Downtown Norman will welcome a new barbecue restaurant this summer.
Local barbecue food truck The Meating Place announced it will open its first store-front location on social media March 7. The restaurant will open this summer at 121 E. Main St., the former location of McNellies Pub, which closed earlier this year.
COMING SUMMER 2019
— The Meating Place (@MeatingPlaceOK) March 7, 2019
Very excited to reveal our new home! So thankful for all the support we’ve received the last couple years, we could not have done it without our customers! Can’t wait for you all to see The Meating Place’s new home! #meatusonmainstreet #summeriscoming pic.twitter.com/euaFpNSty4
The food truck will be present at the Medieval Fair and OU spring football game on April 13, but otherwise will shut down until the store-front opens, no later than July, said co-owner PJ Taylor.
The family-owned business was started by sisters Amy Miller Taylor and Erin Miller Nixon, and their husbands, PJ Taylor and Brad Nixon, in 2016. The food truck set up shop across the metro area, including Norman, Oklahoma City, and as far as Pauls Valley, PJ Taylor said.
The Meating Place food truck is known for barbecue sandwiches ranging from turkey, pork and brisket, as well as potato fries topped with pork, meat by 1/3 pound and 1/2 pound, and sides.
Brad Nixon said the menu of the store-front will maintain its previous dishes, as well as add new dishes, such as burgers, desserts and vegetarian options.
The restaurant will take advantage of the location's bar, and will sell local craft beer from across the metro area, Taylor said.
"We will also be pushing the fact that we're the only barbecue place in Norman with a full bar," Taylor said.
The company will continue to utilize the food truck for special events and weekends, Taylor said.
Taylor said the company will give the location a new look, while also upholding the familiarity of the former business.
"We want to refresh it because we don't want people to walk in and say, 'That's the old McNellies'; we want it to be The Meating Place – we want people to buy into our experience, our culture," Taylor said. "McNellies had a certain homey, family feeling and we want to continue that."
Taylor said the company is optimistic of the restaurants success in downtown Norman, despite recent closures in the area.
"We're optimistic as a local brand, three of the four original owners are Norman-born and raised so we have deep roots here," Taylor said.
Correction: This article was corrected at 11:57 a.m. March 29 to reflect the correct date The Meating Place announced its storefront location.
