Bricktown McDonalds opens

McDonald's customers and personnel celebrate the opening of the Bricktown location. Photo/Shannon Cornman


Bricktown McDonald’s restaurant opens

OKCBusiness Staff
7/1/2008

Oklahoma City’s newest McDonald’s restaurant opened for business today in Bricktown.
“We are excited to be part of the growth of Bricktown and proud to continually focus on reinvesting in the communities we serve,” Operations Manager David Shults said in a statement.

The restaurant – located at 105 E. Reno – features a brick-and-stone exterior with a contemporary décor including armchair seating along with wireless Internet access and plasma screen televisions.

The Bricktown Urban Design Committee approved final plans in October 2007. In July, McDonald’s representatives presented preliminary plans. After hearing their proposal, committee members stood firm that they would not approve anything that was not pedestrian friendly, to include a $2.5 million drive-thru hamburger joint.

At the time, committee members agreed the building design, with its drive-thru window, was not in keeping with what Bricktown merchants are trying maintain as a community.

At the September meeting, the committee approved an amended site plan and concept for a McDonald’s, however, they requested more landscaping and elevation plans.

I wish they included a photo of the exterior in addition to the one furnished. I guess I'll just have to take a look-see next time I'm in Bricktown.

__________________
...this shortest straw has been pulled for you

It's all dark brown brick with limited signage. It's not horrible but still, it's a McDonald's...in Bricktown.

Agreed. I'm not thrilled about Mickey D's in Bricktown, but I gave up on the district anyways, so as long as it doesn't look too entirely tacky, I'm content.

You mentioned the limited signage; I'm inferring there are no arches stating 300 billion served, 30 feet above the ground. Please tell me I'm correct.

__________________
...this shortest straw has been pulled for you

Until the new hotels(s) east of there come in, it's so far to the east it's barely still in BT. I've not bothered on a McD in BT ... as plain jane as fast food is, it's still a better option than a few places that couldn't entice me in with free food and drink and moderate entertain. Fortunately there are many excellent places in BT as well, so only those who choose to visit the bottomdwellers and the fastfoodies need do so.

That's one of the things that concerns me. Now, the fast food junkies have another cheap dining alternative and reason to go to Bricktown, one of Oklahoma's most visited site for out-of-staters. These visitors are going to leave with a bad impression of OKC when they see fast food chains and fatties on every corner.

I know we already have a Sonic in Bricktown, but out-of-towners would most likely shy away from that place on weekends unless they're armored up and packing heat.

__________________
...this shortest straw has been pulled for you

I drive by often and I think they did a nice job. The drive thru is hidden by trees and the parking is behind and East of the road. It looks really good.

I don't think anyone should give up on Bricktown. I was there Monday for a movie and even at 9 at night there were lots of families and visitors strolling around.

I haven't given up on it as in I will no longer visit. I've just lost hope in the district becoming the high class jewel of OKC is was supposed to become. Bricktown proper is nice, but needs a little work with the broken windows and dirt piles on the lower level. Lower Bricktown just sucks and is continuing to suck the more Hogan builds.

__________________
...this shortest straw has been pulled for you

I was upset about this when I heard about it, but now that I've driven by, it doesn't really bother me. I wish the signage were even smaller or more tasteful, but it's not bad. I'm glad it's brick, and it's better landscaped than virtually any other McDonalds I've seen. It is probably good for visitors to have a fast, cheap alternative at times, and it is down at the end of bricktown where things aren't terribly attractive anyway. I mean, Manhattan has McDonalds all over the place. Now, if we could just do something about Stewart Metal Fabricators. They're the real eyesore in Bricktown....even worse than Hogan's faux stucco.

Manhattan has McDonald's all over the place, but so do we. I just don't understand why we have to have Mickey D's the one place in OKC that's not supposed to be like everywhere else in OKC. I just wish we had a place to break away from the normal suburbia of Oklahoma City, and we did for a while. Bricktown is fast becoming normal suburban-OKC with a hint of red brick.

Another reason I'm not too fond of having fast food in Bricktown is evident on a weekend near Sonic. Go to Sonic and see how many police officers you can count. Bricktown is supposed to be family-oriented, but all the fast food places offer is a place in which gangbangers and their teeny-bopping baby's mamas can loiter.

__________________
...this shortest straw has been pulled for you

Do we know if this is going to be a 24 hours McD? Downtown/Bricktown needs more night life aside from the clubs, and more 24 hour establishments, if we are going to attract people downtown and try and give up automobile usage we need things that people use, not just the nice clubs, if I lived in The Centennial and had a craving for food at 1:00 in the morning what are my options? we don't need ALOT of fast food but if we want to create a true work/play environment we are going to need things that people lookf for when they live some where. I 100% agree with AFCM that it is rapidly turning into Suburbia, and would like to have seen a 3 story building with a McD's in the bottom. But that is just me

Theres usually two. Sometimes one. Same cop. Ummm. Well. Just because they dress a certain way doesn't mean they're necessarily gangbangers. :/ They don't stop me and my friends from going to Sonic. And if this is how you feel, then you should be glad that they built this McDonald's.. because now all of the "gangbangers" and their "baby's mamas" will be on the very edge of Bricktown where no one goes anyways.

You know, this is entirely off-topic, but why does it seem that everytime an adult sees a young man dressed up in baggy pants, jordans, and a tall tee... they automatically pin them as gangsters. Its like good god, are you that sheltered and close-minded? Its like they cover their child's eyes and say, "Watch out Billy, thats a hood-rat." =D

I usually see 1 or 2 cops when I set up at 6-7pm 4-6 cops when I leave around 1o:30-12 pm on the weekends but I see them messing with the bikers that park in the drop off zone more then with the 14-20 somethings .

McD's will be alright I have to drive though on my way out one night.

Yours in wandering
Nabber

I've never seen anything hanging out around Sonic that even began to scare me...I've even made a habit of walking the g/f over there to get her a hot chocolate (winter) or a blended float (summer) for her to sip on while I go get the truck. If I had ANY idea that she might be even remotely in some sort of danger, there's no way I'd do that. Not a chance.

As for McDonald's...There are sure a whole lot of people on this site that like to bellyache about affordable retail in Bricktown...But affordable food isn't okay? If I lived down there (especially with the dollar:sqft ratio), I'd certainly not complain about having a $1 double cheeseburger available to me in the event the mood struck me.

I'm with OGawd. While there are spots in Bricktown that can move the neck hairs into alert mode, the area around the Sonic isn't among them.

If we built Bricktown according to the rules of the snooty class, Bricktown would still be nothing more than few night clubs and a few restaurants. Some of you are probably too young to remember when Spagetti Warehouse was the only happening thing in Bricktown.

In order for a tourist district to survive you need a nice mix of restaurants, clubs and event centers. The opening of a McDonald's is not going to turn Bricktown into Wal-Mart after 10pm.

Get over yourselves. Maybe if you spent a little less time complaining about everything you might find sometime to find a (better) job, a girlfriend, a new hobby, anything.

In other words some of you need to get a life. Stop pissing and moaning about every little thing under the sun.

Went by there last night after seeing Hancock, was really nice on the inside. Managers are expecting big increase in traffic this weekend of course.....

Well... For a lot of us this is our life, we live and work in this district/neighborhood. We are planners, architects, and Oklahoma City citizens making sure that the powers that be have the best interest of the district/neighborhood, its history, and future in mind. I think you may be misunderstanding some of the complaints people are having.

McDonald's in itself is fine to have in Bricktown as long as it is built to the standards for which the area demands. While the building itself is brick and fronts two streets it also retains a large parking lot and drive-thru which are counter-productive to the atmosphere Bricktown is trying to maintain (pedestrian friendly, human scale, dense). Had the business been part of a larger multi-story development with ground floor retail, I think a lot of the naysayers would be hard pressed to complain. But, that's not the case.

Now, with that I think as it (McDonald's) stands those two glaring problems could be omitted given time and density (parking lot and drive-thru could be demolished for more store frontage). The store would be accessed only by pedestrian traffic from neighboring bars, hotels, and tourist attractions.

While you may see it as complaining or having no life, we (complainers) want to ensure that Bricktown is developed right the first time and not have to go back and fix things because we were impatient.

In light of the huge expanses of stripes on asphalt, or cones on aggragate, from one end of BT to the other, it's probably a tad too late to view BT as getting pedestrian friendly right the first time around.

I enjoy my visit to BT. Other than having too much parking directly along the canal, where I think it ought not to be, I've got very few grumbles about BT, and a dobber dbl cheeseburger won't ever make the list of the few I do have.

Really?

I think that it's just fine where it is. It's out of the way. You want to bitch, bitch about the NASTY buildings a block north of there on the east end of Sheridan. But I still say that McDonald's is needed down there, and with the location, it's not hurting anything, artistically or otherwise. I bet it's successful (if not, I'll go there and eat a fish sandwich), and that means that it was a good fit. Just because some vocal people don't like it doesn't mean that the vast majority didn't want it.

Re-read my post. I never said anything about it being a bad location. Actually, I think it's a good one. However, it's not the location that's a problem, it's the use of land or lack there of - just like the rest of LoBrick. Most of the those buildings were just picked up out of the burbs, given a little brick, and plunked down - parking and all.

you think it will be on travel channels top 10 mcdonalds in the world? doubt its that great. if it looked similar to any one of those id go just to see it.