A fork in the road: Stretch of 'North Penn' is the old sweatshirt you’ll never throw away
About two bites into her cheeseburger, the lady next to me at the counter at Nic’s Grill raised her hand. “Excuse me,” she said to the waiter. “Could I get a fork?”
The man gave her a quizzical look and disappeared into the back. It took three minutes for him to return. “Sorry,” he said, fork in hand. “We don’t get asked that very often.”
It was a fitting scene for this locale. As the city reinvents its dilapidated neighborhoods, this strip of N Pennsylvania Avenue, or "North Penn," remains as authentic, unvarnished and beautifully unkempt as a greasy onion burger at the original Nic’s.
Midtown, the Plaza District and Film Row all have undergone makeovers in the last decade. Classen Boulevard looks better every day. Hubcap Alley, once colorfully populated by auto mechanics, junkyards and butcher stands, has been made brochure-ready for Scissortail Park’s lower section.
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Which is great; our city’s better for it.
But I’ll always hold a special place for areas that haven’t yet received the lipstick and face-lift. They are who they are — comfortable in their own skin.
Anchored on the south by The Salvation Army at NW 10, and on the north by the Pride District at 39th, this stretch is the old sweatshirt you’ll never throw away. Why would you? After years of wear and tear, it’s perfect.
Near Nic’s is Trolley Stop Records, an enormous dustbin of old vinyl. Music aficionados can spend days here, especially if classic rock, jazz or old country is your jam. I counted 50 Leon Russell albums and 30 by Jelly Roll Morton.
There’s a taqueria, barbecue pit, doughnut shop and the Pizza House. No frills, affordable, in-and-out. There’s a plant store and a laundromat, a nail shop and barber supplies. There’s Los Amigos Tire Shop, with a yellow and red hand-painted sign and a taco truck on the side. There are equal numbers of dispensaries, liquor stores, smoke shops and churches. There’s a tailor shop that could use some mending, and Round-Up Cleaners, with a cool sign straight off of Route 66.
There’s Westlake Ace Hardware at NW 23 and Pennsylvania. It’s significantly smaller than the big-box retailers, but they have what you need and the clerks can take you straight to it. I’ve seen Wayne Coyne, of The Flaming Lips, there a few times — the ultimate concert and film do-it-yourselfer. I always wonder what he’s looking for.
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At NW 36 and Pennsylvania is Dee’s Shoe Repair. All payments in advance, please. I took in a pair of shoes to get new soles. The man didn’t give me a ticket or write anything down. A week later I returned, and he burrowed himself into a pile of shoes and re-emerged with mine, looking brand new. Try and find service like that somewhere else.
There’s a dive bar at NW 30 that — mark my words ― will someday be a spruced-up hipster joint. They’ll probably serve craft beer and have a cat-petting room on the side. It’s inevitable. Just keep the cutlery away from Nic’s.
Russ Florence lives and works in Oklahoma City. His column appears monthly in Viewpoints.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC's 'North Penn' still perfect after years of wear and tear
