A Night at Resonant Head
Oklahoma City’s MAPS initiatives have become an ideal of connecting “core to shore,” bringing together the north and south sides of the city that is bisected by the Oklahoma River. With the idea of creating and expanding an urban core, Capitol Hill, a an urban core, Capitol Hill, a is seeing a slow renaissance.
Enter: Resonant Head.
A group of nine, which include construction professionals, property developers, and owners of renowned local guitar pedal manufacturers Old Blood Noise Endeavors, recently bought the historic Oklahoma Opry building at SW 25th & Hudson Ave. They plan to renovate that esteemed venue, with its backroom walls littered with artists’ autographs. In the meantime, their neighboring bar Resonant Head has brought an eclectic mix of cocktails and live music to a block that was long home to empty buildings.
Patrick Glueck is the general manager and books the music for this bar that feels like you’ve stepped into multiple time machines. The decor is vintage but anachronistic. Designed by local interior designer A.B. Lafitte, it’s a blend of decades with tiling that could have come from the ’20s, mid-century furniture, a stage with a backdrop that Marty McFly would have played on in the ’50s, and glass bricks right out of the ’80s. This may sound incongruent and chaotic, but it works.
Importantly, they aren’t just stepping in with the aim to gentrify. “We wanted this place to be involved with the local community as much as possible, be on the local board, and help run events,” Patrick says. “Trying to be involved in this neighborhood has been tough, but we want to be a business that can fit in and balance.”
The neighborhood, from a food perspective, is a mix of Central American food and old-school hotdog spots and diners, but much of the latter closes in the afternoon. If you’re making a day of it, you can hit up Happy Plate Concepts’ recently revived Grill On the Hill (Catfish Friday, anyone?), the aforementioned Coney Island, the much loved Restaurante Los Artesanos and its chilaquiles, or El Potosino for lunch. Personal note: I always drop by the Capitol Hill Metropolitan Library, which holds one of the greatest physical media libraries for films in OKC.
Like many areas seeing new investment, evening food options in Capitol Hill take more planning. If you’re going to a show, drop by Taqueria & Tortilleria Lupita (see edibleOKC issue 32), where Elias Pando’s team creates delicious blue corn tortillas and tacos from scratch, for an early dinner — it closes at 6 p.m. After 6, you can pick up quick bites from Taco El Milagros on SW 25th & Robinson Ave.
The booze and the music flow at Resonant Head, however. The bar offers local brews and spirits produced by the likes of Stonecloud and WanderFolk Spirits, among others, and it has rotating offerings of thoughtful craft cocktails that include both standards and staff creations.
There’s a lot to love on the south side of the river, and the Resonant Head folks are trying to draw the rest of OKC with music, cocktails, and events, while respecting the community who has been there for a long time. It’s a tightrope act between regeneration and gentrification, but considering the community work they’ve been engaged with, there might be a spark.
> Resonant Head, 400 SW 25th St., Suite A, Oklahoma City, resonanthead.com
