A favorite Wichita diner has been closed 9 weeks and counting. What’s next for Doo-Dah?
As restaurants around Wichita continue to reopen this month, one of the city’s most popular eateries has remained pretty quiet — and pretty closed.
Doo-Dah Diner, Patrick and Timirie Shibley’s always packed downtown breakfast and lunch spot, was one of the first Wichita restaurants to close at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The couple shut down the diner on March 17 but kept selling take-and-bake from their Doo-Dah Market next door. Less than a week later, though, they closed the market, too.
This week, Timirie Shibley outlined the couple’s plans for reopening. Doo-Dah will be back, she said, but it won’t be for a few more weeks. They decided to use the downtime for a construction project in the kitchen, and because of supply shortages, it’s still ongoing, she said.
Their plan for now is to reopen on Tuesday, June 23, Timirie said, but when they do, the diner will look a bit different.
They plan to temporarily reduce the large menu to list favorites that will fit on the front of one 8x11 page, Timirie said. They’ll continue to offer specials on a weekly basis.
Also, they’ll be removing many of the restaurant’s tables — more than they have to under reopening guidelines — to ensure safer social distancing, she said.
“We’re going to be taking extra measures to spread people out,” she said.
For now, the Shibleys are planning to keep their normal pre-coronavirus hours, but much will depend on how things look three weeks from now when they’re ready to reopen — and how many downtown offices have reopened.
The host stand also will be moved outside, weather permitting, to keep people from crowding inside while they wait for tables. Doo-Dah will continue to utilize the Yelp Waitlist app, where people who sign up can get text alerts when their tables are ready.
The restaurant’s west door, which is usually closed, will be open for carryout and delivery orders. The Shibleys also will be moving their take-an-bake coolers from the market next door to the south wall of the diner where the Sunday buffet is usually set up, and people can grab items from those coolers or pick them up to-go as well.
Speaking of the Sunday buffet, it’s off for now. The reduced opening menu will be offered on Sundays to start out.
The nine weeks off have been good for the Shibleys’ souls, Timirie said, and they got their first chance for an extended break since the opened the restaurant in 2012. They also got to spend time some quality time with their adult daughters.
Their employees have been OK, too, getting by with unemployment benefits, she said. And Richard Holmes, the daily diner that Doo-Dah regulars know and love, is also doing okay. He bought out the market’s take-and-bake supply before it closed, Timirie said, and the Shibleys have fed him from their own kitchen during the shutdown, too.
The Shibleys have been hearing daily from other regulars who want them to get reopened, Timirie said, and Patrick has started itching to cook for crowds.
“It’s just in his DNA,” she said.
It’s almost time to get back to it, Timirie said, and she promised an update as June 23 gets closer.
Stay tuned.
This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 1:08 PM.
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