The story
Garland Arrington opened the cafeteria at 1111 Classen Drive in 1948. He sold it in 1956 to John Schroer Sr. and Pat Denham for $100,000. Denham died in a boat explosion in 1960 and the Schroer family took full control. In 1966 they renovated it and marketed it as Oklahoma City's first restaurant-style cafeteria, in a city that then had 23 cafeterias.
In 1975 it moved across the street to 525 NW 11. Its roots trace to Anna Maude Smith, who started her own cafeteria after working at the old downtown YWCA cafeteria. The Oklahoma History Center estimates the city had 37 independent cafeterias at their peak in the 1950s and 1960s. The Lost Ogle reported that Boulevard closed on Friday, December 11, 2015, and that The Oklahoman said its xylophone sounded for the last time as the 96-year cafeteria era ended. The old Classen address is now home to EMSA.
What's There Now
Unknown for 525 NW 11th; the original 1111 Classen Drive site is now home to EMSA.
Everything that was here
- 1975–2015
Boulevard CafeteriaRestaurant
A cafeteria that opened in 1948 on Classen Drive and moved across the street in 1975. It closed in December 2015, ending the city's 96-year cafeteria era.
See the map in 1976 →
Did you know?
Nearby history
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