Employees and long-time customers reacted to the announcement Freddie’s BBQ & Steakhouse will be closing its Sapulpa restaurant after serving customers for more than four decades.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, the family announced they will be closing their doors on December 31st. The original Freddie’s BBQ & Steakhouse was actually launched in an uncle’s grocery store in Drumright back in 1962.
The current location right off of Route 66 was opened by Fred Joseph’s nephew, Edmond “Tex” Slyman after a fire destroyed the original restaurant in 1978.
When the iconic restaurant opened its doors for lunch Tuesday, it was packed.
Jamie Stockstill has been working as a server at Freddie’s BBQ & Steakhouse for 15 years.
“We are a dysfunctional family, but we have had each other’s backs,” Stockstill said.
Sunday’s announcement on Facebook that the restaurant would be closing following the death of owner Edmond Slyman in July due to health issues, is still being processed by employees and loyal customers.
“We’ve all been together for so long every single week, its overwhelming right now, the emotions are raw, the emotions are raw,” Stockstill explained.
Darin Slyman, Edmond’s son, said the decision made in part by the family, including his mother Sharian Slyman, to close at the end of the year was not an easy one.
“We had to sit down as a family, and decide what are we going to do with this restaurant because my father was the leader, my father was the driving force of Freddy’s,” Slyman explained.
“We figured as a family it would be better to close on a really high note as well as our 60th anniversary than to continue on and possibly see what happens,” he added. “Dad created a legacy, and it’s better to celebrate that legacy.”
Slyman said there were number of factors that went into the decision to shut down.
That elements like supply chain issues, and getting staff, are factors in the current economic climate. Slyman said during COVID-19, however, the family business really embraced the curbside pick-up service.
Slyman said the tabouli, hummus and cabbage rolls are a nod to his dad’s Lebanese heritage, but customers we spoke with following the news of the pending closure said it’s about much more than just the food.
“We got a lot of memories,” said Cecil Calbert, “When they first put me in my first wheel chair the waitress got a big nick out of that table where she tried it out.”
“A lot of people have a lot of good memories here,” noted Tim Holman, “They’ve had a lot of banquets here, they do a lot of community events, so it’s pretty sad to hear.”
“My memory is being with grandpa,” said Tina Williams when asked about her favorite memory. “And I took a daughter-in -law here when she turned 21 so we could have a mixed drink together here,” she laughed.
The restaurant employs more than 40 individuals. While the banquet hall next door employs about 20. Both will remain open through Dec. 31.
For more information log onto their website at: https://www.freddiesbbq.com/.
©2022 Cox Media Group