The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Location(s) Being Reviewed: Bird and Bottle  http://www.birdandthebottle.com/ (http://www.birdandthebottle.com/)
Date/Time of Visit: 6pm
Quality of Food (1-5): We had a chicken and artichoke flatbread 4
Menu/Food Options (1-5):
Quality of Service (1-5): 5
Atmosphere (1-5): 4
Overall Rating (1-5): 4
Price ($-$$$$$):
What makes this restaurant unique: Something new and different. 

We went for cocktails and a bite.  The martini's were cold and well made.  The flatbread was interesting.  Will I go back, yes.  Nice place to meet for afterwork cocktails.  I want to try the burger or the chicken sandwich on my next trip.  By the time we left it was very busy on a Thursday. 

If you want info on the Bird and the Bottle restaurant in California, then the link you provided will suffice.

However, if you were referring to the Bird and Bottle restaurant at 31st and Harvard, then you might have better luck with the following link:

http://birdandbottletulsa.com/

:)

I did look at the menu; the offerings look interesting and I'm glad it's in midtown instead of out south like alot of the better restaurants seem to be lately.  I'll be giving this a look.

I ate there a couple of weeks ago with the cannon_fodders.  I was kind of surprised CF hasn't reviewed it yet.  This was our neighborhood hang out when it was the Alley.  They did a brighter re-make on the space and I felt the menu offerings stood up to the price charged.  We had a meat and cheese plate app that was really good, the duck sausage being enough of a hit with me I had the duck sausage and mushroom flatbread which was outstanding.

The $4 martini special is in a smaller glass but likely not a bad idea for those driving.  They make a very good dirty martini which is even better with a bleu cheese stuffed olive or three for a bit extra.

I missed the old personalities we were used to when it was The Alley, as I was in flash back mode, but the service was prompt and very friendly.  If we still lived in Tulsa, I'm sure it would have become a go-to to meet friends or take guests.

Wishing the new owners the best of luck and I hope they realize they have to hit their culinary marks every night to make such an out of the way (or out of the conscience) location work since there are entertainment districts which have so much density, you can be just above mediocre and stay in business seemingly forever because there's always a new stream of people coming through.

If you look at the top rated places in the Tulsa area, Midtown and Downtown restaurants have tended to dominate the best-of lists (https://www.zomato.com/tulsa-ok/best-restaurants (https://www.zomato.com/tulsa-ok/best-restaurants)) including some relatively new places. I see what you're saying though because Midtown/Downtown markets have become a bit saturated and a lot of the new hot chains move to further out places to draw from a different market (like 101st and memorial) and people get excited, go there for a bit, but those types of places mostly go downhill eventually and end up being just another chain.

Some new highly-heralded places in midtown/downtown include: Prairie Fire, Amelia's, Jane's Delicatessen, Lone Wolf (downtown in Archer Building where a couple other restaurants are about to open). Nola's Creole just opened by Jason's Deli! Joe Mammas reopened. Jinya is an excellent ramen place (Rappongi is another ramen place downtown that is very delicious). Sabores is supposed to be great.

Fuel 66 food truck yard has really taken on a new life and seems to be picking up steam. Soon, the Mother Road Market (large urban/eclectic/local food court including 17 shops/food places) will open right by there at 11th and Lewis http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=21229.45 (http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=21229.45)

Tons of new breweries have opened/expanded lately almost exclusively in midtown/downtown and many of those either have plans for food or have food trucks there frequently (Dead Armadillo has new large patio/concert/beer garden area. Renaissance Brewery, Heirloom, American Solera, and Cabin Boys opened recently. Welltown, Willow Family and Nothing's Left are about to open)

The Bramble (about to move to where the Phoenix was), East Village Bohemian Pizza and Sisserou's are a few that have been around awhile but lesser known great places.

You beat me to this.  I had an occasion to be down South not long ago, and could not find a new place that interested me.  All the recent openings are chains, or the second site of a downtown/midtown restaurant.  What new, and original, upper-end places have opened up down South recently?

Sorry about that bad link.  I copied the wrong one.  I was confused.  Thanks for the helping hand. 

Yeah I thought for a minute you were reviewing the California location but was confused as this forum is a sub forum of "Talk about Tulsa".

No big deal.

Yeah, it also is a very homogeneous/wealthy demographic in far south Tulsa so every big chain wants to put a location there. It is a very nice example of high-end suburban sprawl. I'd still strongly prefer that development money be spent closer to heart of the city, but that's just an unfortunate result of the throw-away and remake society we live in.

Keep in mind I'm no tax expert and I've never really looked at frames of reference at changes in depreciation deductions over the years but...

I wonder if the tax code were re-written less favorably toward depreciation deductions if new retail development would still be more attractive than re-purposing.  I have no idea if there is any basis in reality but that large retailers like Wal-Mart will basically occupy a store until they've exhausted all the depreciation they can, then they move on and build another store.  Of course, that doesn't take into account why 81st & Lewis is still operating, Sam's at 44th & Sheridan or the Wal-Mart at Memorial and Admiral.  I've heard the same thing about QT, but their reality seems to be they've kept expanding their design as they've evolved from a convenience store to a gasoline retailer.

Your comment just sparked this quandary.

There is a growing trend for companies to build a store, sign a lease with themselves, then sell the property.    That way in XX years, they have the option to move into a new location.

It also frees up a lot of capital for opening the next store and lets them focus on their core business instead of being a landlord.


Walgreens  - http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/portfolio/12233626/
Popeyes     - http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1117-E-Pine-St-Tulsa-OK/11972188/
Kum & Go    -  http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/9610-E-61st-St-Tulsa-OK/11529097/

It takes 39 years to fully depreciate a commercial structure.

Sam's opened around 1985 or '86 so basically, they have six or seven years of depreciation left.  I'll be curious to see if anything happens at that time.

Hopefully they stay for a long time.   They put in some substantial capital improvements back a few years ago (updating, adding a fuel station, etc.) and it always seems busy.   

Interesting thread drift happening here. 

I wonder if they'll last that long. CostCo seems to have put a lot of pressure on them and they had a lot of closings recently. They'll have to adjust and get more cost competitive.

Yep. On the topic of Bird and Bottle, my wife and I went after seeing this review. The food was delicious and place looked good. Was a nice experience. Good eclectic selection of beers and a great martini special. We will be back. I hope it lasts.

They are all in separate parts of town. I don't care to spend the time to drive to Costco. If they open up a Costco near me I would probably switch.

We are already there, so in a time-honored TNF tradition (seem to recall this beer on tap so it's not really drift now):

(https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/tulsaworld.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/e1/4e17d981-52cf-58fa-8f26-636bd88bd104/5a7331cd5dc0a.image.jpg?resize%3D1200%252C742&imgrefurl=http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/scene/whattheale/what-the-ale-marshall-brewing-updates-their-packaging-bottles-dunkel/article_d53df469-f1f3-5fc2-8a6c-9d0751e5195d.html&h=742&w=1200&tbnid=3iyzulYn3LHmAM:&tbnh=176&tbnw=286&usg=__iQngkyJRxc6TEbj_yWJFRBJ1eP4%3D&vet=1&docid=8fjolA6Xqva8DM)

Haven't tried the pils yet.  I need to get up to the taproom. 

It's a bit of a marketing trick, unfortunately. They did create a small-batch taproom/draft-only "Volks Pils" several years back and it was very well received (awesome beer!). They decided to keep the name only and rebrand the Old Pavilion Pilsner:


http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/scene/whattheale/what-the-ale-marshall-brewing-updates-their-packaging-bottles-dunkel/article_d53df469-f1f3-5fc2-8a6c-9d0751e5195d.html (http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/scene/whattheale/what-the-ale-marshall-brewing-updates-their-packaging-bottles-dunkel/article_d53df469-f1f3-5fc2-8a6c-9d0751e5195d.html)

I wish they would've switched the recipe to the small batch version also. It was very delicious. But the new name/label is much better.

We had a membership and went there and stocked up on so much supplies, we still have a lot of it even though we haven't been back in 8 months or so! The prices really are awesome as long as you spend a lot to make each trip worth it (and of course actually use up everything).

I have to avoid them in 6 month gaps...tend to spend several hundred every time we go...!  Lasts a long time, but geez...