It was the late '90s when the local Norman drive-in restaurant Classic 50’s started putting candy in their drinks.
Jeri Sieber, who car-hopped at the restaurant on and off her entire life, was taking an order when an OU sorority student ordered a Sprittle.
“A Sprittle?” Sieber said. “And they're like: “Yeah, your Sprite with Skittles, that's a Sprittle. So the next thing I know it is a Sprittle and we have trademarked it and it's on the menu. It's just one of those things that happened organically between us and the customers.”
On top of “the best chili cheese Coneys,” daily hand-made onion rings, fried pickles and Sieber’s personal favorite, the Chicago dog, Classic 50’s has served the OU and Norman community since the 1950s.
Sieber, now the owner of Classic 50’s, sat back in the bright sunlight at a picnic bench in the heart of the drive-in, holding a Styrofoam cup with bubbling soda and extra ice as she explained how she came into the family business.
Her grandfather founded and previously owned Classic 50’s. Juel Sweatte started the popular drive-in in 1957 as Glenn’s Drive-In, which then became one of the first Sonic Drive-Ins. When new leadership took over the Sonic company, Sieber said her grandfather turned the drive-in into Classic 50’s.
It is now in his memory, despite the difficult times for business, Sieber does what she can to keep Classic 50’s on the map in Norman.
“I have all these degrees and I have these careers and I have this life,” Sieber said. “I bought (Classic 50’s) because I didn't want to lose it. It was my family's legacy and it was like part of my grandfather and I miss him terribly every day.”
Sieber attended high school overseas, was in the Air Force ROTC at OU and graduated in 2002 with one of her undergraduate degrees, earning another at the University of Hawaii. She then worked with The U.S. Department of State. Sieber returned to OU and taught students as a graduate assistant while car hopping at the drive-in until she earned her master's degree in 2006.
With a background in international relations and foreign policy, Sieber said she was destined to be in the State Department's Foreign Service Institute.
Sieber was living in Africa when she had her first daughter and moved back to Oklahoma. When she returned to Oklahoma, she became the executive director of a nonprofit youth shelter.
“I could run a business,” Sieber said. “I can run a business, I can make a business make money because I had pretty much worked my whole life here and there with my dad's company out west.”
Sieber said when her grandfather died, the family was ready to sell the drive-in, but everyone who wanted to buy it wanted it just for the land. So she decided that she would take up the mantle of Classic 50s.
“I just loved it,” Sieber said. “I love this place. I grew up working here and it's a part of Norman and Norman wouldn't be the same without it.”
Norman has seen an increasing number of closures for long-time local businesses including the restaurant and bar Penny Hill Deli and 405 Burger Bar on West Main Street. Other closures include the chicken restaurant Nashbird and Hurts Donuts.
Sieber said in a January interview with OU Daily that restaurants are increasing prices in reaction to the current economic environment, but increasing prices deter customers.
“Our numbers are down this year from last year and the year before,” Sieber said. “They're not just down a little, they're down significantly. I'm not sure if people are feeling the crunch of the economy or if it's January, (which is) always slow, … but this is exceptional.”
A 2023 survey conducted by Restaurant365 found 75% of respondents expected their labor costs to increase in 2023. In July, 83% saw a rise.
Additionally, Equity Brewing Company, the first all-women-owned brewery in Norman, announced it would close its doors after its lease expires in about four months.
Suzette Grillot, an OU international studies professor and founder of Equity Brewing, said though her business increased its revenue over the past two years of operation, inflation costs proved too challenging to keep things afloat.
“The cost of things never come down. … We hope that they stay the same but they always go up,” Grillot said. “They've always gone up significantly since we started this project. It's just really hard to survive that. I know a lot of small businesses that are struggling and it's just really unfortunate.”
Since buying Classic 50’s in 2015, Sieber said keeping the business afloat is challenging. Less than a year after buying it, she had to temporarily close the restaurant for construction on Lindsey Street. Additionally, she has struggled with an uptick in costs since 2020 due to the pandemic.
“Then all of a sudden it's like, OK, it's 2020 we have a street … and then COVID hit. And I was like, you've got to be kidding me,” Sieber said.
Being a drive-in, business during the COVID-19 outbreak was better than post-COVID, as Sieber said costs and shortages have caused many difficulties. She said there were no cups, lids or meat and currently there is a potato shortage.
Even so, Sieber refuses to use alternatives to account for these shortages, making sure the quality of the food at Classic 50’s is top-notch.
“People come in, yes, they're upset because we're out of this or we're out of that, and I'm like, well, the alternative I wouldn't want you to eat. So be OK, choose something else and trust me, I got your back here. We'll get it back soon,” Sieber said.
Sieber said this ability to choose and hand-make food being served to customers is not only part of the charm but also marks the importance of local businesses in Norman.
“I’m not getting frozen pickle-o’s and frozen onion rings out of a bag that you just throw in the fryer or mass produce,” Sieber said. “Sonic doesn't make theirs by hand. They're made on a machine. Some of them, the others just get frozen (products) flown in and corporate tells them what they can and can't sell what they have to sell. I can put out anything I want, anytime.”
Once a year, Sieber has Indian tacos available at the drive-in during the Norman Medieval Fair. The dough is made by hand.
Sieber said the importance of local Norman restaurants lies not only in the quality of food they can provide to customers, but the impact they have on the community.
From first dates, community fundraisers, trivia nights, bingo or just hanging out with friends, local restaurants last in the memories of OU alums and Normanites across the city.
Ty McCarthy, a 2012 OU alum, said his memories surrounding local Norman restaurants mostly include the comfortability of the atmosphere and the fun times with friends he now remembers fondly.
“I remember being super nervous going into Cafe Plaid because I was coming out to a friend at Cafe Plaid and so it's like seared into my memory,” McCarthy said. “Then they were totally cool with it. … It goes back to that being comfortable thing, I just felt at home on Campus Corner. It was just like, these are your local shops.”
Cafe Plaid, a Campus Corner restaurant that served students organic coffees, pastries and desserts, closed in 2015.
The Mont, another student favorite located not 2 miles away from campus, lives in the memories of alums, especially with their famous “Swirl” cocktail. McCarthy, who now lives in Chicago and Rainey Sewell, 2013 OU alum who now lives in Washington D.C., said they have brought the famed cocktail to bars in their areas.
McCarthy said at a local bar in Chicago there is now a “Mont Swirl” on the cocktail menu for game days.
Normanite and 2017 OU graduate Jarrett Ferguson said he remembers many restaurants fondly, including Classic 50’s.
“I went to middle school at Alcott Middle School. It's just a roughly 15-minute walk from Alcott to Classic 50’s and so that was the big thing after school, everyone would walk … from the middle school to Classic 50’s and go get Sprittles and tater tots and just hang out,” Ferguson said.
Alums also fondly recalled Sooner Legends, which closed in July 2020, Service Station, which closed in July 2023 and O’Connell’s Irish Pub and Grill, which still serves students and Normanites alike on Campus Corner.
Grillot said local businesses such as Equity bring a unique, social importance to a community. After all, she said her mission with Equity was to bring people together with beer and good food, as “that’s what makes breweries amazing businesses, is because of that community connection and very local focus.”
Local businesses like Classic 50's, Equity and many others in Norman support the community in a variety of ways. Every Saturday, Sieber said Classic 50’s hosts fundraisers for a variety of nonprofit groups, sports teams, sororities and churches in the area to support the local community.
“I think people should care about local business because it's their partners, their people, it's their people in the community, people that live, work (and) visit that community,” Grillot said. “Why do you want your dollars, necessarily, to go to people that live far, far away or that aren't invested in some way in the community beyond owning a business there?”
There is a vibrancy in local businesses, Grillot said, that impacts the community and everyone who lives in it.
“I am very grateful to the people of Norman and the Norman area and all the guests of Equity Brewing,” Grillot said. “People who visit breweries are doing so because they love local beer because they love local products. They want to shop local. That's why people come to breweries and so I'm really grateful for all of their support.”
Sieber said the community the drive-in brings to her and Norman as a whole is what marks the importance of local businesses everywhere.
“I've had enough,” Sieber said. “We can't keep losing every single privately owned restaurant that has something very, very special and unique to offer us. I don't want to eat the same thing over and over again. I love food. I love variety. It's like, I want to go in and them to be like Jeri, I have something you're gonna love today.”
Running out of places she can get that personal touch, high-quality food and variety of options, Sieber hopes more and more people will continue to support Norman’s community by dining local.
“Everybody needs to support what we have left,” Sieber said. “We have Othello’s, and Victoria's and there's great Asian food all over this town. But I mean, we need to do something about it. We cannot afford to lose any more.”
This story was edited by Peggy Dodd, Anusha Fathepure and Ismael Lele. Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
