Goodbye Goldie’s
Goldie's Patio Grill at its original location on Broadway. It moved to Danforth in 2008, but closed recently after 25 years in business.
Traveling through far north Edmond on Wednesday, I stumbled upon the sad news that Goldie’s Patio Grill had closed. I hadn’t eaten there in years, so I was anxious to try it out in the location it moved into in 2008. Unfortunately, when I got to the door a small sign was taped to the door, thanking it’s longtime patrons for their support. The dining room was filled with boxes, the lights off.
Thus ends an era started in 1986 by former University of Oklahoma football coach and defacto King of Oklahoma Barry Switzer, former OU football player and gubernatorial candidate Ron Shotts, and Quail Creek Bank founder and Chief Executive Officer Dave Davenport, who opened the first Goldie’s franchise in the metro area, in Edmond, spinning off the Tulsa original founded by Goldie and Melvin Crow in 1962. The Tulsa-area locations are still opened.
Another location opened in Norman shortly after the Edmond store. That spot, too, closed in the last few years.
Goldie’s was home of the pickle bar, Angel Fire burger and happened to be the first place I ever worked that wasn’t in the employ of my parents. In the summer of 1988, I enrolled at Oklahoma Christian for my junior year and moved into campus housing. Not having taken a class yet, the only person I knew was my girlfriend, Mandy. But she was enough to keep me from wanting to spend another summer in the leather goods factory in Brownwood, Texas.
Problem was, I had to have a job to keep me in gas and Mandy in dinner-and-a-movie dates.
So, after a month of knocking around, I landed at Goldie’s. I told the manager I’d do what it took to learn how to wait tables, he told me he could teach me and he did. I spent most of the summer there, before a family illness drew me back to Texas in August with classes starting shortly thereafter.
What I learned was Goldie’s, which was more or less a tax shelter in those days, did a huge lunch crowd and a moderate to light dinner crowd except for Saturdays. We had two gentlemen that came in every Saturday and ordered steaks. They had the same waitress and were big tippers. There was a group from a local lumber company that came in at least once a week. They didn’t tip squat unless one of two gorgeous co-workers was taking care of them. But most importantly, I learned that I was a terrible waiter. Multitasking is total sanscrit to me, and the volume Goldie’s did at lunch turned my brain to mush. If not for a nice server named Joy, folks in my section might still be waiting on their lunch, which would be difficult since the place I worked is now an OnCue station.
Goldie’s in Edmond moved from Broadway to Danforth in 2008. Longtime operator Mickey Kern and general manager Jimmy Carlton bought the restaurant when it moved. I tried calling them, but got only a busy signal. Whatever future endeavors are before them, I wish them well. Goldie’s served Edmond and Norman dutifully and auspiciously for many years and they leave a wake of loyal customers, who thank them — if for nothing else — for not calling me and trying to convince me to return after the summer of ’88.
Did you ever eat at Goldie’s? If so, I hope you weren’t unfortunate enough to have me as your server.
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Comments
In the year or two after the move my family would visit every now and then. The new location, previously a County Line BBQ joint (I think that was the name) just wasn’t a good fit for Goldies. It was too nice, too modern, not ragged enough – if that makes sense. It lacked the charm of the old place. The quality of the food, meanwhile, was increasingly inconsistent. Bad visits outpaced good ones. Before long, it just made more sense to go to Johnnies or the Cow Calf Cafe…
I used to be a regular at Goldie’s. I’ll miss the great burgers and baked beans, but I’ve been missing them for a while now. Ever since the move to Danforth, the food and service have been atrocious. The wait staff always seemed to be on break, and those beans I thought of as dessert became devoid of all flavor except onion. I guess someone thought they could make it healthier and no one would be the wiser. I’m not surprised they’re closed.
The owners at Goldies on Danforth were never very friendly and unless you sat at the bar, you had to wait for service. I’ll miss their great cole slaw and juicy burgers, but I think this place was mismanaged ever since they moved from Broadway and 9th.
Sad to hear Goldie’s is gone. Like you, it’s been years since I ate there (and we wonder why places close, when two of the most dedicated restaurant-eaters aren’t visiting), but my memories are fond. A nice burger. Decent fries. And that pickle bar, where my love for the pepperoncini was born and nurtured.
RIP, Goldie’s.