Oklahoma Owner Hopes to Take Long Island With Her Rad Restaurant Concept
With its stylistic graphics and focus on quirky offerings, Planet Tubes Totally Tubular, a quick-service restaurant chain that started in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2022, is opening two locations on Long Island. If the images and name remind you of the Eighties, that’s on purpose.
“I got the idea from watching Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” said Shelbi Williams, owner of Planet Tubes Totally Tubular restaurant. “I liked the movie so much.”
Back in 1982, Sean Penn’s character Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High became the archetype Cali surfer dude with his oft-imitated Valley-speak. Williams said her concept is just as quirky with gourmet foot-long 100% beef hot dog creations piled high with toppings.
“Everything is tubular,” she explained.
Their unique toppings include a lobster salad topping and home-grown Tulsa chili with “just enough spice.” Other toppings include steak, and to keep things healthy, a homemade veggie topping. And toppings like bacon and jam, they don’t charge extra to provide as much value to customers as possible, according to Willaims.
“We’re not fast food but we are fast,” she said.
They also feature square-shaped handhelds like a Sloppy Joe that is served piled high in what Williams says is an “Oklahoma style with three square pieces of bread.” They have a selection of square-shaped burgers as well on the menu.
She is also bringing a little of the Oklahoma barbeque to the Long Island restaurants and a tubular shake, served a foot high in a collectable cup.
The move to Long Island comes from high demand, according to Williams, saying people who visited her restaurant in Oklahoma told her that people in New York would love her concept.
“We had a lot of requests,” she said.
Shelbi Williams, owner of Planet Tubes Totally Tubular. Photo: Shelbi Williams.
Williams has secured two locations already. One in Bayville, with the help of Nick Evangelista of NY Space Finders. The other is in Hauppauge. Williams worked with Mike Marjanovic and Rich Pino of R&R Commercial Realty Group for that location.
“Our brokers were great,” said Williams. “They were so helpful.”
She hopes to have the Bayville spot at 80 Bayville Avenue opened this December around Christmas. The Hauppauge at 902 Wheeler Road is more of a build-out so she’s looking at Spring 2025 for that one. She plans more New York locations to come.
Williams said her reception so far has been fantastic even before opening.
“We have a big fanbase,” she said. “It touches my heart that people seem to like it so much.”
