I put out a Facebook and Twitter post over the weekend asking readers to chime in with which closed restaurant they would bring back if they could. The exact question was:
You get to bring ONE restaurant back to Wichita. Just one that used to be here and closed. What one restaurant do you choose to revive?
Did I mention, you’re just choosing one restaurant
The feedback was pretty incredible. Over a thousand comments and tweets came in with many restaurants. It was nostalgic looking back at many of the ones mentioned.
I decided to pool those responses together to see which ones were most commonly mentioned. Here were the 20 favorites in no particular order:
- Doc’s Steakhouse
- Grandy’s
- Hong Kong Restaurant
- Amarillo Grill
- Red Bean’s Bayou Grill
- Granite City
- Longneckers
- Willie C’s
- Kwan Court
- Sub n Stuff
- Magnolia Cafe
- White Castle
- Timberline
- Red Mesa
- Macaroni Grill
- Yen Ching
- Joe Kelly’s
- Garden Cafe
- Abe’s Steakhouse
- Albert’s
There was a sprinkling of chains mixed in with many popular old-time favorites.
Some notes about the ones mentioned:
- Grandy’s – The chain is currently still open with the closest one being in Oklahoma City. On my last visit to OKC, I stopped by a couple of times. Still, as good as I remember!
- Red Bean’s Bayou Grill – This has been revived as Red Bean’s To Go. You can get their take and bake meals at The COOP. Check out their Facebook page.
- White Castle – They sell their burgers in the frozen aisle of many grocery stores but it isn’t the same. The closest location is in Columbia, MO. White Castle was a common stop for me and my friends every year when we traveled to St. Louis for Arch Madness.
- Yen Ching – The owners of Yen Ching opened Tasty House back in 2016. It’s located at 2431 N Greenwich Road.
- Macaroni Grill – If you’ve been craving it, the closest one looks to be in Texas where there are six locations.
- Granite City – The brewery is still open if you have some dusty growlers lying around. The closest location is in Kansas City, KS at Legends.
Lastly, it’s only fair for me to share my answer after so many people chimed in. If I could bring back just one restaurant, I would go with Doc’s Steakhouse. And it would solely be for the garlic salad. I know there are recipes out there but there was nothing like getting a double garlic salad on the cheap plastic bowls while sitting in the old run down booths.
Any restaurant that didn’t make the list that you’d vote for to return? Chime in below in the comments section!
Happy Dining,
Eddy
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Leekers in park city their deli has a very similar garlic salad to docs
Steak & Ale. Ate there with my grandparents whenever they’d come visit from Florida.
My favorite growing up was the Lazy R #4 Bronco burger it was fantastic! A couple years ago I wrote a blog about maybe it could come back, I recieved a Thank you from the family and the owners of the rights didnt want to do that so no more Lazy R! So many people anwsered that they missed it and would love to have it return!
YES, LAZY R!!!! Also always think of longneckers too.
Big Bun
There was a sandwich shop just across the street (Hillside) from Wesley Hospital in the mid to late 80’s called Napoleons. Amazing sandwiches. Sound off if you remember this GEM!
Wyatts Cafeteria. Loved the chopped steak, mashed potatoes with cream gravy, green beans, dinner roll, and pie. Kids and wife loved it too. No waiting, but nicer than fast food.
Dr Redbirds. Great sandwiches
R & S Barbeque. He took care of the line. I can still hear that “Order, please”. She handled drinks and cash register. No sides until last few years. Simply rye or white, brisket, ribs, and hot links. Mild or hot sauce. Pickles and onions. Had door on east and west. Serving line started at east door, but you came in west door and line was usually out west door. He paced line so tables were available when you got your plate.
Taco Pete’s at K15 and Pawnee
Taco Pete is now, Taco Pronto. Parents passed and the two sons took it over and renamed it. Same recipe!! I go there all the time and love it!!
I still miss Semolina! Also Garozzo’s. One from the west side, one from east ICT.
How about Portabello Road-the best restaurant ever in Wichita!
El Charro’s
Italian Gardens
La Palmas!
It was hard to narrow down but I would go with Applegate’s Landing
Furrrs or Ryan’s would be nice to have back