View Full Version : Interurban to open near Gaillardia, set sites on Norman and bricktown.



TheImmortal
03-03-2006, 02:18 PM
Not sure where to post this since it metions Bricktown briefly at the end. But I decided since it is mainly about an OKC location a would post it in here.


Interurban eatery set to open

By Tricia Pemberton
Business Writer

Marilyn Denson says the people in the Gaillardia area are in for a treat when an Interurban restaurant opens nearby in June.
"We love Interurban. We eat there about once a week," said the 64-year-old retiree.

Denson and her husband live in Oklahoma City near Lake Overholser, so they usually visit the Yukon Interurban, but she said she'll be happy to drive to the restaurant on Memorial Road and MacArthur Boulevard once it opens.

"The food is so good," Denson said.

She likes the Linda Spinach salad with chicken and the grilled salmon. Her husband, Bob, likes the ribs. They both like the steaks, the steamed vegetables that come with the beer battered muffins and the quesadillas.

She's impressed with Kevin George, co-owner and manager of Interurban restaurants in Yukon and Edmond.

"He is so nice to everyone, always moving around the dining room, checking to make sure everything is OK," she said.

"It's just a great place."

Denson's not on the payroll for Interurban, but Kevin George said she's the type of customer the restaurant tries so hard to please.

"Our philosophy is to have the best food with the freshest ingredients and then offer the highest-quality service at affordable prices in a casual environment," George said.

In the food department, the restaurant makes its own sauces and dressing daily and from scratch, using many recipes that have been on the menu for up to 30 years. And the menu is huge, with everything from burgers and steaks -- made from certified Angus beef -- to pastas, brick-oven pizzas, Mexican and Asian fare.

In the service department, George said Interurban prides itself on the number of employees who have stayed with the restaurant for many of the 30 years the company has been in existence.

"We are lucky enough to get people who love the restaurant business and are good at it, and they stay a long time. There's no corporate feel to working here, and one reason they stay is our customers tend to be real regulars, coming daily or several times a week," he said.

At the new restaurant on Memorial -- where the cement slab is poured and steel beams are up -- George said not much will change from the existing Interurbans in Edmond and Yukon and franchisee-owned restaurants in downtown Oklahoma City and Ardmore.

The new restaurant will employee about 80 people and will seat about 220 in the main restaurant and about 50 in the bar. It will also have a patio.

The new location may be a bit more modern, incorporating more glass and art, but it will still be as sports-oriented as the other restaurants, George said.

The restaurant will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner and will serve brunch Saturdays and Sundays.

George said owners -- himself, Rusty Loeffler and Robert Ross -- chose the location because it was close to neighborhoods such as Gaillardia.

George said the goal of the restaurants' owners is to open at least one Interurban a year over the next several years. They are looking for sites in Norman and Bricktown.

BDP
03-03-2006, 03:34 PM
Too bad we're not getting real interurbans. ;)

TheImmortal
03-03-2006, 03:36 PM
lol. Very true.

venture
03-03-2006, 05:45 PM
Well...they tried Norman before, and left...I think their old building is available again. LOL

HOT ROD
03-03-2006, 06:58 PM
I hope they dont come to Bricktown tho. I like the one in the cbd,

HOT ROD
03-03-2006, 06:58 PM
i think they just need to promote it. Leave it as the only true URBAN, interurban restaurant!

Oops, it split my post. I was discussing leaving the CBD with interurban, it doesnt get more urban than downtown OKC's compact CBD.

Rooster_Cogburn
03-03-2006, 10:13 PM
Bricktown has enough restaurants and bars. Specialty retail, services, and maybe a grocery store or at least a Walgreens.

We need to gear downtown and Bricktown to be convention friendly. Places to sleep, eat, play and shop (retail, grocery, drugstore, services). We have the first two down it is time to finish the job.

Conventions bring million of dollars into any city's economy.

jbrown84
03-03-2006, 10:55 PM
Wasn't the original Interurban in Norman? How long has it been gone?

venture
03-04-2006, 08:11 AM
Yes a grocery store downtown...blah. I could see a smaller store to help those that live there, but Bricktown itself needs more entertainment venues - not just bars. I still like the idea of the indoor waterparks that have been sprouting up all over the Great Lakes. It could effectively replace White Water Bay, and also knock out two birds with one stone - additional hotel rooms (since they typically do these inside hotels) and more entertainment.

Wasn't the original Interurban in Norman? How long has it been gone?

If it is the one on Main Street, I believe it closed down before I had to move away for a few years...which would have been 2001/2002.

John
03-04-2006, 11:07 AM
The old Interurban in Norman is finally opening up as another restaurant. The name escapes me right now, but I believe its an Italian joint.

Jack
03-05-2006, 10:26 PM
I wouldn't be opposed to Wal-Greens of CVS n Bricktown if they located within one of the warehouse buildings, and didn't build a suburban building. The San Antonio Riverwalk has a CVS and it serves as a nice convenience store. It's located on the bottom floor of an old historic building.

Jack
03-05-2006, 10:28 PM
Bricktown has enough restaurants. Developers need to go after more retailers, residential units, and hotels.

Midtowner
03-06-2006, 07:17 AM
If ever I saw a press release, that'd be one.

jbrown84
03-06-2006, 04:41 PM
I wouldn't be opposed to Wal-Greens of CVS n Bricktown if they located within one of the warehouse buildings, and didn't build a suburban building. The San Antonio Riverwalk has a CVS and it serves as a nice convenience store. It's located on the bottom floor of an old historic building.

I agree.