What’s the hottest new restaurant in Kansas? Three Wichita eateries are in the running
The annual Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality Association’s Stars of the Industry awards banquet is on Monday night, and each year, the group recognizes the top restaurateurs, chefs, breweries and culinary teachers in the state. Lots of Wichita people are nominated each year.
One of the most anticipated awards each year is in the category of Hot New Concept. It recognizes the new restaurants across the state that have opened within the past three years, are forward-thinking and likely to grow. And anyone can be nominated. Unlike in the other categories, the nominees don’t have to be members of the restaurant association.
This year’s list of nominees includes a favorite Wichita brewery, the city’s first German restaurant in years and a popular entertainment venue that opened on the east side earlier this year.
You also might scroll the list for ideas about where to eat next time you’re in Kansas City or Topeka.
Here’s who’s up for the award:
Nortons Brewing Company, 125 St. Francis, Wichita: Dan and Becky Norton like to tell about the many nights they spent on their front porch, dreaming about the restaurant and brewery they’d like too open someday. Someday arrived in April 2018, when the couple opened Nortons Brewing Company, and the business has been crazy busy ever since. They created a place that combines Dan’s skill for brewing beer with Becky’s instincts for restaurant management, and it’s become known for its reliable food menu, quality craft beers, one-of-a-kind outdoor beer garden and constant lineup of live music.
Prost, 2721 E. Central: For years, Wichitans had been wondering when the city was ever going to get an authentic German restaurant. They got a taste of what could be when German-born Manu English and her husband, Austin, opened the food truck Let’m Eat Brats in 2013. Then last November, the couple opened a stationary restaurant in some stacked shipping containers in the unusual new Revolutsia development at Central and Volutsia. Almost a year later, the restaurant is a big hit and is becoming known for its rooftop biergarten, its schnitzels and brats and its cozy atmosphere. Recently, it pulled off a four-day authentic Oktoberfest party.
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Chicken N Pickle, 1240 N. Greenwich: Chicken N Pickle is a Kansas City invention, but it’s a Wichita hit. The restaurant and entertainment venue, which also includes indoor and outdoor pickle ball courts and lots of room for yard games and family fun, opened at Wichita’s Plazzio Development, near the east-side Warren, in February, and now, it’s one of the city’s most popular weekend hangouts. It’s always packed with families recreating, dining and having fun.
Q39, 11051 Antioch Road, Overland Park: The original Q39 opened in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2014, but in the summer of 2017, Kansas got one, too. The Overland Park Q39 serves what’s described as “chef-driven barbecue:” pork shoulder, chicken and ribs cooked using hickory wood and indirect heat plus burgers, steak and seafood grilled over an oak wood fire.
Freestyle Poke, 7108 W. 135th St., Overland Park: Jeremiah Dupin is a Kansas City native who owned a popular poke business in Dubai then decided to see if his hometown liked it. He started with a restaurant The Pennant, then, in May, he opened one in Overland Park. The restaurant serves build-you-own poke bowls using fresh fish, veggies and sauces.
The Pennant, 915 S. Kansas Ave., Topeka: This unique downtown Topeka restaurant and entertainment venue opened in March of 2018 to huge crowds. It features a downstairs restaurant that serves burgers, milkshakes and more and an upstairs gaming area with vintage video games, skee ball and a beer garden with a view. There’s even a small bowling alley in the place.
Last year’s Hot New Concept winner was Sierra Grill in Lenexa, though Wichita’s Chick N Max, Dempsey’s Biscuit Co., Headshots Bar & Grill, The Sweet Spot and Piatto Neapolitan Pizzeria also were nominated.
In 2017, Wichita’s Oak & Pie — a pizza and pasta restaurant at 2244 N. Greenwich — took the prize, beating out Meddys in Wichita and Shindigs in Winfield, among other statewide nominees.
Monday’s awards ceremony also will crown a Craft Brewer of the Year, a Chef of the Year, a Restaurateur of the Year and a Hotelier of the Year. Look for a list of all the winners on Tuesday.
This story was originally published October 10, 2019 at 11:32 AM.
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