View Full Version : Big Ed's



davido
07-10-2006, 07:33 PM
Is Big ed's still around? I knew Ed and his wife, I used to go over and make deliverys to them, They sure were nice people. I think he is lebonese (sp).

Intrepid
07-10-2006, 08:18 PM
I loved Big Ed's burgers! One of my favorites!

Intrepid
07-10-2006, 08:21 PM
Is Big ed's still around? I knew Ed and his wife, I used to go over and make deliverys to them, They sure were nice people. I think he is lebonese (sp).

I found this on a recent google search.


Big Ed's Hamburgers
Cuisine: American
General Location: North
Address: 524 N.W. 10th St.
City: Oklahoma City, OK 73103
Phone: 232-5419

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Review: There are two locations for Big Eds. One is on N.W. 10th Street, while another is at 12209 N. Pennsylvania. Big Ed's is a local burger chain that was established in the early Eighties and it's first location was at 63rd and Meridian. As usual, burgers at Big Ed's are made the old-fashioned way: slapped on a hot grill and cooked and then dressed up with everything including cheese, onions, lettuce and whatever you request. Big here means big! $$ Hamburgers

http://www.okgazette.com/restaurants/ProRestaurantEditForm.asp?IDAction=482&RecStart=1&Orderby=Name

dirtrider73068
07-10-2006, 08:24 PM
I think there use to be big ed's in norman in the 80's. If its the right big ed's think it was on lindsey street or could be alamedea it was so long ago and IO was so little I barely remeber it.

SOONER8693
07-10-2006, 09:02 PM
There was a Big Ed's in the shopping center at 12th and Lindsay in Norman in those days. The shopping center where the Safeway used to be located.

dirtrider73068
07-10-2006, 09:13 PM
Oh yea the safeway I remember now.

OklaCity_75
07-11-2006, 04:55 AM
I found this on a recent google search.


Big Ed's Hamburgers
Cuisine: American
General Location: North
Address: 524 N.W. 10th St.
City: Oklahoma City, OK 73103
Phone: 232-5419

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review: There are two locations for Big Eds. One is on N.W. 10th Street, while another is at 12209 N. Pennsylvania. Big Ed's is a local burger chain that was established in the early Eighties and it's first location was at 63rd and Meridian. As usual, burgers at Big Ed's are made the old-fashioned way: slapped on a hot grill and cooked and then dressed up with everything including cheese, onions, lettuce and whatever you request. Big here means big! $$ Hamburgers

http://www.okgazette.com/restaurants/ProRestaurantEditForm.asp?IDAction=482&RecStart=1&Orderby=Name

I think the 10th is the one that was demolished for St. Anthony's expansion.

I think the one on 122nd is still there I have not been in that area in awhile,

quailcreekgal
07-11-2006, 07:32 AM
The real Big Ed passed away a few years ago. I 'm pretty sure there is still a Big Ed's at 122nd and Penn and there used to be on in Edmond somewhere.

SoonerDave
07-11-2006, 09:21 AM
The real Big Ed passed away a few years ago.

Yeah, and it was kind of a sad story. When Big Ed's chain was at it's prime, it was a very successful. A story in the Oklahoman a few years ago reported that some investors approached him about taking the chain national, and apparently offered him quite a bit of money as an incentive, but he declined, thinking the timing wasn't right (or something similar). Some of the restaurants started failing and were closed, and that combined with some health problems he encountered left the family in a bit of a financial crunch if I'm not mistaken.

It's been a few years since I read that article, so I might be missing some details....they did make GREAT burgers, though. There used to be one at SW 89th and Western, and I think one time my family went there and got a Big Ed and split it amongst ourselves...it was e-stinking-NORMous...

-SoonerDave

metro
07-11-2006, 11:17 AM
There used to be one at 50th and Meridian next to Little Caesar's pizza also but it closed years ago. The one on nw 10th got torn down a year or so ago due to the St. Anthony's hospital expansion. I hear the one on 122nd is still there. I'm not sure though.

MadMonk
07-11-2006, 11:56 AM
Yes, the 122nd and Penn location is still open.

Pete
07-12-2006, 11:04 AM
Yes, Big Ed was a great guy.

His first location was actually at 50th & Meridian, as I went to nearby Putnam City and it was all the rage for a while.

Then, he started opening locations all over the city... He had at least 10 at one time.


Like so many small places, took much growth ruins what made them special in the first place. Cocina de Mino is another local restaurant that fits this description IMO. The original location on SE 29th was fantastic.

SoonerDave
07-12-2006, 01:05 PM
Like so many small places, took much growth ruins what made them special in the first place. Cocina de Mino is another local restaurant that fits this description IMO. The original location on SE 29th was fantastic.

From what I understand, it wasn't just unchecked growth that hurt Cocina de Mino....it was, shall we say, less than comprehensive internal financial oversight.

-SoonerDave

beatlebutt81
07-29-2006, 09:20 PM
I think I ate at a Big Ed's in Enid a long time ago, but I was too young to really remember for sure. Anyways I drove by the Big Ed's on Penn yesterday and I think my husband and I might eat there soon just to show support for the business.

MarkOKC
07-30-2006, 10:11 AM
I think there use to be big ed's in norman in the 80's. If its the right big ed's think it was on lindsey street or could be alamedea it was so long ago and IO was so little I barely remeber it.
Actually I worked at Big Ed's Hamburgers for a very long time. The first one was on 23rd and MacArthur, right next door to the old MacArthur Park Theater, then they opened #2 on 50th and Meridian. I worked at both of those when I was a teenager. I have known both Ed and Jenny my entire life. They and my parents were and have remained friends for many years.

MarkOKC
07-30-2006, 10:13 AM
The real Big Ed passed away a few years ago. I 'm pretty sure there is still a Big Ed's at 122nd and Penn and there used to be on in Edmond somewhere.

The "Real Big Ed" has not passed away. As a matter of fact I talked to him on the phone yesterday. He is not in the best of health, but is still with us.

geterdone
05-29-2009, 08:10 PM
Who runs the Big Ed's today, I had a bad experience happen to me today. I have ate there for a long time and would like to speak directly with whoever run's the locations now. I believe my experience was with one of the manager's. Not a big deal, just need to let them now. I still plan on eating there, just need an apology. Thanks Jason

Thunder
05-29-2009, 09:27 PM
I believe the man, the big and fat one, is the owner of the last store. You probably did had an issue with the owner, which is quite a surprise. Talk to him, work it out. He's very loyal to the company and customers. Ya know, think of it, probably just a bad day.

andy157
05-30-2009, 12:53 AM
I believe the man, the big and fat one, is the owner of the last store. You probably did had an issue with the owner, which is quite a surprise. Talk to him, work it out. He's very loyal to the company and customers. Ya know, think of it, probably just a bad day.Working anything out with "the big and fat one" will be hard to do.

alan
05-30-2009, 05:41 AM
if you are talking about the store at 122nd and Penn, i also believe the manager is the owner.

in my experience, no one works harder than that man to put out a great product and make sure his customers are happy.

that is one of the best places on the NW side for a good burger and fries, quick and inexpensive.

i'd also recommend talking to him, and if you can't, chalk it up to a gross misunderstanding....cool off and go back much later.

dismayed
05-30-2009, 03:57 PM
Here's the story you guys probably want to see:

http://newsok.com/for-many-oklahomans-big-ed-lives-on-in-memories/article/3342206

soonerfan_in_okc
08-07-2010, 12:43 AM
Sorry if there is already a thread about this, but can someone give me some quick history about the place? I went to the one downtown before it closed, and have been to their only location up on 122nd. Was it big back in the day? And was big ed really around? I saw pics, but not sure if they were legit.

flintysooner
08-07-2010, 05:25 AM
obituary: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=298&articleid=20090131_298_0_OKLAHO384806

Google of Okctalk for "Big Ed's": http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Aokctalk.com+%22Big+Ed%27s%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

RealJimbo
08-07-2010, 09:29 AM
Tried to follow the links, but too much work. Big Ed's original joint was at 50th and Meridian and he indeed did preside there. Big Ed was really big and he had the "Big Ed" on the menu. One of those challenge things if you cared to try it or it could be cut like a pizza and shared by a family. His burgers were good and he was a great guy too. I don't know how many places they had at their peak, but they were all over town.

flintysooner
08-07-2010, 09:46 AM
Excerpt from obituary:

By Associated Press
Published: 1/31/2009 10:16 AM
Last Modified: 1/31/2009 12:08 PM

OKLAHOMA CITY — Edward L. Thomas, the founder of the Big Ed's Hamburgers chain, has died. He was 66.

Thomas died Thursday in Oklahoma City of congestive heart failure, his daughter, Nicole Thomas, said.

Thomas opened his first hamburger joint in Oklahoma City in 1974, and over the next decade Big Ed's Hamburgers became a household name across Oklahoma with 42 stores, as well as four stores in Kansas.

Best known for its 12-inch-diameter hamburger, free to anyone who could eat it in less than 45 minutes, the business continued to grow until "Big Ed" sold the chain in 1996.

All that's left of the chain is a restaurant in a shopping center in north Oklahoma City, where owner Cyrus Naheed still practices the principles he picked up from the original owner.

"He told me, 'You've got to build your customers one at a time and then just take care of them,'" Naheed said.

Funeral services will be at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at St. Elijah Orthodox Church in Oklahoma City.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=298&articleid=20090131_298_0_OKLAHO384806

Thunder
08-07-2010, 09:58 AM
Fast food ultimately killed him. Good burgers he left behind. My parents met at the one in Del City on Sunnylane. Because of him, I was born and am here now on OKCTalk.

dismayed
08-07-2010, 07:35 PM
Back in the day he had many commercials that ran on local TV. He was always in them. At the height of his business he had restaurants all around the city.

soonerfan_in_okc
08-07-2010, 11:03 PM
Back in the day he had many commercials that ran on local TV. He was always in them. At the height of his business he had restaurants all around the city.
I kind of had a feeling thats how it used to be. It is almost depressing that it has dwindled to only one location.

soonerfan_in_okc
08-07-2010, 11:04 PM
guessing this is him.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/newsok-photos/539149/medium.jpg

Dustin
08-07-2010, 11:24 PM
Wow... I thought he died a LONG time ago!

Thunder
08-08-2010, 02:31 AM
I thought the biggest burger was made with biggest meat..not with several smaller meats.

icemncmth
08-08-2010, 07:40 AM
I thought the biggest burger was made with biggest meat..not with several smaller meats.

Nope it was with several small burgers. I at one once in Norman but I was young. Their food was good but as they chain grew the quality started to fall. When he only had a couple of places you could get a burger and a bunch of fries pretty cheap then they started cutting back on the fries. After a while it was like an other burger place.

Tritone
08-09-2010, 08:17 PM
"Big Ed" also had a place at NW 23rd and Mac Arthur in the 70s. He was in there just about every time I stopped.

PennyQuilts
08-10-2010, 05:35 PM
There was on one 23rd between Council and Rockwell and I used to take the kids there every Saturday after soccer practice at noon. LOVED their fries. I still can't hear the tornado sirens that go off at noon without thinking of Big Eds.

bluedogok
08-10-2010, 07:58 PM
The 23rd & MacArthur location was in the glass corner next to the movie theater, we ate there and went to a movie quite often. I think the theater is some sort of club now. I don't remember one between Council and Rockwell, when would that have been?

PennyQuilts
08-10-2010, 09:05 PM
The 23rd & MacArthur location was in the glass corner next to the movie theater, we ate there and went to a movie quite often. I think the theater is some sort of club now. I don't remember one between Council and Rockwell, when would that have been?

Let's see, that would have been in the 80's. North side of 23rd, down the street west from the old Albertsons.

ljbab728
08-10-2010, 09:45 PM
PQ, you probably also remember the Mustang location which was in the shopping center on the NE corner of HWY 152 and Mustang Road.

PennyQuilts
08-11-2010, 05:58 AM
PQ, you probably also remember the Mustang location which was in the shopping center on the NE corner of HWY 152 and Mustang Road.

Nope - other than dropping off a guy from our softball team in the 80's and once in 2002, I never set foot in Mustang until 2007. My husband was a Mustang boy, however, and he remembers it. I wish it were still there.

bluedogok
08-11-2010, 07:56 PM
Let's see, that would have been in the 80's. North side of 23rd, down the street west from the old Albertsons.
I graduated from PC West in 1982 and worked at that Skaggs from 80-82 but I don't remember one west of the MacArthur Park theater corner in the early 80's. Was it in the mid-to-late 80's? I think the 23rd & MacArthur location closed in the mid-80's. Maybe they relocated it for awhile.

PennyQuilts
08-11-2010, 09:22 PM
I graduated from PC West in 1982 and worked at that Skaggs from 80-82 but I don't remember one west of the MacArthur Park theater corner in the early 80's. Was it in the mid-to-late 80's? I think the 23rd & MacArthur location closed in the mid-80's. Maybe they relocated it for awhile.

It would have been at least the mid 80's - probably the late 80's.

MonkeesFan
08-13-2010, 06:55 AM
I can't believe there is only 1 location! That sucks but 1 location is better than 0!

SoonerDave
08-13-2010, 07:15 AM
The sad part about it is that there was, at one time, an opportunity for him to turn the concept into a nationwide franchise/chain, but he turned them down. From what I recall reading, it was a really good deal, but he just turned it down....don't remember the specifics...and business kinda started fading a bit shortly thereafter. I think it just grew too fast...

dmoor82
08-13-2010, 08:14 AM
If I'm not mistaken there used to be a Big Ed's on Air Depot in MWC,I think?

usmbubba
08-13-2010, 02:45 PM
If I'm not mistaken there used to be a Big Ed's on Air Depot in MWC,I think?

There was one inside of Heritage Park Mall

Bigrayok
08-13-2010, 04:17 PM
There was an article in the Oklahoman years ago that said Big Ed's son and a couple of others were going to develop it nationally. It obviously never happened. By the way, there was a Big Ed's on N.W. 23rd and Alexander in Bethany in the Apple Glade Shopping Center that was west of the 23rd and McArthur store. There is a Dental Assistant School and a Vetinarian office where it was located. The 23rd and McArthur location was the first store and Big Ed used to work in it. The store at N.W. 50th and Meridian became the headquarters store later. Big Ed once told me a 10 year old girl completed the Big Ed Burger by herself in the 45 minutes given to complete it.

Bigray in Ok

kevinpate
08-13-2010, 05:04 PM
One or two in Norman back in the day. Fairly yummy as I recall.

PennyQuilts
08-13-2010, 08:32 PM
There was an article in the Oklahoman years ago that said Big Ed's son and a couple of others were going to develop it nationally. It obviously never happened. By the way, there was a Big Ed's on N.W. 23rd and Alexander in Bethany in the Apple Glade Shopping Center that was west of the 23rd and McArthur store. There is a Dental Assistant School and a Vetinarian office where it was located. The 23rd and McArthur location was the first store and Big Ed used to work in it. The store at N.W. 50th and Meridian became the headquarters store later. Big Ed once told me a 10 year old girl completed the Big Ed Burger by herself in the 45 minutes given to complete it.

Bigray in Ok

That's the one!

MonkeesFan
08-15-2010, 01:40 AM
There was one inside of Heritage Park Mall

Yeah, I remember going there once, they had good hamburgers!