It’s been a 2.5-year wait, but this Wichita barbecue restaurant is finally ready to open
It’s been a long journey for barbecue aficionado Buddy King, but he’s finally ready to open his new barbecue restaurant — Barrel Boys BBQ at 2202 W. 13th St.
This week, King said he was aiming for a June 20 ribbon cutting then would begin his “soft openings” on Fridays and Saturdays through the rest of the month, starting on Friday, June 21. A soft opening is when owners and their staff members practice their systems and ask customers for patience.
At first, King will serve food from 11 a.m. until he sells out on Fridays and Saturdays only. He plans to then add Thursday hours in July.
King, a successful competition pit master, started out with a Barrel Boys BBQ food truck seven years ago. Then, in early 2022, he decided to lease a little building on the northwest corner of 13th and McLean and open a restaurant.
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Initially, he’d hoped to have it open by spring of 2022, but he encountered a big learning curve, he said. The project cost more than he anticipated and required hiring architects and getting zoning and architectural plans approved by the city — all things that were new to him.
Since then, he’s given the building a noticeable makeover, adding red trim, new front windows and a large covered patio with picnic tables. He also added a big new parking lot, and his fancy 1,000-gallon smoker got a new paint job and is parked out back, ready to go.
The restaurant will have room for about 20 dine-in customers and more on the patio, though King has always said he’d put special emphasis on carryout business. He plans to offer family meal deals that people can pick up on the way home from work.
King, whose specialty is brisket, says he’ll serve that plus items like ribs, turkey, hotlinks and sides like cheesy corn, slaw, potato salad and brisket beans. His wife, Joana, also will occasionally prepare some of the Filipino-style barbecue that she’s become known for with the food truck’s fans.
King spent more than a decade racking up accolades and awards on the competitive barbecue circuit. He started his food truck to showcase his barbecue prowess, and it earned a following. Last summer, he parked the truck at the restaurant site and put on occasional barbecue pop-ups.
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