Two closed Wichita restaurants — one gone since 2014 — are about to make a comeback
A couple of Wichita restaurants that shut their doors are now both making comebacks.
But their new endeavors are mobile.
One is a Chicago-style sandwich shop that once operated in Delano but closed six years ago. The other is an ice cream and coffee shop that lost the lease on its brick-and-mortar space earlier this year.
Here’s what you need to know about both:
Big B’s Beef
Liz and Brian Bathgate are very close to opening their Big B’s Beef food truck, which will be a mobile version of the restaurant they once operated in Delano.
The couple — both born and raised in the Chicago area — briefly ran a restaurant of the same name at 605 W. Douglas (where Sakura is now). It served Chicago-style style sandwiches, hot dogs, fries, and Italian beef and sausage and had developed a loyal following.
It opened in December 2013 but closed in August 2014 after the couple decided they needed to focus on raising their young kids.
Now, six years have passed, and those kids are older, Liz said recently. They’re ready to get back in it.
“We kept in contact with a lot of our customers and just really missed seeing them,” she said.
The truck’s first day will happen on Friday, when it will be serving at Wizard’s Asylum, 1309 W. 31st St. South, from 5 to 9 p.m. It’ll be back at the same spot from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
The couple is also planning to park at various businesses around town and might try to sell food at the local rallies and pop-up parks, too.
They’ll serve their customers’ once-favorite items from the restaurant, including Italian beef sandwiches served Chicago style plus Chicago dogs, gyros, Italian sausage sandwiches, pizza puffs and hand-cut fries. (They won’t have gyros on opening weekend, though.)
Their rig — a box truck that was once used by the Wichita SWAT team — was purchased more than a year ago and now is fitted with all the right equipment, she said. It has a new, bright yellow paint job.
The couple says they’ll try to be out over both the lunch and dinner hours and that fans can watch their Facebook page for updates about where they’ll be parked. They hope to hit all sides of town.
If you have a question or a suggestion for where they should go, call 316-942-BEEF.
Flavors Coffee and Ice Cream
Ryan Nall ran Flavors Coffee and Ice Cream Bar (previously College Hill Creamery) in an old two-story house in Wichita’s Clifton Square from 2015 until his lease was terminated in February. (Another coffee and ice cream shop — Papa’s General Store — moved in in May.)
But he’s not really to give up on the business.
He has a food trailer, and he’s now starting to take it out, serving some of the things his shop was known for — ice cream, Nitro Joe’s beverages and kombucha.
Nall said he’ll be setting up his trailer from 1 to 5 p.m. every Saturday at the Taliesin pool and clubhouse, which is in a new housing development near 151st and Maple. He’s also working with Inspirit Kombucha to set up at its brewery and taproom, 3435 N. Emporia, on a regular basis, he said.
His trailer will serve eight flavors of ice cream, Nitro Joe’s cold brew and their CBD cold brew, two Inspirit Kombucha flavors tapped and on nitrogen and kombucha floats. He’ll also serve canned products from Nitro Joe’s.
“We are working on getting out and about more frequently and consistently,” he said.
This story was originally published July 6, 2020 at 3:47 PM.
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