Yale, Mugsy's Grubhouse | Rural Oklahoma

Somewhere In-Between:

How the birth of Mugsy's Grubhouse has helped the growth of Yale, Oklahoma.

By Wade Haugen, Danielle Gerritzen, Kailee Jaques, Dani Dalla & Taryn Johnson

If you have driven on Highway 51 from Stillwater to Tulsa or vice versa, odds are you have zoomed right past Mugsy’s Grubhouse in Yale, Oklahoma. Restaurant owner Darrell Mueggenborg started the down-home steakhouse in 2016 and has been hard at work ever since. A lifelong resident of Yale, Mueggenborg has economically assisted the small town, population of 1,203, for decades through his various business ventures; with Mugsy’s serving as the main source of his pride, joy and notability.

“The building was built in 1975 and first-served as an Otasco Oklahoma Tire and Supply building for 35 years,” Mueggenborg said. “I bought the building 12 years ago, and we started having auctions here.”

After about three years of auctioneering, Mueggenborg decided to buy a Subway franchise, quickly transforming the Otasco store into the popular sandwich chain. However, after about 6.5 years of selling 5-dollar foot longs, a man made a deal with Mueggenborg who bought out the Subway franchise and relocated it to Tulsa, leaving Mueggenborg with nothing but the building and a paycheck.

“That’s when I went to work,” Mueggenborg said. “I said, ‘I’m gonna put a steakhouse in Yale, Oklahoma.’”

It took Mueggenborg about a year and a half to put Mugsy’s together, and the restaurant has now been open for two years. Mueggenborg said he tells people the first 30 days didn’t count, and that Mugsy’s had a lot of soft openings to begin with. However, the hard work all paid off, for Mugsy’s has been nothing but a small-town success since.

Although Mugsy’s is still fairly new to Yale, the positive contributions it has given to the community and overall well-being of the declining town are significant. Yale City Manager, Phillip Kelly, is a 34-year resident of the town, and said Mugsy’s serves as a great balancing factor to help counter the economic downturn Yale has experienced overtime.

“Population and businesses have gone way down,” Kelly said. “I’ve seen a decline in the downtown stores, and a lot of them have shut down, especially in the past four years.”

Kelly said Yale once had two grocery stores and seven gas stations, but as time advanced, Yale now has only two gas stations and a Dollar General left. He also said the Walmarts and Lowes that have opened close by have contributed to the economic decline as well.

According to Kelly, Yale is one of the seven cities in Oklahoma that owns its own utilities, so the city receives a big part of its money from that. The second factor that has helped the town’s economy is the money it receives from sales tax revenue, in which Mugsy’s has made a big difference.

“[Mugsy’s] has grown quite a bit,” Kelly said. “Their sales tax numbers keep going up and up, and a lot of people are coming in from out of town or state to eat there.”

Kelly said the city provides economic development grants to try to get new businesses such as Mugsy’s to come into Yale. Every quarter, Mugsy’s is responsible to send the city its sales tax collections. From there, Yale will give the business a percentage of that total. According to Yale's city clerk, Deanna Couch, Mugsy's averages $160,000 to $180,000 in sales, which equates to anywhere from $1,500 to $1,800 per quarter that comes back to the business.

Aside from the economic aspects of the community, what seems to keep people coming back to not only Mugsy’s but also Yale is the sense of comfort it brings to the familiarities and feelings of home.

Cindy White, Yale’s Chamber of Commerce Treasurer, was born and raised in Yale. White said when she looks back at the town from her childhood perspective, it has not grown significantly; but what has kept her here for life is the fact that Yale is her home.

“A lot of people have to go out of town to find work, but it’s a place you come home to,” White said. “It’s a good community. Everyone knows everybody, and we are just all a big family.”

Yale’s local historian, Carl Hensley, is White’s father. Hensley was born and raised in Yale. He shares the same feelings of comfort that his daughter does when it comes to living in town. Hensley said he was born across the street from Mugsy’s building, and mainly saw the population of Yale decline during wartime.

“From 1930 to 1940, our population had dropped down from 5,000 to 1,107 people,” Hensley said. “I stayed in Yale because I made my living here. I was educated here, and bottom line I love this town. This is my home.”

As the local historian of Yale, Hensley provided Mugsy’s with every historical picture that is hanging on the walls throughout the restaurant. To honor his hard work, Mueggenborg has framed a portrait of Hensley on the back door.

White agrees that Mugsy’s has been a great addition to Yale’s community, and said the town has been growing in the food industry over the years. With the addition of Mugsy’s, Yale is now home to three restaurants. White said Mueggenborg and his business has immensely benefited to the community.

“[Mueggenborg] has tried all kinds of cool things, and he has always come out well,” White said. “His name is very well known around the town.”

Mueggenborg has dreams to franchise Mugsy’s Grubhouse throughout Oklahoma and bring it to other towns such as Stillwater, Edmond and Tulsa. He has already gotten the restaurant’s logo trademarked, which is a picture of Mueggenborg in his signature red bandana and cowboy hat. However, no matter how big or small Mugsy’s Grubhouse comes to be in the future, Mueggenborg will never deviate from his small-town and home-roots theme that is vividly present throughout his restaurant in Yale, Oklahoma.

Mueggenborg continues to make additions and daily improvements to Mugsy’s Grubhouse, but what ultimately keeps people coming back are the feelings of security they get from not only Mueggenborg and his employees but also the small town of Yale overall.

09/23/19