’s closed earlier this month.

While Scaramucci’s southside customers were the first to move and then her Nonna’s employees, she said this week will see the move of her entire southside The Painted Door inventory and its employees to the Bricktown store.

“It’s moving in the purest sense, and it’s very unusual for a business to absorb all of the former employees of another location,” she said. “But these are people who have been with me for years, the bulk of them have been with me for many years.”

As any business owner knows, success is synonymous with risk, requiring long hours and dedication. But Scaramucci said a person also has to be willing to understand there will be bad news along with the good, which can be “a far riskier thing for your heart.”

“It used to hurt my feelings in that it was hard for me to let go of things. I would hash them and rehash them,” she said. “And the more people you have to trust to make a project come through, the more likelihood there is of a foul up. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

When it comes to achieving positive growth, “if you always take the safe position, it may be safe, but it never will be quite as fulfilling as just stepping out there and trying what you want to do and seeing it off the ground and making it work. And that’s really what I’m doing here.”

[metro]

I'd like to think so Patrick but I've been there too many times, I think she is fascade because she is in the spotlight so much, its not like she is going to ignore the problem. I'm glad downtown landed a restaurant of this caliber, just wish it was ran better

[Faith]

I've been to Nona's in bricktown. The food was delicious. However, my party waited over 15 minutes after we had set down just to get our drinks ordered. I think it may have just been a misunderstanding between the servers. As a result my one hour lunch turned in to an hour and a half. I'm sure I'll go again though. Oh and I love the desserts!

[Patrick]

I've been to Nona's in bricktown. The food was delicious. However, my party waited over 15 minutes after we had set down just to get our drinks ordered. I think it may have just been a misunderstanding between the servers. As a result my one hour lunch turned in to an hour and a half. I'm sure I'll go again though. Oh and I love the desserts!

The slow service seems to be a trend I've heard a lot of people complain about. I hope Avis picks up on it eventually.

[Pete]

bump

[hoya]

Don't have the full details, but they're closing at the end of the year.

[Pete]

How do you know this?

If true, this is a major bummer.

[hoya]

They are telling their employees today.

[Pete]

Hopefully another operator steps in.

It's beautiful space and the outdoor patio is awesome.

[bchris02]

Hopefully another operator steps in.

It's beautiful space and the outdoor patio is awesome.

Agreed.

It will be sad to lose this place. I wonder if its closing because of not enough business or some other reason? It should be pretty easy to lease out especially with Tapstone moving in nearby soon. That should really increase the restaurant demand in Bricktown.

[Roger S]

The owner is getting up there in years. She may have just decided to retire.

I know people that are friends with the owner so I've put out some feelers to see if they know the reason.

[Chadanth]

It's a great space, but the food was mediocre.

[Pete]

Just received this back from Nonna's:

Nonna’s is open and business is brisk. News about the future of Nonna’s is forthcoming. We look forward to sharing the news. All good!- Nonna’s Management

[Spartan]

Sounds like Avis is just retiring, and you know, good for her..

[SoonerDave]

Agreed.

It will be sad to lose this place. I wonder if its closing because of not enough business or some other reason? It should be pretty easy to lease out especially with Tapstone moving in nearby soon. That should really increase the restaurant demand in Bricktown.

Maybe the market for $50 frou frou salads finally dried up. #sarcasm