Bomber Burger owner, known for salty humor and well-seasoned burgers, has died at age 50
The outspoken owner of Bomber Burger, one of Wichita’s favorite hole-in-the-wall burger joints, has died at age 50.
Chris Rickard, who has owned and run the 800-square-foot restaurant at 4869 S. Clifton ever since his father died in 1997, was driving home from work on April 6, wife Shonda Woods said, when his vehicle drove into the path of a train at 47th South and K-15, which is just blocks from the restaurant.
He was taken to the hospital, and by the next day, he was up and walking and talking, and doctors were saying he could be discharged soon, Woods said. She decided to go check on the restaurant while Rickard had a CT scan, but by the time she returned to the hospital, he was unconscious.
Doctors discovered a brain bleed, she said, and Rickard never regained consciousness. Doctors later told her they’d found evidence that Rickard may have suffered a stroke, which could have caused him to drive in front of the slow-moving train, she said. Witnesses said they saw him stop initially then slowly move into the train’s path.
On Saturday, family members decided to remove Rickard from life support machines that were keeping him alive. He died on Monday evening.
On Monday, Woods said the future of Bomber Burger was unclear.
“There’s never going to be another Chris,” said Woods, who was with Rickard for 19 years and married to him for 11. “I met somebody so huge, and when he leaves, he leaves a big dent in the world.”
Over the last 25 years, Rickard made Bomber Burger locally and regionally famous while earning himself a reputation as a straight shooting, expletive tossing, character who would often give customers a hard time — as long as he knew they could take it.
And although tales of Rickard’s indelicate demeanor might draw customers in the first time, they returned for his burgers.
Rickard, who would often swill Miller Light and talk about his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers while he cooked, was proud of the fact that he hand-formed his three-quarter pound burger patties and slow-grilled them on his well-seasoned flat-top grill. The restaurant’s sole employee, Rickard made everything on the menu from scratch, including the hand-cut fries.
He grew up in Mulvane, the oldest of three siblings and the son of Paul Rickard, who worked as an over-the-road trucker. In 1985, when Rickard was 13, Paul decided his trucking days were over, and he bought Bomber Burger, a honky-tonk bar that had been around since 1952 and that also sold decent burgers.
Rickard helped his father run the place, and in the early days, it was his job to cut the potatoes for fries. He graduated from high school in Mulvane then went to college to become a physician’s assistant. Rickard was a semester away from starting his clinicals and was managing the restaurant when his father died at age 56 of cardiomyopathy. Rickard found his father dead after leaving the restaurant to check on him.
When someone questioned how much longer the restaurant would make it without Paul around, Rickard’s stubborn side was riled, and he decided to run it himself.
He became known for his salty personality, for loudly professing his opinions on politics and sports, and for a hanging a professionally printed sign on the side of the building that invited competitors Wendy’s and Spangles to “kiss our a**.”
But Rickard also had a soft side, his wife said. He had recently started teaching Woods’ daughter, 28-year-old Tasha Esparza, how to cut fries. His hope was that she could someday take the restaurant over.
“He didn’t get a chance to show her the strings yet,” Woods said. “He loved her and wanted her to always cook like him.”
Woods said she knows Wichita will miss seeing her husband behind the counter at Bomber Burger, which over the years has made several national “best burger” lists.
She’ll just miss her husband.
“I’m thankful to have been his partner for 20 years,” she said.
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