Legend’s celebrates half century Saturday
Last week it was Junior’s celebrating 45 years in business, this week Legend’s
Restaurant and Catering will have a party to recognize half a century serving the Norman community.
The Norman Chamber of Commerce will lead the event on Saturday at Legend’s, 1313 W Lindsey St., which is owned by Joe and Rebecca Sparks.
Legend’s has been a preferred destination for special-occasion dining and Thanksgiving for those not feasting at home for decades, but what most folks don’t know is it hasn’t always been that kind of restaurant.
The Sparks took over Legend’s in 1980, but it was founded in 1967 by Wayne Copeland and Orin Bacharach as a pizza delivery outfit called Lemuel B. Legend’s on Norman’s South Navy Base.
Copeland knew they had a hit, so he built a new building on Lindsey, poached chef Robert Dickson from The Cellar at
Hightower and built a roster of stockholders, including a would-be chemist named Joe Sparks, for the new place.
The new place on Lindsey opened in 1968 minus the first name, and with sandwiches, steaks, salads, lasagna, spaghetti,
and desserts added to the menu. The original concept offered late-night delivery and a casual dining room outfitted with artifacts and furniture from the Huckins Hotel and telephone on each table used to make orders and talk to guests at other tables. Pizza and telephones were gone by 1972, when the restaurant made its first move toward the restaurant we know today. That’s when the decor went contemporary, and a more sophisticated menu was unveiled.
Rebecca Sparks, who serves as executive chef, came to Legend’s in 1979. She and Joe Sparks married in 1995. Joe and Rebeccaadded Legend’s Times Two, an event space, about 20 years ago. The all-purpose space is also home to the old liquor lockers customers used to keep on premises before liquor-by-the-drink was legal.
For Saturday’s event, the chamber will hold a ribbon-cutting at Legend’s at 4 p.m. and Sparks will serve her signature lemon cake with punch until 5:30 p.m. For more information, or to check out the full menu, go online tolegendsrestaurant.com.
Awesome Burger Alert!
After much provocation from readers, I finally made it to Lip Smackers last week. Taking over what was originally a Burger King attached to a gas station at 4200 N Pennsylvania Ave., Lip Smackers offers a high-quality burger with an interesting variety of toppings. (Also a really nice cheesecake.)
It’s only one trip, but the burger I tried with blue
cheese and caramelized red onion was clearly of the highest quality. Think The Patty Wagon and the original Nic’s Grill: big, juicy burgers with an emphasis on protein quality.
I’ll be back soon with more in-depth coverage, but my quick and dirty assessment of Lip Smacker is this: The hype is real.
Venetian Ball set for Criterion
Oklahoma Lawyer’s For Children will host its 21st Venetian Ball at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 29 at The Criterion, 500 E Sheridan Ave.
Chefs from Rococo, Mickey Mantle’s, La Brasa, Kwan’s Kitchen, and La Baguette will create custom menus inspired from global cuisine in an atmosphere balanced with high-flying entertainment, live music, and casino games.
This is a black-tie optional, masquerade encouraged affair. Tickets are $225 and can be purchased online at olfc. ejoinme.org/VenetianBall2018. The event supports the services Oklahoma Lawyers for Children offer, including pro bono representation for unrepresented children. Each dollar donated equates to $13.74 worth of legal representation.
Mesta Festa returns this month
The Mesta Park Neighborhood Association will host the 2018 Mesta Festafrom noonto 6 p.m. Sept. 23 at Perle Mesta Park, NW 18 Street and Shartel Avenue.
The event is free and open to the public, and will include a beer and wine garden, outdoor games including yard pong and bag toss, arts and crafts, live music, sand volleyball, local artists, pop-up shopping booths, and food
trucks.
Elk Valley Brewing will team with RideOKC to offer guided bike rides and early sneak peeks at the brewery. Rides are scheduled for up to 12 people at 2 p.m., 3:30 p.m., and 5 p.m. during the fest, and will include beer tastings at the taproom. Sign-ups will be available at the RideOKC table and the Elk Valley table in the Beer Garden.
Admission to the beer station and wine garden require a wristband, which will be available for $20to those21 years of age and older with a valid ID. Mesta Festa shirts will also be available for sale on the day of the event. Cash and credit cards will be accepted. Several local musical acts will perform throughout the day, including Jarvix, Bad Jokes and the Thunder Drummers. Tasty Snow, Mighty Corndog, and Nacho Mami’s are among the food trucks planning to attend.
For the second year, Mesta Festa be the official after-race party for the annual Uptown Fun(5) k. Runners 21 and older receive a beer garden wristband with their run registration. Funds raised at Mesta Festa benefit the Mesta Park Neighborhood Association. For more information on these events, go online to www. uptown23rd.com/5k and www.mestapark.org/ events/mesta-festa-2018.
Food trucks lined up for Plaza District Festival
The food truck roster is set for the 20th annual Plaza District Festival, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sept. 29.
Newcomer Mighty Corndog joins six returning vendors that will park on N Indiana Avenue between NW 16 and 17 streets, including: Big Truck Tacos, C’est Si Bon, Sizzle n Spice, Loaded Bowl, Jerky.com, and Let’s do Greek.