Former Cibola owners have just opened their new east-side Wichita restaurant
They’ve been working on it for months, and now, former Cibola owners Kevin Brown and Tracy Fahrbach have finally opened their new Wichita restaurant, which they’ve named Fred & Barney’s.
Its first day was Wednesday, though the partners kept the opening quiet so their staff could get a few days of practice.
It’s in the old Sweet Basil spot at 2424 N. Woodlawn, and it’s a new concept for the longtime partners. The menu is full of sandwiches, burgers and salads and entrees like chicken fried steak, baby back pork ribs, chicken cordon bleu and more. (You can see the full menu below.)
Customers who visit will be asked to order their food on electronic kiosks placed both in the vestibule leading into the restaurant and at the counter set up at the entrance. They’ll get numbers, then their food will be delivered to their tables. If a customer prefers not to use the kiosks, they can choose a table and a waitress will take their orders.
Though the owners plan to add lunch soon, for now, they’re open just in the evenings. Hours are 4 to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 4 to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. They’re closed on Sundays, but that could change in the future.
They don’t have their liquor service ready to go yet, but until they do, customers can bring their own bottles and won’t be charged a corkage fee. The liquor license should be lined up soon too, they said.
Brown and Fahrbach are longtime Wichita restaurateurs who are best known for opening fine-dining restaurant Cibola in Bradley Fair in the early 2000s and the Lassen Bar & Grill downtown in the 1990s. They’d been focused on catering for several years but decided they were ready to get back into the restaurant business.
They restaurant also has a large outdoor patio, which was added by building owner Caro Development. Owners are planning to install on the patio some unique Amish-style gliding picnic tables, which feature benches for two on each side, a table in the middle and a canopy covering the top. Those won’t arrive until spring, but the patio is now set up with standard tables and chairs and is glowing with overhead lights and lighted trees.
Carryout is also available, and during its first couple of days in business, most orders have been for to-go, Fahrbach said. To make an order, call 316-282-7308.
Opening a restaurant during the pandemic has been a challenge, he said, but they made it.
“I’m so happy to have everything in place,” he said. “It’s been a trial, but it is what it is.”
Fred & Barney’s menu
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 4:43 PM.
.jpg)