The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Charlie Mitchell's Modern Grill
48th & Yale
nov 7 & 8
early evening
3 of us went to give it a try; fish n chip ordered ny a Brit from London, I had salmon and the 3rd had the babyback ribs.
The place was busy, servers were nice. Atmosphere was like being in a southside $150,000 spec house.
The food...the "chips" w/ the fish n chips..."rubbish" fish was good but not near auth. per the Londoner.
Salmon...my friend said it sucked after he had a bite..."it's old and waay too over cooked""send it back"...I agree over cooked; I ate it anyway. Very small serving.
Ribs...ugly but tasty
Turtle Pie for dessert was good.
Next night I set up a buddy w/ my receptionist and they asked me to join for a beer. The place was jammed packed.
I had a Marshall's IPA....it didnt taste quite right served in a Coor's Light glass. My buddy ordered a meatlovers pizza that arrived very soon after he ordered...they are trying to be like the excellent pizzas at Leon's....it was indercooked and I didnt like it.
I say thus far for me..."FAIL" to this attempt at a recreation of an old Tulsa restaurant.
Anyone else have input?

Not surprising since it was also fail the first time around.

I noticed that there was a Concept Builders sign in front of it during construction. They built my my house in Prattville. So glad I live in Midtown now.

(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Qv1Z5ETcWgI/SeVcU94qUEI/AAAAAAAAAQM/9wKqZG68OOI/s400/Shop+and+Go.jpg)(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Qv1Z5ETcWgI/SeVcVIgYDmI/AAAAAAAAAQU/8BfGeH5UNwc/s400/Burger+Land.jpg)(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Qv1Z5ETcWgI/SeVcVZaQJHI/AAAAAAAAAQc/aGfDYvKGuQE/s400/Flex+Factory.jpg)

I saw that too, poor resturant, they should have looked at my house in Prattvilee which is falling off the side of the hill tha tConcept built.  I wouldn't trust them to build my dog a house.  (Sorry, off topic rant . . . )

I will try to explain this again. 

You never re-animate an old brand.  It will never work.  You cannot compete with a ghost, no matter how much better your product is!

The memories we have of Charlie's will always be far more powerful than anything that reality can offer.

We seem to have several restaurateurs in Tulsa that either do not have a marketing professional working for them, or the person they employ as a marketing professional skipped the 101 series of classes.

Never put yourself in the position to compete with a ghost.  Even if you do well, the ghost will always win, and you will establish yourself as nothing more than a shadow of what was.

Had a beer there last week and a cursory scan of the menu revealed a few of the old favorites and some new stuff which I'm not sure it fits. The space doesn't look vastly changed from it's days as a Carraba's.

Many Tulsans have very low expectations for quality.  It might work.

I have friends that go for HH.  I don't think they eat there.

Isn't that the Brady Bunch house?

Good eye.  He kept marketing the same design to multiple businesses.  It sounds like the Charlie Mitchell's contractor does the same thing.

The actual house in North Hollywood.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=11222+Dilling+Street,+North+Hollywood,+CA+91602&hl=en&ll=34.143244,-118.37561&spn=0.000013,0.004796&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=28.887524,78.574219&vpsrc=6&hnear=11222+Dilling+St,+North+Hollywood,+California+91602&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=34.143247,-118.375711&panoid=Y1qMWhAPG3bAd5EhCctQyg&cbp=12,151.13,,0,3.54 (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=11222+Dilling+Street,+North+Hollywood,+CA+91602&hl=en&ll=34.143244,-118.37561&spn=0.000013,0.004796&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=28.887524,78.574219&vpsrc=6&hnear=11222+Dilling+St,+North+Hollywood,+California+91602&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=34.143247,-118.375711&panoid=Y1qMWhAPG3bAd5EhCctQyg&cbp=12,151.13,,0,3.54)