View Full Version : Allisha's Southern Kitchen



TheTravellers
01-14-2016, 04:08 PM
Was on Memorial today, saw a sign for Allisha's Southern Kitchen on one of the buildings close to Rock & Brews. Couldn't find anything on the web, anybody know anything about it?

Pete
01-14-2016, 04:12 PM
Yes, it's going in the old Inferno's Pizza space.

I couldn't find anything about it either but I called the guy who had his name on the building permit and he told me they hope to open very soon.

It's the same couple (older) who run the cafe in the Cowboy Hall. I assume it will be traditional southern dishes.

Thomas Vu
01-14-2016, 05:53 PM
I was going to make this thread today too! Was the cafe in Cowboy Hall good?

jccouger
01-15-2016, 09:20 AM
Yes, it's going in the old Inferno's Pizza space.

I couldn't find anything about it either but I called the guy who had his name on the building permit and he told me they hope to open very soon.

It's the same couple (older) who run the cafe in the Cowboy Hall. I assume it will be traditional southern dishes.

Wait, Inferno's is already closing or they had a prior location?

TheTravellers
01-15-2016, 09:28 AM
Wait, Inferno's is already closing or they had a prior location?

Inferno's closed a few months ago.

Pete
03-02-2016, 07:39 PM
They open this Friday, March 4th.



https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/12741906_591874964294112_4232132223947499100_n.jpg ?oh=184f5d3c1a9c8639ddef59dcb040ecdc&oe=57502430

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtl1/v/t1.0-9/12802929_594722247342717_8573006308544411392_n.jpg ?oh=74b3d07fc303e6ae65ae42d899bb67c6&oe=576BD015

Tundra
03-02-2016, 07:46 PM
Anyone know the operating hours?

Pete
03-02-2016, 07:48 PM
They open at 6:30AM.

I suppose they stay open until 10PM or so.


They will have brunch on Saturday and Sunday.

Tundra
03-02-2016, 07:54 PM
That will be a nice option for an early breakfast on the Northside, I look forward to trying it....

Pete
03-02-2016, 07:56 PM
Can't find their menu on-line and am curious to see it.

Their place at the Cowboy Hall was very well liked so I'm optimistic.

Uptowner
03-03-2016, 05:39 PM
Holy crap. Not to sound pessimistic but add this to the long...LONG lines of tenants that have failed in this space. To operate for 16 hours a day? Plus 2 to open and 2 to close making it 20 hours a day, across 3 shifts? The labor costs and management are giving me heartburn just thinking about.

Didn't I already post up thread about how I speculate the owner of this building might be a rent predator?(EDIT: no it was on the infernos pizza thread)

Funny also how it comes country style food full circle from this place being an applewoods restaurant in the 90's. I wonder if that family still owns the building.

Pete
03-10-2016, 07:11 AM
Menu:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/allishas1.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/allishas2.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/allishas3.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/allishas4.jpg

Roger S
03-10-2016, 07:17 AM
Hmmmmm.... Well the Southern Fried Chicken was all it took to convince me to drive all the way across town and try it soon.... Well ok... The chicken pot pie and chicken and dumplings may have helped persuade me a bit too if we get one last cold snap.

OkiePoke
03-10-2016, 07:39 AM
Are they open yet? I went by Saturday morning and the doors were locked. A lady came out and indicated they were having some issues... She didn't get a date for when they would open.

Pete
03-10-2016, 07:43 AM
Are they open yet? I went by Saturday morning and the doors were locked. A lady came out and indicated they were having some issues... She didn't get a date for when they would open.

They opened Sunday.

Jeepnokc
03-10-2016, 08:13 AM
Looks tasty and will have to make a trip for breakfast and for dinner.

Hopefully they do well. That is a pretty big menu as far as keeping a lot of food stock and looks labor intensive. 4 daily regular soups plus soup of the days and 17 desserts. Will require some excellent management skills to keep everything in stock without having huge waste costs. I wonder how much will be fresh versus frozen. For example, they have a shrimp cocktail appetizer. It is the only shrimp on their menu so guessing it is frozen or they will either be out of it all the time as you keep the stock really low or run potential of a lot of waste when the fresh shrimp goes bad.

SSEiYah
03-10-2016, 10:24 AM
Menu Looks good, Yelp reviews (so far) are not: http://www.yelp.com/biz/allishas-southern-kitchen-oklahoma-city

adaniel
03-10-2016, 10:42 AM
I hate to be such a stickler, but my family is from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. And outside of the muffaletta, fried chicken, and *maybe* the chicken pot pie, nothing about that menu strikes me as remotely southern. Where is the chicken and waffles? No cornbread? Collards? Catfish? Perhaps "southern" is not the theme they are going with.

I hope they succeed but I agree with Jeep, I think they are trying to do a little too much here.

TheTravellers
03-10-2016, 02:10 PM
The menu items look good, but far too many - like the restaurants owned by Greek folks in the Chicago area that had everything under the sun, but everything was completely average. And not shocked about bad reviews, that's exactly why we always wait at least a few months for *any* new restaurant to get it together before we go, no way in hell would we ever go someplace during the first few weeks (at the very least) of operation.

Thomas Vu
03-10-2016, 03:54 PM
I hate to be such a stickler, but my family is from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. And outside of the muffaletta, fried chicken, and *maybe* the chicken pot pie, nothing about that menu strikes me as remotely southern. Where is the chicken and waffles? No cornbread? Collards? Catfish? Perhaps "southern" is not the theme they are going with.

I hope they succeed but I agree with Jeep, I think they are trying to do a little too much here.

Serious question, is southern synonymous with soul?

Paseofreak
03-10-2016, 04:09 PM
Maybe partially, as most of the South was dirt poor and had to adapt cooking and eating to that fact. Nevertheless, from my Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi experience, they are related, but generally, I think modern Southern descended from Soul. Look at Southern Living magazine. You see old school techniques and flavors that are consistent with Soul, but the entire tenor of the meals and many of the ingredients are quite a stretch from what I understand to be Soul. Moreover, I think Soul Food spans far greater geographic roots than what we call Southern Food.

adaniel
03-10-2016, 05:17 PM
Serious question, is southern synonymous with soul?

Yes and no. Soul food is a subset of southern, in the sense that low country, and cajun are.

Paseofreak explained it well...I'll add that the main difference is the meat cuts. Soul food was made by black southerners who couldn't afford more expensive cuts of meat so that had to make due with the cheap stuff (neckbones, ham hocks, chiterlings, etc.) and paired it up with equally cheap sides like greens and black eyed peas.

As things have become more integrated, the two have merged somewhat. The main difference now though is soul food is a lot more seasoned and spicy.

Now that I looked at my last post, I made a mistake as chicken and waffles is most certainly not southern food (it is soul food though). It actually originated in NYC, Harlem to be specific.

dcsooner
03-10-2016, 05:28 PM
Serious question, is southern synonymous with soul?

I speak as an African American, and as it relates to food, yes. Agree with an earlier post, corn bread, collards, sweet potatoes etc. Adaniel s post is spot on.

rte66man
03-10-2016, 09:17 PM
Can't really be that Southern if there are no Black-Eyed Peas simmered in bacon fat.

Jeepnokc
03-11-2016, 07:07 AM
Can't really be that Southern if there are no Black-Eyed Peas simmered in bacon fat.

I was surprised that there wasn't shrimp and grits on the menu as they carry the food stock for both already. The REAL defining question ass to settle the question if they are southern is whether they use real grits or instant?

HangryHippo
03-11-2016, 08:56 AM
The REAL defining question ass to settle the question if they are southern is whether they use real grits or instant?

¿Qué?

Jeepnokc
03-11-2016, 01:31 PM
¿Qué?

hahaha. Guess I should proof read a little closer

Pete
08-12-2016, 06:32 AM
Has anyone been?

I haven't heard a peep about this place.

Roger S
08-12-2016, 06:57 AM
Has anyone been?

Went for Sunday brunch a couple of weeks back after a morning at Top Golf.... Unfortunately, at least for me, Sunday brunch is a buffet. So i sampled a little bit of a lot of things but in the end it ended up being a very expensive breakfast for me to mostly eat biscuits and gravy.

It wasn't terrible for a buffet but I'm not a fan of buffets at all anymore.... I will say the biscuits and gravy were quite good. The grits I tried were well prepared, and the bread pudding was excellent..... They also serve the Applewood's Fritters on the Sunday brunch... Don't know if that's a daily thing or not but if you grew up eating those, and I did, it might be worth it just for those.

Will probably go back and give it another try when I can order off the menu.... I think they offer chicken and noodles (or dumplings). So I'll go back and try that when the cold weather sets in. And don't let my dislike of the buffet put you off.... I just don't like buffet food personally.

Bill Robertson
08-12-2016, 07:56 AM
We drive by there fairly often and there's always quite a few cars there. Way more than Bikinis or Infernos ever had so they must be doing something right.

Pete
08-12-2016, 07:59 AM
I'm not a buffet person, either.

Food sitting out under heat lamps vs. freshly prepared to your desires? The quantity doesn't matter if the quality isn't there. But, they are a big money-maker in this part of the country, so I understand why places do this.

I will eventually give a try when I'm in the mood for heavy comfort food, which isn't the summertime for sure.

hfry
08-12-2016, 08:54 AM
Funny that you ask Pete cause I was there for the first time last night. They had the buffet again which the others in my party all had and seemed to enjoy it but I'm kinda the same way about food sitting under heat lamps. I ordered the chicken friend steak which was pretty average. It was good sized but nothing really to make it worth trying again. The restaurant was pretty dead for a dinner service but it was Thursday. The service from our waitress was fantastic. Ita not a bad place and a interesting concept from what has been in there but it's pretty pricy so I don't see it lasting.

Rover
08-12-2016, 08:57 AM
I went for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It was a Thursday evening and my group and one other table was all that was in there the whole time we were there. I am not a buffet person, so I will admit that. For a buffet to be decent, it requires a good turnover of food so things stay reasonably fresh. So, maybe on other nights it would be better, but on the night we went, the same food sat for some time. The food was acceptable for the price, which is pretty low. But, I sure would not go back as there are many, many better options in that area.

Roger S
08-12-2016, 09:08 AM
But, I sure would not go back as there are many, many better options in that area.

Yeah... What I had definitely wasn't good enough to draw me back up there from Moore and I have no problem traveling for food..... Last weekend saw me in Edmond for dinner Friday, Shawnee for breakfast Saturday, and Yukon for breakfast Sunday..... Speaking of which.... I really need to find the appropriate thread to share my Sunday breakfast in because it was unique and excellent.

Bill Robertson
11-25-2016, 05:44 PM
Looks like they're kaput. We're at Rock N Brews and Alishas is dark. Looked up their Facebook page and it says Permanently Closed. If I were the building owner I would be hiring a demolition company.

jn1780
12-01-2016, 09:36 AM
Looks like they're kaput. We're at Rock N Brews and Alishas is dark. Looked up their Facebook page and it says Permanently Closed. If I were the building owner I would be hiring a demolition company.

Or lower their rent. I don't think this would have helped Allisha's though.

Roger S
12-01-2016, 09:40 AM
Or lower their rent. I don't think this would have helped Allisha's though.

Nope... Wrong spot for that concept... The food was good but to much other competition on that strip and that building was way too big for them.

Not sure if they closed their restaurant out at the Western Heritage Museum (Cowboy Hall of Fame) when they opened this location or not but hopefully they will pop up somewhere else.

TheTravellers
12-01-2016, 05:06 PM
Nope... Wrong spot for that concept... The food was good but to much other competition on that strip and that building was way too big for them.

Not sure if they closed their restaurant out at the Western Heritage Museum (Cowboy Hall of Fame) when they opened this location or not but hopefully they will pop up somewhere else.

They closed their museum location:

http://newsok.com/article/5501209

Roger S
12-02-2016, 06:38 AM
They closed their museum location:

http://newsok.com/article/5501209

I thought I had heard that at one time but couldn't remember, and didn't have time to look it up... Thanks for the info!

SSEiYah
12-03-2016, 10:46 PM
This place had mediocre food for higher than average prices, not surprised it is dead.

I think only chains will succeed on memorial. For a local restaurant to succeed they will really need to put out so-called "destination food" meaning its the best in the city, a reason to drive a ways to get there.