West Restaurant

[warreng88]

Go West: Provision Concepts expands its restaurant businesses

By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record October 16, 2017

OKLAHOMA CITY – Provision Concepts CEO Aaron Soward and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Dixon were called by Johnnie’s Charcoal Broiler co-founder Rick Haynes about West restaurant.

Haynes said he wanted them to take over the eatery.

“We were his first choice,” Soward said. “He said he really thought we were the individuals making an impact in the restaurant business. We were the ones that could take it to the next level.”

West opened in 2010, though the building at 6714 N. Western Ave. was constructed in 1948. There was also a West in Bricktown. It opened in October 2015 and closed earlier this year.

Soward said it was flattering to receive the call from Haynes.

Provision operates Broadway 10, Hatch OKC, and Sidecar Barley & Wine Bar. There are two Sidecar locations: the original is on NW 10th Street and the second is in Chisholm Creek’s Tract 30. A second Hatch OKC location is under construction at Chisholm Creek.

“I wouldn’t have wanted them to take over and leave it as West unless I thought they could be successful,” Haynes said.

Soward said Provision has tweaked the West menu and already rolled out the changes. The menu features American comfort food. He said the restaurant will remain sophisticated and family-oriented, with menu prices that are approachable.

On the weekends, some Hatch OKC dishes will be on West’s menu. He said West already had some breakfast options, but there’s a need for more breakfast spots in Nichols Hills.

In the seven years since West opened, the metropolitan area has seen several new eateries open, including Provision’s restaurants. Soward said if West has fallen off people’s dinner rotations, it should be added again because of the menu updates.

Haynes said he wanted to leave West in new hands so he could focus on building more Johnnie’s Charcoal Broilers. Two new stores will open in 2018: an express-style store on Midwest City’s SE 29th Street, and a larger restaurant in Moore, near SW 19th Street and S. Telephone Road.

This will bring the eatery to 10 locations, and he said he thinks he could build two more. He doesn’t have plans to do another Urban Johnnie’s because it’s too similar to burger restaurants that serve alcohol. It fills a niche being across from Aloft Hotel and below the Level apartments.

Haynes said there’s still room for Johnnie’s in the metro. The restaurant doesn’t sell alcohol, which he said gives him an edge to other burger concepts that have opened. It’s also an Oklahoma City tradition, he said.

“I still get letters and emails from people that say when their children come to town, they have to go to Johnnie’s,” he said. “We’ve served thousands and thousands of Oklahomans for 46 years now.”

He said besides traditions continuing, the growth of food delivery services is creating a need for more locations. He said delivery companies have helped increase the company’s business quite a bit.

Services like Postmates will deliver only within a certain distance, so if he can get them closer to people, then more people can order from Johnnie’s.

[GoldFire]

Really interesting to hear the impact that services like Postmates have had on these businesses. I wondered how sustainable the model was, but maybe there is something to it after all.

[Timshel]

Really interesting to hear the impact that services like Postmates have had on these businesses. I wondered how sustainable the model was, but maybe there is something to it after all.

I have a good friend that got in early at Seamless, which later merged with Grubhub, that provides a similar service to Postmates, though it follows a slightly different business model. He always said the key to the business model and success was having enough areas in a city where people and activity are around as close to 24/7 as possible so that there is minimal downtime in deliveries throughout the day, which is pretty intuitive when you think about it. Thus, these services, and the restaurants they partner with, do well in areas that are better live/work/play areas that have a good mix of business and residential and the services struggle and/or fail in areas where one activity dominates (e.g., suburbs with little office/commercial activity during the day, a CBD that goes dark after 6:00, etc.). The key is having enough of these dynamic mixed-use areas in a city to make up for the "single-use" parts of the city, which goes to show the value that can be created from dense mixed-use environments.

I have always wondered how well they do in a city like OKC, as there is a relative lack of dense, mixed-use areas, but the ease of travelling around the city/lack of traffic would seem to negate some of these issues and its great that it seems to be benefiting Johnnie's and other local businesses.

[Pete]

Here is their new menu:

http://www.westbar.com/Menu

[CloudDeckMedia]

I was in a private party that had dinner at West Saturday night. The restaurant was almost empty due to the OU football game & severe weather, but drinks took a long time because there was only one bartender, and she was precisely measuring the amount in each glass of wine. We arranged for three entree options, but they didn't have enough chicken for those who wanted it. Not a good experience, especially for an experienced restaurant group. Just passing this along.

[pickles]

Here is their new menu:

http://www.westbar.com/Menu

Okay, so they're turning it into a Charleston's.

I guess it could be worse.

[Pete]

Posted this in the Restaurant Closings thread but West quietly shut its doors about a week ago.

The Provision Concept guys had taken it over from Rick Haynes (Johnnies) but they could never get it turned around.

Haynes still has a lease obligation there and spent a ton of money on improvements, but that group has learned expensive lessons on both this spot and the very short-lived West in Bricktown as well as Urban Johnnies.

Not sure what wil happen next but suspect the building may stay dark for a while.

[sooner88]

Posted this in the Restaurant Closings thread but West quietly shut its doors about a week ago.

The Provision Concept guys had taken it over from Rick Haynes (Johnnies) but they could never get it turned around.

Haynes still has a lease obligation there and spent a ton of money on improvements, but that group has learned expensive lessons on both this spot and the very short-lived West in Bricktown as well as Urban Johnnies.

Not sure what wil happen next but suspect the building may stay dark for a while.

Yep we had an event that was planned there last night, and we didn't get notified until early this week.

[CloudDeckMedia]

That makes two closed, freestanding restaurant locations next to one another, West and former Hideaway Pizza.

[TheTravellers]

That makes two closed, freestanding restaurant locations next to one another, West and former Hideaway Pizza.

Yes, that is the case, but West failed (twice) and Hideaway didn't, they closed that location because they built a new one at 50th/Western.

[CloudDeckMedia]

Yes, that is the case, but West failed (twice) and Hideaway didn't, they closed that location because they built a new one at 50th/Western.

My point wasn't that their closures are related in any way, only that there are two side-by-side vacancies.

[Rover]

West was a bad concept with high prices, mediocre food, and no real ambiance.

[TheTravellers]

West was a bad concept with high prices, mediocre food, and no real ambiance.

Actually, once Provision took it over, their brunch was basically a subset of Hatch's menu, and it was just as good as Hatch (and cheaper, I believe).

[Rover]

Actually, once Provision took it over, their brunch was basically a subset of Hatch's menu, and it was just as good as Hatch (and cheaper, I believe).

I don’t think it was as good as Hatch, and apparently I’m not alone. They failed.

[Pete]

I don’t think it was as good as Hatch, and apparently I’m not alone. They failed.

They took over an exsiting name and branding; not at all the same as starting new and doing it the way you want.

Their other places have done great business, so I chalk this up to never taking over an existing place without a complete new re-start.

[CloudDeckMedia]

This seems to be a haunted restaurant location. Pete, is there something about the location - parking, visibility, ingress/egress - that makes it such a challenge?

[Pete]

This seems to be a haunted restaurant location. Pete, is there something about the location - parking, visibility, ingress/egress - that makes it such a challenge?

I think it's a great spot.

Just needs the right operator.

[Rover]

They took over an exsiting name and branding; not at all the same as starting new and doing it the way you want.

Their other places have done great business, so I chalk this up to never taking over an existing place without a complete new re-start.

The room was neither intimate nor cool. The food was mediocre. It isn’t very inviting looking from the outside. It failed.

[catch22]

The room was neither intimate nor cool. The food was mediocre. It isn’t very inviting looking from the outside. It failed.

One of PC's stranger operations. Their other restaurants were always well executed and management was laser focused. It always seemed West was the elephant in the room, as they invested just enough money to keep the lights on and the burners going, but were always afraid to sink too much money into it. I think they had buyer's remorse very soon after taking it over, therefore they didn't have the same drive as they do with their own concepts.

[catch22]

I think it's also fair to bring up Chesapeake Energy. West could have survived just on corporate lunch if Aubrey was still around. That rising tide did indeed lift all boats.

[Pete]

One of PC's stranger operations. Their other restaurants were always well executed and management was laser focused. It always seemed West was the elephant in the room, as they invested just enough money to keep the lights on and the burners going, but were always afraid to sink too much money into it. I think they had buyer's remorse very soon after taking it over, therefore they didn't have the same drive as they do with their own concepts.

Because they took this over on a temporary basis.

This was never really their deal.

[Dob Hooligan]

I think they should put Whiskey Johnnie's there. Or maybe Wet Johnnie's. Name aside, I think a Johnnie's with a bar could work there. It is already built out, and Johnnie's doesn't have a "set" look. I think Britton Road location is getting challenged a bit by the Garage with it's bar (besides the road construction). The Western location is an ideal area for the concept.