Wichita’s new El Rio Bravo market will include a ‘fruit bar’ selling desserts, ice cream
Wichita’s second El Rio Bravo supermarket will open at 2020 N. Amidon, and when it does, it’ll have a new feature that the first store, on South Seneca, doesn’t.
Though co-owner Hakim Halum said he wasn’t able to include a taco counter like he has at his Westway Plaza store, which has been open since December 2019, he’ll offer something sweeter.
Just inside the front doors of the new store, which opens Wednesday at Twin Lakes Shopping Center, will be a “fruit bar” set up inside a round counter and selling the type of desserts and Mexican ice cream treats popular at places like Paleteria La Reyna and Paleterias Tropicana.
The counter, which will be called La Palapa, will offer things like mangonada — a frozen mango chamoy drink — as well as banana splits, “Pina Loca” pineapple drinks, watermelon drinks and churros.
La Palapa will also have fresh sugarcane juice, which isn’t easy to find in Wichita, Hulum said.
Everything else in the new store will be the same as the South Seneca store, though. It will have a big meat counter, a bakery that can produce fresh cakes and a big section of inexpensive produce. (El Rio Bravo frequently sells limes 10 or 20 for a dollar.) There will also be an elote cart out front.
The new store will be about 22,000 square feet, slightly smaller than the original store, he said.
On opening day, the new store will have a DJ set up as well as bouncy houses. At some point between 10 a.m. and 2 a.m., it will raffle off a prize that will let a shopper race through the store for one minute and take home free anything they can get in their carts.
This will be Halum’s third El Rio Bravo, his second in Wichita. Its hours will be 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
This story was originally published July 15, 2021 at 12:42 PM.
.jpg)