Herman’s Seafood Collection

Background:

Herman’s Seafood Restaurant was a long time institution founded by Herman Baggett, a World War I veteran. Baggett, an army chef and cook at the Black Hotel downtown. He opened Herman’s in 1939 originally at NW 4 and Hudson. A few years later, the restaurant moved to NW 16 and Classen – which is now the gateway to the Plaza District.

Dave Cathey, who wrote a history of the city’s restaurant community, visited with family members who explained Badgett was a pioneer in bringing fresh seafood to Oklahoma City. Shipments of seafood including pompano, swordfish, soft-shell crab and lobster

After its safe was stolen twice and a couple of fires, the restaurant moved to NW 16 and Classen in the quirky space where, under an outlandish bright sign adorned with a swordfish, it became famous, Cathay wrote. The Baggetts sold the restaurant to the Val Gene Restaurant Group in 1969, although it continued under the Herman’s name through the 1970s. It eventually became Triple’s.

Herman Baggett died in 1969, less than a year after turning his life’s work over to others.

In 1991, descendants Susie and Ken Gray reopened Herman’s on Northwest Expressway, using the secret family recipes and hiring long-timers including Kenneth Mulhausen, who managed the original Herman’s for 14 years, former

The old sign had been in storage for years but was destroyed only days before Susie Gray located and inquired about it.

The Grays told Cathey they weren’t restaurant folks like their ancestors. They said the space was far too large. The new version lasted less than two years. But the coleslaw is still sold at some local grocery stores and offered at restaurants including The Garage.

For a few years, the building was home to a Mexican restaurant, Marco’s. It was then closed several years and torn down in 2016 and the block is now home to the Classen 16 Apartments.