He sold his Wichita restaurant after 35 years. Before he goes, he has some things to say
After this week, you won’t see Pat Audley’s beloved red-and-white 1958 Chevy Impala parked outside The Artichoke Sandwich Bar much anymore.
The owner of the Irish bar and haven for sandwich lovers and acoustic music fans at 811 N. Broadway has sold the business, which he started in 1984. At the end of the week, he’ll turn over the keys to The Artichoke’s new owners — longtime friend and Artichoke performer Uche Onwugbufor and his business partner, Tracy Rutledge.
But before he goes, Audley said, he has a few things he’d like to say. The main one is “Thank you.”
“I wanted to just thank the Wichita community as a whole for supporting me for the last 35 years,” said Audley, noting that he specifically means his customers and the musicians who played at his bar. “I also really wanted to thank my employees — my past employees and my present ones — and especially my family for their continued support. Without either of those, I couldn’t have done it.”
Audley said he’s leaving this week with “mixed emotions.”
Although he’s loved the business over the years, he’s ready to move on and feels like his baby will be in good hands with Uche and Rutledge.
When he first started the bar, Audley said, there really wasn’t a place in town where acoustic music was played.
“I was looking for an identity,” he said. “I didn’t want to be the cowboy bar or the spots club or soccer club,” he said.
About that time, local musician Karen Crowson approached him and suggested that acoustic music could be his niche. Audley, a graduate of Southwestern College in Winfield, knew about the popularity of the Walnut Valley Festival and National Flat-Picking Championships, put on there every September. He decided it was worth a try.
Over the years, The Artichoke became known as the place to catch acoustic music, especially on the weekends. It also became known for its annual St. Patrick’s Day party, which took over the adjacent parking lot as well, and for Audley’s yearly fish fries, where he’d fry up catfish he caught himself and feed it to customers for free as a thank you.
The Artichoke also was — and the new owners hope will continue to be — known for its sandwiches. It served clubs, Reubens and the like from opening day. But the sandwich menu became famous when Audley hired Nancy Parish as manager. She worked there from 1992 to 2000 and created several of the sandwiches that still lure big lunch crowds today, including the top-seller, the Famous No. 8, which features turkey, bacon, Swiss, cream cheese, lettuce and tomato grilled on an onion hoagie with Italian dressing and Parmesan cheese.
Audley, whose father was a first-generation Irish immigrant, spent his childhood in the 1950s working for 25 cents an hour at his family’s restaurant, a drive-in/diner called Topps.
He eventually became a teacher, but looking for a way to supplement his income, he started a bar with some partners in the space at Broadway and Murdock that had previously been home to a raucous biker hangout called Elbow Room.
Audley worked in USD 259 for 34 years, before retiring in 2011. He’s been living with terminal prostate cancer since 2009, even though the disease has stabilized, he said.
A farewell party in Audley’s honor is planned for Jan. 4 starting at 6 p.m. at the bar, Uche said. It will feature music from The Erin Alan Project and a keg of Miller that well-wishers can get $2 draws from so they can “raise a pint with Pat.”
Audley said he’d also love to talk to anyone who wants to stop by the bar this week before he goes. He’ll be there over the lunch hour until about 1:30 p.m. every day this week and will also be around evenings through Saturday.
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 10:07 AM.
.jpg)