Downtown Food Court

The BOK Center might have the largest family to feed in Tulsa on any given weekend night. The 18,000 mouths under the same roof need fuel and energy, because no one can fully enjoy a concert or sporting event on an empty stomach, right?

The venue is managed by SMG, which is headquartered in Philadelphia and carries with it the food and beverage company Savor. Mayor Kathy Taylor expressed to the company that she wanted community involvement with the menu and wanted to offer items that were not general concession-type foods. Jeff Koller agreed that it would be best to get a variety of local flavors that would add flair to the menu.

Koller is Director of Food and Beverage at the BOK Center and said they received inquiries from several local and regional restaurants.

"We had an overwhelming response of restaurants that took the time to follow the development of the building and took the initiative to approach us," he said. "The restaurants involved really stayed on top of things."

Koller said there was no specific formula or requirement for how they selected the restaurants and that they didn't go out and recruit anyone. He added that he is still hearing from restaurants that want to get on board, but the menu is nearly full. "Don't get me wrong. It's a big arena, but there is only so much space we can offer," Koller said.

With downtown very much in the development stage, SMG was concerned about whether or not the restaurants that already exist downtown could handle the large crowds during an event evening. Of the two main districts, Brady has four restaurants open during dinner hours and the Blue Dome area includes also about four.

Order Up

As the arena keeps its lineup of events varied, the menu behind the concession stands is also trying to offer something for everyone. The current menu includes food from Billy's On the Square, Borden Dairy, In the Raw, Mazzio's Italian Eatery, Oklahoma Style BBQ, Rubicon, Te Kei's and general concessions.

Billy's On the Square, 424 S. Main St., has been a popular lunch spot for the downtown crowd since 1984. Its BOK Center menu features Theta Burgers, a charburger with mayo, pickles, hickory sauce and cheddar cheese, Onion Rings, and Chicken Caesar and Chicken Salad Wraps.

Located north of the BOK Center on Denver Ave., Borden Dairy plans to satisfy the masses with ice cream treats, milk and milkshakes. Enjoy hand-dipped cones and other novelty bars for about $3.

Celine Dion fans looking for something on the healthier side will enjoy fresh sushi from In the Raw, 3321 S. Peoria, which has been the go-to place on Brookside for 10 years now. The sushi restaurant celebrated with a decade party on Sept. 12 at its Brookside location. The popular teriyaki chicken rice bowl, edamame, and various seafood and vegetable rolls. Prices will be around $7.

Metallica and Nine Inch Nails concert goers can enjoy throwing delicious pizza at each other and then eating it off the ground. Mazzio's was the easy choice, providing Tulsa with great pizza pies since 1961. For $4, attendees can chow down on a slice of cheese, pepperoni, or sausage pizza. For $20, grab a whole box and share it with your entire row. Other items, like chicken wings and breadsticks, will also be available.

If the only reason you ventured downtown to Mayfest was to chomp down on a turkey leg, you'll be happy to know that the arena's menu features turkey legs from Oklahoma Style BBQ, 2235 N. Harvard Ave. Smoked brisket sandwiches, peach cobbler and other sides are also available. Prices range from $2.50 to $6.50 for the smoked turkey leg.

Rubicon Restaurant, 1314 E. 3rd St., does baked potatoes like nobody else in town. All you Rascal Flatts fans will find these aren't like anything mom ever made. For 13 years, Rubicon has served its monster baked potatoes smothered in cheese, ranch, bbq sauce and a meat of your choice. This boat of goodness costs $7.50.

Te Kei's, 1616 S. Utica, brings an Asian invasion to the arena. The restaurant, which focuses largely on community involvement, placed popular chicken, beef and noodle dishes on its BOK Center menu.

Lastly, the in-house chef and staff prepare a wide array of event-type fare. General concessions will include chicken baskets, hot dogs, corn dogs, chili cheese fries, popcorn, chips, cotton candy, funnel cakes and more. These would be the items mom and her little gymnast daughter would avoid when attending the 2008 Tour of Gymnastics Superstars in October.

Pepsi products, coffee drinks and alcoholic beverages will also be sold. The concessions will only be open during events.

Front, But Not Center

While Koller did say that no one was turned down, owners of restaurants that were not aware of the opportunity did say it would be something they would have loved to partake.

Craig Baxter, owner of Baxter's Interurban Grill, 717 S. Houston, said no one from the BOK Center contacted him. He said he heard the restaurants on board had signed a one-year contract and he would have likely waited to see how that first year went for each restaurant. He was aware that the restaurants turned over a part of their sales to the arena.

Richard Becker, owner of Tsunami Sushi, 309 E. 2nd St., said the BOK Center came into his restaurant awhile back and sat down to go over the details of involvement. Becker put together a proposal, which covered equipment needs, wholesale pricing information, which rolls would sell well and other menu item details. Becker never heard back. He called back a number of times and never got a response. "So I guess they ended up going with In the Raw," he said.

Caz's Chowhouse, 18 E. Brady, is another downtown restaurant that was not contacted. Owner and chef Jeff Castleberry said his restaurant would have participated, and it's an idea he would have liked to toss around. He was not aware of the financial requirements but said it's a market that would give great exposure to any business.

Not every downtown restaurant can sell menu items at the BOK Center concessions. If everyone participated, the businesses might endure a decrease in sales in the actual restaurant location, which would surely not be smiled upon by wait staffs and managers, who wouldn't want the atmosphere inside to seem dead to those who were dining out and not heading to an event at the BOK Center after their meal.

Regardless of the concessions menu, the collection of downtown restaurants is happy to see the BOK Center in action because of the business it draws downtown. "Up to 18,000 people is good for any restaurant down here," said Castleberry.

Koller said he has been pleased with the operation and said for being new to Tulsa he is pretty happy with how the menu has evolved.