A downtown Wichita eatery known for its dessert is about to add pizza to the menu
Wichita Cheesecake Company is not — repeat — NOT The Cheesecake Factory.
And although most Wichitans know that by now, Wichita Cheesecake Company owner Mark Daniels says that some still assume that it’s at least like The Cheesecake Factory and that it serves food as well as dessert.
Soon, it will, Mark said. In about two weeks, he and wife Grace Daniels will add pizza to the menu at their dessert and coffee business, which moved into the former Scooter’s space at Douglas and Rock Island in August.
The pizza will be provided by the same company that supplies the new Simply Sangria counter in Towne East Square: Donna Italia. The company offers frozen, ready-to-bake 9- and 12-inch pizzas complete with cheese and sauce, and they even provide the 700-degree ovens needed to cook them. Customers choose from a list of fresh toppings to finish off their pies.
The Daniels will continue to serve their whole cheesecakes, cheesecakes by the slice and coffee drinks as well. The pizza will diversify their menu, they said, and they hope to draw in people at lunch and dinner.
“This will bring in more people during the daytime period and familiarize them with our cheesecake at the same time,” he said.
The Daniels, who operated out of one of the canopies at Union Station from April 2019 until they moved last summer, now have 1,500 square feet and seating.
They learned about the pizza from Miller, who they’ve started partnering with in recent months. Miller now serves the Daniels’ cheesecake at his store in Towne East, which is just off the main food court on the mall’s lower level.
“It’ll definitely be a way for us to start introducing food,” Mark said. “But we wanted something that wouldn’t really tie us up and take us away from doing cheesecake.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 2:29 PM.
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