The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Tulsa World is tweeting that Rick's is expected to shutter.  Lame.

I haven't been in for a couple of years.  When I've been at the liquor store, it didn't look like a whole lot of traffic down at that end of the center.  If you are going to have a restaurant that's off the beaten path it either needs to be really memorable or you advertise the crap out of it or both.

Used to go to St. Michael's Alley a lot through the 60's, 70's and early 80's.  Then just kind of faded away from awareness.  Apparently it was sold by the original owners and we all know what a downhill trip that becomes...
 

I still want to know the recipe for Shotgun Sam's pizza dough and their sauce!!

Sad news. Tough economy, difficult location, and probably a landlord that has a replacement tenant or tired of trying to collect. Rick was somewhat inflexible with his menu. I hope he lands at a good restaurant here because being one of Tulsa's (via OKC) longest standing quality chefs we'd lose out on some real talent.

Good luck and positive vibes to Rik Kamp. :(

I was there on his last night, completely by accident. It was sad. They said they were hoping to reopen in the fall.

Thanks to this thread, I now know people who've been there. Prior to this thread, not so much.

I think you must be my brother. Same thing for me. Used to take dates to St.Michaels in high school.

Shotgun Sam's was a really fun place and the pizza was pretty good too. You know the story about how they closed?

Mom used to take my brother and I there when it was still sort of the TU beatnik hangout in the early/mid-70's.  We would get a charge out of the interesting graffiti on the walls in the men's room.

Talking about the Shotgun Sam's on Sheridan just north of 21st?  I remember that the old Vegas Club over by me at one time was a pizza parlor, but I cannot remember the name of it to save my life.

Actually I was referring to St. Mike's but that Shotgun Sam's and Shakey's down on Peoria (It's an Ace hardware now) were fave's as a child.

Geez. I was actually referring to Shakeys in Brookside. Shotgun Sams (that's who I am and my horse's name is Alice) was a similar franchise.

The owners of Shakey's on Brookside, simply closed their doors one night, took the proceeds and fled town. The employees showed up the next morning to unlocked doors and no one in charge. Not sure they ever found those owners.

To this day, I can still taste the spicy sauce on a Shakey's cheese pizza in my mind.  In high school, the big hit was Hemi's pizza at 41st & Peoria or 11th & Columbia.  If you went by around closing time on a Friday or Saturday, chances were you might wind up with some, uh, potash in your pizza.  8)

I have never heard of this place...guess I wasn't missing much?

Actually Rik Kamp is a great chef.  Location is off the beaten path for most folks and as TTC alluded to, the menu was a little dated.

Some of his recipes were "borrowed" from another restaurant he worked for in the late 90's.

Didn't he own French Hen and/or Capistranos?

Twins separated at birth! 

Shakey's was great too!  Seem to remember it was a little bit more expensive than Shotgun Sam's, but that may just be residual hallucinations from my misspent youth.


Have heard good things about Ricks, but never got there to eat.  Hopefully he will be back again, so will get the chance.

I think French Hen was gone before late 90's wasn't it??

He was the chef at Capistranos, he left to open "Ricks" at 51st and Harvard and the Capistrano/French Hen owner was surprised to see his menu items on the Ricks menu.

BTW: The French Hen/Capistrano owner was the same AOLIs owner that called three of his customers "fat" (and some other choice epithets) and learned the hard way how the internet has changed the restaurant game.

Ah yes, Terry The Toad.

Still exists in 2011 http://www.frenchhentulsa.net/ (http://www.frenchhentulsa.net/) but not Turner's place any longer

Came across this place while geocaching a few months ago.  It is tucked back in a hidey hole

The French Hen has been owned by Chef Richard Clark for some time now.   Darned good food too. 

Efrain and Javier are two of Teatown's bests chefs.....Richard trained them and they've been solid for close to 10 years straight.

Yep.

So does Rick have any plans in the meantime? Will he open another restaurant perhaps in a better location? I've been to Rick's Cafe a couple times and it was great but nothing great. I think I would have eaten there more often if it was in an area that I visit often or if he offered free coupons (http://www.valpak.com/coupons/home) or other good discounts to drive traffic there.

Location was a thing for me.  Not the area, the spot.  I'd pull in to grab some booze and look over there thinking "Oh yeah, Rick's is over there."