Favorite Wichita BBQ restaurant seized over unpaid taxes, but a fan is trying to save it
A fan of a favorite longtime Wichita barbecue restaurant that’s been seized by the state over unpaid taxes has launched a campaign to try to help the owner save it.
On Thursday, agents from the Kansas Department of Revenue seized the assets of Pig In Pig Out, a popular restaurant at 1003 E. 13th St. that has been a Wichita favorite since it first opened in 1995. The state says that the restaurant owes nearly $100,000 in unpaid taxes.
But on Saturday morning, former restaurant employee and longtime family friend Brooke Scherer launched an online fundraiser on givesendgo.com asking people to donate money and help owner Derek Cochran save the place.
“Derek Cochran has always been the best to our community in providing the highest quality BBQ in a 100 mile radius,” she wrote on the fundraising page. “The past couple of years have been rough for us all and it has hit restaurants especially hard. Help keep a local legend above water.”
The goal set for the fundraiser is $100,000.
In a statement, Cochran said the closure should be temporary.
“I have been and continue to work on a resolution for the situation and hope to reopen very soon,” he said. “In addition, I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support I have received from family, friends, and fans.”
Cochran’s father, Ronald, was a longtime competitor on the barbecue cookoff circuit, and in 1995, he opened Pig In Pig Out as a tiny, six-seat barbecue restaurant at 1935 S. Hydraulic. It was an instant hit. Many claim it makes the best barbecue in town.
Ronald died in 2001, and his widow, Pam, and son Derek took it over.
In 2004, Derek Cochran moved the restaurant to its current, much larger space at 13th and Washington.
Scherer said that Derek is usually the person doing the giving. Now that he’s in need, she said, she hopes others will want to help him.
“He is the first to give his shirt off his back for anyone, and I really hope the community can come together and support him and this local business,” she said.
Pig In Pig Out is the second Wichita business seized by the Kansas Department of Revenue of late. Last month, Mexican grocery store Carniceria El Guero at 2920 W. Central also was taken over and sealed over $29,000 in unpaid back taxes.
This story was originally published March 12, 2022 at 9:20 AM.
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