After a quick attempt to fix and salvage the relationship, the Oklahoma Tourism Department and Lookout Kitchen have officially broken up again, and this time, it’s apparently for good.
Like most failed relationships, the issues stem from money.
If you remember correctly, the state severed all ties with Lookout back in July after the restaurant fell $200,000 behind in tax payments and other contractual obligations:
That seemed to be the end of it, but Lookout’s owner – Tiger King magician JP Wilson – conjured up a plan to cover the debts, and – just like most times an ex arrives on the front doorstep with a big bag of cash and promises to get better – the state quickly took Lookout back and the restaurants reopened to the joy of no one…
Unfortunately, Lookout and the Tourism Department failed to resolve any of the underlying issues that caused the breakup in the first place.
Before you could say “abracadabra,” bad habits emerged and the parties quickly reverted to their old selves.
The Tourism Department—still sensitive to the bad optics and controversy associated with the Foggy Bottom—didn’t let the most recent payment scandal stew very long before pulling the plug for good:
Fun fact – the three most recent news releases on the tourism website are all about the struggles of Lookout Kitchen. I know things may be slow in Oklahoma tourism land, but their PR team really needs to work harder at burying the bad news with pointless press releases. Isn’t that the whole purpose of PR?
Anyway, I can’t say I’m very surprised that the state partnering with Joe Exotic’s old magician to launch a chain of six new restaurants didn’t work out.
The restaurant industry is notoriously difficult – a cutthroat, low-margin grind where even the most talented veterans struggle to make a single place work, let alone a chain of six seasonal eateries scattered across rural Oklahoma.
It makes you hope and wonder that maybe, just maybe, Stitt and company will go back to the old model that seemed to work well enough before he became governor. You know, back when you never heard anything – good or bad – about our Oklahoma state park restaurants, which is exactly how it should be.
I don’t know if that means abandoning the chain idea and working with locals to provide unique spots at each location, outsourcing ops to an evil conglomerate like Sodexo to provide generic hotel/lodge-style food, or simply partnering with native tribes to convert all state parks into ritzy resort casinos. Whatever route they take, with Stitt in charge, it’s bound to get messed up.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
