LEMUEL B. LEGEND’S, LTD. began as a pizza delivery service on Norman’s
South Navy Base behind the laundromat in 1967. Originally, dialing LEGENDS
on the telephone dialed our phone number, and Lemuel Legend was an imaginary
portly little man in a chef’s toque delivering pizzas from the rumble
seat of an antique Rolls Royce roadster.
The business was so successful that after its first year we moved
into a new building at our present location on Lindsey Street. Here
the menu was expanded to include salads, steaks and sandwiches in a
Gay Nineties atmosphere decorated with artifacts and furniture from
Oklahoma City’s historic Huckins Hotel. Each table had a telephone which
was used to place food orders and could be used to talk to guests at
other tables.
In 1972 we took out the pizza and the phones, changed to a more
contemporary decor, began serving a more sophisticated menu, and changed
our name to LEGEND’S RESTAURANT. We acquired a private club license,
opened a closet-sized package store on the premises, and built wooden
bottle storage lockers to ease the burden of Oklahoma’s then restrictive liquor laws
on our customers. Today the lockers house our winelist inventory.
Our name changed to LEGEND’S TIMES TWO in 1975 when we assimilated
THE TIMES TWO ESPRESSO BAR.
In 1977 we again became LEGEND’S RESTAURANT since the name, LEGEND’S
TIMES TWO, confused people and everyone called us "LEGEND’S” anyway.
In 1998 we acquired the building next door to our main restaurant building for use as a banquet facility, and attached to it the ressurected name LEGEND'S TIMES TWO .
We hold a THREE STAR RATING in the Mobil Travel Guide and THREE DIAMONDS in the AAA Travel Guide. Our homemade
desserts have been recognized by Bon Appetit Magazine and Southern Living . We are a recipient
of the Oklahoma Beef Commission’s “Silver Knife Award”. In various newspaper
polls we have been voted BEST NORMAN RESTAURANT, BEST SUNDAY BRUNCH,
BEST DESSERTS, BEST CHOCOLATE, MOST ELEGANT RESTAURANT, BEST WINE LIST,
BEST GOURMET RESTAURANT, BEST PLACE TO TAKE OUT-OF TOWN GUESTS. BEST FIRST-DATE RESTAURANT, and BEST CATERER.
LEGEND’S is proud to have employed more than 2400 Oklahomans in
its forty year history. Many have been O.U. students who after
college ventured into every pursuit imaginable, including distinguished
achievements in the restaurant industry.
Our goals are to serve delicious, healthy, attractive food at a
reasonable price, provide a positive working environment for our staff,
and to be instrumental in the healthy, positive growth of our community.
With the philosophy that a restaurant is only as good as its most
recently served meal, we invite your comments and suggestions.
