Jax Restaurant & Bar is the new identity of a familiar restaurant on Wichita’s east side
Back in February, just before the pandemic hit, Greystone Steak & Seafood owner John Arnold announced a re-branding of his 5-year-old restaurant.
He wanted people to stop thinking of the restaurant at 9719 E. 21st St. as an expensive and fancy-special occasion place and start treating it like a more casual, mid-price restaurant where they could dine once or twice a week. He dropped the “Steak & Seafood” from the name, took the expensive dishes off the menu and got rid of the restaurant’s white tablecloths.
Arnold will never know if that approach might have worked. The pandemic hit almost immediately after, and it hit hard. Sales across his four-restaurant A&M Management Group are down 45 percent over last year, he said, and over the weekend, he announced that Greystone had closed for good. Its last day was Friday.
But Arnold still has the lease on the building, he said, and he needs to make money. So he’s decided to open a new restaurant concept in the space with a new name.
On Wednesday, he debuted Jax Restaurant & Bar, which has a new staff, an updated menu and a new feel.
“I’m going back to what I’ve done most of my life, which is a scratch kitchen,” said Arnold, who was once Redrock Canyon Grill’s managing partner in Wichita.
The new menu includes many of the same dishes Greystone had, including appetizers like skillet cheese, tenderloin tips and pimento cheese plus a filet cheeseburger, a French dip sandwich, a chicken enchilada plate, shrimp pasta, a 14-ounce rib eye and more. It also has some new dishes, including a chipotle chicken sandwich and a chophouse steak salad. You can see the full Jax menu below.
The interior hasn’t changed much, Arnold said, and he’ll still offer the restaurant’s “COVID-friendly” private dining rooms. There are some new high-top tables in the bar, and he’s mixing up the lighting levels and music he’ll play.
“With the financial situation, there’s not a whole lot I could do besides change the food and move some employees around,” he said. “This is a brand-new crew and a new menu and a new direction.”
The restaurant will be open from 5 to 10 p.m., and the bar will open at 4 p.m. with a weekday happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. It’ll open for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays and offer brunch items as well.
A&M Management Group also owns Deano’s Grill & Tapworks, Oak & Pie and Stearman Field Bar & Grill in Benton.
“It’s a fresh start, and hopefully, we can get Wichita to embrace it,” Arnold said of Jax. “I’m here forever. My whole life is here. I just want to make Wichita happy, and hopefully that is what we can do here.”
Jax Restaurant & Bar menu
This story was originally published November 4, 2020 at 7:37 PM.
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