This Wichita business has changed its name, menu to focus on its best-selling bierocks
When you sell bierocks and you live in a town that’s crazy for bierocks, it seems logical that you’d want to be known — first and foremost — for those bierocks.
That was the gut feeling that Lori and Jim Want followed when they decided to rename, re-brand and refocus their business — formerly known as Want Coffee — that they first opened in February 2018 at 2615 W. 13th St.
The new name for the shop is Want Bierock Co. and Coffee House, a change reflected in a new sign that went up in front of the building on Monday. Also changing is the focus of the business. Though they’ll still serve their full menu of coffee drinks, smoothies and other baked goods and food items, they’re now focusing on bierocks, the uniquely Kansas meat pies that they’ve become known for over the past couple of years.
Bierocks, which are little cabbage-and ground beef pies said to have been introduced to Kansas by Volga German settlers, are wildly popular in the region but not widely known outside of it. Lori Want introduced her bierocks to the menu shortly after opening, and they quickly became a best seller.
Last summer, the couple opened a mobile food trailer called Want Bierock Co., and it’s a fixture at farmers markets around the area, including the Saturday-morning Kansas Grown Farmers Market at 21st and Ridge. Stocking the trailer, which also sells cinnamon rolls, has helped Lori grow accustomed to making bierocks in bulk.
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But she realized, she said, that her little coffee shop kitchen wasn’t big enough to make the “dozens and dozens and dozens” she’s selling every week. So during coronavirus shutdowns, when Want Coffee kept only its drive-through open, the couple expanded the kitchen into the dining room and decorated the new wall with a big Want Bierocks mural.
The new menu includes four different types of bierocks: traditional meat and cabbage, ham and cheese, a vegetarian version made with a plant-based meat substitute, and a breakfast bierock featuring meat and eggs.
During the coronavirus shutdown, the couple introduced its new Family Bierock Boxes, which come in packaging that can be used to reheat the bierocks later. The shop is selling four-, six- and 12-pack bundles, and each one includes cinnamon rolls. They’re $22, $30 and $60.
The new sign went up on Monday, and by Tuesday, Want said, she’d seen “a real spike” in bierock sales.
Want Bierock & Coffee Co. is open for dine-in and drive through and will soon be adding delivery. Its hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. It’s closed on Sundays.
For more information, call 316-425-1803.
This story was originally published June 24, 2020 at 10:57 AM.
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