View Full Version : What old business do you remember in OKC?



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Bigrayok
06-22-2011, 10:12 PM
The one that had really great Chef Salads?

The Fred Gangs Meat Market location was Billie Lee Pies before it was Fred Gangs. Both were owned by the Sirloin Stockade Company that was headquartered on N.W. 39th Expressway. Later, the building housed a Cattle Rustler's Steakhouse.

Does anyone remember a buffet that was located next door to where Putt-Putt was located? Later, a transmission shop went into the same building. I think it may have been called the Heritage House, but it was not associated with the Heritage House that used to be in the current Hometown Buffet location on Northwest Expressway.

Bigray in Ok

Tritone
06-25-2011, 01:58 PM
Fred Gang's isn't the place I have in mind. The word "Country" seemed to come to mind, but after Bigray's post "heritage" seems to ring a bell also. The place I have in mind had steaks, fried chicken, an the like. It was a good after church place.

jmarkross
06-25-2011, 02:54 PM
Fred Gang's isn't the place I have in mind. The word "Country" seemed to come to mind, but after Bigray's post "heritage" seems to ring a bell also. The place I have in mind had steaks, fried chicken, an the like. It was a good after church place.

Country Kitchen hits my memory...or maybe something with a female name in it...it was a good place...I went there for lunch many, many times...

Jim Kyle
06-25-2011, 08:57 PM
Country Kitchen hits my memory...or maybe something with a female name in it...it was a good place...I went there for lunch many, many times...Was it just east of Tulsa (or maybe Ann Arbor) on the north side of 39th Expressway? I vaguely recall a place there that had "Country Kitchen" in its name but preceded by a female name that started with "A" but I can't pull up the actual name...

capt_john_97
06-25-2011, 09:36 PM
I know where you are talking about it was just east of the 7-11 on 39th and Tulsa. the name escapes me at the moment but I seem to recall Annies or something to that effect not to be confused with Ann's Chicken fry further to the west

bluedogok
06-25-2011, 10:23 PM
I think it was Ashley's Country Kitchen.

jmarkross
06-25-2011, 10:29 PM
I remember it being a great salad place when I was into that...and...it was about 80% female customers...and had tablecloths...so it was fun to be there...good scenery... :)

Jim Kyle
06-26-2011, 07:33 AM
I think it was Ashley's Country Kitchen.

That was it! It might have been a chain, too -- I remember seeing one just off I 240, around SW 74 and Penn, after the one on NW 39 closed.

Prunepicker
06-26-2011, 10:05 AM
I know where you are talking about it was just east of the 7-11 on
39th and Tulsa.
The Iron Skillet. Our daughter in law worked there as a waitress in
the 90's.

Or was it the Country Skillet? Anyhoo it had skillet in the name.

CarltonsKeeper
06-26-2011, 04:50 PM
The one on 74th st. East of S. Penn just South of 240 was "Ashley's Country Kitchen" - Not familiar with the one north side !! It was something else before it was Ashley's - Think it was just "Country Kitchen."

USG'60
06-26-2011, 05:26 PM
Ashley always got HORRIBLE grades from the Health Dept as posted in the paper but so did another of my favorite places, Chadwick's. Mom always said I was low class.

Tritone
06-26-2011, 06:21 PM
Okay, it's not Ashley's I'm thinking of. I ate at all three Ashley's (or were there more?) but that's not the place I mean. This was on the south side of 39th and was definitely west of Meridian, between Ann Arbor and Grove, probably just east of the substation.

USG 60: I know what you mean about health dept writeups. I used to read the channel nine diners' guide and laugh at how many of my favorites were in it.

Anyway thanks to all. Country Kitchen is pobably it. Someday the name will come to me out of the blue. For now, we've evoked some good memories; isn't that the purpose for this thread?

ljbab728
06-26-2011, 10:15 PM
The southside "Country Kitchen" that I remember was on the south side of I240 east of Western. I don't ever remember anything like that near Penn.

CarltonsKeeper
06-27-2011, 07:29 AM
The "Country Kitchen" or "The Kettle" later to be "Ashley's Country Kitchen" East of Penn on Southwest 74th St. (S. of 1-240) was exactly where the original TG&Y Garden Center was located!!!!

skyrick
06-27-2011, 04:20 PM
My cousin and I were talking about concerts we had been to back in the day. I've only seen U2 twice; once in 1981 and again in 1983. I remember the '83 show was at Lloyd Noble, but I couldn't remember the small hole-in-the-wall club they performed in in '81. My memory is that it was somewhere by Will Rogers Park or NW 39th. My cousin suggested the Prairie Lady, but that didn't sound right, so I Googled "U2 concert history". The results included their 4-3-81 show at Quicksilver's in OKC. When I saw that name I was sure that was it, but for the life of me I can't remember where it was! Was that just a later venue at the old Prairie Lady location, or a different one altogether?

bluedogok
06-27-2011, 05:08 PM
It was where Fritzi's was located right by Will Rogers park. I don't remember that place being called Quicksilvers, that was always at NW 10th & MacArthur that I remember but I have heard of others refer to it under that name.

The local band Fingers was the opening act.

Tritone
06-27-2011, 05:41 PM
Kettle/Ashley's was east of Western, just east of Office Depot. It was razed and a security firm built on the lot.

Pete
06-27-2011, 08:41 PM
I don't remember that place being called Quicksilvers, that was always at NW 10th & MacArthur that I remember but I have heard of others refer to it under that name.

On 4-3-1981 the venue at 3034 N. Portland was called The Arena, a country & western place. It had previously been the Olympic Ice Chalet in the late 70's and re-opened as The Arena on March 10, 1981.

By summer of 1981 it was already re-branded as "Rainbows".

By 1982 it was called Canada's Club and there were prize fights held there.

In 1984 it was O'Toole's.

By 1985 it was called Belle Starr's.

For the rest of the 80's it was Fritzi's.

ljbab728
06-27-2011, 10:12 PM
Kettle/Ashley's was east of Western, just east of Office Depot. It was razed and a security firm built on the lot.

That's the one I remember and went to also. I have no idea what carlton is thinking about.

CarltonsKeeper
06-28-2011, 06:45 AM
That's the one I remember and went to also. I have no idea what carlton is thinking about.

After some research I find that Ashley's was just East of Western as you thought; with reference to what was I thinking - Well, apparently I had my head up my A**!! lol......................

BlackmoreRulz
06-28-2011, 01:48 PM
My cousin and I were talking about concerts we had been to back in the day. I've only seen U2 twice; once in 1981 and again in 1983. I remember the '83 show was at Lloyd Noble, but I couldn't remember the small hole-in-the-wall club they performed in in '81. My memory is that it was somewhere by Will Rogers Park or NW 39th. My cousin suggested the Prairie Lady, but that didn't sound right, so I Googled "U2 concert history". The results included their 4-3-81 show at Quicksilver's in OKC. When I saw that name I was sure that was it, but for the life of me I can't remember where it was! Was that just a later venue at the old Prairie Lady location, or a different one altogether?

My vague memory remembers a show they did that I coulda sworn was out on I-40 and Scott St, at a club that I thought was then called "The Outer Limits". I used your Google idea and they show a concert on 2/17/82 at a place called "Jammy's" with the aforementioned opening act of "Fingers". Where was "Jammy's"? This was about the same time that "The Bowery" was open near the 10th and Walker area.

Bigrayok
06-28-2011, 03:43 PM
I believe Jammy's was next to the Arena, O'Tooles, Fritzi's, etc. The entrance faced north. Huey Lewis and the News and U2 played there around 1982.

Bigray in Ok

skyrick
06-28-2011, 04:21 PM
My vague memory remembers a show they did that I coulda sworn was out on I-40 and Scott St, at a club that I thought was then called "The Outer Limits". I used your Google idea and they show a concert on 2/17/82 at a place called "Jammy's" with the aforementioned opening act of "Fingers". Where was "Jammy's"? This was about the same time that "The Bowery" was open near the 10th and Walker area.

OK, then where was Quicksilver's? I went to the show but my memory functions that night were probably otherwise occupied.

bluedogok
06-28-2011, 08:26 PM
The northeast corner of NW 10th & MacArthur, next to the Stone Pony is where I always knew it to be. There used to be a Sound Warehouse store in the front by the street before it moved the NW 39th & MacArthur location, Quicksilver's was at the very back of the property.

ljbab728
06-28-2011, 10:34 PM
After some research I find that Ashley's was just East of Western as you thought; with reference to what was I thinking - Well, apparently I had my head up my A**!! lol......................

Maybe you were thinging about the old Sirloin Stockade location in the shopping center east of Penn and south of I240? That's the notorious murder scene as you may remember.

RadicalModerate
06-30-2011, 01:25 PM
Anyone else remember "Whiskey River" out there on NE 23rd? It opened about the time that Willie Nelson released his version of that song. He, Willie, may actually have performed there once, but the only "Big Name" performer who I know for sure did was David Allen Coe.

Oops . . . Did I say "Big Name" performer? Let me rephrase that . . .

USG'60
06-30-2011, 05:16 PM
I saw the Amazing Rhythm Aces there and despite the fact that I LOVED them, I had to leave early because the sound system was so loud. It was literally painful. I couldn't go to the Phone Booth for the same reason.

skyrick
06-30-2011, 07:35 PM
I saw the Amazing Rhythm Aces there and despite the fact that I LOVED them, I had to leave early because the sound system was so loud. It was literally painful. I couldn't go to the Phone Booth for the same reason.

I saw the band Oklahoma (anyone remember them?) there
on New Year's Eve...mmmm late '70s?

Jim Kyle
06-30-2011, 08:19 PM
For a bit different feel, does anyone else remember The Buddhi? It was a coffee house at the height of the folk music era, located on N. Hudson in the 700 or 800 block, and had some of the top names in the Folk pantheon. I heard Hoyt Axton there, and also "Bud and Travis" when they got back together after trying solo careers (Bud Dasheel (sp?) and Travis Edmonston). Seems to me that Judy Collins also appeared there. It was a regular stop on the coffee house circuit in the 60s...

bluedogok
06-30-2011, 08:38 PM
I saw the band Oklahoma (anyone remember them?) there
on New Year's Eve...mmmm late '70s?
I remember a friend having their 8-track.....

skyrick
06-30-2011, 09:26 PM
I remember a friend having their 8-track.....

They don't even have a Wikipedia entry. I remember they had a regional semi-hit; soft rock, neo-Cali-folk-rock stuff.

ljbab728
06-30-2011, 10:35 PM
For a bit different feel, does anyone else remember The Buddhi? It was a coffee house at the height of the folk music era, located on N. Hudson in the 700 or 800 block, and had some of the top names in the Folk pantheon. I heard Hoyt Axton there, and also "Bud and Travis" when they got back together after trying solo careers (Bud Dasheel (sp?) and Travis Edmonston). Seems to me that Judy Collins also appeared there. It was a regular stop on the coffee house circuit in the 60s...

I certainly remember The Buddhi but don't think I ever went. I don't like coffee. LOL

Prunepicker
06-30-2011, 10:36 PM
For a bit different feel, does anyone else remember The Buddhi? It was
a coffee house at the height of the folk music era, located on N.
Hudson in the 700 or 800 block...
Don't remember it. That was in the vicinity of Kotche's Dance Studio.
I thought I knew everything about N. Hudson between Grand Avenue
(now Sheridan) and N.W. 13th. LOL!

RadicalModerate
06-30-2011, 10:36 PM
So "Oklahoma" was sort of an Eagles/Pure Prairie League tribute band?
(I'm not making fun . . . I loved that kind of music back in the day.)

Whiskey River was the type of place that clearly pointed out the absurdity and counterproductivity of those old "Private Club" style liquor laws. I never saw so many people, so falling down drunk in one place at one time. This was the type of place where you brought in your own bottle, sat it at your table and got set-ups of mixers and ice. (Dang . . . I sure wish that I'd been able to see The Amazing Rhythm Aces. Despite the volume. That guitar lick on "Third Rate Romance" still does it for me every time. =)

So . . . How about "Abextra"?
Remember that place?

Prunepicker
06-30-2011, 10:37 PM
So... How about "Abextra"?
Remember that place?
I spent a lot of time and money there.

RadicalModerate
06-30-2011, 10:45 PM
On incense and incense burners. Right?
And Day-Glo posters. =)

Prunepicker
06-30-2011, 10:50 PM
On incense and incense burners. Right?
And Day-Glo posters. =)
Among other things... Their incense was expensive. LOL!

jmarkross
07-01-2011, 02:07 AM
Among other things... Their incense was expensive. LOL!

The only decent incense around...Auroshikha...can be found at Amazon.com

Jim Kyle
07-01-2011, 07:38 AM
Don't remember it. That was in the vicinity of Kotche's Dance Studio.
I thought I knew everything about N. Hudson between Grand Avenue
(now Sheridan) and N.W. 13th. LOL!It was almost as hard to find as a Chicago speakeasy of the 20s. No neon sign, just a doorway that opened on a hall to a sort of back room with a small stage and a handful of tables. I don't remember it ever being standing room only, or for that matter even close to being full, but there were enough people enthusiastic about folk music and willing to pay the cover charge to keep them in business for several years... At least one commercial record was mastered there but I don't remember the company, artist, or title, and disposed of all my vinyl several years ago in a garage sale.

USG'60
07-01-2011, 01:19 PM
I saw Judy Collins, Judy Henski and the Kingston Trio there. It was Steve Brainard's project.

Jim Kyle
07-01-2011, 01:49 PM
You inspired me to go googling for it, and guess what I found:

http://tulsatvmemories.com/tulscof3.html

Fantastic history piece. Brings back all sorts of memories...

MikeOKC
07-01-2011, 02:20 PM
The only decent incense around...Auroshikha...can be found at Amazon.com

JMark, Have you ever tried Satya Sai Baba "Nag Champa"??? More commonly known as "Blue Box." I have found it at Amazon as well.

USG'60
07-01-2011, 02:36 PM
Good find, Jim.

skyrick
07-01-2011, 03:34 PM
So . . . How about "Abextra"?
Remember that place?

Bought my peace symbol medallion there, as well as numerous day-glo posters and a 4 ft black light to illuminate them. I first heard one of my favorite JA albums in the black light room: Crown of Creation. Also my first copy of Rolling Stone.

USG'60
07-01-2011, 03:45 PM
Rick, do you have a reference in your life to help determine when it opened. 64 or 65, maybe?

jmarkross
07-01-2011, 06:45 PM
JMark, Have you ever tried Satya Sai Baba "Nag Champa"??? More commonly known as "Blue Box." I have found it at Amazon as well.

No--but I will. As long as the stick involved is not a half-inch switch so it sends all the smoke detectors into "The house will automatically detonate in T-minus 5 minutes" mode...I like the kind with very, very thin sticks--which is why I like Auroshikha...

Thanks for the info...

dmoor82
07-01-2011, 07:20 PM
I remember as a kid my Father and I visited Taylor's news stand about twice a week to pick up a Boston Globe or even The Herald sometimes.I would Love to see a place like this again in dt OKC!

BlackmoreRulz
07-01-2011, 07:36 PM
Rick, do you have a reference in your life to help determine when it opened. 64 or 65, maybe?


Did it really open up that long ago? You're talking about the shop at about 6th & Classen? I remember going there in about 75 or 76

Prunepicker
07-01-2011, 08:12 PM
Did it really open up that long ago? You're talking about the shop at
about 6th & Classen? I remember going there in about 75 or 76
We're talking about Abextra, right? It was there in 1967 and I thought
at the time it had been there for a while. It was owned by Bill Borum.

Does anyone remember Head Quarters on @ N.W. 50th and N. Western?

BlackmoreRulz
07-01-2011, 08:25 PM
Being a southsider, we always went to the "Mad Hatter" at 59th & Blackwelder.

skyrick
07-01-2011, 10:54 PM
Rick, do you have a reference in your life to help determine when it opened. 64 or 65, maybe?

The first time I was aware of Abextra was 1968.

Prunepicker
07-01-2011, 11:01 PM
The first time I was aware of Abextra was 1968.
I'm thinking more like 1967 for myself.

RadicalModerate
07-01-2011, 11:01 PM
Apparently, at least a couple of people in here remember Abextra . . .
But do you remember their old 90 sec. radio spot? No?

[Voice: Low-Key-Mellowed-Out, Up-All-Night-FreeFormFMJock-Fond Of Playing Entire Album Sides]
(Note if non-AM FM was before your time, think of "Chris" on "Northern Exposure" after half a 'lude . . . Or, if you can't remember that show . . . Imagine Hardluck Jim on KGOU . . . or Steven Wright.)

[Cue Sitar arpeggio followed by tabla tapping then continuing sitar noises (ala Ravi Shankar/George Harrison)]

Hi . . . or maybe I should say "Hey" instead? (if you know what I mean, heh heh heh) . . .
This is Freewheelin' Frank, of Underground Comics Fame, with a few words about (and some good vibes directed toward) Abextra: Your Major League Headshop, in a minor league city.

Are you jonesin' for junk jewelry? Maybe you're longin' for a lava lamp or hopin' for a hookah?
Or that other special somethin' to enhance the cable-spool coffee table that brings the room together?

Do you have a hankerin' for a black light poster to cover up and update that stained, bare spot on the wall where the plaster fell off? The wall that bugs you when it doesn't look like it's melting or breathing? If you do, then naturally, you'll need a black light to really make the poster pop . . . Especially nice when used in conjunction with one or more of the many selections from Abextra's extensive strobe light collection.

Speakin' of Wall Art . . . From Frank Frazetta to Boris Vallejo to Salvadore Dali and Masters of The Hudson Valley School of Fantasy Painting, Abextra has 'em all. And if you can't find it on a poster, you can probably find it on a tee shirt.

For "Witchy Women" . . . Abextra has crystals and candles and figurines including dragons, elves, gnomes, trolls and fairies. Plus gossamer tops and leather accessories with shiny, colorful baubles. And I see here that there is 10% off on all cauldrons right now.

For you "reader-seeker types" out there, lookin' for knowledge and stuff to put on your cinderblock and two-by-twelve bookshelves, Abextra just got in a special shipment of the Baba Ram Dass Classic: "Be Here Now" (marked down, this week only, from "The Perfect Selling Price" of $3.33 to $2.49). Some people say that these were hijacked from a shipment headed toward Venture or Mary's Swap Meet out on Twenty-Third Street. It's just the prices that make it seem that way. Castaneda's "The Teachings of Don Juan" and "The Doors of Perception"—the Huxley, not Morrison, version—are always in stock, along with dozens of other titles.

Did you say Magazines? There's Ramparts (for you politicos) . . . High Times . . . Creem . . . National Lampoon. And Abextra can even give you your "Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers" Fix.

Why, I see here that we even have some copies of "Desiderata" hand-inked by Chinese monks right in their cells overlooking the fields where our Book of The Tao pickup sticks are harvested.

Of course, we have the most extensive collection of roach clips and smoking accessories in the area.

Abextra: A little taste of the Haight . . . with "Ashberries" thrown in to feed your head . . . Located right here in The Heart o' The Heartland . . . Just above the Buckle on The Bible Belt . . . Somewhere in the vicinity of Classen and Western, between Tenth and Twenty-Third Streets . . . Near that groovy dome . . . No, not the gold dome . . . That sorta Russian-lookin' onion dome . . .

Just look for The Glow of Good Karma.
OM . . .

[And . . . Cut.]

To be honest, I never could understand that whole "roach clip" thing. I always preferred staples.
That way, they were less likely to escape Plus their creepy little legs didn't keep wiggling for so long.

(Oh. Do I hear PETA peeps whining and moaning about "cruelty to roaches" now?)

Prunepicker
07-01-2011, 11:10 PM
Was that on KOCY?

RadicalModerate
07-01-2011, 11:24 PM
KOCY? I don't think so . . .
Their advertising rates were so high that Abextra could only afford a 30 second spot.

USG'60
07-02-2011, 02:07 PM
I never heard that or any Abextra ad that I can remember. Sounded like a good on though. I can't imagine it on any of the stations of the time except KOCY-FM, so which one was it on?

USG'60
07-02-2011, 02:08 PM
And how did you memorize that whole thing, anyway? Did you write the original copy?

Prunepicker
07-02-2011, 04:29 PM
The Abextra opened in 1964!

USG'60
07-02-2011, 05:19 PM
Oh, goodie, I made a good guestimate.

RadicalModerate
07-03-2011, 09:46 AM
Speaking of The Value of Advertising . . .
It occurs to me that if--instead of a lowly FM record-spinner--Abextra had been able to afford the talent fees of Linda Soundtrak, Alan Merrill, Tom Padgham or even Mark Shannon (God Rest His Soul) to do those spots, it might still be in business!

Nah . . .
On second thought, that would have been about as incongruous vis-a-vis the target demographic as Fred Phelps reading ad copy for a Gay Pride Parade.