Founder of two Wichita restaurants dies at age 47, was ‘bigger than life,’ family says
The founder of Wichita’s only Cajun restaurant died suddenly over the weekend.
On Saturday morning, Tim Granger — who founded both Da Cajun Shak and Da Chicken Shak & More restaurants and ran them with his large family — died of a massive heart attack.
He was 47.
The family is in shock, said Chris Granger, who for years helped run Da Cajun Shak at 6249 E. 21st St. along with his wife, Patty, and youngest son. They’re planning to close Da Cajun Shak for at least a week, and are delaying the opening of their fourth Da Chicken Shak & More restaurant, which was planned for Monday at Kellogg and Greenwich.
“He was very full of life,” Chris said on Monday morning of his son. “And he had a heart of gold.”
In 1998, Tim Granger followed his parents to Wichita. Chris and Patty had grown up, gotten married and had their three sons in Louisiana, but Chris got a job in the early 1990s heading the cafeteria at Newman University. Chris’ wife, Patty, was eventually hired to head up food service at Kapaun Mount Carmel High School.
Five years later, the couple left their jobs to become managing partners in Sonic restaurants around town. That’s when Tim approached them with the idea to open a Cajun restaurant that would specialize in the family recipes his mother had grown up learning from her Grandmother Lena. At the time, there was no Cajun fare in Wichita.
Tim opened the first Da Cajun Shak in a 10-seat restaurant space 3219 S. Oliver in 2005. But the restaurant caught on, so later that same year, Tim decided to move it to 21st and Woodlawn, where it still operates today.
Patty and Chris sold their Sonic restaurants and devoted themselves to Da Cajun Shak. Patty cooked, Tim ran the front of the house and the other two Granger sons – Billy and Chris II – also helped.
Over the years, Wichita has been charmed by the Granger family and their Cajun accents and attitudes. Chris and Tim shared not only a deep Louisiana drawl but also a love of sharing the region’s culinary traditions — gumbo, fried gator bites and fried catfish — with their adopted hometown.
Two years ago, Tim came up with a new Wichita restaurant concept that would capitalize on the chicken craze that had landed in the city.
He opened his first Da Chicken Shak & More, specializing in inexpensive fried chicken tenders, at 2428 W. 13th St. in August 2018, and since then, the family has opened two more and was about to open a fourth on Greenwich.
Chris Granger said that his son, who was in good health, started experiencing chest pains about 3 a.m. on Saturday. He alerted his older brother, who called for an ambulance. But Tim died on the way to the hospital, Chris said.
He’ll remember his son as someone who was “bigger than life” and who knew exactly who he was.
“Tim was very up front,” he said. “You knew with Tim where you stood.”
Tim loved watching football — his teams were Louisiana State University and the Buffalo Bills — and he was an avid fisherman. He was thrilled about his parents’ recent purchase of a vacation house at Table Rock Lake, and he’d already claimed one of the bedrooms there, hanging his clothes in the closet.
Patty Granger said her son was always the first to volunteer to help out. Just a few weeks ago, she was having trouble with a refrigerator at Da Cajun Shak and called him.
“He said, ‘Mamma, don’t you worry. I got this,’” Patty said. “He was always like that. We always said, ‘I love you’ before we hung up. I would say, ‘I love you, baby,’ and he would say, ‘I love you, mamma.’”
Tim’s eldest son, Tim Granger II, described his father as “very smart, outgoing, goofy, selfless and caring.
“He was the glue that held us together,” he said. “We love him and miss him so much. He taught me so much, but there is still so much I needed to learn.”
Chris Granger said the family will attempt to regroup and will likely open the new Da Chicken Shak & More in a couple of weeks. Tim Granger II will be running it.
“The plan is to move forward and keep the legacy going,” Chris said.
In addition to his parents and two older brothers, Tim Granger leaves behind four sons, four daughters and three grandchildren.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 861 N. Socora.
This story was originally published November 2, 2020 at 10:18 AM.
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