About
Indie Tulsa is intended to serve as a clearinghouse for information about mom-and-pop businesses in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Primarily focused on news and reviews, the site also will include links to Web sites that may be of interest to those who enjoy shopping in unusual or out-of-the-way places. The site began as a spinoff of Red Fork Hippie Chick, a general-interest blog discussing peace, love, nature, faith, and whatever else comes to the mind of one thirtysomething hippie in Red Fork, an old community in southwest Tulsa.
The proprietor of this blog grew up running to Louie’s P&R Market — a fantastic Italian grocery store in Herrin, Ill. — to pick up odds and ends for her mom as a kid, gained the better end of 20 pounds while working at Burger Nook in high school and college, and grew up to be an avid Route 66 enthusiast and noisy advocate for little mom-and-pop businesses all the way from Chicago to Los Angeles. She has been known to drive 1,300 miles in a 36-hour period to keep a historic motel from being demolished, and she refuses to sleep in a Holiday Inn if a mom-and-pop option exists. Her other Web sites include Route66motels.com and Route66food.com, which are online guides to her favorite mom-and-pop dining and lodging options along the Mother Road. Her husband, who may post here occasionally, runs Route 66 News, a news blog covering events and occurrences along the venerable old highway.
Their experiences along Route 66 were part of the inspiration for this blog, but they were not the only catalyst. It also grew out of a 2006 experiment in which the Red Fork Hippie Chick spent a full month trying to shop exclusively at mom-and-pop stores (an enlightening experience that revealed the terrific quantity and quality of Tulsa’s independent merchants), and out of concerns raised by the films Independent America — which discusses the impact of big-box stores on America’s culture and economy — and Shut Up and Sing, which reveals corporate America’s alarming powers of censorship. Both films are highly recommended.
Indie Tulsa is strictly a whim-based site and should in no way be considered a complete listing of Tulsa’s independent businesses. Any non-corporate entity in Tulsa could be listed at any time; it all depends on when the authors happen to wander in, fall in love with the place, and find time to post a review.
Comments are welcomed but may be held in moderation to eliminate spammers and trolls, who have a way of ruining perfectly good blogs if they are allowed to run amok.
high five for starting this site!!!
This is a great idea! I am looking forward to trying the Italian place. And if you need a good sub sandwich while you’re out killing your lunch hour, go to Mark’s Super Sub at 11th & Gary…and there’s a used CD store in that strip as well. Oh, and Mark is pretty cute, too.
Love the site! Just a quibble…the small white print on black background is hard to read. Your content is terrific…but tough on the eyes!
Sarah,
For some reason, this particular template shrinks the type on all but the top post on the front page. If you’re having trouble seeing the older posts because of the small type, click the title, and it will take you to the permalink for that post. The type is larger on the permalinks than it is on the older posts on the main page.
This was the only template that had all the stuff I needed in the way of sidebar widgets, search feature, customizable header, etc., etc., etc. If WordPress releases something new that will work better, I’ll try it, but so far, this is the only one that’s got all the features I want, so I’m kind of stuck with it.
i really like your blog, but it’s mildly heartbreaking to see little ‘grades’ for all of the tings i love about tulsa.
Adrienne,
Thanks for reading Indie Tulsa.
Sorry to break your heart, but the grades aren’t going anywhere. They are there for the benefit of two groups of people:
1. Consumers. My intent is to encourage people to patronize Mom and Pop, but I’m not going to mislead people in the process. All that’s going to do is make them mad and teach them not to trust me. There’s a restaurant in this area that I dearly love, but the service can be extremely slow at times. I don’t eat there if I’m in a hurry or starving half to death, because I know it’s going to take forever to get my food. It’s great food, and well worth the wait, but I don’t always have time for it. Imagine how upset I’d be if I walked in expecting quick service and had to wait 20 minutes for my food! Because I know what to expect, I can plan accordingly and ensure that all my experiences with this restaurant are positive. The grades and occasional critical remarks are intended to help consumers make informed choices.
2. Business owners. This is actually my primary reason for including the grades. I intend to help business owners in two ways: by giving them free publicity, and by providing constructive criticism to help them improve their businesses.
If it makes you feel any better, you are not likely to see Ds or Fs on this site. I’m not out to trash anybody. If a business flunks a category, or if it earns an overall grade lower than a B-, I probably won’t mention the place at all. (But I will speak to the owner and give him a chance to straighten up and fly right so I can come back and review him another time, after he’s improved.)
So far, I’ve only handed out one C (in the category of service), and I did so because the business owner talked down to me, which I consider unacceptable. I considered snubbing him altogether but decided to include his business on the site because his product was just too good to ignore. If he’d been snotty enough to earn a D or an F, you wouldn’t have seen a review here.
Hope that clarifies things for you.
Thanks for this particular slice of Tulsa life.
I am a Californian who visits Tulsa often on business. This is the sort of stuff that I love about Tulsa, but can’t completely explain to my Californian friends.
Your review of DoubleShot is spot-on. Matched my experience exactly.
Eric Haggin
Hi, enjoy your site alot. If you *DO* find yourself doing a writeup on Alioli’s Tapas on Peoria… keep your credit card receipt! It may not match what actually gets charged to your card. An acquaintance relates an additional $8 added to their card AFTER they signed the carbon… Not good!
I REALLY appreciate this! I often use it as a reference when I am in need of goods and services! Thank you!
Hi Emily,
I love reading Indie Tulsa, especially the posts about food and restaurants around my former hometown. I grew up in S. Tulsa and Bixby and use this and a few other blogs as a way of keeping in touch with Tulsa.
I thought your readers might be interested in a review of Carrabba’s Italian Grill.
We have some new items on the menu, and we’d love for you to come try Carrabba’s and do an honest review. We’ll send you a VIP Gift Certificate for two – invite a friend if you want.
If you’re interested, let me know and I’ll send you the gift certificate.
In case you aren’t familiar with Carrabba’s, here are a couple things you should know:
Each Carrabba’s location has LOCAL ownership. Carrabba’s works in true partnership with actual local owners at every restaurant occasion.
Every dish is completely FRESH. All items - sauces, doughs, desserts - are made from scratch every morning.
Again, if you’re interested, let me know and I’ll send you the gift certificate.
Thanks!
Sarah Woodward
sarah.woodward@mslpr.com