Owner of popular Wichita bar The Anchor chooses reopening date, will add more patio space
If you drove past The Anchor at 1109 E. Douglas last weekend, you might have noticed lights on and people inside.
But the restaurant, which has been closed since the last week of May, hasn’t reopened just yet. At least not officially.
Though owner Schane Gross allowed people in for a soft opening several nights last week, she says, she won’t be ready to reopen the popular bar to the public until Tuesday, July 7.
Gross said she’s used the month off to recharge her own batteries and decide how she wanted to move forward with reopening for dine-in. She offered carryout and curbside service off and on during restaurant shutdowns in March and April but wanted to take a more measured approach to allowing people back inside.
“I decided, ‘I’m just going to stop and take my time,’” she said. “Plus I had staff that didn’t want to give up unemployment yet.”
Gross said customers will notice a few changes when they return.
She’s installed and ordered many sanitizing and disinfecting items, from UV lights to air filtration systems to an electrostatic disinfectant sprayer, and she’s training her staff on how to seat parties in a way that will minimize prolonged contact between them.
She’s going to limit people to one-at-a-time in the restrooms, and she’s going to allow people to use any of her three exits when they’re ready to leave.
She’s also in the final stages of getting approval to add more outdoor seating. Gross said she’s planning to add more patio space to the front of the building — both in front of her east dining room and in front of her Anchor Meat Market. As of now, she has just one small patio in front of her west dining room.
Gross said she’s also been cleared to turn her west parking lot, the one with the tight slanted spaced, into a beer garden when she wants to. She envisions setting it up in the evenings, possibly Thursdays through Saturdays.
The adjacent Anchor Meat Market will reopen on Friday, July 10, she said. But later this week, she’ll start accepting orders for Fourth of July grill packs that people can order and pick up in time for the holiday.
Gross also plans to offer “lunch counter” seating in the meat market when it reopens.
Starting on July 7, The Anchor’s hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 11:09 AM.
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