After 44 years, Service Station is running out of gas.
The Service Station is a gas station-themed restaurant just north of the University of Oklahoma’s Campus Corner where you can grab food such as fried chicken and burgers. On top of that, they also have a full bar for adults to lounge with friends.
The restaurant announced on July 4 it’ll cease operations at the end of the month, generating a flood of nostalgia and flurry of last visits by locals.
The restaurant originally opened Nov. 18, 1978. Before owning the Service Station, Phil and Jerry Crewson both had previously owned a restaurant known as the Crosby’s across Webster Avenue. Their experience with their former restaurant led to their success in opening Service Station.
Service Station storefront sign.
In 2001, they sold the Service Station to its current owners, Jeff Crabtree, Kenton and Betty Johnson. Since Crabtree’s retirement in 2019, the Johnsons have been the owners.
“We first started working together at another restaurant in 1994,” Kenton Johnson said. “And then we bought this in 2001 together, Jeff and I and Betty. And so he retired in September of 2019.”
Johnson, who is 64, originally came to Norman from Northwestern Oklahoma. He worked in an oil rig, and later at a bar. Bartending with his friend, Crabtree, led to even more opportunities like, eventually, the Service Station.
Johnson is celebrating his 65th birthday by retiring and, by extension, closing the restaurant. There has been a copious amount of pushback and “gnashing of teeth” from customers, which was expected when such a popular restaurant closes, especially because Service Station was voted “best lunch place in Norman” in 2019.
Part of that success was rooted in how Johnson always made time to get to know his customers and employees regardless of age. Living in a college town and running a business near campus, Johnson has always had a soft spot for younger generations he has watched grow up and considers interacting with them to be some of the best memories at Service Station. From weddings to babies, Johnson relishes every moment he's spent with these youth turned adults.
“Oh, the best ones would be the kids that worked here. I'll get emotional, but we've had I don't know how many,” he said, reflecting on how as recently as January he and his wife went to Vegas for the wedding of a former employee who worked there 15 years ago.
It’s a bittersweet goodbye for customers, too.
Andrew Burgess has been coming to the restaurant for a little over 40 years. He particularly enjoys the BLT, burgers and fried okra. Just like most customers, he’s disheartened by the close but is understanding why, and hopes for a potential comeback in the future.
“I'm a little sad, but what I really hope is that if they're selling it, they find a buyer who will keep it the same,” Burgess said
Johnson seems to be content with what he has created when it comes to Service Station. There are no plans to potentially re-open or keep the store open past July 31, even with some of his younger employees helping run the restaurant.
Johnson is ready for retirement, and has potential plans laid out in front of him.
“I've been doing this 30 years. I'm satisfied. I'm proud of what we've done, I'm satisfied with what I have done. And I need to go fishing a little more,” Johnson said. “The closest thing that returns to this is my ultimate retirement job. My wife doesn't agree with it, but I really want to own a bait shop and beer joint on the lake somewhere where I'm open ... two days a week, you know.
“I think that would be awesome.”
Zyer Henry graduated from Lawton MacArthur High School in May. This article was written as part of the 2023 Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism. Henry will begin his freshman year at the University of Oklahoma in the fall.
