If you live in Moore, you already know the two addresses that shape most of your week. One is the stretch of SW 19th between I-35 and Telephone Road, where the drive-through line at lunch tells you which chain just opened. The other is 700 S. Broadway, where Central Park hosts the free stuff that quietly does the work of a downtown for a city that never quite built one.
Between now and the middle of September, both of those addresses are busy in ways that a generic "things to do near Oklahoma City" post will miss. Here is the local version, with the specific openings, dates, and closing weeks residents actually want on the fridge.
The SW 19th changeover
The single biggest food news in Moore this summer is a swap on the same slab. Oklahoma City-based hospitality group The Social Order announced plans to open a new Dave's Hot Chicken location in Moore, replacing its longtime Fuzzy's Taco Shop franchise near SW 19th Street and I-35. The new restaurant, located at 825 SW 19th St., Suite 13, is expected to open in early August 2026, and the existing Fuzzy's Taco Shop at that location closed May 31 after nearly a decade serving the community.
For anyone who used that Fuzzy's as a school-night default, the closest replacement in the same brand family isn't in Moore anymore. Customers can still visit nine other metro-area Fuzzy's Taco Shop restaurants, including the newest location at 2875 SW 104th St. in south Oklahoma City, which opened in February 2025. That is a fifteen-minute detour from most Moore neighborhoods, which is worth knowing before you promise the kids tacos on a Tuesday.
A few doors west, the SW 19th corridor already absorbed one national fast-casual last cycle. Chicken Salad Chick opened its fourth Oklahoma outlet in Moore on August 27, 2024, at 750 SW 19th Street just outside Oklahoma City. Pair that with the Dave's opening a few blocks east and the picture is clear: the retail pad row between the interstate and Telephone Road is where new brands test Moore first, before anything happens closer to Broadway or 4th.
Independent operators are pushing back in the other direction. LoQmé, the Mediterranean-meets-American-comfort spot at 101 NE 23rd St., is the kind of small owner-run kitchen you would not have found on this side of I-35 five years ago, and it is the type of business the SW 19th chain traffic tends to subsidize rather than crowd out.
Central Park is doing more this month than most residents realize
Moore Central Park sits on a site with a specific reason for being where it is. The BNSF Railroad maintains a very active set of double tracks that form the eastern border of the park site, and the critical importance of the railroad industry to the City of Moore is interpreted throughout the park. That railroad is also why the amphitheater, the aquatics center, and the farmers market pavilion all share a single address instead of being spread across four different sites. Funding was approved by voters in a November 2012 Bond Referendum, to include a community center, outdoor aquatics center, amphitheater, farmer's market, accessible play space, and trails throughout the park.
If you have not looked at the calendar since school let out, here is what is actually on it between now and back-to-school week.
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Tue, Aug 4, 7–9 p.m. | National Night Out | Warren Theatre parking lot, 1000 S. Telephone Rd. |
| Saturdays through Sept 19, 8 a.m.–noon | Cleveland County Farmers Market | Central Park Multi-purpose Pavilion, 700 S. Broadway |
| Fri, Aug 29, 7:30 a.m. | Moore War Run | Starts at Moore High School, finishes in Old Town |
| Through Sun, Sept 13 | Splash pad season | Five city parks |
National Night Out is the community-facing one that always confuses newer residents because of the name. The 43rd Annual National Night Out is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, at the Warren Theatre parking lot from 7 to 9 p.m. Activities include Ambulance, Fire, and Police demonstrations, and there will also be local vendors and community partners present. Think of it as a block-party version of an open house for the departments your property taxes fund. It is a good introduction for kids who like fire trucks and a good chance to meet neighbors you only wave at from the driveway.
The Saturday market is the underused one. The City of Moore is partnering with Cleveland County to bring a market featuring more than 20 farmers and ranchers to Central Park Multi-purpose Pavilion at 700 S. Broadway, running 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays through September 19. Twenty-plus vendors is a real market, not a folding-table affair, and the September 19 end date matters if you want to lock in peach and tomato weekends before they disappear until next year.
The summer concert series has already had its opening night, and the format is worth knowing for the next one. Summer Beats & Eats is a free concert in the park with live music, food trucks, and lawn games at the Central Park Amphitheater and Pavilion, 700 S. Broadway, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., with The Coveralls performing and food trucks Ferrylicious, Get Fizzy with it, Psycho Taco, Chef Rays Street Eats & More, and Cutie Pies Concession, plus Anthem Brewery on site. Bring lawn chairs, not a picnic; the trucks are the point.
The splash pad clock
Moore residents with kids under ten already know the splash pad map. What they sometimes miss is the closing date, which is earlier than most families expect because it lines up with the school calendar and not the actual Oklahoma weather.
The five City of Moore parks with splash pads are Apple Valley Park, Westmoore Park, Parmele Park, Fairmoore Park, and Little River South Park, and they will be open through Sunday, September 13. That gives you roughly six more weekends of free water play, and the last two of those overlap with school being back in session. The first day of school at Moore Public Schools is Aug 13, 2026. If your afternoons are about to get compressed by carpool, the Saturday between Aug 15 and Sept 12 is the window.
The five splash pads spread across the city on purpose, so pick the one closest to whichever side of I-35 you live on rather than defaulting to whichever one you saw a friend post about. Little River South and Apple Valley pull from opposite sides of town.
Moore War Run and the pivot to fall
The unofficial end of summer in Moore is not Labor Day. It is the last Saturday of August, when the high schools that split this city start playing each other for real.
Since 1988, Lions and Jaguars have sparred against one another in a race to determine the big cat in town. When it comes to Moore War, rivalries run deep and emotions run high. Each August, alums from Moore, Westmoore, Southmoore, and members of the community come together for a common cause, current students. The 2026 Moore War Run is Saturday, August 29 at 7:30 a.m. at Moore High School, 300 N. Eastern Avenue. The race starts at Moore High School and finishes in Old Town Moore, and each finisher receives a medal.
If you moved here in the last two years and you have not yet driven Broadway on a Friday night in September, the Moore War Run is the softer introduction. Same crowd, less traffic, more coffee.
The finish line inside Old Town matters for the same reason the farmers market matters. Recent cultural and generational changes within Moore have begun to generate a demand for downtown living and a renewed interest in Old Town, with the desire to preserve and revitalize the small-town feel a priority for Moore residents and businesses. Every event that ends at Main and Broadway instead of at a shopping-center pad site keeps that momentum going.
A quick note for homeowners
The rhythm above is one of the quiet reasons Moore holds its value between the interstate exits. A city that programs its central park every weekend from June through September, keeps splash pads open through the second week of school, and hosts a rivalry run that ends in the historic downtown is a city that residents recommend to their coworkers when relocation questions come up. That word-of-mouth is a market factor even when it does not show up in a comp.
If you have been thinking about what your home is worth going into the fall, or if the SW 19th changes have you curious about how the corridor is affecting values on the streets behind it, Christy Kruckeberg is happy to walk you through the numbers for your specific block. Start with a free home valuation on the site and we will take it from there.
