The Golden Egg

[White Peacock]

My mom used to own and operate a restaurant called The Golden Egg at 18th and Classen, in the Victoria Building (same spot where Cafe Antigua now operates) back in the 80s. My mom ran the show, and my aunt Carolyn was the head cook. Best omelettes ever. I remember spending many bored hours there as a kid, bugging the regular customers and eating all the free food I wanted.

It was super popular, but my mom found it too stressful to head an entire operation, and decided to fold the restaurant and opt out of the food business for good. We have a lot of good memories tied to the place, though. I even have one of the original paintings that hung on the wall in the restaurant (pretty sure it was done by a regular customer/artist) in my home still.

Any of you old timers ever happen into the joint when it was around?

[White Peacock]

Nobody at all? It was a rather popular spot; surprised none of the old timers here are familiar with it. Apparently former patrons mention it to the Antigua people from time to time.

[Rover]

It was great. I lived in Heritage Hills and it was a go to spot.

[White Peacock]

It was great. I lived in Heritage Hills and it was a go to spot.

Indeed! It was a hotspot for lawyers, especially. Kind of expected given the location.

The Victoria Building was rather poorly managed, though. I fully expect it to crumble under its own weight before long.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^^^
Perfect example of something being discussed in another thread; this isnother building that could be a long-term threat for demolition much like Classen Circle buildings. Of course, there is no outward sign that it is threatened, so we all go about our lives. And then when demo intentions are announced the same thing happens; people who want to see it saved get up in arms and people who don't care smugly say "well, why didn't you buy it, if you wanted it preserved?" There are buildings like this all over OKC and there is no way someone - even one of the great development groups we now have - can run around and save everything before they even know it is threatened.

Now, in my personal opinion it is close enough to things going on now in Plaza, Midtown and along Classen south of there that it will get developer interest soon enough. But will it be rebuffed? Apparently this happened with the Classen Circle buildings at some point. We know it has happened in places like Spaghetti Warehouse.

It would be helpful if we could start relying less on geography and start giving select buildings landmark status that would require review before demo. The only problem with this is that most likely a building's owner would still have to approve of their building receiving such designation, and many would not agree as it would tie their hands in the future. Honestly the best approach might be to start some sort of fund that would be able to swoop in and either buy out a business or a building if deemed significant, allowing preservationists to put their money where their mouth is. I believe New York City recently did this after the loss of some iconic businesses in Manhattan, but can't find a link right now.

Unfortunately, it still requires money. And that requires people WITH money to care about these things. And in this town, too often they do not.