Old Germany

[CloudDeckMedia]

So says this story at KOCO.com, but it doesn’t say when. Anyone know details?
http://www.koco.com/article/beloved-...years/19837872

[Pete]

Their Facebook site says they closed on April 15th.

https://www.facebook.com/OldGermanyRestaurant/

[SoonerDave]

Dang. Was really wanting to try the place. Sorry that happened.

[Martin]

Dang. Was really wanting to try the place. Sorry that happened.

you only had 40 years to make it there!

sad to see it go, too... but honestly i only made the trip to choctaw 3-4 times.

[Roger S]

you only had 40 years to make it there!

sad to see it go, too... but honestly i only made the trip to choctaw 3-4 times.

Sad to see the Ocktoberfest probably go with it... It had grown from a little event they held in their parking lot to a full on party at the park in Choctaw.

I

[PhiAlpha]

Sad to see the Ocktoberfest probably go with it... It had grown from a little event they held in their parking lot to a full on party at the park in Choctaw.

I

Maybe Royal Bravaria and/or Fassler Hall will seize the opportunity and take over Ocktoberfest.

[d-usa]

I liked going there during the World Cup, but it was a long trek for me and as a result I really didn’t go there as much as I would have liked.

[baralheia]

Maybe Royal Bravaria and/or Fassler Hall will seize the opportunity and take over Ocktoberfest.

I really hope so. Truthfully, I have always preferred the food from Royal Bavaria, so I didn't often make it out to Old Germany, but the Choctaw Oktoberfest was always a great time and I really really hope someone takes on the mantle and continues the tradition.

[Pete]

Don't forget Ingrid's has a lot of great German dishes.

[baralheia]

So, I know I'm not in the industry, and I've never owned a restaurant, so I am very likely missing something... but something about this very sudden closure just seems... off. The Turek's owned Old Germany and Turek's Tavern, and operated the Choctaw Oktoberfest, and they're shuttering all three, without any notice - apparently not even to their employees. All three were quite popular, and at least according to Google, even during the week there was a wait at Old Germany (even though the total number of guests during the week was lower than the weekend). Both Google and Facebook show a steady stream of business for Turek's Tavern, too. Oktoberfest regularly pulled 40,000-50,000+ guests out to Choctaw Creek Park every year. The way they make it sound, everything was operating in the red despite it all... it's quite possible that I'm missing something here, but that just doesn't seem to pass the smell test to me. Anyone have any deeper insight here?

[d-usa]

I've volunteered at Oktoberfest a few times, usually ending up working in the kitchen with the family members. From the way they were talking, Oktoberfest really wasn't any kind of money maker. They loved putting it on, but they said that after everything was said and done they would usually just about break even with the event.

They could have been blowing smoke up my rear of course, but I don't know if they had a reason to lie to a casual acquaintance.

[Stew]

So, I know I'm not in the industry, and I've never owned a restaurant, so I am very likely missing something... but something about this very sudden closure just seems... off. The Turek's owned Old Germany and Turek's Tavern, and operated the Choctaw Oktoberfest, and they're shuttering all three, without any notice - apparently not even to their employees. All three were quite popular, and at least according to Google, even during the week there was a wait at Old Germany (even though the total number of guests during the week was lower than the weekend). Both Google and Facebook show a steady stream of business for Turek's Tavern, too. Oktoberfest regularly pulled 40,000-50,000+ guests out to Choctaw Creek Park every year. The way they make it sound, everything was operating in the red despite it all... it's quite possible that I'm missing something here, but that just doesn't seem to pass the smell test to me. Anyone have any deeper insight here?

Yeah there's more to the story but does it really matter?

[baralheia]

Yeah there's more to the story but does it really matter?

I mean, the truth always matters, in my personal opinion, since the reasons cited for closing were "fewer customers, changing tastes, and operating in the red", yet people remember the place as always being busy. But that said, in the scheme of things, the rest of the story here probably isn't that important to know... I guess it's more just trying to wrap my brain around the sudden news.

Who knows, maybe this could open up some room for a bigger Tulsa Oktoberfest-style event, but in OKC. That would be pretty darn amazing!

[BridgeBurner]

Who knows, maybe this could open up some room for a bigger Tulsa Oktoberfest-style event, but in OKC. That would be pretty darn amazing!

That would be awesome, a man can dream

[Uptowner]

Don't forget Ingrid's has a lot of great German dishes.

Both Ingrid’s locations are currently for sale. The owner wants to sell it to someone who will continue the business but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Choctaw municiple Park has hosted it for years now. I agree it would be very cool to move it. But how neat would it be at scissortail Park or even Wiley post.

[Uptowner]

I mean, the truth always matters, in my personal opinion, since the reasons cited for closing were "fewer customers, changing tastes, and operating in the red", yet people remember the place as always being busy. But that said, in the scheme of things, the rest of the story here probably isn't that important to know... I guess it's more just trying to wrap my brain around the sudden news.

Who knows, maybe this could open up some room for a bigger Tulsa Oktoberfest-style event, but in OKC. That would be pretty darn amazing!

I’m not pinning this to old Germany. But, restaurants and bars are hard business. Most operate between 5-10% profit. And much like retail, often rely on seasons and holidays to push themselves into the black. It’s very, VERY easy to get behind on taxes, especially for bars who don’t run a tax line on the bill. Liquor is 21.5 cents on the dollar. Salary typically runs 1/3operating cost, inventory another 1/3, and if you can’t service debt and/or investor, then clear overhead with the remaining 1/3. You are operating at a loss. When the cash runs dry you are forced to either take on more debt in the hopes you can turn it around, sell something, or shutter. And it can happen overnight when you’re sitting at $0 cash but you need to buy $6,000 worth of inventory just to stay open one more weekend. The wholesalers do not have terms for payment, it’s COD because this (restaurants closing without notice) happens often.

[BridgeBurner]

Both Ingrid’s locations are currently for sale. The owner wants to sell it to someone who will continue the business but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Choctaw municiple Park has hosted it for years now. I agree it would be very cool to move it. But how neat would it be at scissortail Park or even Wiley post.

I think an Oktoberfest could be a pretty cool utilization of the Lower Scissortail Park one day.

[Bill Robertson]

I went there three times. All on Saturday afternoons while just riding the Harley wherever the road took me. I know Saturday afternoons aren’t a rush period but I was the only person there for part of all three times. In a business as profit tight as a bar/restaurant you can’t have very much open but not busy time.

[baralheia]

I’m not pinning this to old Germany. But, restaurants and bars are hard business. Most operate between 5-10% profit. And much like retail, often rely on seasons and holidays to push themselves into the black. It’s very, VERY easy to get behind on taxes, especially for bars who don’t run a tax line on the bill. Liquor is 21.5 cents on the dollar. Salary typically runs 1/3operating cost, inventory another 1/3, and if you can’t service debt and/or investor, then clear overhead with the remaining 1/3. You are operating at a loss. When the cash runs dry you are forced to either take on more debt in the hopes you can turn it around, sell something, or shutter. And it can happen overnight when you’re sitting at $0 cash but you need to buy $6,000 worth of inventory just to stay open one more weekend. The wholesalers do not have terms for payment, it’s COD because this (restaurants closing without notice) happens often.

I appreciate the insight, thank you! That does make sense. Still seems a bit odd that they wouldn't put out some sort of message to drum up business when it started looking really bad, but maybe they just got blindsided. It sucks any way you look at it though.

[Sharona21]

I am Brad's wife but he would just like to say hi and hope you are doing well.
Sharon Hendrickson

[bombermwc]

I've been there a couple of times and the food was good and all, but the price was high for what you got. I feel like if they places was being built today, they would have spent a WHOLE lot less on the structure and been able to keep the costs down. Because of that price, it really turned into a place for special occasions, which means its harder to get the volume from the regular eating out crowd. The location of this one and Bavaria just isn't good either. Maybe that helped keep the rent lower, but they're both in a location that means you have to make it the destination, not something on the way to something else and that limits your customer base too. The formula worked well enough for a long time, but like most eateries, it eventually catches up when something new comes around and pulls your rug out.

[d-usa]

Cryptic “Stay Tuned” message on their Facebook page today.

[Jeepnokc]

I've been there a couple of times and the food was good and all, but the price was high for what you got. I feel like if they places was being built today, they would have spent a WHOLE lot less on the structure and been able to keep the costs down. Because of that price, it really turned into a place for special occasions, which means its harder to get the volume from the regular eating out crowd. The location of this one and Bavaria just isn't good either. Maybe that helped keep the rent lower, but they're both in a location that means you have to make it the destination, not something on the way to something else and that limits your customer base too. The formula worked well enough for a long time, but like most eateries, it eventually catches up when something new comes around and pulls your rug out.

We love German food but you are right...location plays into it. We just won't drive that far out unless special occasion. If special occasion though...we would go to Keller in the Castle but they have switched now to Euro- american menu instead of German. Had a really bad experience with Bavaria several years ago and the owner/manager blew me off so will never return to his establishments. Let's just hope Ingrid's doesn't change.

[TheTravellers]

We love German food but you are right...location plays into it. We just won't drive that far out unless special occasion. If special occasion though...we would go to Keller in the Castle but they have switched now to Euro- american menu instead of German. Had a really bad experience with Bavaria several years ago and the owner/manager blew me off so will never return to his establishments. Let's just hope Ingrid's doesn't change.

Speaking of Ingrid's, they now have an additional sign up in their window that says "No, we're not closing, we're just looking for a buyer that will continue Ingrid's in the way it's been" (paraphrased), so I guess they're having a hard time finding a buyer...

[ctchandler]

We love German food but you are right...location plays into it. We just won't drive that far out unless special occasion. If special occasion though...we would go to Keller in the Castle but they have switched now to Euro- american menu instead of German. Had a really bad experience with Bavaria several years ago and the owner/manager blew me off so will never return to his establishments. Let's just hope Ingrid's doesn't change.

We loved Old Germany and like you I was totally screwed at Royal Bavaria. I ordered a meal that included tenderloin and I asked for medium rare. When I cut into it it was rare (and almost cold). I asked the waitress to take it back and bring me what I ordered. The cook burned it, it was more than well done. I told them (nicely, I'm not a jerk) to keep it (my wife had finished her meal) because I was ready to leave. I was billed for my meal that I didn't eat a single bite of and I told the manager and as you say, he (actually, I think it was "she") blew me off. I told them I would never come back but she didn't care and I never have gone back.
C. T.