Originally Posted by
SoonerDave
Black Eyed Pea was caught on the leading edge of the health-food craze that's basically teaching everyone if it isn't a leafy vegetable its going to kill you. They were very much a traditional Southern offerings restaurant, fried chicken, chicken fried steaks, chops, and while it was good, it was never (for us) quite as good as it always seemed it could be. They did have an excellent codfish and wild rice dinner that I enjoyed frequently.
They tried to reinvent themselves at a corporate level by adding the "Grille" moniker to their name, and many of their restaurants in Texas still have it in some fashion, but they just never hit stride here in OK and their franchise holder, as I recall reading or hearing third hand (at least LOL) just gave it up. The location on SW74th and I-240 was empty for a year or more until Joe's Crab Shack went in, and its just nasty. My wife likes seafood a great deal more than I do, and we went there a few times when they first opened, but as their food quality dropped and greasy/nasty quotient increased, even she gave up on them. Obviously plenty of other folks like them as they're still around, but they're not among our regular visits.
There was a time back in the late 70's early 80's when Steak & Ale aspired to be an upscale dinner/steak house. Quiet, dimly lit, slightly higher-than-average pricing, upscale environment with cloth tablecloths, I remember it being a "big deal" to go there - then, somewhere along the way, they shifted their target somehow and became much more mainstream - and the quality went down with it.
As for OKC steaks, the one name whose departure I will forever lament is Glen's Hik-ry Inn. Just won't be another place like that again.
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