Jeremy Wade, the owner of Napoli Italian Eatery, is opening a new restaurant on Tuesday called Magnolia Cafe. Some people might remember the Magnolia Cafe that used to be at Central and Woodlawn decades ago. While it’s not that same restaurant, this version, located at 2424 N. Woodlawn in the former Sweet Basil space, it will specialize in Southern-inspired breakfast and lunch dishes.
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2424 N Woodlawn St, Wichita, KS 67220
Tuesday – Thursday: 6am – 2pm
Friday: 6am – 3pm
Saturday – Sunday: 8am – 3pm
Closed on Monday
Website | Facebook
Cash/Card Accepted
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I was invited out to a private soft opening to get a sneak peek to get a look inside and try some different dishes. Some friends joined me for the brunch outing. In full transparency, this soft opening did include discounted rates for all those people in attendance. So instead of giving a full-blown review, I wanted to cover what we had, to give you some visuals on what the dishes look like.
Our brunch started off a spicy bloody mary which was indeed spicy. I refuse to drink bloody mary’s that don’t pack some punch, and this one certainly brought that. While I forgot to take some pictures, I did shoot some video, which I’ll be sure to share in the coming days.
For our appetizers, we had the horseradish deviled eggs, cornbread loaf, fried green tomatoes, and jalapeno-crab hush puppies.
Probably the most well-received appetizer was the cornbread loaf; lots of bread lovers in the group, which helped. I was the only person who regularly ate deviled eggs, so of course, I had to get them. It was an enjoyable take from your standard deviled eggs. My personal favorite though was the fried green tomatoes, the bacon jam and creamy pimento ranch really sold it for me.
We loaded up on the brunch plates. We had the shrimp & grits, JW’s chicken hash, eggs “Pontchartrain” and chicken fried pork chop. DO NOT eat breakfast the morning of or dinner the night before, as Magnolia Cafe dished out some healthy portion sizes. And when I say healthy, I mean tons of food.
I tried most of the dishes and have to say the shrimp & grits were the favorite including my friend who was delighted with it. The smoked tomato Choron sauce really gave the dish this flavorful pop that made you come back for more. I mostly stuck with the JW’s Chicken Hash and ate until my body told me to stop. You ever get to the point that you know you’re full, but keep forcing food down your throat? That was the case here.
As far as weekend brunch options go, they had a lot to offer. Along with a full bar, the dishes were unique and different from most other brunch places in town. I love all foods with a Southern kick and am excited to see how the new Magnolia Cafe is received in town. Hope to see some of you there during brunch one weekend.
Here’s the menu:
Happy Dining,
Eddy
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