BlackBird GastroPub

For a lunchtime meal, I thought Blackbird was only ok. If you’re going with a big group, the eclectic menu definitely is a plus. The food was actually tasty – my fish and chips tasted impeccable. I love the french fries and could’ve more if I had the opportunity! A couple other folks in my group noted that the portions were not comparable to price (i.e. too little food). I could’ve done with a little more food, but I was also super hungry, so, shrug.
Blackbird was fairly quiet during our meal, which I chalked up to summertime around campus, but even with barely anyone else in the restaurant, the waiter treated us like an afterthought. As in a «Oh yeah, you guys are here» kind of attitude. The service wasn’t horrible, just not terribly attentive.
Maybe Blackbird is better during dinner? I’d be willing to give it a go during a different time of day whenever I’m in Norman again.

I really enjoy this restaurant. The food is excellent. The servers are very nice and the location is convenient to the OU Campus and campus corner. The soup and nachos are my personal faves, but everything I have had is really great. I also like the layout of the restaurant. It is unique and you can enjoy a group event.

Great food — Great service! Stopped in for the first time and will be back for sure. Came to town from Dallas for meetings and was looking for a nice upscale place to dine with a fun atmosphere and glad we did. Kelsey was our server and she made sure we had a great night, helping us choose a few things to try, all were hits. From the duck, to pot roast sliders and a really cool Apple dessert! Even manager came by to check on us, Renee who was very charming and professional, so we appreciated it. We learned they have four other restaurants, so will have to come back to Blackbird again and try their other spots. Thank you and well done!

Came here for dinner one day when there was literally only 5 other tables being occupied. Our waitress did not come to check up on us and only got our drinks, delivered food, and we had to ask another server to get out check because SHE NEVER CAME BACK. Food was subpar and overpriced. Much better food at Chilis

Stopped in this cool hip place for dinner. Immediately greeted and was able to get a table for 4. The girls I was with said they have never had a bad plate here, so I was excited to try it for myself! We all started with house wines, they had a great drink menu! I opted for the slow cooked pot roast with the truffle oil mashed potatoes, carrots and jalapeño cornbread. Seriously phenomenal– the mashed potatoes were to die for. I am a huge truffle fan and was excited to see them on the menu– the truffle wasn’t over powering and the potatoes were blended well. The jalapeño cornbread came out in a small loaf on the side of the plate and had the perfect kick to it. The pot roast was placed on top of the potatoes surrounded by the carrots and was cooked perfectly. While the chunks of carrots were larger than expected their flavor was great. Our waitress boxed up our leftovers– the portion sizes were huge! Highly recommend this dinner spot for a delicious meal in Norman!

My last evening in Norman & I was seriously craving the aged cheddar & bacon burger! Enjoyed my meal on the outdoor patio in the back since it was such a perfect Oklahoma spring evening!

Delicious!!! Great food, good service, charming atmosphere. The house soup is amazing. More of an older adult sophisticated vibe than an undergrad thing. Parking can be a challenge but the walk is worth it. I will go back.

I’m going to start this restaurant recommendation with a bold statement: Blackbird Gastropub (575 S University Blvd, Norman) has some of the best fries. Here’s the kicker: their fries aren’t something they’re known for or even advertise! Whenever my wife and I visit, we have to get some fries. It’s even been a tie breaker for where to eat out.
One of my personal favorites there are their burger and fries. What makes the burger stand out from others I’ve had is the bread. However, Blackbird is part of the Good Life Dining Group so the bread isn’t unique to them as I’ve noticed The Library has the same, but everyone’s burger options are different. My pick is the Aged Cheddar and Bacon Burger ($ 9), which features a 7 oz beef patty with chopped bacon and shredded aged cheddar on a whole wheat bun and served with, of course, their delicious, delicious fries. Seriously, can anyone email me their secret recipe?
The Campus Corner hangout is known for its elevated pub grub, like their pot roast sliders ($ 10). I know mashed potatoes with pot roast, truffle oil, and fried onions on a ciabatta roll sounds weird, especially the mashed potatoes, but it works and it tastes great.
On the subject of elevation, Blackbird has a second floor if you like to look out over everything. Another aspect that stands out about the restaurant are the lounge seating areas. There are several spots with comfortable couches for a group gatherings, which I find fascinating because it’s not something I see at restaurants. There’s also a separate place called the Bird’s Nest, which they advertise as «a place for having cigar with a glass of whiskey.»
I also liked their Shepherd’s Pie ($ 10) with ground beef, stewed with veggies, rosemary and thyme and baked with black truffle oil mashed potatoes and served with jalapeño cornbread. It was «burn-​my-​mouth» good so I should advice letting it cool first.
Another delicious appetizer I recommend is the Mac N’ Cheese ($ 7) with cheddar, gorgonzola, nutmeg, and cream with ciabatta crumb. Hard to go wrong with mac and cheese.
To end my recommendation of Blackbird, I leave you with their Chocolate Cake ($ 10) dessert. It’s a huge and rich slice of cake severed with ice cream and drizzled with white chocolate and raspberry sauce. Blackbird Gastropub in Norman’s Campus Corner has great food and is comfortable place to hang out with friends.
Did I mention I like their fries?

I LOVE all things pot roast here! When someone mentions blackbird or hasn’t tried it yet, I find myself repeating the words ‘pot roast pot roast pot roast’, like a well trained parrot. Pot roast sliders, pot roast nachos, pot roast plate. All is on point. I never knew I liked pot roast until I went to blackbird. Now I need to find an excuse to get my friends to go down with me to Norman for some pot roast, of course.

Blackbird offers a unique dining experience. It is a well-​conceived gastropub with charming and delicious entrees. The service is hit-​or-​miss. Some days it’s been ideal, and other days it’s been quite amateur.
The restaurant is beautiful, and the décor makes it seem much more spacious than it is. However, something about the design seems to amplify the noise.
If you aren’t trying to wedge your way in on a gameday, I would still highly recommend trying it for yourself. The shepherd’s pie and the meatloaf are on the level. Give it a shot!

The food saves this place. Everything I ate was absolutely flavorful, well seasoned and delicious. Our table had about fifteen different plates, so we had a healthy sampling of the menu, and they absolutely nailed the food. Absolutely spot on!
However, the quality of service at the restaurant left much to be desired. It was very clear that our waitress was a new waitress which is perfectly fine, if the staff supports that individual instead of trying to pick up pieces of her job leaving her unable to perform her duties on the restaurant floor. Additionally, I nearly was run over by a tall, young gentleman, who did not understand the etiquette of allowing a guest to cross an intersection before moving himself. These types of mistakes indicate a lack of leadership within the front of house staff and need to be rectified to improve the overall guest experience.
Additionally, for how beautiful the front of house is in the quality of the food being presented, the restroom amenities were subpar at best. I have seen better restrooms, cleaner restrooms in Chinese buffet style restaurants, and that was very disappointing as well.
It is clear that ownership has a focus on the quality of product being delivered. However, they do not recognize that the quality of the product is not just the food but the atmosphere of the entire establishment and the quality of service being provided, which on this particular occasion was unsatisfactory.

Blackbird is a good alternative if you live in Norman and don’t want to drive to Republics in OKC. Not that I can’t think of many other gastropubs besides Blu (I think they are owned by the same people) in Norman. It’s especially convenient if you live near Campus Corner.
I usually order Shepard’s Pie and is the right size for what I eat. Other good options include the mac and cheese and meatloaf. The fish and chips are okay but this isn’t a pub per se and it is Oklahoma. My friends usually order and swear by the pot roast nachos. The nachos could be a meal themselves, although people usually split them or treat it as a collective appetizer.
Have a variety of cocktail drinks and beer but I always go for Coop which for some reason isn’t listed. Coop is one of the few local microbreweries thanks to Oklahoma’s restrictive alcohol laws and each glass is $ 2 or something ridiculous like that. The best are probably the F5 IPA which is closer to an IPA and a half (versus a double IPA) or the DNR dark ale.

Late night staff was great, friendly, and efficient. Food was excellent despite the limited menu after midnight. Would love to return during normal menu hours and try the rest!

Food: ³⁄₅
Service: ⁵⁄₅
Cleanliness: ⁵⁄₅
Décor & Style: ⁵⁄₅
This place has plenty of potential as you can see from my sub-​ratings. Service was great and fast, very clean, and the style and décor is top notch. This place was huge, private party rooms on the second floor, large environment on the first floor, a HUGE drink menu, plenty of LED screens, and modernized. Actually, it looks more like a modernized saloon.
But, where it fails to receive the maximum ⁵⁄₅ stars is due to the actual taste of the food. To the eye the dishes were mouth watering. To the tongue it became slightly bland or not living up to the eye’s expectations. Meatloaf was par, mac and cheese needed flavor and thickness (was too watery), and the Shepherd’s pie was only fast food quality. I am not sure why it just did not hit the spot. Will be back to give it a second chance though. If anything I will be back for the large selection of drinks.

Atmosphere, people watching, drinks, & food amazing!
Their whiskey tastings are fun. You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu.

Unilocal definitely didn’t steer me wrong on this one. Came from Wichita with a carload of friends to a concert in Norman and we were all starving by the time we got there.
I started off with the Pot Roast Sliders. They were delicious and just melted in my mouth. I loved that they had a side of pot roast au jus to dip the sliders in.
I couldn’t resist getting the Serrano And Garlic Meatloaf With Spicy Pepper Glaze. 2 individually baked Beef Meat Loaves, glazed with a killer Spicy Pepper Glaze & served with Fried Onions, Bacon & Apple Brussels Sprouts & Black Truffle Oil Mashed New Potatoes. It was by far the best meatloaf I have ever tasted!
The restaurant itself was really cool. I believe it used to be an old clothing retail shop. I really enjoyed the simple décor, the bar had a hammered copper top. I wish I had time to get hammered too on all the different whiskey they had there.

I was in Norman for a musical so I decided to give Blackbird a try.
First, I hadn’t walked around Campus Corner in close to a decade and damn has that place changed and changed for the better. Anywho, I liked the vibe of Blackbird. The crowd was inviting and the staff were exceptional, especially the bartender.
I tried the grilled cheese sandwich and fries. The grilled cheese was good, but it was so rich. In fact, it was so rich that I could only eat half of the sandwich. The flavor was there, just too much flavor for me. The fries were seasoned well and provided a nice break from the intensity of the grilled cheese.
The real winner at Blackbird was the bartender. That guy mixes one helluva strong drink. It’s always nice to find a bartender that has a heavy hand with the booze. Overall, I’m a fan of this place. It’s definitely worth a visit.

Beautiful restaurant/​bar for a hip crowd. A good mix of college student and adults. This is my first time in a Gastropub. I’m realizing that this is not the place for drinks like Margarita’s… You come here for real drinks. That being said I am trying a Brewhouse Wheat on tap. Delicious.
Coming up is meatloaf sliders and Shepards pie. The sliders are wow good. They come with this really good sauce. Chipotle I think. (Edit) — -a spicy ketchup that you can dip the sliders in) The Shepards pie. Just like you get in London. What a treat. 5 Stars. What’s not to like.
I like this place because it’s very lively, noisy and you can talk without being overheard. This place is jumping.

Came here on a Friday night around 12:30am. We sat for a bit and ordered food around 12:45 and then the server came back to our table exactly at 1am. I know because I looked at my watch right after he said to us, «I have sad news, the kitchen closes at 1am so we can’t make the food you ordered.»
Wait what? But we ordered before 1! I have a very good feeling he just forgot to put in our order and by that time, it was already too late.
Honestly, if the restaurant wanted good business, they would have served us the food we ordered BEFORE 1 and the server should have just admitted his fault. And no, I hadn’t been drinking beforehand lol.
However, a friend and I did order drinks there. I give their drinks ¹⁄₅. We ordered 2 lemonade vodka. My friend’s was okay. Mine, however, was so bland. It tasted like really run down lemon water. Couldn’t even taste the vodka. So I told my server and he replaced it with a redbull vodka. Once again, a bit run down and vodka was barely there.
Was not a good experience :(

Had a not bad, but underwhelming lunch at Blackbird on a Saturday. As others note, it is a cool joint, definitely a different vibe than you’d typically find at Campus Corner. We were immediately approached by a server for our drink orders. Throughout our lunch, she came by frequently, but was not overbearing. No complaints with the service.
I went with the meatloaf sliders, which are served with fries. They come on ciabatta roles and are served with a Serrano glaze and fried onions. I didn’t care for the glaze, which kind of hurt the entire lunch for me. But, when I scraped it off and got to just the meatloaf, it was solid. Flavorful and moist with some crispy edges, it was how meatloaf should be prepared. Also, adding fried onions never hurt a dish, so I appreciated though. The rolls were soft and held up to ingredients. It’s a nice value for $ 10, like I said, the glaze just hit me wrong.
I liked the fries, they had a nice crispiness to them and good seasoning. My son got a cheeseburger, and since he’s 4 and never finishes anything, I had a bit. Good quality cheddar and a nice char on the meat. Also, and this is important, they did not overcook the burger.
I’ll absolutely return, there are way too many things on this menu that sounded fantastic not to. So, I imagine sometime soon I will be writing an update and bumping Blackbird up a star…