Back in September, OKC's basic food scene collectively lost its mind when news broke that Pappadeaux Seafood – the famed Cajun seafood chain – was planning to build a restaurant in a new development along Automobile Alley in Downtown OKC.
Naturally, the local media ran fast with the story, desperately milking it for all the likes and shares that social media posts about new businesses tend to generate.
For example:
Well, I guess everyone got all dressed up and excited for nothing!
We’ve sadly learned that Pappadeaux – which is kind of like the Red Lobster of Cajun food but way better – has apparently reneged on its buttery plan to satisfy the bellies of OKC restaurant-goers.
We know about this thanks to Steve Lackmeyer, who buried the news at the bottom of a lengthy article about a new building in Downtown OKC that will be made from sustainable wood:
Guernsey, one of Oklahoma City’s oldest design firms, is looking to make a statement on sustainability by building the first multi-story mass timber building in the city for its new downtown headquarters.
Construction on the four-story, 60,000-square-foot building is expected to start in spring 2025 with opening in summer 2026. The 150-employee headquarters for the architectural, engineering and planning firm will be an anchor at Alley North, a mixed-use development at the northeast corner of NW 13 and Broadway…
The $115 million Alley North is being developed by Pivot Project. CEO Jonathan Dodson said construction also is set to begin next year on a parking garage, retail, and a mixed-use office building adjacent to the future Guernsey headquarters.
Restaurants also are to be built facing Broadway, though they will no longer include a previously announced Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen.
Two quick things:
1. I’m no wood-obsessed architect, but is building a giant wood structure in the heart of Tornado Alley really the best idea? I mean, I get that strong, heavy wood can hold its own, but we’ve all seen images of splintered two-by-fours lodged in cars after tornadoes – or at least heard The Three Little Pigs – to know this has “bad idea” written all over it.
2. What in the Ryan Walters of Hell is Steve Lackmeyer doing here?
The dude has the scoop of the month dangling in front of him, and he buries it deep in an article like a tiny piece of shrimp lost in a large pile of grits! Is everything okay over there? Was he ashamed and embarrassed for being the first person to break the original story? Was he too busy writing about another OKC smut lord? Did swapping bricks for wood throw him off his game?
We need answers!
Also, how did the paper’s editor, Ravishing Ray Rivera, let this scoop slip through the cracks? The man may look like a newspaper editor sent in by central casting, but apparently, he wouldn’t know a good story if it pinched him like a crawdad. I expect more from a guy so serious and handsome!
Anyway, I don’t know why Pappadeaux Seafood abandoned its OKC plans, or if they might be moving elsewhere (TLO Tower of Excellence, anyone?), but I’m smart enough to grab the page views now and let Steve fill in the details later.
Until then, stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
