Ramsay's Kitchen, OKC

The Power of Brand: Higher Prices

Gordon Ramsay’s OKC restaurant opened last October, and it was a special occasion. I was shopping the weekend right after the restaurant opened and — what are the chances — in the first two stores I visited, I overhead people talking about having eaten there, feeling lucky to be among the first to have reservations. There was “buzz.” That’s the power of a “celebrity brand.”

Ramsay is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and TV personality known for candor and having a temper. Oklahomans most likely felt recognized in their own right to be chosen as the locale for a restaurant of the internationally recognized food superstar. And not without reason. Oklahoma City is one of only five U.S. Ramsay restaurant locations. The others are Boston, Las Vegas, Naperville (Illinois) and St. Louis. Ramsay described the “culinary scene” in Oklahoma City as “thriving.”

We’d planned to check out the 7,000 sq. ft. restaurant for Ramsay’s take on fish & chips. At $29, we wondered how they’d compare to the more competitively priced fish & chips at our favorite Midtown OKC pub, McNellie’s. That’s a taste comparison still on the list.

It’s not a bad idea to give a new restaurant some time to work out any kinks, but we didn’t realize nearly a year had passed since Ramsay’s Kitchen had opened when we finally made it over prior to Labor Day.

For a first-time experience at a restaurant with a high price point, it’s a good idea to dip your toe in the water first. Thus, we went for “Social Hour” aka Happy Hour.

Dining partner John and I started with Happy Hour cocktails, an OKC Old Fashioned, with an oversized logo’d ice cube, and a De La Louisiane, respectively, with nice presentation in unique glasses.

Heading to a restaurant at 3:30pm to eat dinner and have a cocktail seemed early to me. That said, if you’re more focused on the food and eating early (an upscale Early Bird Special — a term I’d suspect would make Ramsay cringe), the Social Hour is a great idea. We have friends who dine at 4pm — much to be said for eating early and getting to bed early!

Then, it was Scotch eggs.

One of the wait staff said he’d never eaten a Scotch egg before working at Ramsay’s, and once he had one, he had one four days in a row! The Scotch egg was a wonderfully flavorful start, with more interesting flavors coming from the bed of slaw upon which the egg rested.

And on to the Social Hour Burgers — double patties and cheese on a buttery bun — with Truffle Fries on the side.

All too much food to consider desserts, which all sounded good. Another time — maybe the fish & chips outing. Beef Wellington sounds tasty too, but at $69, John says he may try to prepare that one at home. An earlier foray into preparing this dish was not wholly successful, but he’s up for taking on the challenge again.

We tend to get in a habit of dining at a few of our usual haunts, so it’s always fun to try new dining experiences, and no exception with Ramsay’s Kitchen. The space is open with clean lines and a view into the kitchen. We enjoyed sitting at the bar for Social Hour, and all the staff who provided service to us were great.

There is a bit of a corporate vibe in the design, and there’s a wee bit of that feel in what we ordered. But to be fair, we only tried three menu items. I realize that may be overly critical, but with a higher price point menu, corporate isn’t expected. Besides fish & chips, I look forward to having lunch at Ramsay’s — the salads all looked nice!

Happy Hour Tab - $89.05 (before tip)
Observation - I was struck by the hit on sales and alcohol tax. Of the $89.05 ticket, $6.73 was sales tax, and $4.32 was alcohol tax.

Ramsay’s Kitchen
1336 West Memorial
Oklahoma City
405.497.7339
Open Sun - Thu, 11am - 9pm
Fri - Sat, 11am - 10pm