Pub with 2 screening rooms coming to 800 NW 4th by proprietors of Bleu Garten.

This is right across the street from The Flea.

http://newsok.com/downtown-oklahoma-city-building-to-become-site-for-food-drink-and-movies/article/5588914

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/socialcinema2.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/socialcinema1.jpg

Nice!! I've been waiting for this building to be something. Sounds like a really cool Idea. The Bower will be built a bit to the East and with all the infill to the north and south, west of downtown should be a cozy and active area.

Nice!! I've been waiting for this building to be something. Sounds like a really cool Idea. The Bower will be built a bit to the East and with all the infill to the north and south, west of downtown should be a cozy and active area.

That vacant OCURA lot directly east looks like it will soon be developed as well.

And agree about that building... They did a nice job renovating it and glad it is finding a great new use.

That vacant OCURA lot directly east looks like it will soon be developed as well.

Link to the thread about the proposed development across the street, at the SE/C of 4th & Shartel. The entity is Palomar. http://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=36384

That looks awesome. Hunter is a good smart dude. Always liked our chats at blue

This is fantastic and close-ish to me. I look forward to going there!

Another great place for west Downtown, which still has a ton of holes but is coming up rapidly.

I've always loved that building.

While we're talking about this area, there appeared to be more work going on in the Magic Cleaners Building. I noticed within the last couple of weeks that you could see just above the boarded up door work lamps were up and on.

This is a rendering from Gardner Architects:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/socialcinema1.jpg

Interesting demographic of customers. Wonder why only 4 people seem to have drinks at a "pub".

Interesting demographic of customers. Wonder why only 4 people seem to have drinks at a "pub".

Those are mostly designated drivers.... everyone else took their drinks in the Cinema!!!

Interesting demographic of customers. Wonder why only 4 people seem to have drinks at a "pub".

i was more concerned that they're all ghosts.

...or maybe they're all just there to see 'sixth sense.'

Pub with art-house theater to open

By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record May 10, 2018

OKLAHOMA CITY – Clay Farha waited three years for someone to bring something interesting to his building.

Farha is the president of BD Eddie Enterprises, which owns the building at 800 NW Fourth St.

“We were waiting for the right tenant,” Farha said. “We had turned down other uses. We felt like something cool and cutting-edge was what we were looking for.”

Luckily for Farha, Hunter Wheat and his business partner Lacey Pritchard happened to take a wrong turn one day and drove past the building at Fourth and N. Hudson Avenue. The couple had found another building, but they were going to have to spend a lot of money initially to get the building ready for their concept.

But this building at Fourth Street came with new windows and a helpful landlord. Farha is installing new heating and air conditioning units and putting on a new roof. He signed Wheat and Pritchard to a 20-year lease for their concept, Social Cinema Pub.

“(Farha) has been great to work with,” Pritchard said. “He saw the vision right away.”

Pritchard and Wheat founded Bleu Garten, but they’ve seen this pub concept work in other cities. The Social Cinema Pub is more social and pub than it is cinema. It would not have been legal before a law was passed allowing theaters to sell alcohol. The couple doesn’t consider the place a theater; they see it as a bar that happens to have movies as an entertainment option.

Their business model reflects that, Wheat said. At a regular theater, the tickets are priced high to generate revenue, and the concession offerings aren’t that tasty.

“We’re flipping that model,” he said. “It will give more perceived value to the food.”

Wheat said they’re expecting to sell tickets for first-run and cult-classic films for about $5. Events like election night and sporting events will be free to watch. Wheat has a culinary background and will be generating the recipes for the kitchen. The menu is all finger-friendly, so it will be easy to eat while watching a film.

There are two screens in the nearly 13,000-square-foot building. The theaters will back up to a center concession stand, which is separate from the outside bar area.

The space has plenty of soundproofing, so people in the bar can’t hear the movie, and the people watching the movie won’t be able to hear the bar crowd.

The Social Cinema Pub will be the fourth small-screen theater in the metro. The Rodeo Opry is showing films in Stockyards City. The Tower Theatre shows films when it’s not hosting a concert. The Oklahoma City Museum of Art has been showing films for several years.

OKCMOA Director of Curatorial Affairs Michael Anderson, who oversees the museum’s film program, said via email that the museum thinks there is room for more art-house and single-screen film venues in the city.

“Because there is so much interesting cinema out there, we can’t show it all,” he said. “We are encouraged by the sudden emergence of this sector in our city.”

Pritchard and Wheat said they hope to have their cinema pub opened by November. They have to do about $1.5 million in construction to bring the concept to life. It’s a blank slate, with exposed brick and an exposed ceiling.

They have their own money and investors’ funds in the project. They second-guessed signing the lease when they found out Pritchard was pregnant.

But they’ve seen this concept boom in Portland, Oregon, where Wheat went to culinary school. They’ve also had success with Bleu Garten, which has helped them be more confident about doing this well.

A late-fall opening date will get the eatery starting in time to get Bleu Garten employees an indoor job because the food truck park will be closed by then.

They said they know there will be more theaters with alcohol and food coming into the market, but they have a neighborhood-type concept, and it’s by local people. They said they’re entering this second concept with more confidence than they did with Bleu Garten. They’ve learned lessons like personnel management and vendor operations along the way.

With the opening of that first concept behind them, they’re ready for the second one.

“You feel like you can do it,” Pritchard said.

Farha believes in them as well. He said the company checked out the couple pretty hard before signing the lease.

“We liked what we saw,” he said. “We think they’re good, young operators.”

Their sign application with marquee:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/socialcinema051518.jpg

Oh I like that

Very retro. That's a little surprising considering the art house films. It's a cool sign, but I'm not sure it's right for that particular space.

Looks like they are installing new HVAC equipment.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/social061218a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/social061218b.jpg

Hard to tell but they are working away inside, with walls starting to go up. That's The Flea in the foreground.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/socialcinema092218.jpg

They are moving along inside.

Also, their name is now Banquet Cinema Pub.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/banquet1.jpg

This place gets bonus points for shying away from the trend of being the 20th different restaurant/bar concept in OKC with "Social" in their name.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/banquetcinema110918.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/banquet120418.jpg

The sign is up and looks great.

Dang you beat me too it. Noticed that this morning as well. Will try to get a pic.

https://kfor.com/2019/01/08/bleu-garten-owner-plans-to-open-cinema-pub-in-oklahoma-city-next-month/

https://oklahoma.uli.org/event/banquet-cinema-pub-site-tour-okc/

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/banquet011319.jpg

https://oklahoma.uli.org/event/banquet-cinema-pub-site-tour-okc/

I'm going to that, are you?

I think some important ground to cover here that’s obviously been missed. Will they serve delicious Guinness milkshakes?

I'm going to that, are you?

I was intending to, but it appears to be sold out.

https://newsok.com/article/5621767/wes-anderson-infused-banquet-cinema-to-open-this-month

Nice article in the Oklahoman but the audio company name was misspelled. It should be Vox Audio Visual, not Box Audio Visual.

https://newsok.com/article/5622174/sneak-preview-of-the-banquet-cinema-pub-menu-promising

I am pretty excited for this place to open, I hope beer prices aren't outrageous like Oak and Ore.

I had the good fortune to attend the soft opening tonight. Unfortunately, I had other obligations and couldn't stay long, so I didn't try any of the food, but the space and concept are dynamite. If it is programmed and marketed well, this will be a huge hit.

I can't imagine the Bleu Garden folks not programming/marketing well.

I can't imagine the Bleu Garden folks not programming/marketing well.

Not a critique at all, just an observation. The audience for Banquet doesn't necessarily jive with the Bleu Garten audience. It will be interesting to see how they tackle this. If done right, it could be a big hit.

Not a critique at all, just an observation. The audience for Banquet doesn't necessarily jive with the Bleu Garten audience. It will be interesting to see how they tackle this. If done right, it could be a big hit.

They own and operate the Anatomy Wine bar in the Plaza, and seem to be doing well with that. I imagine that crowd is more in tune with the Cinema Pub than Bleu.

I was there last night as well. The space looks beautiful and is significantly larger than what I expected. I was nervous the bar area would essentially just be a holding area for the theaters but its huge and very well done in itself. Also lots of tvs/projectors in this area that make it a solid spot for watching sports (although the vibe is definitely not a "sports bar" vibe). The pizza was good - there is a good mix of simple and "out there" pies. The popcorn was also good - super buttery but could have used a bit of extra salt. We had sips of a number of the cocktails and all were tasty.

The theaters are great - I'm not an A/V expert but they looked and sounded great for what they are (they had First Man and The Old Man & the Gun playing). There is a small private bar for the theaters, presumably to minimize noise coming from the main bar area by not having to open those doors for drinks/food.

My understanding is that Banquet will primarily be showing first-run/newer movies. I'm not really sure what the economics of this is or how expensive tickets will have to be to make it work, but the good news is that, although its a huge space, the bar area should be a hit by itself. And as long as ticket prices are reasonable (understanding that they'll be at least a little more expensive than a big theater) I would much rather see a movie here than at Quail, Harkins, or even Penn Square/Warren. Congrats to Hunter & team on a job well done.

Does anyone know if they are going to try and get "limited release" types of movies, or are those still predominately going to go to the MoA and Rodeo Cinema?

What is the theater seating like?

Checked this place out last night, the bar and lobby areas were awesome.
Food and drink seemed very reasonably priced with pretty good selection.
Tried to see if I could get a look at the theaters between showings but they said they had a cleaning crew in there so I was unable to do so.
Only issue was some hiccups with the power, multiple power surges turning all the lights and lobby screens off but I am sure that is just opening week issues.

Here now meeting with James Cooper. Apparently OG&E failed in that area last night.

This article/video has images of the theater & seating

http://www.dennisspielman.com/2019/02/banquet-cinema-pub/?fbclid=IwAR0mH4cs15e9I6teNOQFO6xYibdIh6SEnyaAT56w caAU8H7uU0l9Mn4SUP4http://www.dennisspielman.com/2019/02/banquet-cinema-pub/?fbclid=IwAR0mH4cs15e9I6teNOQFO6xYibdIh6SEnyaAT56w caAU8H7uU0l9Mn4SUP4

Oklahoman reporting this place is closing.

Barely made it 6 months after substantial investment.

Oklahoman reporting this place is closing.

Barely made it 6 months after substantial investment.

they didn't help themselves at all in the operation of this place ...

they didn't help themselves at all in the operation of this place ...

Can you elaborate?

Can you elaborate?

sure when they first opened they said they wanted to be both a theater and a bar/restaurant that people could hang out in or come watch a game at, but their prices didn't reflect this strategy.

at open they were charging movie theater price for their food and drinks which is fine for a theater but not ok if you want customers that are not their for a movie or customers to hang out for any length of time before/after a showing

they eventully did change there pricing for food/drinks (though not enough) but by that point the ship had largly sailed ..

Sad to see. I had a good experience both times I went there.

From the Oklahoman story, quoting Hunter Wheat: “If we could get to two years from now, I think it will be a screaming deal for anyone.”

Were they simply too early?

In a couple years the apartments across the street might be built, perhaps a few other improvements like 4th street getting redone in bikewalkokc style. Probably doesn't help that it's so desolate over there. I've seen I think four movies there and when you walk out it's like you stepped into another, desolate dimension. I wish they could find a way to tough it out. I like having a locally owned first run movie theater a few blocks away.

Just a confusing concept that never found a following.

The Flea directly across the street does okay and Revolucion and Sunnyside are nearby and do well.

Can't say I agree that the location is the problem is either.... I don't think most people ever really knew what it was and the concept of being a bar/movie theater is just too unique. Especially with an actual bar, that most people know is a bar, despite the non-bar name, across the street wasn't going to help them establish a bar crowd.

Hopefully someone will turn it into an indie theater possibly like what is going in Stockyards and be successful with that and even that may be tough because I just don't know that we have an active enough indie movie scene here.

Can't say I agree that the location is the problem is either.... I don't think most people ever really knew what it was and the concept of being a bar/movie theater is just too unique. Especially with an actual bar, that most people know is a bar despite the non-bar name, wasn't going to help them establish a bar crowd.

Hopefully someone will turn it into an indie theater possibly like what is going in Stockyards and be successful with that and even that may be tough because I just don't know that we have an active enough indie movie scene here.

We do, but, like you (not a shot at all, I promise, as you are definitely not alone, and perception is reality), people assume we don't, so no one opens up those types of theaters.

Just a confusing concept that never found a following.

The Flea directly across the street does okay and Revolucion and Sunnyside are nearby and do well.

We considered it for a date night several weeks ago to watch a movie. The website made it look like it has really small screens and just didn't look nice or comfortable. Ended up going somewhere else even though we couldn't get drinks.

Went with a few friends last weekend and while the bar/lobby area was nice, I wasn't a fan of the actual movie experience itself.

I really saddened by this. I've been here probably 30 times and never even saw a movie. Great place to hit up after hanging at the flea for a late night slice or would just come for dinner and play some shuffle board. Wish it was busier on this side of town so more people would check it out.

Due to the awesome TV's and home theaters in many homes and almost every movie available for immediate streaming, a commercial theater had better be pretty sweet to lure people in. You can't just be a projection screen with some chairs and expensive food and drink.

Way too much tough competition for movie dollars these days.

Due to the awesome TV's and home theaters in many homes and almost every movie available for immediate streaming, a commercial theater had better be pretty sweet to lure people in. You can't just be a projection screen with some chairs and expensive food and drink.

Way too much tough competition for movie dollars these days.

For me most movies now a days don't make the cut for me to want to go see it in a theater. I have always liked going to the theater, but I want to go and watch something fresh and new, something that is not made just for the sake of money.

Disappointing. I enjoyed going here the few times I went, both to see movies and just to hang out and play shuffleboard. I loved the concept of showing big games on the screens in addition to movies. Too bad.

For me most movies now a days don't make the cut for me to want to go see it in a theater. I have always liked going to the theater, but I want to go and watch something fresh and new, something that is not made just for the sake of money.

It's funny because when VHS first came around everyone predicted the downfall of movie theaters, but that first couple of waves of home vid only helped to increase interest in theatrical releases.

But it seems we've reached a tipping point. I used to go see almost everything in the theater; as of a few years ago I have almost completely stopped going.

Maybe Flix and Alamo Drafthouse will change that.