Norman, OK or OKC Bricktown

T

TheFied

2,500+ Posts
I am driving to Norman with a friend for the Texas/OU basketball game. Leaving early Saturday morning, staying at the Renaissance in dowtown OKC Sat. night and then driving back Sunday morning.

Norman will be the last stop on my Big 12 tour. After this I will have been to a UT football or basketball game on every Big 12 campus (KU and OU will be basketball-only for me though). Of course that and a dollar still can't get me a cup of Starbucks.

Anyway, where to eat in Norman for say lunch? Where to drink some beers after the game?

Should we head to Bricktown or is there enough in Norman for 1 night?
 
The Mont or O'Connell's in Norman (though I've only been to OConnell's on a fball game day). I would do Bricktown at night, more restaurants, more bars, it's a decent time for OKC.
 
Definitely Bricktown. OKC has done a pretty decent job turning the old warehouse district into a nice entertainment area. It's not the Riverwalk by any stretch of the imagination, but considering what they started from, it's pretty decent. Last time I stopped for lunch in OKC with Mrs. HHD, we went to Bricktown and had lunch at the Spaghetti Warehouse; it was very good. Didn't stay long enough to sample the night life, but any kind of night life has to be better than Norman...

HornHuskerDad
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We stayed in Bricktown once, and found it completely underwhelming. I wouldn't drive 20 miles out of my way to eat there, that's for sure.
 
Yeah, that's where we stayed, and we walked to Bricktown for dinner. We ate at a decent-sized pub, and it was . . . passable. The restaurant choices were pretty limited, and the bars looked less than overwhelming.

I've never been to Norman, though, so I can't advise you on that front. I guess the question is -- do you want to drive back to your hotel AFTER post-game beers or before? I know what I'd do, even if Bricktown is kinda boring.
 
Whatever you do, DO NOT take the okies' suggestions on what they believe is "great Mexican food" there in Bricktown. The okies lap it up like it's their last meal, meanwhile I am spitting up what I believe to be cardboard dipped in queso that tastes like paste.

I make it a point to not go to OKC for many reasons. If I go to Big XII basketball this year I would like to try Mickey Mantle's just because. If the Bourbon Street Cafe is as good as the one in Tulsa, try that. Bricktown Brewery and Tapwerks were pretty good, the last time I went there (two years ago).

Your best bet is probably the Bricktown Hooters. Not kidding.

That "Riverwalk" of theirs is actually made out of a ditch. They should've called it "El Arroyo" but that would be an insult to the institution we all know and love.

As for norman, never been there. I've heard O'Connell's is the place to go, but you can guarantee it'll be packed to the gills with sooner ilk.
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And I know it's depressing, but I would recommend going to see the OKC bombing memorial downtown. I think it's around 5th & Robinson. It's very moving and a must-see. It has a beautiful reflection pool and a marker for every life lost that day. When you see the smaller markers for the children it's hard to hold back the tears.
 
we stayed in OKC for the OSU football game 2 years ago. first night we went to bricktown and saw some bands but don't remember where. second night, we hung out in stillwater after the W.

i would definitely not eat mexican food there.

anyway, we are heading to norman at the butt-crack of dawn tomorrow morning. leaving austin by 630am i hope. picking up TornACL at 10am i hope in DFW.

i definitely want to check out norman though. not sure what to do there....
 
I have some friends that live in Moore and I navigate around a few times a year.

I'll echo what others have said: Not a lot of good choices there. We usually hit Johnny Carino's for dinner and Carl's Jr. for lunch. We went to a faux cajun food place called Pearl's that was awful. They recently implemented a Texadelphia near the ou campus if you want a little taste of home.

Bricktown is like Riverwalk Jr. You'll see Toby Keith's bar, Sonic headquarters, a big movie theatre and several hole in the wall restaurants. One of my friends is the manager at Earl's Rib palace. Not Texas BBQ by any stretch, but they have pretty decent food. I like their hamburgers. Ask for Brig and tell him Scott sent you. He'll hook you up.

The OKC memorial is actually pretty touching. I recommend taking the tour. It's about $12. The first room will freak you out. It's a small room and very cold. You hear a judge conducting a case and then *boom*. The room shakes, lights flash and the portraits of those who died are shown. The rest of the place is artifacts slavaged from the site and bios for those that lost their lives. It is depressing.

Steer clear of O'Connells unless you are prepared to get into a fight. That is a huge sooner hangout and they are obsessed with bismirching Texas. You will hear "boomer sooner" chants all night. Drunk sooners are bad news.

Be sure to take a crap on the campus.
 
by the way, just for the record....there is no way in hell i am stepping foot inside of "toby keith's bar". i need to know which one that is, so i can avoid it at all costs.
 
we had a good time actually. the OU fans were not ******** but then again it is basketball and not football. i will say that the lloyd noble center makes the erwin center look happening. not anywhere close to a sellout and it looks like our stadium is a bit bigger.

we went to Coach's for lunch when we pulled in on saturday. Coach's is owned by steve owen (heisman winner). they had a very good burger and their own beers. after the game, we checked out the football stadium -- their stadium puts them right on the action. doesn't look huge but impressive. their campus is very nice also. lots of brick -- that's their thing (like our spanish tile).

after the game, we drove around and couldn't find campus corner which apparently has most of the bars so we ended up back at coach's. had dinner there, drank some beers and watched the games on tv. we talked to the bartender who looked to be going to OU and found out how to get to campus corner. we went to Louie's which is apparently partly owned by stoops. couldn't believe it. lots of eye-candy at louies. apparently the big 2 campus bars are louie's and Logan's. as in the logan's on 6th street. same bar (big beers, video clips from movies). we didn't go to logan's -- huge line. reminded me on when i used to go to logan's back in like 1998-1999 when they had huge lines b/c it was the place to go. ha.

anyway, we had a good time in louies and stayed until about 1230 or 1am. their fans were pretty good. we got the occassional horns down and the "what are you doing here" but i've been to a ton of road games so i have been there, done that.

the only crappy thing is i woke up at 5:45am and we got to norman around 1:15pm. long day........... and of course driving back the next day.
 
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