Ice House

[David]

Yep, I got there too late as well. Guess I'll try again tomorrow.

[Anonymous.]

Just got back from here.

Got there right around 1pm on a Friday, there was zero line. Just a few people waiting for orders and some kids running around. Honestly it was difficult to tell this was even a restaraunt from the garden side. I think they will eventually have signage on that side. But for not it is just a sliding window with a menu sign out front.


>Got the cheeseburger combo meal so it was around 11 dollars.
>They give you buzzer things that look like tazers for your order call.
>We got our orders in about 10-12 minutes with it being not busy at all, so take into account longer waits for more prime times. (and as people discover it).
>Initial thought was the burger is amazing, very messy and juicy like it should be.
>Halfway through the burger my burger was raw. I would not have noticed and kept eating if it wasn't for someone else in our group to point it out on his first. The third person in our group had a fully cooked patty in his.
>We took our half eaten raw burgers up to the front and they handled it perfectly. We were not upset or anything, we just wanted another burger, we even would have settled for one correctly cooked burger that was cut in half since we both ate half our originals.
>Not only did they remake us burgers (and made them to-go) - but they refunded us the full meal price.

Chalked the undercooked meat up to day #2 of being open. Other than that slight hiccup it was amazing and worth the 11 bucks. It was also beautiful outside, so the extra waiting from inconvenience was not bad.

Will definitely be going back and bringing along more coworkers!

[Diesel54]

I went today as well and they came around and asked if all our burgers were cooked properly. I ate mine too fast to even notice. It was delicious. It isn't quite Nic's but I didn't expect it to be. I'm just excited to have a great burger so convenient to my office and with dinner hours.

[David]

Tried again today at lunch, and showing up at noon was a bit of a mistake. Stood in line for 30 minutes, then ran across the park to put more money on in the meter (well, bought another 30 minute sticker).

The burger was pretty tasty (not worth the trip and a 30 minute wait though). No half-cooked issues with mine.
The fries were decent, but not spectacular.
The vanilla shake was quite good.
The iPad based ordering system seemed gimicky and awkward, but maybe it'll work out as they get used to it.

[Teo9969]

Tried again today at lunch, and showing up at noon was a bit of a mistake. Stood in line for 30 minutes, then ran across the park to put more money on in the meter (well, bought another 30 minute sticker).

The burger was pretty tasty (not worth the trip and a 30 minute wait though). No half-cooked issues with mine.
The fries were decent, but not spectacular.
The vanilla shake was quite good.
The iPad based ordering system seemed gimicky and awkward, but maybe it'll work out as they get used to it.

I imagine not at all meant to be gimmicky...Seems to be the way businesses are heading. I've seen more and more of them around town, and OK is probably lagging a little in that area. I bet in NYC, LA, and CHI they're all over the place.

[Pete]

I imagine not at all meant to be gimmicky...Seems to be the way businesses are heading. I've seen more and more of them around town, and OK is probably lagging a little in that area. I bet in NYC, LA, and CHI they're all over the place.

'tis true.

I've seen a few places that actually have them attached to the tables/booths.

[David]

Partly I'm going off of the experience I watched happen to the people in line in front of me. They had some complicated request that apparently had to be typed in on the software keyboard, and it was just painful to watch. The process of taking my order was fairly smooth, but I already knew what I wanted and didn't make any requests other than yes and no to a few toppings, and the app just had big toggle buttons for that which worked fairly well.

The other thing was just the amazing slowness of the ordering process. The line I was in should not have been a 30 minute line given the number of people in it, but it was anyway. I was blaming the app/process, but it have just as easily been customers being unfamiliar with the menu, newness of the employees, etc. More likely it was a combination of the above.

Don't get me wrong, I'm an IT professional and am generally a big fan of technology when used appropriately. I'm just not 100% convinced it was in this instance.

[Prunepicker]

I've heard that some restaurants have their waitstaff use pencil and paper
to take orders. Afterwards they send those ancient hieroglyphics to the
kitchen. Who knows what takes place behind the 'veil' but it seems to
be quite accurate and even if you only order Adam and Eve on a wrecked
raft.

Oy!

[OSUMom]

I went there today about 11:20. Long line. I think they were having problems at first because the line didn't move much (if at all). When it started moving I thought it moved pretty well for there being only one order taker. I think a second station for ordering might be a good idea if the business stays good. We got our food rather quickly. I would say they have burgers already cooking, no way they got put on and done in that amount of time.

Burgers not near as big as Nic's and more expensive, but that is what it is. I will say they were like baby Nic's burgers. Nice and juicy. I'm not an onion person so I can't attest to how caramelized the onions were, if they compared to Nics. They looked it though. No one complained about them in our group but I don't think any of them have eaten at Nics. Now the fries, I think they need to work on those fries. Was not impressed.

Was a nice lunch. Enjoyed it and will probably go there once in a while if I want a burger for lunch (when it is open, of course).

[Dustin]

Ate here today and it was fantastic!

It beats Tucker's (sorry good egg), S&B, Irma's, and Meers. The fries were perfectly cooked. Not too thin and not to thick and were seasoned perfectly.

[catch22]

I'll have to give it a try tomorrow.

[Larry OKC]

Nic's Expands brand, Tamazul shrinks its potential audience, and other nuggets heard on the line... | News OK

One bite into a huge cheeseburger with grilled onions and jalapenos and I was thinking: I’m really glad I’m not a competing burger purveyor. The burger included the signature crusty surface and ultra-juicy interior Nic’s is known for. Now for the even better news: the fries were terrific, too. Oh, yeah, and then there’s the shakes.
…
Ice House will only be open through the end of October before going into hibernation until next spring. For now, you can check out the burgers from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and til 9 on weekends. The only seating is outdoors, so bundle up or take it to go. For more information, call 232-NICS.

[Roger S]

The Ice House doesn't appear to have slowed the lines at Nic's Grill. Drove by there yesterday on my way to Taqueria Rafita's and there were about 12 people in line at about 11:45 AM.

[Pete]

I bet all the Ice House publicity and people raving about the burgers has only helped Nic's.

After all, the Penn location is the original and bigger and cheaper.

[Roger S]

I did find it kind of funny that Krell had to be trained to cook a burger...

Krell, who endured a grueling griddling apprenticeship under Nicholas in recent months

[cagoklahoma]

Went for lunch today and well.....I think I need to go to Nic's and try the real thing. It was a good burger, but not any better than Tuckers. It seems that sometimes restaurants get rave reviews for being new and not necessarily for being that good. I remember my first time going to BTT, and I was very disappointed. Social media has bamboozled me into trying new “fantastic, best-ever, life-changing, worth punching an old lady for” restaurants that are good, but not necessarily living up to the description. I would describe Ice House as a good burger served in a cool location, or maybe as the best burger in the CBD, although Nebu make a pretty good burger too. I’m perplexed! It’s definitely a go, but with realistic expectations.

[HangryHippo]

Went for lunch today and well.....I think I need to go to Nic's and try the real thing. It was a good burger, but not any better than Tuckers. It seems that sometimes restaurants get rave reviews for being new and not necessarily for being that good. I remember my first time going to BTT, and I was very disappointed. Social media has bamboozled me into trying new “fantastic, best-ever, life-changing, worth punching an old lady for” restaurants that are good, but not necessarily living up to the description. I would describe Ice House as a good burger served in a cool location, or maybe as the best burger in the CBD, although Nebu make a pretty good burger too. I’m perplexed! It’s definitely a go, but with realistic expectations.

I'd probably punch an old lady for a Nic's burger. I love them.

[OSUMom]

Went for lunch today and well.....I think I need to go to Nic's and try the real thing. It was a good burger, but not any better than Tuckers. It seems that sometimes restaurants get rave reviews for being new and not necessarily for being that good. I remember my first time going to BTT, and I was very disappointed. Social media has bamboozled me into trying new “fantastic, best-ever, life-changing, worth punching an old lady for” restaurants that are good, but not necessarily living up to the description. I would describe Ice House as a good burger served in a cool location, or maybe as the best burger in the CBD, although Nebu make a pretty good burger too. I’m perplexed! It’s definitely a go, but with realistic expectations.

Nics is way better.

[ljbab728]

It doesn't have to be the best ever for this to be successful. As long as it's at least "very good", the location will assure it's success.

[Garin]

Went for lunch today and well.....I think I need to go to Nic's and try the real thing. It was a good burger, but not any better than Tuckers. It seems that sometimes restaurants get rave reviews for being new and not necessarily for being that good. I remember my first time going to BTT, and I was very disappointed. Social media has bamboozled me into trying new “fantastic, best-ever, life-changing, worth punching an old lady for” restaurants that are good, but not necessarily living up to the description. I would describe Ice House as a good burger served in a cool location, or maybe as the best burger in the CBD, although Nebu make a pretty good burger too. I’m perplexed! It’s definitely a go, but with realistic expectations.

I go to Nic's 3-4 times a month so I'm pretty bias,With that being said I was extremely excited for all my family and friends to have a venue that they could finally try a Nic's burger. However this is not even close to the original that leaves you craving another the next day I would agree that there are better burgers downtown and that people that don't know better will think that is the same burger that Nic's serves. Do yourself a favor and a way to get the real thing.

[BBatesokc]

Okay, maybe I've missed it somewhere...... but does this place have a REAL website? Depending on Facebook is a really bad idea. I found their Facebook page, but they've apparently made a bad idea worse by providing no phone number, no menu and no operating hours!

I see the menu in the photos, but this is not a patron friendly way of doing things.

After scrolling through posts I see that they are supposed to be open weekends. May give them a try.

[Pete]

They do have a website (icehouseokc.com) but it's just a placeholder for now. Remember, they are only open a few weeks as a test, then will be opening in earnest in the spring.

New restaurant opens at Myriad Gardens that has familiar taste

[kevinpate]

for me the placeholder page canna be reached using Chrome unless I leave off the www. part. Any site should be able to resolve with or without the www. on the front end. Silly, simple coding error, very 98'ish.


Oh, and while it is a placeholder site, since the placeholder says opening September 2013, it's also a bit '98ish.

Hopefully they'll fix it all over the winter.

[BBatesokc]

They do have a website (Ice House) but it's just a placeholder for now. Remember, they are only open a few weeks as a test, then will be opening in earnest in the spring.

That's no excuse.

They obviously put some work into the placeholder - they could have included the opening hours and the "Open in Sept" considering its October just looks unprofessional. We're talking about simply taking 5 minutes of attention to an obvious detail.

Plus, I've tried several different Google searches and none produce a link to their website within the first page or two.

It may just be me, but when what you're serving is certainly not unique in any way, you'd better dot all your "i's" and cross all your "t's."

[BBatesokc]

Well, I disagree that a restaurant must have a website. I think a well-filled Facebook Page works just fine since you can make them public and anyone (even those without a Facebook account) can see them.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get out there this week to try them. What should I order?

I think (or at least hope) most professional and successful business owners/advisors would disagree for a myriad of reasons.

Why leave your company's image and marketing at the whim of a 3rd party like Facebook? At any moment they could allow the competition to advertise on your only marketing effort. Not to mention they (Facebook) ultimately controls if you can even post and how your posts will look. Additionally, unless I specifically added "Facebook" to my Google search term, it didn't even find the page during a general google search to begin with.

Considering even a 9 year old can have an acceptable domain up and going within an hour for free or low cost makes it ludicrous to consider a Facebook only presence acceptable or professional - let alone customer oriented.