A new Wichita barbecue restaurant will open next week in historic downtown fire station
Wichita will finally get a new barbecue restaurant next week that its owner promised years ago.
On Wednesday, Alex Eftekhar plans to open his Station 8 BBQ restaurant in the old firehouse at 1100 E. Third St. that he and his father — Autohouse Stuttgart owner Reza Eftekhar — bought from barbecue legend John “Jetman” Thien in 2015.
Its first day will be Wednesday, and after that, its hours will be 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (or whenever the food sells out) Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Eventually, he hopes to add Saturday hours.
Though Eftekhar is opening in the space that Thien’s Jet Bar-B-Q made famous, Eftekhar will be doing things a bit differently.
He won’t have the drive-through that went through the station like Thien did. Instead, he’s created a larger dining that can seat about 48 people.
Eftekhar will have the food displayed at a counter near his bar, and customers will order there. Meats and fresh-made sides will be sold a la carte.
Customers will be able to choose from menu items like brisket, pulled pork, glazed ham, St. Louis-style ribs and hotlinks as well as homemade sides like traditional slaw, broccoli slaw, potato salad, barbecue beans, smoked mac and cheese, honey glazed carrots and corn bread pudding.
“All the sides are homemade,” he said. “I’m trying to differentiate myself from everyone else in town.”
Another unique offering: Eftekhar will sell sodas in glass bottles, including classics like Cheerwine and Grapette.
Eftekhar, who also deals in antiques, has been collecting items to decorate his dining room over the years and has filled it with things like old phone booths, vintage fire engine toys and a 1940s Wurlitzer jukebox.
“I’m very excited to show the building off, too,” he said.
Eftekhar put on a few pop-up barbecue events last summer while he continued to put finishing touches on the building. Locals might recognize him from his time working as a sous chef at Flint Hills National Golf Club and as a butcher at The Anchor Meat Market.
He also occasionally rented Station 8 out as an event venue over the last couple of years and offered barbecue catering on the side. He was preparing to start serving food to the public in 2020 when the pandemic hit, so he put it off.
But he’s ready to start cooking.
“I’m excited,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Alex Eftekhar.
This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 1:02 PM.
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