The disposition of the former Brown’s Bakery (1100 N. Walker) was the subject of rumor and speculation for months after the Midtown fixture closed its doors in 2023, completing 77 years of service to Oklahoma City. The quonset hut style doesn’t necessarily lend itself to restaurant design or function, and that coupled with its sheer size (5650 square feet), meant many observers, myself included, had written off the possibility of a restaurant, and while we love (really love) rumors of a downtown grocery store, it didn’t make sense for a spot on a roundabout. 

In September, we learned that Chad and Tori Arnold had signed a lease with Midtown Renaissance to operate Mezzo Bakeshop, a Viennoiserie-style bakery due in mid-2026, per Tori Arnold. In fact, EatingOKC knew in August, but we agreed to keep the news under wraps until the Arnolds were ready to talk about their plans. They are the franchisees for Summer Moon Coffee in Oklahoma, and the couple just opened their seventh location in the state in September.

Chad and Tori Arnold

The Arnolds met at Southwestern Christian University, a Pentecostal Holiness school in Bethany — the home of the denomination’s international headquarters. Tori moved to Bethany from Texas to play volleyball on scholarship. Chad is from Mustang. 

“After college, we flipped houses for a few years, trying to decide what to do next, and that’s when we landed on Summer Moon as a good opportunity,” Tori said. 

Mezzo gives the couple the opportunity to scale the bakery to handle the demands of both Mezzo and Summer Moon. With seven locations, the demand for baked goods keeps increasing, and having their own bakery will mean not relying on wholesale from other bakeries. Both loved the Midtown location, so they approached Chris Fleming of Midtown Renaissance with a proposal.

Interior rendering

“We were shocked when he said yes,” Tori Arnold said. “We’d looked at a couple other locations, but they all fell through, so this felt like great timing. Midtown Renaissance is still working on the parking lot and restoring the building facade. That puts our timeline at late spring or early summer 2026.” 

The Arnolds have already started gathering their brigade, hiring local bakers as well as a few from out of state. Tori said they relied on word of mouth and Indeed.com to find “our team of talented bakers.” Additional personnel will be hired late winter and early spring of 2026. 

“We are thinking in terms of teams to make the process a bit simpler,” Arnold said. “We have a bread team, lunch team, breakfast team, wholesale, catering, etc.” 

The food at Mezzo will be Italian classics – think sidewalk cafe meets Viennoiserie – including sandwiches on freshly baked focaccia with stracciatella and prosciutto, salads, pastries made with laminated dough, and macarons. Coffee will be a central focus, but Arnold said they’d source it separately from the Summer Moon coffees, and a full bar will serve wine, beer, Aperol spritzes, and espresso martinis, along with a full menu of signature and classic cocktails.

As reported previously, Mezzo will have seating for 130, including al fresco in keeping with the theme, and ample parking. Roughly one-third of the building will be front-of-house, and the bulk of the square footage dedicated to prep, kitchen and ovens. Tori Arnold said they haven’t settled on hours of operation yet.