A well-known Wichita chef is opening his own restaurant in a former Chick N Max spot
Wichita is about to get a new restaurant focused on quesadillas and owned by a chef who moved to Wichita almost six years ago, making his mark in part with his inventive Mexican cooking.
Bill Crites, who’s headed the kitchens at places like Dempsey’s Burger Pub, Dempsey’s Biscuit Co. and the Hooray Ranch in Kingman, is working on a new restaurant he’ll call Buenos ‘Dillas that will take over the space at 410 N. Hillside where the first Chick N Max operated until it moved to West Street in October 2019.
Crites hopes to have the restaurant open by late spring or early summer, he said.
Buenos ‘Dillas will offer a streamlined menu that includes quesadillas filled with chicken, pork, steak or veggies, each served with a side of sour cream, guacamole and pickled veggies called escabeche. Crites said he’ll also offer salads, fries, chips and salsa, chips and guacamole and a few desserts.
“The last decade plus I’ve spent constantly changing, constantly evolving, constantly cooking different food,” he said. “Now I want to hone in on one thing and specialize on making one thing really well.”
Eventually, he’ll open the restaurant in the mornings for grab-and-go breakfast tacos and coffee, and he also plans to serve beer and wine.
Crites said he likes that the space is near Wesley hospital and that Central and Hillside is an area that’s become home to more and more restaurants.
He first became known to Wichita when he took a job heading a cafe at Koch Industries called 37 West. Though only employees and their guests were admitted to the cafe, Crites became known for his taco Fridays, during which he put out an array of house-made toppings and meats. Friends of Koch employees started jockeying for lunch invitations.
He left Koch in 2017 to work as executive chef for Dempsey’s in Wichita, overseeing both Dempsey’s Biscuit Co. and Dempsey’s Burger Pub. After that, he led the kitchen at the exclusive hunting lodge Hooray Ranch in Kingman but left that job in the fall.
I’ll keep you posted on the restaurant’s progress.
This story was originally published March 30, 2021 at 12:55 PM.
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