More Chain Links in Metro

By: Shelly Hickman

And

Pamela Grady

Oklahoma City residents shouldn’t be offended Denver-based Red Robin International Inc. considered Tulsa a safer site to locate its first restaurant in Oklahoma.

A year after the chain opened locations in Tulsa and Broken Arrow, it is eager to get its first metro-area restaurant opened in Norman next month, and it has big plans for even more growth in the Oklahoma City area in the very near future.

“Routinely, Tulsa ranks as one of the fastest growing cities for restaurants, “ said Scott Allen, general manager for the soon-to –be Red Robin in Norman off Lindsay and Ed Noble Parkway. “P.F. Changs went to Tulsa first and was there for a while before coming here. We were the first, too. I see that quite a bit.”

Allen said the deference to Tulsa has more to do with its population density and of it being confined to a smaller geographic area than anything else.

“The difference between Tulsa and Oklahoma City is that Tulsa is one big area whereas Oklahoma City is spread out into a lot smaller areas,” he said.

Still, Red Robinson believes the metro has much potential, so much so it will open its Norman location July 11 and will break ground in the Penn and Memorial area open a restaurant there in November.

“Norman is a booming area. It’s right in the thick of things,” Allen said. “Our real estate people are good at findings areas. When I saw the site, it was obvious to me that, wow, what a great location.”

The Norman operation will consume between 5,000 and 7,000 square feet, have occupancy of about 220 people and require about 175 hourly and six management positions. The restaurant began accepting applications for both types of positions last Monday.

Allen doubted Red Robin’s expansion to the metro would be limited to Norman and the metro’ far north reaches.

“Red Robin goes in and saturates the market in order to get the name recognition out there, “he said.

The chain began in 1969 in Seattle and moved its head quarters to Denver in 2001 shortly after its public offering. Today, it has 275 locations, lacking a presence in only “ a few sates,” Allen said.

Billing itself first and foremost as a marker of “gourmet hamburgers,” Red Robin also includes other casual-faire menu items such as sandwiches and various appetizers. And, according to the chain’s website, it will introduce many new items beginning June 6 which feature chili.

While all of its locations include a bar, Red Robin, which is routinely cited in the press as a “Best Restaurant” for children, doesn’t call its bar ‘bars’ per se.

“We call it our refreshment center because 80 percent or more [of what we make at the bar] is milkshakes or lemonade versus alcohol drinks,” Allen said.