During his college years, Chris Lower spent his summers working in a restaurant kitchen and fell in love with the fast pace, the attention to detail and the gratification of making so many people happy. After graduation, he managed a small restaurant kitchen for about a year, then took a job waiting tables at a small upscale restaurant in Oklahoma City. Chris enjoyed the interaction with the diners and has worked in the dining room ever since.

In 1980, Chris and his family opened an upscale restaurant in Edmond called The Roosevelt Grill. The Roosevelt brought a new level of food, service and atmosphere to the metro area in the early 80s and was a huge success. But since the economy of Edmond could not support its existence at that time, Chris sold the restaurant to Vince Orza in 1984 and it became the prototype for the Garfield's chain of restaurants.

In 1985, after much soul-searching and traveling, Chris opened The Coach House in the Nichols Hills Plaza. The Coach House became an instant hit with the locals and has seen its business grow every year.

Chris loves to travel and collect new food and service ideas from the best restaurants around the country and around the world. Along with his partner Kurt Fleischfresser, Chris has opened the Metro Wine Bar & Bistro (1988), The Deep Fork Grill (formerly Portobello, 1991) and The Iguana Lounge (1995). While the Iguana Lounge was sold in 2001, they opened the Museum Cafe at the new Oklahoma City Art Museum in downtown Oklahoma City in the spring of 2002.

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