Wichita getting a new local barbecue chain, first restaurant set to open in November
A new locally owned barbecue chain is planned for Wichita, and the first restaurant should be open sometime in November, the owner says.
Eric King, a longtime Wichita restaurateur who in 2019 opened with business partners The Barbe-Q-Pit only to close it just a few weeks later, is planning three Masters of Barbeque restaurants for Wichita, and the first one will be in the former Uno Mas space at 1920 W. 21st St.
Uno Mas owner Abel Rodriguez just closed his restaurant, which had operated in the space since 2017, in preparation to move it to a space just across the street that will give him the capability to add a drive-through. The new Uno Mas should be open sometime later this year, Rodriguez said.
King, who will own the Masters of Barbeque with his wife, Nichole, said that the first restaurant will be mostly a carryout and delivery place because there’s not much room for seating in the space. He plans to follow up with a second location in the North Rock Road area after the holidays this year — and that restaurant will have indoor seating, a bar and a patio area.
He plans to open a third sit-down restaurant in Park City, ideally somewhere near 61st and Hydraulic, next spring or summer.
King said he and his wife are the sole owners of this business. In 2019, he was the managing partner in The Barbe-Q-Pit, which abruptly closed less than a month after opening day. King, his wife, and 12 former employees later sued owners Ron Bowens and Patricia Hardrick over unpaid wages, and they counter-sued. King said the case was later settled but that he could not discuss the details.
A new restaurant — Green Olive Family BBQ — took over the former Jezebel’s space in July.
“We’re excited about doing our own thing,” King said. “It’s something that we have complete control over, and we’re looking forward to that.”
King said the restaurant on 21st Street will serve both lunch and dinner and will offer carryout and delivery. The menu will feature pulled pork, brisket, hot links, loaded baked potatoes, fried catfish, a chicken sandwich, ribs, and sides like potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans and mac and cheese.
Because the acronym for Masters of Barbeque is MOB, the Kings are giving the restaurant a mafia theme, he said. The chicken sandwich, for example, will be called the Fowl Capone. A barbecue plate featuring a pile of meat will be called The Godfather. The restaurant even has a mascot named Mo Bettakew: a grinning, winking cartoon pig wearing a suit and a fedora.
The Kings also briefly owned a restaurant in Wellington called CrazE4 Chicken, which opened at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic but closed a few months later.
Eric King is a veteran of the Ryan’s Steakhouse and Longhorn Steakhouse chains who helped Kassem Yassine open Delanos Diner in 2017.
I’ll let you know when the first Masters of Barbeque has an opening date.
This story was originally published October 13, 2021 at 1:43 PM.
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