Uptown / 23rd District

[bluedogok]

Even places that have "real pizza by the slice" can be mediocre, I have been to a Ray's (not sure which one) and Joe's Pizza in NYC and both were not as "exceptional" as expected, especially for the reputation that both places have. Both were busy so product was being moved but it was disappointing to say the least. There is a place in Downtown Houston that we went to after an Astros game that was great, it was also packed as not that many casual places are open in that area of Downtown Houston (that we found) after an evening baseball game.

I remember the old Sammy's pizza at lunch always had good and fresh slices because they were usually busy. A "slice place" in Downtown OKC could really only be a lunch place right now, not enough people living there yet to make a profitable night time restaurant. That area of Downtown Houston has had a bunch of condo/apartment conversions to add full time residents, some of them are quite large conversions like the Rice Lofts which is very close to there.

[metro]

The secret to quality pizza by the slice is the turnover. If the pizza has to sit for any time at all then the crust and cheese get tough. Places like the mall pizza places use a different kind of cheese to prolong its shelf life, but it doesn't taste as good. And, because you need turnover, you are restricted to basic ingredients, kind of a "least common denominator" as you cannot afford to have expensive ingredients go to waste on pizza you have to toss when it has been under the heating lamp too long. That is why it will be difficult to put such a store on 23rd or downtown until foot traffic improves quite a lot. What cities like us have though is the truck food which can go where the people are at any given time. Or, street vendors with carts.

And, because my credentials are often challenged here my disclaimer is I do not own any pizza restaurants. However, my brother has been regional mgr. for both Dominoes and Little Ceasers and now is operations manager for a company owning 100s of fast food stores. My bro in law is VP operations for a large Pizza Hut franchiser. And, my cousin was President of the Macaroni Grille chain. I couldn't help but learn a little by osmosis. LOL.

Yet none of those places are pizza by the slice places. I seen them in almost every city, some of which have less foot traffic than our CBD or Bricktown. It could be sUpported in OKC

[Larry OKC]

metro: I still stand by my original question asking for clarification. Since you say we don't have a "REAL pizza by the slice" place, it was difficult to know what you meant by the short post. Now we know. Thanks for the clarification.

[Pete]

Not exciting news but at least it's an investment in the area...

Family Dollar on the NW corner of 23rd & Harvey is spending $150K for remodel/improve their location.

[JayhawkTransplant]

That's exciting news to me. I was just driving by there this afternoon, thinking about how beautiful the area could be if some businesses that are staying put would step up their game a bit. This sounds like a start.

[blangtang]

I recently noticed that the bbq place in the same bungalow group as cuppies and joe has a now open sign. while driving by on friday night they had people and lights. not sure how long they've been open.

[Rover]

Bubba's opened last week. I hope his BBQ is as good as his last place out on 39th. He's a very good operator and knows his BBQ.

[Skyline]

I was hoping to hear news about the Tower Theater.

[Skyline]

Uptown 23rd KFC closed, sign reads "out of business".

[SSEiYah]

Church's down the road is quite a bit better anyway.

[Skyline]

I was talking to a lady at work today who went to Tucker's for the first time and is looking forward to checking out BTT and Mutt's. Another older woman (40-50) called the area "drive-by central." Do a lot of people still view the area this way?

Yes.

Keep It Local!

[CurtisJ]

I was talking to a lady at work today who went to Tucker's for the first time and is looking forward to checking out BTT and Mutt's. Another older woman (40-50) called the area "drive-by central." Do a lot of people still view the area this way?

I live in Mesta Park neghborhood and I am astonished by how many people get wide eyed when I tell them I live near 23rd and 235. I get a lot of comments like "isnt that a pretty rough area? why would you live there?". Later, when those same people see the neighborhood for the first time the comments turn to "this is really nice, I had no idea this neighborhood was even here".

Granted most of the people who have this reaction live in the burbs and rarely travel closer to down town than Penn Square.

[BoulderSooner]

I live in Mesta Park neghborhood and I am astonished by how many people get wide eyed when I tell them I live near 23rd and 235. I get a lot of comments like "isnt that a pretty rough area? why would you live there?". Later, when those same people see the neighborhood for the first time the comments turn to "this is really nice, I had no idea this neighborhood was even here".

Granted most of the people who have this reaction live in the burbs and rarely travel closer to down town than Penn Square.

i get the same thoughts and responce telling some people that i live in Midtown

[Urbanized]

Good riddance to that KFC, and I say that as someone who (unfortunately) loves KFC from time to time. The fact that someone could fail with a KFC on a busy street is incredible, but should be no surprise to anyone who has frequented the place in recent years. They were routinely (and by that I mean nearly every visit) out of basic things (Original Recipe, anyone? Dark meat? Mashed potatoes?), and rarely were open the published hours. The place officially closed at 10 PM, and you could more often than not roll up on locked doors or a closed drive-thru at 9:30 or 9:45 PM. At least 50% of the orders I got through the window in the past 5 years were initially wrong. Last time I went in, an employee asked if she could borrow my phone and complete a customer satisfaction survey. And last time I went through the drive-thru I had food poisoning the next day.

For months now I have driven a few miles out of the way to go to the store at 23rd and Penn, anytime I get a KFC craving, which unfortunately happens to me occasionally. This despite the fact that I live almost within walking distance of the 23rd/Rob location.

Hopefully one of the great local restaurant groups takes over that building and makes another great new concept like the ones that have been popping up over the past couple of years (Tucker's, BTT, Mutts...). Maybe a local fried chicken place? I can only hope...

[MDot]

I was talking to a lady at work today who went to Tucker's for the first time and is looking forward to checking out BTT and Mutt's. Another older woman (40-50) called the area "drive-by central." Do a lot of people still view the area this way?

I'm in this area often and people will trip balls when I tell them that I'm over there.

[blangtang]

I'm in this area often and people will trip balls when I tell them that I'm over there.

Just curious, but what kind of people do you associate with? I live in the area and my main annoyance is the sometimes high frequency of the "ghetto copter" fly overs that rattle the ricketiness of my rickety abode...Maybe its police copters, i dunno. Could be news ones or maybe chesapeake higher ups commuting back and forth to downtown. Drive-byes are probably 3rd or 4th on my list...

[dankrutka]

Yeah. The area is not scary. I used to run around 23rd in the morning and night and was never concerned. There are some minorities in the area and that is enough to scare about half of OKCs white population though. Whites moved away from the core b/c they were scared and a lot still haven't come back... Lol.

[metro]

Just curious, but what kind of people do you associate with? I live in the area and my main annoyance is the sometimes high frequency of the "ghetto copter" fly overs that rattle the ricketiness of my rickety abode...Maybe its police copters, i dunno. Could be news ones or maybe chesapeake higher ups commuting back and forth to downtown. Drive-byes are probably 3rd or 4th on my list...

Not to mention met are medi flight helicopters with the hospitals nearby

[tuck]

We do have several groups of panhandlers, but that's about it. I've lived nearby for 10 years and have been really happy with the progress 23rd Street has made. We have had Cheevers for 11 years; things have changed tremendously for the positive. As far as drive-byes...I haven't heard of a single occurrence in several years. This area is much safer than some of the areas further north on 122nd IMO. Kinda funny to read some of the posts...

[Teo9969]

Blah, I fat-fingered F5, so now I'm going to have to post a shortened version of my original message:

Basically, I haven't parsed the thread to see if it's here, but here's a list of things I think that this area (the mile stretch of NW 23rd between Broadway and Classen) needs, likely in this order:

1. Entertainment: Tower will be key here. I'm not sure what other avenues would be good.

2. Bars: Nice, more upscale bars. Bars are a form of entertainment themselves, and you could even have a piano bar or a bar/cigar lounge. Something to attract the younger people who are excited to walk down the street from block to block doing this that and the other.

3. Shopping: Not a shopper, but I imagine it's key. Not sure what should be targeted, but definitely a necessary component.

4. Landscaping: A small park-like area, maybe a fountain, or one of those multi-hole "geyser" like fountains. Something to give the area a natural touch. They do a decent job on the median, when it's there, but part of it is probably just as much the buildings looking shabby.

5. Housing: This is definitely way down on the list, but could be useful.

6. Eats: I actually think this is already a really strong stretch for the eats: Cheever's, Big Truck, Tucker's, Pho Lien Hoa, Someplace Else (though that's actually on Western), Bubbas? BBQ, Several fast-food joints. Then there's Cuppies and Joe, and if this stretch could add one other thing slightly like that, but different, it would be all the better.

It really is an exciting area. I would be incredibly interested to see what just $10M to $50M could do in this area. I think this street (despite people apparently thinking there are drive-by's galore), would be one of the very best streets in town for night-life if the investment would be made. And honestly, a simple coat of paint might strike enough interest in people's minds to start developing this area business and traffic wise.

[Skyline]

So what are we going to do with the former KFC building?

It is boarded up and is already an eyesore for anyone traveling west after exiting 235.

Maybe someone could suggest that Italiano's move from Lincoln over to 23rd street. There are no options for Italian food anywhere along the Uptown 23rd street.

[soonerguru]

There WAS a time that the area around Cheever's was very seedy, with CRIPS hanging out and crack deals taking place in the open. When Cheever's first opened, it was amusing to sit on the patio, enjoy a nice drink, and watch the drug deals going down. There were three or four pay phones in the empty lot across the street, which was extremely convenient for the neighborhood dealers. That was during a time in which Jefferson Park itself was somewhat scary -- early to mid 1990s. It's completely gentrified now, the pay phones are gone and I haven't seen gang members there in over a decade.

[wschnitt]

There was also a sign in the windows of the space next to Dollar Tree or whatever about a $150000 renovation. I bet that is for their expansion.

[metro]

Great addiction, this is across from Cuppies and Joe, so great to build more critical mass at that intersection.

[Spartan]

Great addiction

Wow metro, I didn't know you liked to go to 23rd Street for your addictions..