Take 2: A Resonance Café is celebrating its 10-year anniversary with plans to open a bigger location in the Palace Building.
About 100 people turned out for the ribbon cutting Thursday to celebrate the milestone. The new downtown Tulsa location is just across the street from the original so people won’t have to travel far to get their drip beef sandwiches. Other than the food, the restaurant is known for its six-month work-to-hire program for formerly incarcerated women.
“We outgrew our capacity at our old space. We were able to serve six women (by offering) housing and employment. Here in this space, not only are we able to now scale up with growth, we’re able to serve eight women (at a time) with the hope of continuing to add jobs in the future,” said Katie Gill Miller, executive director of Resonance Center for Women, the nonprofit that owns the restaurant.
The group aims to help formerly incarcerated women reenter society and offers outpatient substance use treatment and addiction therapy.
The new location can serve more than 90 people and is decorated with original Take 2 branding. It showcases framed photos of past employees, features an extra kitchen and will one day offer full catering services.
Tulsa City Councilor Laura Bellis, whose district covers the area the café is in, and Mayor Monroe Nichols joined Miller on Thursday. Nichols spoke about his experience of having parents who worked in the criminal justice system.
“(My mother) would always tell the individuals who were on her caseload, that their past was not their potential, and it always really stuck with me this idea that although we go through things and maybe we make mistakes … that still does not necessarily dictate where you can go,” he said.
The Take 2 Café expansion is just one initiative within Resonance’s Room to Grow fundraising campaign, which plans on expanding its services in preparation for the center’s 50th anniversary in 2027.
The ultimate goal is to offer 50 beds as part of its transitional housing services.
“When anyone leaves us, they have housing, they have employment and they’re able to sustain their own livelihood at that point,” Miller said of the organization’s aspirations. “So nobody leaves us until they’re ready.”
In 2025, 20 women took part in the Take 2 program and more than 1,500 women used Resonance’s reentry services. Anyone in need of services can either email resonance@resonancetulsa.org or fill out applications on Resonance’s website.
Miller anticipates the new restaurant to open within the next few weeks, but did not give an exact date. Once open, it will operate from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday at 330 S. Main St.
Ismael Lele is a Report for America corps member and writes about business in Tulsa for The Oklahoma Eagle. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting this link.
