Tour east Wichita’s new Torchy’s Tacos, and find out when the west side will get its own
If you drive past the new Torchy’s Tacos at 21st and Rock, notice a crowd of people stuffing their faces with tacos on the big patio, and feel left out, here’s some consolation for you:
On Wednesday, the restaurant will officially open, and those who didn’t get an invite to Torchy’s soft opening, which happens Sunday and Monday, will finally get a taste of the taco restaurant they’ve watched going up on the intersection’s southwest corner for the last several months.
Not only that, but by early spring, west siders will have their Torchy’s to enjoy. The building going up just north of HomeGrown at 2901 N. Maize Road, as the Eagle first reported back in May, is also a Torchy’s and should be ready to open by early spring, a Torchy’s executive told me on Sunday.
Torchy’s Tacos is an Austin-based chain with an irreverent attitude that already had restaurants in six states. Kansas is its seventh, and Wichita’s store — the chain’s 81st — is the state’s first Torchy’s. Another will open in about three weeks in Lawrence, followed right away by Olathe.
New Rock Road restaurant
Construction started on the first Wichita Torchy’s restaurant before the COVID-19 pandemic, and then it paused while the chain decided how to proceed, said Elizabeth Baxter, a Wichita native who now works in Austin as the company’s “chief people officer” and who volunteered to travel home and oversee the restaurant’s opening.
Once construction was able to restart, it proceeded quickly. Torchy’s has opened eight new restaurants during the pandemic, she said, “which is pretty much unheard of.”
In non-pandemic times, Wednesday would feature some major opening day commotion at 21st and Rock. Torchy’s is one of those chains with a devoted following, and when new restaurants open, the company usually sets up a tent outside and hires live bands to perform. Huge crowds line up, sometimes waiting up to five hours to get free queso and order a taco.
Wednesday, though, will be a “quiet opening,” Baxter said. Fans were invited to sign up on Instagram for time slots at the soft opening to keep the restaurant from getting too packed, and the sign-up list filled up in less than 24 hours.
What’s on the menu
Those who visit will be greeted by a flashy red-and-black exterior. Inside, the restaurant has tall ceilings, exposed duct work and big chandeliers. People order at the counter then wait for their food to be delivered to their tables.
Torchy’s edgy personality is reflected in some of the neon hanging in the dining room. One wall holds a giant sign reading “Damn Good,” which is what the chain famously calls its tacos. Above the drink stand is a neon sign reading “Live each day like it’s Taco Tuesday.”
That personality carries over to the menu, whose most famous taco is the Trailer Park, filled with fried chicken, green chiles, lettuce, cheese and poblano sauce on a flour tortilla. Baxter said that Torchy’s devotees know to order it “trashy,” which means adding green chile queso to the taco. That green chile queso is one of the restaurant’s signature items, she said.
Other fillings include pork carnitas, fried avocado, fried shrimp, jerk chicken, blackened salmon and smoked brisket. Want to get political while you dine? The restaurant has a “Democrat” taco filled with beef barbacoa and a “Republican” that features grilled jalapeno sausage. Single tacos range in price from $4 to $5.45. During COVID-19, the restaurant also introduced $35 family packs, and those are still available.
Torchy’s opens early and serves breakfast tacos, and it also has margaritas and six beers on draft. Customers can get their tacos on corn or flour tortillas, and Torchy’s recently started making its tortillas in-house. I tried a few menu items this weekend and was most impressed by Torchy’s guacamole, which is fresh and full of big chunks of avocado.
Only two restaurants are planned for Wichita, Baxter said. Though the new Rock Road Torchy’s doesn’t have a drive-through, the one on Maize Road will.
The new Torchy’s hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.
This story was originally published September 13, 2020 at 2:05 PM.
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