Print edition: 
The east side of Wichita has Hooters , and the west side is getting a Caboose . Yeah, it's what you think it means.
"No one gets it right away, but then you mention (Hooters), and it kind of clicks," says owner Steve Holt .
The Caboose is opening in 6,200 square feet at 4311 W. Central where J&K Billiards most recently was and Stix was before that.
"From the street ... you'd never think it was that big," Holt says.
It will be a sports bar by day — with 10 pool tables, four dart boards and 15 TVs — and a nightclub by night.
There will be a DJ a few nights a week and live music on occasion as well.
Part of the attraction will be the waitresses, Holt says. They'll be wearing short denim shorts, white zippered tops and blue-and-white caps.
"Kind of like what I'd call a sexy train conductor," Holt says.
He's also building a 3,000-square foot patio, which Holt says is "probably the most exciting thing that we're doing."
Half of the patio will have seating, with misters in the summer and heaters in the winter.
The other half will have a sand volleyball court.
Holt, who has worked in private real estate investment most recently, is already thinking ahead to expansion plans, probably a couple of years down the road.
If he franchised the business, Holt says, "It would be more of a sports bar than a nightclub."
Look for a soft opening at the Caboose midweek next week. A grand opening will follow a weekend or two after that.
Twice the challenge
Opening a new restaurant is challenging enough, but two at one time?
"I don't know (how), but we're going to do it," says Nicole Chappelle , who recently reopened the Bay Leaf with her sister Ericka Chappelle , Matthew McCann and his mother, Nga McCann .
Everyone but Nga McCann is now partnering to open City Limit Grill in August at 15019 W. U.S. 54.
Nicole Chappelle says they've been working on the space since April 2009.
"It had been taking so long, and then this opportunity came up," she says of buying the Bay Leaf at Clifton Square .
Where the Bay Leaf offers what Chappelle calls homemade and gourmet food, City Limit will specialize in homemade pizzas and burgers.
"It's kind of more like a sports bar," she says.
There will be a dining room and a separate bar area.
Another sports bar was in the space previously, but it might best be known as the former home of the Landing Strip strip club.
"It looks completely different on the inside," Chappelle says. "We've just done a really good job out there."
It's taken much longer than they thought it would, though.
"It's long overdue," Chappelle says. "It's just been more of a process. So many different things come up when you're renovating a building."
Then the Bay Leaf opportunity surfaced.
"When the opportunity came up for the Bay Leaf, we just snatched it up," Chappelle says. "We're like, ah, we'll just do both."
You don't say
"Ironically, the 'Volunteer State' — Tennessee — is not among those ranked at the top! Ad Astra per Aspera!
—Wichita Rotary Club president Roger Ramseyer on how the Chronicle of Philanthropy ranks Kansas as one of the top states for volunteerism
