The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Location(s) Being Reviewed: SE corner 6th & Boston
Date/Time of Visit: 10/4/12 7pm
Quality of Food (1-5): 5
Menu/Food Options (1-5): 4.5
Quality of Service (1-5): 6
Atmosphere (1-5): 5
Overall Rating (1-5): 5
Price ($-$$$$$): $$$$
What makes this restaurant unique: Very cool re-adaptation of one of Tulsa's mid-century modern treasures, creative cocktail menu, great location in the CBD and Deco District, and some unique menu items.

Tell us about your experience:

I took my wife and mother here for a nice mid week meal.  I'd heard good things about the menu and being a huge fan of MCM architecture I've been waiting for the opportunity to see the finished product.  After going I'm really thankful someone decided to put money into this space (former First National Bank) instead of leveling it for more surface parking.

At any rate, I called the day before for reservations but turns out we did not need them on a Thursday night.  I suspect on major event nights in downtown, it may get over-crowded.

Atmosphere is definitely something from Mad Men.  Very stylish and hip, and in the downstairs dining area, they left it very open and not crammed together.  They could have easily fit in five or six more four top tables, but chose not to and I commend them for that.  With the high ceiling and all the glass you'd think the acoustics would be really lousy (pet peeve of mine) but it's not bad since they did choose to use carpet.  As Artist has mentioned on another thread, a couple of strategically placed sound attenuation panels wouldn't hurt, but I don't think it's an absolute necessity.

Service was very attentive right from the start.  Cody, our waiter, was very well-versed in the menu items and cocktail menu.  We never waited for a water re-fill, and either he or a manager stopped regularly to make sure everything was alright.

We each decided to try something from their cocktail menu http://www.vaulttulsa.com/VaultCocktailMenu.pdf (http://www.vaulttulsa.com/VaultCocktailMenu.pdf) for starters.  My mother had a Manhattan (classic blend with a nice Vault spin) $8, Mrs. C had the Liquid Sunshine (house made lavender with lemoncello & seltzer) served in a very cool mid-century gold leaf design glass $7, and I had the Crooked Banker (flaming absinthe rinse, Maker's Mark, Punt e Mes, Cointreau) in a classic highball $11.  They definitely have done their homework on the cocktails as we all loved them.  I've read some complaints on line people think they are pricey.  I don't see that they are any more expensive than any other bar or restaurant in town.  $7 to $12 seems to be the norm for craft cocktails these days.  Most of theirs are $7 or $8.

The bar menu also boasts being the first in Oklahoma to offer locally produced wine on tap.  All their wine offerings are claimed as sustainable and organic.  

The food menu http://www.vaulttulsa.com/VaultMenu.pdf (http://www.vaulttulsa.com/VaultMenu.pdf) has somewhat limited choices (nine appetizers, four dinner salads, eight entrees), but all the choices looked wonderful.  A limited menu is not necessarily a bad thing. I'd far rather dine somewhere they specialize in a handful of things they are really good at rather than throwing out 60 items and seeing what sticks.  That also ensures better food freshness.  

We started with the bruscetta three ways: tomato & basil with feta & olives, crab & cream cheese w/ capers, and chef's choice which last night was prosciutto over some sort of light smear of either currant or berry jam and topped with a curl of cantaloupe.  They do each one on a large slice of Italian bread and slice each one into four portions so it's more than enough for a few people. ($14)

I chose the Marshall's pretzel sliders (three with Natural Farms beef: pineapple jalapeño, bacon bleu cheese with bbq sauce, and the third one more of a classic with cheese & sauce.  The bread is really amazing, it's not a classic German pretzel, but something really amazing.  They do have the pretzels on the appetizer menu. $12.

Mrs. C chose the pork bourguignon.  It's pork shoulder, carrot, and onion cooked in red wine served over rice.  The shoulder must have slow cooked all day, as it was tender and succulent like pork shoulder should be when it's cooked properly slow. $16.

Mom chose the eggplant moussaka.  It was simply an amazing blend of flavors.  Only complaint was it wasn't as warm as she would have liked, so she sent it back for a re-heat.  No problem. $14.

We split an upside down pinapple ginger upside down cake that was warm and moist and left us all glad we decided to split one.  It's rich. $6.

The tab came to $93 and change.  Not bad for three people with an appetizer, a cocktail each, three entrees, and dessert.  I'd said before on here I thought the menu seemed a bit spendy, but after going, I really felt like the value exceeded the price and we will return.  I'm anxious to try the pimiento mac & cheese.

I gave the food/menu 4.5 stars mostly due to mom's entree not being completely hot and I wouldn't mind seeing them develop a few more choices on the menu so there's certainly something for everyone if you go with a large group.  Also, though we are good with the portion sizes being to the modest side, people who are used to having a total pig out for $12 to $16 are going to be disappointed.  It's simply not that sort of place.  Anyone who has eaten at the Auld's other restaurant, Elote already knows you get quality over quantity.  This is all a part of a new concept and a team learning to work together.  I love the way they re-purposed the building and did not cram the lower dining area though they could have.  

Original woodwork and fixtures are retained throughout, even using the original desks customers used to complete their deposits and to write checks.

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Jamming in there....did you go down to empty Delks for an after after drinkie?

There must be something in our drinking water downtown to make believers out of the unaware.

I am looking forward to the healthy fare at Chimera when they open....I just wish it were closer to midtown or south Tulsa where the velocity is....their chances of survival would be much greater and our city needs a stable health conscious restaurant.

What is wrong with you teatownclown?

Don't you know?  He's a clown!

Are you saying Elote and The Vault's menu selections are unhealthy?  They are committed to local, organic, sustainable, and moderate portions.

What is Chimera going to offer?

I'd congratulate him for getting his head back right but he seems to be having more of a problem these days.

Conan, the mac & cheese is good.

Do your own research. And quit putting words in my mouth. I never said anything about their offerings. And Big Mike, you continue to personally attack me even when it comes to my market analysis.

I know what's wrong with you....eating issues are making you fat.

Towny, this is just a continuation of yesterdays vacuous thread on too many restaurants chasing too few dollars. you continue to miss the big stories in Teatown for this non sense. I see you still have your pom poms out...lol.

Sad you never have anything helpful to add.  You seem like you'd have the ability.

TTC-  we get it, you think there are too few customers and too many restaurants/bars downtown, believe someone (other than you, apparently) should build old folks housing in the east end, and believe, contrary to all your other political postings, that free market economics should rein in the IDL.  Fair enough, but turning every thread, including a restaurant review, into a stump for your doom and gloom has moved you from curmudgeonly to annoyingly pedantic.

you are dishonest....again, I have made plenty of suggestions for fair downtown development. This current discussion centers on supply and demand and the tragedy of over development.

Works for me.

So Teatownclown is just like Lois' meatloaf.  Teatown meatloaf.

Weren't you the one challenging others to add something other than insults and put-downs?

You made it sound as if Chimera would have a healthier menu than what the Auld's offer.  My mistake if I did a mis-read on it.  However, instead of responding like a pompous donkey, you could at least tell us what/where/when Chimera is if you really want to add something to the discussion.

He can't if he doesn't have the inside information he pretends to have in his posts.

You are evil ... I think it's across from the Tavern. Do you know where that is?

Fat is a condition. It's no longer an insult. It's a tragedy and a cost to all of us.

As is your lack of couth.

Uncouth is an elitist term. Keep pretending.

Your posts are apparently falsehoods and worthless.  Keep being a jackass.

and keep lying trying!

I'm sure you're looking for someone's approval but you're just not going to get it.

Even the closest person you have to a friend on here called you an donkey.

Get over your mommy/daddy issues and see us then.

Pfffttt....is that what the local nitwerk here does? More confirmation of bullying around.

You realize you're included in your own insult?

I don't think so. But you enjoy making things up so who knows....

Just by posting here, you are including yourself.

Congratulations.

I might have an aquantence here, but certainly no friends. My friends don't hang out in these type of places. :D

Do I smell another Fauxterd melt-down.... ;D

sniff sniff...nope...smells like a sucker puncher.

No meltdown just self defense.

I seem to be trapped in this vault as an outlaw.

I'm an outie...y'alls innies.

Boy, I sure do like the Vault and other Downtown establishments! I love seeing new places open and growing success.

I appreciate TTC's feeling that its all to much too soon, but I presonally haven't seen the syphon he thinks is occurring. Brookside, Cherry Street, Downtown and Utica Square don't seem to be lacking for customers.

And Guys, please play nice.

You got it. Thanks for recognizing my theory. I posses a crystal ball but no siphon. 

There's no reason to be nice to TTC. I'm sick of him crapping nonsense all over every thread. He's not trying to converse, the only reason he posts is to piss people off. It’s probably the only way he can get anyone in his life to notice him. Negative feedback is still feedback after all.

You are obviously not kind.

Nonsense? Supply demand theory and financial integrity are crapping nonsense? I think you believe you have clout with the TNF click. If I wanted people to notice me I wouldn't do it with just a dozen or so pudits talking about downtown and lousy finances.

If you feel so poorly about this forum, go.  Find one you feel fits you better.

Once again, you are putting words into my posts that I never said.

I really get a thrill out of yanking your chain....

Why don’t you elucidate us on the specifics of your take on microeconomic supply and demand theory as it applies to the market for downtown restaurants in a midsized city?

Why don’t you plot this out for us? Use the standard supply=f(p) and demand=f(p) with the formula for supply written as D=a-bp ; a=intercept , b=slope and supply as: S=c+dp ;c=intercept , d=slope.


Show us where would you say we are with regards to supply and demand in the downtown restaurant market.

Come on, this is micro econ 101, first week in class smart guy. Tell us more about “supply and demand theory”.

No. That would lack the relevant data. I'm just trying to point out that there's a problem with what I see unfolding. You go with your beliefs. I'm sticking to the theory we have too many restaurants with too few customers in a narrow area of this metropolis. There will be fallout.

So this is in the same line of your BOK center failure?  That theory's not going so hot.

I look forward to trying this place out. Thanks for the insight and photos, Conan.

There we go.  Admin, feel like deleting every post on this thread except for this last one from TylerBGoode and Conan's post about the Vault?

It's a fun night out for sure.  To top it off, they were shooting a commercial in the alley just to the north when we wandered back out.

And for what it's worth, I do get where TTC's sense of caution comes from though he's not overly eloquent in his delivery and it comes out as doom and gloom.  We've had euphoric boom times in Tulsa when there was a lot of expansion all at once only to be replaced with a lot of empty storefronts in a matter of a few years.  The mid-80's comes to mind for one thing, at least locally.

I started working at 5th & Boulder for Urban Tulsa in June 1991 in a small storefront in the Pythian Building and remember what a ghost town downtown seemed like at the time.  It's pretty exciting to see how much more vibrant it has become in 21 years.  I think critical mass is nearing though and it's sustainable.  Like any area, there will be winners and losers and some turn-over but I don't see a scenario (barring total financial armageddon) where downtown becomes a passing fad and it goes back to the downtown of 1991.  That's the nature of business.  Bars or restaurants I figured would last six months have gained a loyal following in the area.

There really needs to be sustainable residential units in the area though.  More than are currently there.  It's better than it was, but until you convince people to live downtown, they won't.

It isn't as hard a sell, however, as it was 10 years ago.

I can see where this schmo wants to eviscerate his comments. I'll stand by mine.

I don't think its exactly about "convincing" people to live downtown.  There is a good percentage of the population that prefers living in an urban setting, but we are only now just beginning to be able to offer that.  We have been averaging around 300 new people moving into downtown per year and I see no reason why that rate should not steadily increase. 

I hope you are right, partly for selfish reasons. If people want to live in a dense environment, downtown should be the place to be.  That would ease what I think is faux density here in the 'burbs which would ease the requirements for 27 lane highways.

Just trying to help you out before it's too late.

There's enough amenities and employers downtown and in the near area to help convince them.  ;)

They've got to get a good grocery option open there soon.

That's why I said 'not as difficult of a sell'.  It lacks a grocery store.  Not sure about a pharmacy though.  Is there one downtown?

Had the Gin & Jam (blackberry) and the Marshall's Pretzels last weekend at their upstairs bar. I'll be back here for sure.