DRUMMOND—Ernie Slater was looking for a new line of work when he heard a convenience store in Drummond for sale. Located along State Highway 132, the property came with a rundown hardware store next door.
He and his wife, Ladonna, who worked at Uptown Florist in Enid, bought it in 2007. They ran the gas station and served food such as burgers and pizza in the evenings.
The Slaters began to consider the possibility of opening a restaurant on the other side of the wall, despite having no restaurant experience.
“When I cooked, everyone came out and ate,” Ernie said, referring to his five sons and their families. He and Ladonna have been married more than 30 years and have 19 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
He thought, why not try opening a restaurant?
“We’ve been blessed by others in the business giving us advice,” Ernie said.
“It was junk,” Ladonna said about the former hardware shop. They would have to clean out that side of the building, tear down walls and erect other ones to create dining space, and update the heat and air system.
But it was worth the effort.
In 2010, they opened Henry’s Brake Room.
Henry’s became so popular, they had to expand the small dining area, shortening the gas station seating for more seating in the restaurant. The single bathroom was split so there could be men’s and women’s bathrooms. The back room was converted into additional seating space as well.
For five years, the menu included dozens of options. Then in 2015, Ernie decided to focus on steaks and move away from the wider menu. Again, it paid off.
There were only a couple of steakhouses in the Enid area, so people from miles around would drive to Drummond for a good steak.
The Slaters buy steaks from a family-owned butcher in Oklahoma City called Cusack Meats. Ernie originally wanted to outsource from the late country singer Toby Keith, who owned the Oklahoma-based Dream Walkin’ Farms which supplied Keith’s Bricktown restaurant I Love This Bar & Grill; however, after a conference call with Keith, the deal didn’t happen.
Ernie recalled that conversation: After he told Keith he was cooking 150 steaks on Saturday nights, Keith disputed that Henry’s Brake Room was “’not a restaurant, that’s a picnic.’ We never got meat from him.”
Fortunately, though, the Cusacks had already partnered with Keith the year before to sell premium meats, so they were willing to directly sell to the Slaters. Cusack Meats supplies Henry’s Brake Room their steaks including New York strip, ribeye, filet, and T-bone, as well as racks of lamb.
“I cut my own steaks,” Ernie said.
The Slaters phased out the burgers and chicken fried steaks on Henry’s menu, but retained stuffed chicken and stuffed salmon for the diners who didn’t want beef for dinner.
Pizza is an option through the convenience store side of the building under the Hunt Brothers Pizza brand, and kids can get homemade servings of pizza on pita bread.
Everything was going great … that was until 2020, the Slaters said. Like many small businesses, they struggled and suffered through the pandemic to stay afloat.
“We couldn’t do it without surrounding community support. They come from all around,” Ernie said. Patrons not only from Drummond and Enid, but from as far away as Cherokee, Garber, Kingfisher, and Fairview regularly frequent the restaurant. Pilots from Vance Air Force Base patronize Henry’s too, often sharing flight class patches for the wall.
The Slaters believe in reciprocating that support for the community.
Since they opened, Henry’s typically hires teenagers from the Drummond area, who start out sweeping the parking lot and doing the dishes, then graduate to clearing tables, serving meals, and even cooking alongside Ernie, Ladonna said. One of their current employees drives back on Saturdays from Oklahoma State University.
“Ernie holds them accountable,” she said. “He lets them off for studies or sports.”
Henry’s Brake Room is only open two days a week, Tuesdays and Saturdays. They used to do Fridays too, but since the pandemic and Ladonna’s cancer scare, they settled on two nights.
On Tuesday nights is the all-you-can-eat buffet for $12, and the buffet changes each week.
Every other week is taco night with specialties such as jambalaya, smothered beef steak, brats and smoked sausage, barbecue brisket, or smothered pork chops on the opposite rotating week. Patrons can visit Henry’s Facebook page to see what the special is.
Saturday night is always steak night. Ernie said someday in the near future they hope to restart seafood night on Fridays.
The gas station side isn’t a gas station anymore; it remains a convenience store with limited items for sale when it’s open. Customers can order pizza every evening except Sunday starting at 3 p.m. The Slaters recommend calling first to make sure they’re there.
Henry’s Brake Room is more or less a hobby for the Slaters as their primary source of income is their newest venture: Uptown Florist. They purchased the floral shop from its previous owner when Dan Long retired in 2019; Ladonna had already been employed there for 30 years, so it made business sense to acquire it.
Ernie would like to retire from the restaurant business by the time he turns 70, which is three years from now.
“Hopefully someone will want to take it (Henry’s) and move forward with it,” he said. His boys already run their own successful companies including Slater Mechanical and Faith Mechanical, so none of them plan to take over.
In the meantime, the Slaters enjoy seeing familiar faces as well as new ones in their restaurant and will keep serving the Drummond community.
“We are blessed,” Ernie said.
Henry’s Brake Room is open Saturday and Tuesday from 4:30 to 9 p.m. on State Highway 132 in Drummond. Call (580) 493-2797 to make a reservation for large group seating or to order pizza.