Josh Juarez with Courts & Commons | Tulsa Is Home Podcast Interview

By Roderick Hands | December 25, 2024

Courts & Commons is a unique eatertainment concept in South Tulsa that offers multiple restaurant options, bar, coffee shop and indoor pickleball. We are so excited to share this podcast episode with you!

Show Notes:

Guest: Josh Juarez, Founder of Courts & Commons

What is Courts & Commons?

Courts & Commons is a micro food hall featuring 4 local restaurants, a mezzanine overlooking 8 indoor pickleball courts, and an expansive outdoor green space featuring a massive upstairs outdoor patio, yard games, and a lake.

Why is Courts & Commons?

Because South Tulsa needs more activity-centric spaces for friends and families to rally. Imagine going out to dinner with the people you love the most, everyone gets their favorite food from their favorite local restaurant, you play a fun game in which you laugh, smile, talk trash and work up the slightest glow, you grab your favorite drink or dessert and watch the sun set over a serene lake; you look around, take a deep breath and think: “This just might be the greatest night of my life.”

This may be a bit of a hyperbolic hypothetical, but we like to shoot for the moon. We will strive to create the landscape and atmosphere for these types of moments for every person that comes through our space.

Who is Courts and Commons?

What’s up everyone…My name is Josh Juarez. I started making snow cones in a shack in 2005 at 71st and Garnett. Over the last 19 years I have strived to make Josh’s Sno Shack a place that embodies summer; a place where great summer memories are made. I created Josh’s Sno Shack so I could marry my high-school-sweetheart and put us through college. After I completed my undergrad, I still didn’t want to get a “real” job so I continued to open more locations and eventually got my MBA from OSU. After graduating, I felt it might be too late to get a “real first job,” so I opened more locations and grew Josh’s Sno Shack. With the help of so many incredible people we now have 11 locations throughout the state and employ 70 of the best people on the planet.

In a way, I’ve been working on Courts & Commons for the last 20 years. If you’ve been to Josh’s Sno Shack, hopefully you’ve caught a glimpse of what I’m about. I love life, people, music, community, family, incredible food, and laughing really loud. Courts & Commons is based on the belief that a lot of other people like those very same things. If this hunch is correct, I think it’s going to be a great space for a lot of great people!

In a nutshell: Courts and Commons is a place where folks can come together and create memorable moments in the coolest environment and over the best food in Tulsa.