Off the Hook is on the money
Local seafood concept finds its voice
While restaurant concepts continue to expand at breakneck pace, Off the Hook Seafood and More is doing it the old-fashioned way. A year ago, we shared the story of how Corey and Loneisha Harris had grown their fledgling mobile kitchen concepts into a small restaurant. Last spring, the Harrises opened their second Off the Hook location at 1920 S Meridian and with it expanded menu options and more room to sit and enjoy a meal.
But the new place is no cookie-cutter facsimile of the original at the corner of W Britton Road and Broadway Extension. The Harrises made incremental additions to the menu and service, building toward a sustainable model that could some day be replicated in neighborhoods across the city as demand dictates.
Challenges awaited in the early days at the new place, reminding the owners how difficult it is to be the new fish in the pond.
“It was an adjustment for sure,” Harris said.
“Now, we got it going pretty good. We get a lot of people from out of town in here, but we’ve also got our local regulars, too.”
On my most recent trip, I ran into three regulars: two from out of town, and one from around the corner.
“I’m in town three or four times a month,” a woman from Tulsa offered independently. “And every time I come to town, I eat here.”
A man walking out the door, headed back home to Elk City echoed similar sentiments. Then I ran into Rick Naifeh, of Central Liquor Co., who admitted the restaurant is a good place to find him.
“We’re just around the corner, and I bet I eat in here twice a week,” Naifeh said. “I just love the food.”
Fans of the original location have plenty incentive to check out the new one, not the least of which is the expanded menu.
“We’ve got some items exclusive to the new store,” Harris said. “Lotta people like chicken and waffles, well I prefer chicken and pancakes. So, I had to put that on the menu. Had to give ‘em some burgers, too. And then I had to do some wings, we do ours a little different. I like to give you a whole wing.”
Harris, who graduated from the School of Culinary Arts at Platt College, also offers tacos on Tuesdays and crab legs on Thursdays.
Some things are unchanged. Guests still order at the counter, but now before they find their seat, they will pass a bar. Beer and wine are all that’s being poured right now, but Harris is busy putting together a cocktail menu.
And he promises Kool-Aid pickles will be involved.
Fans of the original location no doubt are familiar with the neon noshes available at the counter. Those and the rest of the original menu are available at the new place.
That would include the ultra-popular smothered seafood fries, melted lobster sandwich and po boys.
The new burgers aren’t all made of beef, but the two that are offer 10 ounces worth. Aside from a standard cheeseburger, Harris offers a brunch burger that is topped with hash browns, bacon, smoked sausage, fried egg and strawberry jam. Bring a friend to help finish that one.
The other burger addition is topped with a salmon patty to round out the sandwich selections, which also include fried fish and soft-shell crab.
Wings can be dressed in a variety of flavors, including, lemon-pepper, garlicParmesan, Caribbean jerk, zesty ranch, spicy Asian or “butt-burning” — Slawta’s words, not mine.
‘The real deal’
Slawta, Corey’s nickname, is now getting attention on the internet.
Last January, he released a rap video called “Hot Like Sriracha” under the name Chef Slawta. Conceived as a promotional video, the track is available on Chef Slawta’s first full-length CD — which drops on Friday.
“We are having an album release and listening party this Sunday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the south location,” Harris said in a text Monday night.
Chef Slawta’s passion for music won’t be contained by a digital platform. Not only will Off the Hook add live music once the bar is operating at full capacity, but Slawta promises to be one of the headlining acts.
That’s a long trip from cooking at the Ford Center when the Hornets were our NBA franchise. That experience, and the validation of one of the players was all the inspiration the Harrises needed to start their own business.
“Our first truck was really just a trailer,” Harris explained. “But this new one is the real deal.”
What was once the one and only member of the Off the Hook fleet is now a luxury to the operation, offering an efficient and effective way to cater and market the Off the Hook brand.
But before you go thinking Off the Hook has come full-circle, step back. The Harrises believe there is still yet plenty of fish in the sea (and lake) for them to sell — who knows, maybe at a location near you.