McClintock Saloon and Chop House

[Pete]

New bar and restaurant nearing completion in Stockyards City at 2227 Exchange Ave.

Has an amazing 50-foot custom bar and loads of custom millwork everywhere. Absolutely enormous investment.

It's the old McClintock boot store and they brought in Michel Buthion of La Bagette as a partner.

https://www.facebook.com/McClintockSaloon/

[Pete]

Stockyards City ropin’ in new businesses
Monday, July 17, 2017
By Molly M. Fleming
The Journal Record

OKLAHOMA CITY – Michel Buthion spent his childhood in France wanting to be a cowboy.

“I watched Western movies,” he said. “On Sunday afternoon, it was guaranteed I was watching a Western.

“And when they went from black and white to color – oh my,” he said, excitedly.

His love for the Wild West is what brought him to Oklahoma. He’s built his reputation operating La Baguette Bistro with his brother Alain Buthion.

With partners Alan Greene and Lindsay Ocker, he’s opening McClintock Saloon & Chop House at 2227 Exchange Ave. It will open this fall, Buthion said. It could be the start of a new business stampede in the historic district.

McClintock Saloon – like any good Western movie – started with the out-of-towner going into a business and telling the owner what he wanted.

That’s what French-native Buthion did to Ocker.

Ocker was running a premier boot store, McClintock Heritage Collection. He was a longtime customer of La Baguette. Buthion, upon returning from Nashville, walked into the Ocker’s store and told him his plan for a saloon. Ocker locked the doors, they drank some whiskey, shook hands, and were business partners.

The saloon is in Ocker’s old store space. The idea was moving along well, but the partners wanted to add a kitchen. After about a year, they were able to move into the adjoining space. In total, McClintock measures 7,300 square feet, including the whiskey garten.

Ocker said the plan is to get the entire renovation done for less than $2 million. McClintock’s Saloon side has a 50-foot oaken bar, with an all-oak back bar. Stained oak stretches from the floor to the ceiling, with carvings and columns for decoration.

Ocker oversaw the bar design. Master carpenters Larry Hall and David Phillips did all the work and are sought nationwide for their skills. Ocker’s nearby apartment has similar high-caliber woodwork, done by the same carpenters.

Buthion has hired Charles Burger to be the chef. Burger was waiting on tables at Cattlemen’s. He had worked in New York and Chicago, then came back to his hometown of Oklahoma City.

He said he’s not trying to compete with the neighborhood steak restaurant.

“Cattlemen’s is an institution,” Burger said. “We’re going to bring flavors that aren’t in that queue. It’s going to be new flavors and new techniques. They’ll be unique flavors that aren’t represented right now.”

The entrees will always come with a side and a starch, with other side items available as well. Lunch will start about $15 a person and dinner prices begin at $25 a person.

The menu will include a “Boot of the Week.” Ocker has boot merchandise still, so people can buy that week’s boot being offered at a low price.

Stockyards City business owner Jo Wiens compared McClintock’s anticipated opening to The Jones Assembly and the excitement it’s created for west downtown.

“It will introduce a lot of people to the Stockyards who are not expecting to see what they’ll find (at McClintock’s),” she said. “I’ve heard nothing but exciting things about the menu. It will feel like stepping back in time, but a first-class enterprise. It can’t get open soon enough.”

Buthion said he’s not done with projects in Stockyard City. He stood at the restaurant’s entrance and gazed across Exchange Avenue, like a cowboy looking for his ranch. He’s already anticipating bustling crowds on the street that houses several legendary Stockyard City businesses.

“It’s going to be a tremendous atmosphere,” he said. “We’ll do another place close by.”

Wiens and her husband, Terry Wiens, own National Saddlery and Stockyards Sarsaparilla, which is in the original location of the saddlery store.

The Wiens lost a building to fire in March 2015. The vacant lot across from Cattlemen’s on SW 13th has had a fence around it since last May.

“We’re hoping to get a permit and start digging soon,” she said.

HSE Architects, led by principal Todd Edmonds, designed the new building. It’s been redesigned in the last year, but it’s for a good reason, Wiens said.

“The good news is the reason we got delayed is we had arrangements with very unusual and very specific tenants,” she said. “We had to backtrack the design.”

The entire two-story, 20,000-square-foot building is leased, she said. She said she’s been careful about choosing tenants that will have a long-term presence in the district.

“I wanted a community partner that would be committed to the Stockyards,” she said. “I wanted tenants that were poised for success and had enough of a track record that they would be committed.”

Burger said he thinks the area has been neglected for several years. With a new restaurant concept, he said he hopes people will visit – or rediscover – the historic district.

Buthion said he’s already heard from the horse associations and the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber about their excitement for the restaurant.

“It’s a dream come true for me,” he said.

[shawnw]

I've been surprised that more of this sort of thing wasn't happening already in the stockyards, glad to see it now.

[Roger S]

I've been surprised that more of this sort of thing wasn't happening already in the stockyards, glad to see it now.

Yeah.... I've always thought Stockyards has way more potential than it current displays. So hopefully this triggers that potential.

[Pete]

Cattleman's holds little appeal to me but I can see me stopping for a drink at that amazing bar.

[Roger S]

Cattleman's holds little appeal to me but I can see me stopping for a drink at that amazing bar.

Same here.... I go to Cattleman's for breakfast and I really haven't even done that since Hatch and Sunnyside opened.

I'd really love to see some other high end steakhouses locate in that area and I'm really amazed there is no BBQ there. It was one of the areas I mentioned to Kosmo's Q when he had his trailer and was looking for a brick and mortar...... Maybe if Woodruff ever decided to move out of his trailer with Maple's and in to a brick and mortar he will go there.

[Urbanized]

Same here.... I go to Cattleman's for breakfast and I really haven't even done that since Hatch and Sunnyside opened.

I'd really love to see some other high end steakhouses locate in that area and I'm really amazed there is no BBQ there. It was one of the areas I mentioned to Kosmo's Q when he had his trailer and was looking for a brick and mortar...... Maybe if Woodruff ever decided to move out of his trailer with Maple's and in to a brick and mortar he will go there.

The owner of Cattlemen's opened a BBQ place next door back in the late nineties or early aughts. It was OK but only lasted about ten minutes.

[Roger S]

The owner of Cattlemen's opened a BBQ place next door back in the late nineties or early aughts. It was OK but only lasted about ten minutes.

Ate at it once.... Don't remember being to impressed with it.

There used to be a place closer to the river in a little industrial park but I think that was all demolished as part of the I-40 relocation and they never re-opened it.

[Martin]

The owner of Cattlemen's opened a BBQ place next door back in the late nineties or early aughts. It was OK but only lasted about ten minutes.

i remember the cattlemen's cafe that they briefly opened next door to the south but don't remember the bbq joint.

[Urbanized]

Cattleman's holds little appeal to me but I can see me stopping for a drink at that amazing bar.

Try going for breakfast.

[Urbanized]

Yeah, it was nothing special. Which is probably why it's not still around. Space was neat though, if I recall.

[Ginkasa]

This looks super-fun.

[Ross MacLochness]

Some friends and I walked around through that area yesterday. Its amazing how much 'main street" style building stock is left south of Stock Yards on Agnew. It's very blighted and I didn't feel 100% safe walking around down there, but it would be possible to extend the Stock Yards main street farther south - alm,ost to 29th - if conditions were ever right for it. It's amazing to see so much traditional development so far away from downtown. In the early days, did these buildings connect to downtown with continuous urban fabric or was the stockyards and surrounding area an isolated urban area?

[PhiAlpha]

Some friends and I walked around through that area yesterday. Its amazing how much 'main street" style building stock is left south of Stock Yards on Agnew. It's very blighted and I didn't feel 100% safe walking around down there, but it would be possible to extend the Stock Yards main street farther south - alm,ost to 29th - if conditions were ever right for it. It's amazing to see so much traditional development so far away from downtown. In the early days, did these buildings connect to downtown with continuous urban fabric or was the stockyards and surrounding area an isolated urban area?

Quite a bit of urban fabric left on Exchange as well.

[Pete]

^

I think it's always been somewhat separate, a little town (it's not part of the OKC city limits) that grew up around the cattle business and the railroad lines that serviced it.

[BoulderSooner]

Pretty sure that the only part of the stock yards that is not okc is the actually stockyard company property

I think all the business and restaurants are In okc proper

[BDP]

Pretty sure that the only part of the stock yards that is not okc is the actually stockyard company property

I think all the business and restaurants are In okc proper

That is correct. Everything outside the gates is in OKC.

Had a look inside this place. It's super nice. Kind mixes an old world and new world feel, even with the predominately western decor (upscale western, maybe? ha.) As always, the food will be the decider, but that's in pretty good hands and it will be a nice place for a cocktail for sure. Certainly a different vibe than the Paddock Club. Good to see new nightlife in the Stockyards.

[Ross MacLochness]

Pretty sure that the only part of the stock yards that is not okc is the actually stockyard company property

I think all the business and restaurants are In okc proper

I think he means it was a town like Brittain that was it's own place before getting annexed by OKC at a later date.

[Roger S]

[Pete]

I just meant that Stockyards City was it's own thing and businesses grew up around it completely separately from anything near the central core.

And at that time -- statehood or so -- the distance between the two was pretty large.

[PhiAlpha]

Stockyard City or the Farmer's Market would be great locations for a huge pit BBQ restaurant.

It would be pretty cool if we could end up with several western themed bars and restaurants over there to complement the shops. Would be great tourism and would make for a cool different type bar district to hang out in.

[DickTracy]

Parking might become a big issue down there too, I noticed Cattlemens already put up signs in their lot that it was for Cattlemens restaurant only. They ought to close that bank branch and create a parking lot, they sure could use it.

[jstaylor62]

Parking might become a big issue down there too, I noticed Cattlemens already put up signs in their lot that it was for Cattlemens restaurant only. They ought to close that bank branch and create a parking lot, they sure could use it.

I agree that parking will be a huge issue. Also, I'm curious about people at the City Rescue Mission panhandling customers that are so close by.

[DickTracy]

They don't bother anyone really, we go to the Opry quite often and have never had any problems.

[Roger S]

Stockyard City or the Farmer's Market would be great locations for a huge pit BBQ restaurant.

Farmers Market was looked at by a couple of pitmasters I know but the owner of the locations they looked at wasn't very receptive to getting them in there.

I think that old service station across the street from the market would be an incredible spot for BBQ. There could be picnic tables out front, the dining area could be where the overhead doors are and could be configured to have the doors open when the weather was nice.

In the Stockyards I've always thought this building looked like it might have some potential but not sure about it's structural integrity.

You can see the roof is off of it, and it has been for years, but if the walls around it are sound it could be configured to be an open courtyard with offset smokers in the back. From the aerial view there appears to be a small structure in the NE corner that could possibly be renovated into a kitchen and indoor dining option.

If I ever decided to take the plunge from my cushy well paying job and take on the high risk, low profit margin, and long hours, of running a Q-raunt. This would be one of the first options I would explore.