OKC Icon Coits for Sale

[ljbab728]

http://newsok.com/coits-drive-ins-up...rticle/3625976

[metro]

Probably the best thing that can happen to them. Their food has gone seriously downhill for years, thus probably why they have had no money to reinvest back in the business. Hopefully someone with restaurant experience buys them up.

[MikeOKC]

This is so sad. Coits has always been a place for my family for the quick burger or hot dog and cold root beer. Many memories. What's sad is that they are going to sell all three properties separately (probably for land use and something new). There is no intention or expectation to sell these and to remain as restaurants. Tough business for a mom and pop like this in the days of Sonic on every corner. Thanks for posting this. I was going to this morning, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. Some very personal memories over a period of years with Coits.

And, ljbab728 -- to you, Happy Thanksgiving! I know we've had our share of problems, but it seems silly because I have a feeling we share many of the same values. This is a good time to tell you I'm grateful for your presence here at OKCTalk - even with posts I might disagree with (not really that often) - I'm still glad we have thoughtful posters like yourself here at this forum. Hope we can start over.

[ljbab728]

This is so sad. Coits has always been a place for my family for the quick burger or hot dog and cold root beer. Many memories. What's sad is that they are going to sell all three properties separately (probably for land use and something new). There is no intention or expectation to sell these and to remain as restaurants. Tough business for a mom and pop like this in the days of Sonic on every corner. Thanks for posting this. I was going to this morning, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. Some very personal memories over a period of years with Coits.

And, ljbab728 -- to you, Happy Thanksgiving! I know we've had our share of problems, but it seems silly because I have a feeling we share many of the same values. This is a good time to tell you I'm grateful for your presence here at OKCTalk - even with posts I might disagree with (not really that often) - I'm still glad we have thoughtful posters like yourself here at this forum. Hope we can start over.

Thanks, Mike. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. I think we probably agree more than we disagree but agreeing isn't any fun. LOL

[SoonerQueen]

I love their steak sandwiches and sweet potato fries.I am sorry to hear they are going to close the restaurants.

[BBatesokc]

I never found their food to be great, but when we lived in Bush Hills growing up there was one near us on 50th & Portland so we went there often in high school for cheap decent food. My dad loved their breakfast, so we'd often spend a weekend morning there. I went to high school with one of the Coit grandkids and several PC Pirates I knew worked there in school. It is an icon, too bad it never progressed from mom and pop into a permanently sustainable landmark.

[Larry OKC]

I havent experienced a decline in food quality over the years at all. Some things they always did really well and some other things they always did really bad. Good or bad it was always consistent. They did however get rid of a couple of value for the money things (soup & salad bar) that were excellent. And prices got rather high on some items (even at the half-price Tuesday specials, would be cheaper elsewhere). But I always got the chicken fried steak sandwich when it was on sale. Eat breakfast there at least once a week.

[Pete]

Very sad and I'm not optimistic anyone is going to buy and maintain the business. Families always want this to happen but it's usually very difficult to find someone that wants to operate something they didn't create and that is failing.

I have a lot of memories from both the 50th & Portland location and the one off I-44 & Penn. The former was a high school hangout and the latter was the place my family used to buy our Christmas trees -- and usually get a frosty root beer afterwards. I almost always stop for root beer when I'm in town and it has always been great.

The location at I-44 and Penn is great and I bet they find someone that will pay good money then put in yet another chain fast food place. The other two are less desirable.

[RealEstateCop1]

I love their Root Beer in the ice cold mugs.

[oneforone]

I think Coit's biggest problem is they never upgraded nor did they advertise and they were too dependent on seasonal operations. Most of their business came from people that lived in the immediate area or people that grew up dining there.

I predict 25th and Western will probably be pulled into the little mexico theme that is already in the area, 39th and Penn will likely be raised or converted into a night club or watering hole, 50th and Portland may survive however, it may be purchased by the Store Club for expansion and parking or replaced with another office building or medical clinic.

[SoonerDave]

Saddest thing is to realize that the sale is really the end-game of what's been a long, slow deterioration of Coit's over the years. We don't live near any of the Coit's drive-ins, but anytime we found ourselves on the north side of town near Portland we'd always stop by and grab a frosty mug of root beer.

I think there was a great deal less interest in running the places once the senior Coit passed away, if not even farther back than that when I recall hearing (from heaven only knows who) that he was having health issues.

When I was a teenager, one of the neat things Coit's did was to run an OU-Texas ticket giveaway. He'd have one pair to give away at each restaurant on a simple drawing basis. What many did not know was that he got the tickets for those giveaways by running an ad in the Oklahoman where he'd offer a flat amount of money for one pair of tickets, no haggling, and that ad was usually enough for him to get several pairs of tickets. If you called him and asked if he had extras, he'd put your name on a waiting list, and he'd call you if he had any leftover. We got tickets from him a couple of times that way.

I called one year and asked if they when they'd be starting the ticket thing, and the answer was a sarcastic "oh, the family doesn't hassle with that stuff anymore, because Don's not really running it, family doesn't really care that much about it," words to that effect. It was really sad. Then the Christmas trees went away, and then they basically stopped maintaining the drive-ins. Maybe it was unintentional or a matter of expense, but the message that was clearly telegraphed to me was that whomever was running the thing didn't care about it anymore.

Realize different folks have different goals in life, and that doesn't always jibe with tradition or history, but its still sad to see the icon go.

[RadicalModerate]

Maybe a ray of hope exists in the report that The Restaurant Renovation Guy from The Food Network is coming to town . . .
(I loved the root beer in iced mugs, too.)

[SoonerDave]

Maybe a ray of hope exists in the report that The Restaurant Renovation Guy from The Food Network is coming to town . . .
(I loved the root beer in iced mugs, too.)

Interesting. I wonder who makes/made the rootbeer for Coits?

A&W still serves their rootbeer in frosted mugs if you ask for it, but theirs was never as good IMHO as Coit's.

[RadicalModerate]

Frankly . . . (no subliminal reference to Mutts or Sonic) . . .
It wasn't so much The Root Beer, per se, that was "special" . . .
It was the frosted mugs.

And the overall Coit's Experience.
(Harking back to The Early Days of A&W before The Big Merger with Long John Silvers)

Personally . . . Some of the tastiest root beer I ever had was from Point Brewery in Wisconsin.
Maybe because we purchased it at an authentic Olde Tyme--Lake Wobegonesque--General Store
in a little spot by the road called Marais St. Croix on the Minnesota Side of the river.

Or, perhaps it was just the labeling and the cap.

http://www.delicioussparklingtempera...eer/Beers.html

Yet . . . As you can see . . . "Point" ranks pretty low (down around 2.3) on The Official RootBeer Scale. =)
Heck . . . I don't think they even have it out at "Pops".

[SoonerDave]

Frankly . . . (no subliminal reference to Mutts or Sonic) . . .
It wasn't so much The Root Beer, per se, that was "special" . . .
It was the frosted mugs.

And the overall Coit's Experience.
(Harking back to The Early Days of A&W before The Big Merger with Long John Silvers)

Personally . . . Some of the tastiest root beer I ever had was from Point Brewery in Wisconsin.
Maybe because we purchased it at an authentic Olde Tyme--Lake Wobegonesque--General Store
in a little spot by the road called Marais St. Croix on the Minnesota Side of the river.

Or, perhaps it was just the labeling and the cap.

http://www.delicioussparklingtempera...eer/Beers.html

Yet . . . As you can see . . . "Point" ranks pretty low (down around 2.3) on The Official RootBeer Scale. =)
Heck . . . I don't think they even have it out at "Pops".

A&W's rootbeer is good, but I always thought it lacked a bit of fizz -- too syrupy for me. Don't get me wrong, it isn't bad, just think there are some better varieties out there. Dad's isn't bad for a national retail brand IMHO.

There's a chain of restaurants in the DFW area called "Humperdink's" that, just a few years ago, brewed its own recipe of root beer on-site, bottled and sold it under their house name, and it was GREAT. We bought a six-pack to take home that year and it had wonderful, rich flavor and just the right amount of fizziness.

Well, my son and I returned to Humperdinks for this first time in several years for a post-OU/Texas celebration supper, and the first thing we asked for was some of their root beer. "OK, we've got Barq's..." And I said "wait a minute, I thought you guys had this home-brewed root beer??" The waiter told me, "nah, we stopped doing that a few years ago." What a downer. Barq's is OK, but it ain't the homebrew stuff they had before..

[OklahomaNick]

Can't someone use the business model from the original "Classic 50's" in Norman?
They went through a LOT of changes and are doing well now.

My dad said he used to take the glass mugs from Coits.. I hope thats not why they are struggling!
I really hope someone has a passion for it and keeps it going!

[RadicalModerate]

Although I am fairly sure that the stealing of glass mugs, decades ago, by anyones' close relatives is not the immediate cause of Coit's current "strugglement" I will say that this sort of behavior is akin to leaving stuff on your plate at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

If The Root Beer, itself, was The Main Thing . . . Then I am reasonably sure that a deal could be cut with the New Jersey Family that produces The Number One Root Beer in the survey, linked above.

Personally . . . I would prefer that this all be kept local.

Perhaps a Qualified Local Food Truck Operator has always dreamed of Brick and Mortar instead of Tires and Gasoline and being hassled by The Man for alleged semi-"gyspy" behavior?

I think that these are just the sorts of questions we should be asking the Food TV Restaurant Re-Do Dude . . . If he actually shows up. He could probably facilitate the importation of that (#1) New Jersey Root Beer as well =).

In that case . . . NOBODY would be even thinking about pilfering the mugs. =)

[bille]

Surely most restaurants (their owners anyway) realize what a product can/can’t accomplish as far as bringing in/sustaining business. That being said, a little research would show that root beer is ridiculously easy to make (especially if you just buy somebody else’s extract, no need to cook anything).

I still can’t believe more people haven’t cashed into root beer (or soda in general) like Aubrey McClendon has. Have you seen what 6pks of ‘specialty’ root beer are selling for out there? ~$10 a sixxer.. Absurd!

[bluedogok]

When my wife was up here a few weeks ago we went to a big Christmas sale thing at the Denver Convention Center, there was a soda company from Durango selling sodas in there (Zuberfizz - Durango Soda Company), we bought a six-pack of Root Beer, it was around that same price. Pretty good stuff too. In Austin I would buy six-packs of root beer from the Saint Arnold Brewery in Houston along with some of their beers, good stuff as well.

[icreate]

I love their number ones(coney dog) and a mug of root beer...been going there for over 50 years. My mom started me off and now my daughters and their families go...

[Larry OKC]

An update of sorts that I noticed on their reader boards. All 3 locations went to "Winter hours" with the one at 39th & Penn closing at 8 pm. Noticed the one on south Western closes at 3 pm?? Today, noticed the one at 39th & Penn had "We aren't going anywhere" posted. So maybe they have rethought selling at least that location.

[MikeOKC]

An update of sorts that I noticed on their reader boards. All 3 locations went to "Winter hours" with the one at 39th & Penn closing at 8 pm. Noticed the one on south Western closes at 3 pm?? Today, noticed the one at 39th & Penn had "We aren't going anywhere" posted. So maybe they have rethought selling at least that location.

Yes, the 50th and Portland store has no plans to close. I talked to Don Coit's daughter, who was in the store, and she said that the Portland location is a "huge moneymaker."

[rcjunkie]

Yes, the 50th and Portland store has no plans to close. I talked to Don Coit's daughter, who was in the store, and she said that the Portland location is a "huge moneymaker."

If this is true, hopefully they'll spend the money to clean and update this location. Was there a few weeks ago and the place was filthy. Complained to the person behind the counter that our table (group of 6) was dirty and sticky, her response ! she reached under the counter and handed me a wet rag.

[Larry OKC]

Yes, the 50th and Portland store has no plans to close. I talked to Don Coit's daughter, who was in the store, and she said that the Portland location is a "huge moneymaker."

I had heard that too but the reader board I mentioned was at the 39th & Penn location not 50th & Portland. Based on the really early closing hours on the southside location, i am thinking that maybe that is the only one that is really up for sale????

[flippity]

aww, the S. Western location holds many memories for me. went to MSM HS and used to go to Coit's almost every morning for a sausage biscuit.