Wichita restaurants among those suffering most, but some are still finding ways to give
The restaurant industry has been one of the hardest hit over the past week, and that’s true in Wichita, too.
Dozens and have already voluntarily closed their doors for now, and hundreds of restaurant workers have lost their jobs. Every day, a new longtime restaurant announces that it’s shutting down for now or changes to a carry-out only format.
But amid all that darkness and uncertainty, several Wichita restaurateurs have been stepping up to help the community, offering free or deeply discounted meals to those in need, giving away food from their kitchens that would otherwise go to waste, or doing things to prop up members of their own industry.
“It’s in the DNA of a restaurateur,” said Alex Harb, the owner of Wichita’s Meddys restaurants and the head of a multi-restaurant effort to offer free lunches to kids while schools are closed. “They’re servants. They love to serve. That’s their comfort zone.”
Harb, who temporarily closed all of his local restaurants a week ago, has since been spearheading a project he’s calling “Together We are Greater Than a Pandemic.”
He enlisted local nonprofit ICT S.O.S. to help him collect donations, and he — along with help from longtime Wichita restaurateur Les Padzensky — also signed up several Wichita restaurants that wanted to help, including Doo-Dah Diner, Molino’s, Oak & Pie, Greystone, Freddy’s Frozen Custard, Picasso’s Pizza and more. So far, about $20,000 in donations has come in, Harb said.
On Monday, the project provided 2,200 to-go lunches to local school children, which it distributed at four local schools: Mueller Elementary, Truesdale Middle School, Jardine Middle School and Marshall Middle School. Harb and Padzensky were at Truesdale, where even before the scheduled start time of 11:30 a.m., cars were lined up 15 and 20 deep. Parents would drive up to the front of the school, and volunteers would pass into car windows to-go containers filled with hot dogs, crackers, carrot sticks, yogurt and condiments and utensils.
USD 259 will start offering lunches on Wednesday, but Harb’s group wanted to fill in the gap until then. They’ll be passing out meals again on Tuesday, this time with chicken nuggets purchased at cost from local Chick-fil-A stores.
Harb said he’s not asking restaurants to donate food — they’ve been hit hard enough already. Instead, partner restaurants are doing things like cooking and helping with distribution. For Monday’s lunch, he said, cooks from John Arnold’s local restaurants, including Greystone and Deano’s, cooked 1,200 hot dogs. Patrick Shibley from Doo-Dah Diner cooked another 600. The group also is paying chefs who come in to do the cooking $13 an hour.
Later in the week, once the school district’s lunch program is up and running, the group will look for other places to set up its lunch service. Anyone who wants to donate money to the project can do so by following this link.
“This feels good. This makes us all feel good,” Harb said. “Otherwise, what the heck would we be doing? Sitting at home being depressed?”
Throughout the week, other restaurants in Wichita have found ways to be generous, too. Here are a few. If you notice any others, let me know at dneil@wichitaeagle.com.
A&M Restaurant Group: John Arnold’s restaurants, including Greystone, Deano’s and Oak & Pie, are offering 50 percent off of curbside orders for first responders, people in the medical field, military, law enforcement and people in the hospitality industry. Tell the server the keywords “Local Hero” to get the discount.
R Coffee House, 1144 N. Bitting: On Monday morning, the restaurant offered people wanting to avoid the supermarkets free containers of excess skim milk it had on hand. They were passing them out through their to-go window.
Tight Ends, 524 S. Seneca: The restaurant decided to close for the time being last week, and on Saturday, it opened its doors to give away all of its perishable items to people in need, including meat, produce and dairy items. It was all gone within an hour, restaurant managers said.
Bubba’s 33, 412 S. Towne East Mall Drive: The restaurant is offering 50 percent off to-go meals for workers in the restaurant industry. People should bring some proof of restaurant employment.
La Chinita, 1051 N. Broadway: This restaurant is offering a free kids meal with purchase of a regular meal until school is back in session.
Chick N Max, several Wichita locations: Offering $2 “Wichita Proud” boxed meals consisting of two smoked drumsticks, 1 side of white beans or turnip greens and 1 piece of toast after 4 p.m. daily. Carryout and drive-through only. Limit four a person.
Chicken N Pickle, 1240 N. Greenwich: The restaurant is starting a new Wednesday promotion called “Pie it Forward.” Anyone who buys a pot pie for $8 can get a second one free to give to a healthcare worker, senior citizen, first responder or neighbor who needs it. Available from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays. Order by calling 316-535-7150.
This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 1:47 PM.
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