Hi I’m Marcie Billen with Ruya Team Realty and Keller Williams Mulinix here in Norman, Oklahoma and this is Part 2 of my tour of downtown Norman! If you missed Part 1 of the downtown Norman series, check out this video!
Today I’ll be going from James Garner which is in the middle of downtown, or really near the end of it, all the way down to Porter and walk you through some of the entertainment places that we have, the stores, and of course the restaurants!
Entertainment
So for entertainment downtown, we have the Sooner Theatre which has some different plays and musicals that go on throughout the year, and of course kids camps and things like that.
There is a lot of art incorporated to the downtown area and some of the pieces are multifunctional – for example, some are bike racks and you’ll see them in a bunch of different spots; not just in in downtown, but also in parks as well. And then you can see here, our amazing mural come up over the top of some of the downtown shops.
Another one of the entertainment pieces here downtown of course, Pinot’s Palette, which can make for a fun night out with friends or family. Sea Shanty Scuba Center is our local scuba diving shop, so if you’re into scuba diving this is the place to go – they’ve got training classes and outings you can schedule!
Shops & Businesses
One of the downtown coffee shops is called Michelangelo’s and it’s definitely one of the oldest coffee shops in Norman and probably one of the most popular. They don’t just have coffee, they also do wine and a little bit of food, and they have other groups that meet there as well, like book clubs and then they have like poetry nights, and music, and things like that. And of course downtown is always changing.
Human Interaction is one of the newest shops that we have here in downtown Norman. They have house plants, which I always look online at and then they have a bunch of cool shirts, and also some nice dresses, and things like that. And some very cool cards, but I haven’t been able to go inside yet, because COVID. Someday.
And Oklahoma does have medical marijuana, so there are quite a few dispensaries around town. Here’s sort of like a mystical shop, called Sandalwood & Sage. You can buy crystals, different things. One of the yoga places here in downtown Norman is called Fusion Fitness and Yoga .
We have a couple of banks here downtown; one is Arvest. Its headquarters are in Arkansas and then we also have First Fidelity on the corner, as well. At Peters and Main Street, you can see the courthouse. And Guest Room is our record shop in town. You can literally buy records there.
Bars & Restaurants
This Blue Bonnet Bar is definitely one of the oldest bars here. Bigfoot Creative is a t-shirt shop and they have screen printing and a lot of people get their custom shirts done here. This is Red Brick Bar. A lot of live music goes on here, it’s a pretty big space as you can see. Definitely one of the more popular bars in downtown Norman. The Garage is a chain restaurant however, still an amazing place to get burgers. They don’t have a great patio however, their inside is really great and people definitely go in there to watch sports.
One of our downtown pizza places is called Notorious Pie. Rusty’s Frozen Custard, which is on the corner, is a Norman staple. We went there just the other day because it was Ice Cream Day. Our German restaurant in town, Das Boot or Das Bootcamp, I guess, but everyone calls calls it Das Boot and I’ve covered some other restaurants in other some other Oklahoma towns as well, but if you are wanting German food in Norman, this is where you gotta go. The Diner is one of the breakfast places that you usually have a line out the door to get into. It’s literally just like it sounds; a diner.
Victoria’s is another our one of our Norman staples, in terms of Italian food. Been here for a very long time, but not in it’s downtown location. It actually used to be on Campus Corner. Bison Witches is definitely like a pre-game kind of sandwich shop, really chill spot. Some of the new things that we have down here are breweries. So downtown Norman has quite a few breweries, at this point. I probably won’t mention them all because I rarely go inside of them. A lot of them haven’t been here that long and so hopefully Norman will get even more entertainment and fun social activities just like that.
Another downtown brunch spot, pretty popular, the record shop is called The Meating Place. I have not eaten there yet. The spot I just showed you is called The Meeting Place and I haven’t eaten there yet. First because it’s barbecue and I really hate barbecue. If you’re moving to Oklahoma, you probably should get used to it, however. I just really don’t ever eat it, but that spot, The Meeting Place, actually used to be one of my favorite bars in town called McNellie’s, so it makes me sad to think of going in there and not being able to order a burger and beer, like I always did. Probably my favorite sushi bar in Norman is called Full Moon and it’s a really great environment inside. Pricey. However, excellent sushi. That wraps up this section of the downtown Norman tour, stay tuned for Part 3!
I’d love to hear from you about other places you’d like to tour or want more information about in the Norman, OK area! Send me an email with your requests or questions!
