It’s rare when a restaurant that has closed later reopens, but these three in Wichita are about to
Typically, once a restaurant is closed, it’s closed.
Not so for a few Wichita restaurants of late. These three eateries all shut down but now are about to make the unusual move of reopening:
Want Bierock Company and Coffee House, 2615 W. 13th St.: In December, Jim and Lori Want reopened the drive through of their cafe and coffee shop that closed in June. Now, they’re ready to reopen the dining room as well. Thursday, Feb. 1, will be the first day that the couple welcomes people back inside the building to enjoy Lori Want’s homemade bierocks plus espresso drinks, sausage kolache, pastries and “biscuit-and-gravy bombs,” which feature bierock dough stuffed with sausage gravy.
The cafe’s hours starting Feb. 1 will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. To celebrate the opening, Lori Want will be making one of her special bierocks — a Philly version stuffed with Swiss cheese, smoked beef, onions and green peppers. It will be available Feb. 1 through Saturday, Feb. 3.
Boba Zone, 2240 N. Rock Road: It was Wichita’s boba stop before boba was such a big deal. But the shop, which first opened in Wichita in 2008, got new owners in February of last year, and they decided to close the shop during their slow months of December and January to give the place a makeover and make it their own. Now, new owners Alex and Cielo Valles are ready to reopen, and their first day back in business will be Saturday.
The new owners also have upgraded the menu to include not only boba tea and slushies but also espresso and brewed coffees, which can be paired with boba and jellies. They’re now using PT’s Coffee Roasting Co. beans and preparing unique lattes that combine classic milk teas and classic syrups. One of their new drinks, for example, is a taro tea with vanilla and white chocolate.
Starting on Saturday, the shop will resume its normal winter hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.
Pho King ICT, 4857 E. Harry: The information on this one is a little incomplete, but it appears that Pho King ICT, the restaurant with the don’t-say-it-too-fast name that opened as a build-your-own pho place in October of 2022 and closed in July, is about to reopen.
The Facebook page for the restaurant is suddenly active again, and posts say it will be back in business “as soon as this Sunday.”
I’ve left messages with the business but have not heard anything back. The new menu on social media lists appetizers like crab rangoon and egg rolls, lots of pho soups, including several made with lobster tail, fried rice, lo mein and pad Thai.
This story was originally published January 26, 2024 at 12:22 PM.
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