Ripley's Bar and Grill

[shavethewhales]

Tried out the new Ripley's Bar and Grill last night in the original Joe Mama's space. Good to have something filling that void at last.

Ripley's is a pretty basic sports bar that also serves a couple food options. They have personal sized pizzas, wings, and a couple sandwiches with chips. Nothing fancy.

I had the pizza. It was fine, better than heated up frozen pizza but not by a huge margin. The dough was decent.

What I really like about Ripley's is that it is a true sports bar with a ton of huge TVs everywhere. DT needed another sports bar since Elgin Park is always so packed out for big games. This place is a lot more basic than Elgin Park, but that's kind of a good thing. We don't need anymore basic bars downtown at the moment, but a sports bar that also serves cheap(er) food is a good addition.

[MostSeriousness]

Looks good! Is it non-smoking? I noticed the ownership owns a lot of smoking bars throughout town. I can't imagine it would be smoking - is there a need to create new smoking bars anymore?

[Tulsa Zephyr]

The smoking/non-smoking thing is a big issue with me (and my wife).  In fact we're missing out on the whole Arnies Bar thing, and had been missing out on the Colony because I always thought it was a smoking bar, but I guess it's not.  I believe another new bar (Shady Keys) is opening in a couple of weeks somewhere around there. (I believe it has the same address as Hurts Donut (111 S. Detroit)?

[Conan71]

The smoking/non-smoking thing is a big issue with me (and my wife).  In fact we're missing out on the whole Arnies Bar thing, and had been missing out on the Colony because I always thought it was a smoking bar, but I guess it's not.  I believe another new bar (Shady Keys) is opening in a couple of weeks somewhere around there. (I believe it has the same address as Hurts Donut (111 S. Detroit)?

If they banned smoking inside any public structure, I doubt there would be a huge loss of business.  I avoid smoking situations like the plague.  If anything, some owners might see an uptick in business if they banned smoking.  I've never known Chris and JoAnn who own Arnie's to be smokers so it surprises me that they can tolerate it.  I sure couldn't.  Of course, that may be the former smoker in me that makes me more sensitive to it.

[DTowner]

I think smoking is allowed only in stand-alone bars.  If the place serves food, then smoking is restricted to an enclosed area, etc. (like the cigar room at Smoke).

[MostSeriousness]

Nah, there are definitely smoking bar/restaurant combos. As a former smoker who still visits some of these, there are definitely a couple in Tulsa and some in BA as well. Suture's (which is always hilarious considering its name, clientele, and proximity to medical facilities) and 71st Street Depot are two that come immediately to mind.

[DTowner]

Nah, there are definitely smoking bar/restaurant combos. As a former smoker who still visits some of these, there are definitely a couple in Tulsa and some in BA as well. Suture's (which is always hilarious considering its name, clientele, and proximity to medical facilities) and 71st Street Depot are two that come immediately to mind.

I've never been to Sutures or the 71st Street Depot, but anything other than a stand-alone bar can only have smoking in a specially designated room (that is enclosed and has separate ventilation, neg-air, doors, etc.).  Here is the Oklahoma statute:

https://www.ok.gov/breatheeasyok/documents/Oklahoma%20Laws%20on%20Secondhand%20Smoke%20effective%20Nov%201%202010.pdf

A stand-alone bar must derive 60% of revenues from alcohol sales and be restricted to 21 and above. 

[LeGenDz]

Sutures definitely is smoking and serves food.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/sutures-tulsa

I think that quote applies to businesses that are considered "restaurants", which in case you would be right but a business designated as a "bar" does not have the same limitations. I think the differences are in their respective licenses.

This is an explanation for California's licenses but I would assume the majority of it applies here as well.

A restaurant must be open for the primary purpose of serving food to the public for compensation.  Restaurants would have the proper kitchen equipment for cooking and storing food and must actually make food sales.  They can not simply offer food along side their alcohol service, but rather the vast majority of their sales must be food. In addition, they are required to be open set hours- minimally five days per week.  Perhaps most significantly, restaurants must meet all state and local health department requirements and submit themselves to regular inspections.

In contrast, a bar with a public premises license has the primary function of selling alcohol for consumption on site.  Bars will often offer a limited food menu served in conjunction with their alcohol sales but this is not required.  It is worth noting that bar licenses may often be more difficult to obtain as they typically run into more scrutiny and objection by neighbors, the community, and the ABC.  An extra measure of due diligence is definitely needed by the bar license applicant and this is where services such as that offered by Alcoholic Beverage Consulting Service are extremely valuable.

Finally, it is also important to remember that state law allows minors to be present at a business with a restaurant license but all persons within a bar must be age 21 or older.