One of Old Town Wichita’s longest-running restaurants adding a large patio, garage doors
.jpg "River City Brewery owner Chris Arnold is adding a big patio on the building’s north side.")
Outdoor patios are popular hangout spots at Wichita breweries, which get bonus points if retractable garage doors allow breezes and customers to circulate inside.
Now, Wichita’s oldest local brewery — River City Brewing Company at 150 N. Mosley in Old Town — is finishing up a big remodel project that will get it caught up on the trend.
The brewery — which when it opened in 1993 was one of just a few restaurants operating in Old Town — is in the process of adding a big downstairs patio on the building’s north-facing side. When it opens, likely in a couple of weeks, it will be able to hold 15 new tables, each of which will be able to seat at least four people.
Better yet, the new patio will not only be covered by an existing deck but it also will be connected to the brewery’s main dining room by three retractable garage doors.
“It’ll be open and airy and just have a fun feel,” said owner Chris Arnold, adding that he loves the garage doors at restaurants like The Monarch and The Belmont.
In the past, the brewery has had some outdoor seating, but most of it was on the upstairs deck and attached to the brewery’s event space, which isn’t normally used during regular business hours. It was inconvenient and inefficient to have servers going up and down the stairs to attend to outdoor customers, Arnold said.
The brewery also has a few tables on the front west-facing deck, but to access them, servers would have to maneuver through crowds waiting for tables, which was also not ideal.
.jpg "IMG_4830 (1).jpg")
Outdoor dining was in demand during COVID-19, and Arnold said he decided it was time to move. He worked with the city to get approval to expand the walkway on the building’s north side, and he also had to get permission to move the wheelchair ramp, which is now on the northeast corner of the building.
Arnold says he plans to stain the just-installed concrete surface of the patio and will also add some railing and overhead lights. What remains of the flaking mural on that side of the building will stay.
The main dining room is in a bit of disarray at the moment, with plywood covering the holes in the wall where the garage doors are going. But once it’s all done, the inside will be flooded with light, Arnold said.
Customers have been excited as they’ve watched construction progress, he said.
“This is definitely the future,” he said. “Everyone wants to be outdoors.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2022 at 1:58 PM.
.jpg)