The sons of El Rio Bravo supermarket’s owners start a delicious Wichita side business
You might already know about El Rio Bravo, the popular supermarket that opened in Wichita’s Westway Plaza in December 2019.
It’s the store at 2501 S. Seneca that frequently sells limes 20 for $1, that has a taco counter inside the store, and that features a huge meat counter with all types of marinated, ready-to-cook items.
Now, the sons of the owners of that store have opened a separate but related side business.
Their new El Rio Bravo food truck opened this week in the parking lot of Westway Plaza, which is at the corner of Seneca and Pawnee. The bright red truck is owned by Tarek Asker and Haider Halum, whose fathers are partners in the Kansas City-based grocery store chain.
Asker and Halum also live in Kansas City, but they decided to launch their food truck business in Wichita, they said, because there’s far less food truck competition here than in Kansas City.
“We would come to Wichita for the store every other week, and we didn’t see much here,” Asker said. “So we had to bring one here.”
The cousins say they’ll continue commuting back and forth from Kansas City to keep tabs on the truck.
The truck, which will be open most weekdays at Westway Plaza, sells things like tacos, burritos and tortas. The menu, which you can see below, offers some of the same items sold at a taco counter inside the supermarket but has a few additions, including whole chickens grilled on the spot. The truck also sells loaded nachos and loaded fries.
The cousins, who also own the little elote cart that’s always parked outside El Rio Bravo, say they plan to open another two or three El Rio Bravo trucks in Wichita and park them in various parts of town. Their second one, they said, will operate outside of Wichita’s second El Rio Bravo supermarket when it opens at 21st and Amidon. That store is still about four or five months away from opening, they said.
They may eventually partner with a third party delivery service to deliver their food around Wichita, they said. People can visit the truck from noon to 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from noon to 10 or 11 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. They’ll soon start closing the truck one day a week, and they’re leaning toward Wednesdays.
People who want to order food in advance of their visit can call 316-881-8080.
El Rio Bravo food truck menu
This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 4:44 PM.
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