Wichita restaurant is open even though cooking indoors is prohibited

The owners of Jack’s Coffee Shop, the rundown but popular Wichita burger restaurant at 6154 S. Hydraulic, have had a hard year, they say.

Back in September, owner Shirley Coleman said she’d have to briefly close the restaurant. She’d fallen behind on her taxes, she said, and had to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy to keep the place open. In addition, she said, fire officials told her that she had to close until she got her sprinkler system repaired. At the time, she said she hoped it would take just a couple of days.

The restaurant was only briefly closed, Shirley’s daughter, Carrie Coleman, said this week, even though the owners have not yet been able to afford the new sprinkler system.

They found a creative way around that problem, Carrie said. They’re cooking their burgers outside on a gas grill.

“You just do what you have to do to survive,” she said.

So far, regulars are saying that the burgers taste pretty much the same, Carrie said. They’re still thick and they still have grilled onions, just like always.

Carrie said she and her mother are hoping to make enough money to afford the sprinkler system, which costs about $2,000, before winter comes. People can still eat inside though, she said.

“It’s been a hard year,” she said. “We’ve had a lot thrown at us.”

Jack’s is one of Wichita’s favorite hole-in-the-wall burger places, and despite its more-than-modest appearance, it has a following.

Since last October, Jack’s has been plagued with problems, including Coleman’s health issues, a gas leak and the loss of the restaurant’s longtime cook.