O'Connell's is Creating New Traditions at the New Location!

It is out with the old and in with the new for O’Connell’s Irish Pub and Grille.

O’Connell’s on Campus Corner has been doing just fine since its long-standing sister store shut down Jan. 29.

“Business has definitely increased significantly since the old one shut down,” manager Amanda Gorbet said.

The new location began to build a strong customer base, so when the original location closed, its regular customers moved to the new one. They have adjusted quite well to the new one, Gorbet said.

“It took some of them a while to get situated and feel comfortable to the new one, but eventually they did and they continue to come back,” she said.

For some of those regulars, they could be seeing one of their favorite items from the original location added to the new menu. Food is a big topic of discussion for the managers, as they are trying to decide what to have on their menu.

“We’re planning on sitting down and merging the menus together. We hope to add favorites from the old menu and the new menu,” Gorbet said.

The original O’Connell’s opened on Lindsey St. across from the football stadium in 1968 and became a campus landmark for Sooner students throughout the years. The new location opened in 2008 and has been enjoying immense success on Oklahoma’s legendary Campus Corner.

The University of Oklahoma bought the land where O’Connell’s sat to build new Sooner Housing dorms. The demolition of the old location occurred in early 2011.

The staff who have worked at both locations have mixed emotions about the closing of a Norman icon.

“It is definitely bittersweet,” Gorbet said. “Having both of the restaurants about a mile apart from each other worked, oddly enough. Some people like the old location and some people like the new one.”

One of the major problems for the new location is parking. Campus Corner is limited to parking spots and without a place to park, some customers will just leave and go somewhere else.

“Some people will make one or two passes and then decide not to come in,” Gorbet said. “We are trying to work it out so that our employees to park in the church parking lots across the street to open up more space for the customers that are close to the restaurant.”

When football season rolls around, fans will not be disappointed that they cannot tailgate in the parking lot anymore because the new location will host game day festivities.

“We will do all of the same things on game day as the original location,” Gorbet said. “Everything will be just like the old one.”

Arneva Martin

Arneva Martin is fueled by anything and everything volleyball. She is the Director of LoneStar Volleyball Club in Frisco, TX. Marissa Pittman followed her as she traveled with three of her teams to Denver for a National Qualifier called Colorado Crossroads.



VIDEO: Marissa Pittman
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Republic Gastropub Takes Oklahoma City by Storm

Republic Gastropub is redefining the idea of a public house, or pub, in Oklahoma City by putting a contemporary, American spin on an old English tradition.
A gastropub is a high-end restaurant or bar that places emphasis on the beer as well as the food.
“Gastronomy is the study of food. This is a place where people can enjoy the pub atmosphere and also enjoy the food,” General Manager Kurt Shewmaker said.
As with all pubs, beer is very important to Republic. The Gastropub houses 100 different beers on tap and close to 250 different bottles. Along with these selections is a wine list and a bevy of signature cocktails.
“Our beers are from all over the world with every different type you can imagine. There are certain beers that compliment certain entrees, as with wine,” Shewmaker said.
Although the term “gastropub” was coined in London, Republic does not have many ties to their British background. They serve burgers, sandwiches, salads and a selection of American takes on some British entrees. Republic also has daily food specials that are pub inspired and created by their kitchen staff.
“We have executive chefs. They aren’t cooks or kitchen managers or anything like that, they are trained, professional chefs,” Shewmaker said.
Shewmaker says that because of the pub atmosphere and the high-end food, the pub plays host to all different types of customers.
“It depends on the time of day. For lunches we get business people and housewives. Late at night we get the party crowd and on the weekends we get families,” he said.
As for the sports fans, there are televisions everywhere you look. Anywhere that you sit, you will be able to see a TV. When the Oklahoma City Thunder is playing, all of the monitors are turned to the game and the sound is up.
The pub’s location on Classen Curve helps to get different customers in the door. Once the customers are in the door, they continue coming back for the various beers and the upscale food.

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This slide show shows my favorite place in Norman: my apartment.

Local Restaurant Closes because of Snow Days

Legends Restaurant in Norman was forced to close for three days in early Feb. due to the winter storm that passed through Oklahoma.

Owner and general manager Joe Sparks decided to close the restaurant Feb. 1, 2 and 3 due to the bad conditions from the storm.  He said that keeping the restaurant closed saved money and helped with the labor cost because there was no offsetting income. 

Legends was also closed for one of the days because they could not get their parking lot plowed and Sparks will not open the restaurant if the parking lot is not cleared. 

“The parking lot was completely covered in snow.  There were only so many people able to plow and all of Norman needed them.  We weren’t going to open the restaurant if the parking lots were still unsafe,” Sparks said.

Oklahoma received a record amount of snow during the blizzard, including about 12 inches in areas around the Oklahoma City metroplex.  These conditions led to icy streets, causing many businesses and schools to close for a few days so that people could stay safe at home.

Sparks attributed the amount of snow as the reason for closing, saying that if there is over four inches of snow, people will not go out to eat.

“It made no sense to have the whole staff there if no customers were coming in.  They don’t want to be here if there is nothing to do.  Plus, a lot of my employees didn’t want to get out in that weather,” Sparks said.

When the restaurant reopened, it went back to business as usual.  Joe Sparks insists that business is good when the weather permits it to be.

The Pearl Project

After three years of investigating, professors and students from Georgetown University have concluded their project on former Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Georgetown University Journalism Director Barbara Feinman Todd and former Journal reporter and close friend of Pearl, Asra Nomani, led a group of students to find the truth about Pearl’s capture and murder in Karachi, Pakistan in 2002. 

This research, titled The Pearl Project: The Truth Left Behind, revealed that there were 27 men involved in Pearl’s death.  Of these 27 men, only four have been convicted of the crime, including mastermind Omar Saeed Sheik.  The majority of the others are walking free.

Daniel Pearl’s story opened eyes to the dangers that American journalists face when traveling abroad to report on a story for the well-being of the nation’s citizens.  His death showcases that these journalists will stop at nothing to reveal the truth.

Daniel Pearl was an American journalist covering news in Pakistan.  He was on his way to what he thought was an interview on January 25 when men kidnapped him and held him for ransom.  A few weeks after his kidnapping, his captors murdered him and released the video online.  This shocked American citizens, journalists and the government.

“The goal was to find out who killed Danny- who really killed him- and why they did it,” Asra Nomani said.

The professors and students faced challenging times when trying to chase leads about Pearl’s death.

Nomani faced difficulties because of her Indian roots.  The people in Pakistan did not always want to speak to her because of her nationality.  Barbara Feinman Todd had troubles because she was Jewish.

More difficulties included the time differences in America and Pakistan, the faulty technology and false information.

With all of these difficulties, the group of 32 students and their fearless leaders recognized the importance of continuing with the story.  They would not give up on getting the truth about Daniel Pearl’s unfortunate death.

“For Danny, his memorial is the truth,” Feinman Todd said.

Daniel Pearl’s legacy lives on in many people today.  His story helped others gain better understanding of what was going on in the world, that way something like this would not happen again.  From this, journalists have learned the importance of understanding race, culture and identity.