Flashback Friday: Pat O’Brien’s was a stylish spot for dining, dancing in 1970s Wichita
Welcome to Flashback Friday, a feature that runs Fridays on Kansas.com and Dining with Denise. It’s designed to take diners back in time to revisit restaurants that they once loved but that now live only in their memories — and in The Eagle’s archives.
This week’s featured restaurant, Pat O’Brien’s Steak and Pub, was a nightlife destination in 1970s Wichita.
Any regular visitor to New Orleans probably knows about its famous Pat O’Brien’s bar — home of the famous Hurricane cocktail.
But Wichita once had its own Pat O’Brien’s, though it was unrelated to its more famous namesake. Called Pat O’ Brien’s Steak and Pub, it operated from 1972 until 1980 in a building that still stands at 5327 E. Kellogg, just in front of the Scotch & Sirloin. (Today, the gray, one-story building is home to an insurance agency.)
It was a nightlife hot spot back in the days when Kansans needed to have membership cards to enjoy adult beverages in restaurants — a fact of life until 1986, when the Kansas legislature finally passed a liquor by the drink amendment.
Pat O’Brien’s was named for its owner, who the The Wichita Eagle described in 1972 as “a smilin’ Wichita Irishman with an appropriate Irish moniker.” Joseph Patrick O’Brien, a former manager of Ralston-Purina’s food distribution center in Wichita, had taken over the former home of famous Wichita Mexican restaurant El Charro, which had closed in early 1972, and was remodeling the space to have an English Tudor motif with two stone fireplaces, lots of stained glass and dark wood.
He planned to have two separate areas inside: a “pub” with a long wooden bar where, by law, people would have to be members to enjoy its adult beverages and live entertainment, and a separate restaurant that would serve steaks and seafood.
During its eight-year run, Pat O’Brien’s became a popular place for people to dine then dance the night away. The biggest day of the year for the restaurant was St. Patrick’s Day. People would flock to the bar after Wichita’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, and a line often stretched around the building. “On St. Patrick’s Day, you are hard-pressed to get within a block of Pat O’Brien’s,” read an article published in The Wichita Eagle in 1979.
Wichitans remember going to Pat O’Brien’s through the 1970s to dance and eat. Fans particularly recall the sauteed mushrooms prepared by the owner, the Death by Chocolate dessert, and the hot buttered rum served at the bar. The restaurant’s dinner menu also included things like shish kebab, filet mignon, lobster and shrimp, boned chicken in wine sauce, and porterhouse steak.
During the famous Pat O’Brien’s happy hour, people could help themselves to a free buffet and enjoy trendy ’70s cocktails like pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris.
In 1975, Pat O’Brien’s was the site of a terrifying robbery whose details could have been lifted from a movie script. Early on the morning of March 27, a young man showed up asking for a job, then sat down to fill out an application. Not long after, he went to the restaurant office and pulled a gun on the managers. While rifling through the drawers in the office, he accidentally discharged his gun, shattering glass from a desktop that flew up and injured an employee.
The man then tied up the 22 people in the restaurant, including the owner and several customers and employees, and forced them into the walk-in cooler. He took their wallets, jewelry, coats and IDs, making off with about $1,600.
Later that day, Marshall L. Celestine, 23, of Kansas City, Missouri, was arrested by the highway patrol and charged in connection with the robbery. He was put on trial in August of that year and eventually pleaded no contest to three counts of aggravated robbery, three counts of kidnapping and one count of aggravated kidnapping. He was sentenced to life in prison.
In early 1980, Pat O’Brien’s suddenly closed, and its contents were put up for auction in a court-ordered sale “to satisfy lien and encumbrances,” according to an ad in the paper. By May, new owners turned the building into a club that also would become a nightlife institution in Wichita: The Cowboy.
In 2005, a new business called O’Brien’s Pub opened in a new building at 5205 E. Kellogg, just to the east of the former O’Brien’s spot. Started by Lindy Andeel, Doug Farha and Sonny Glennon, the bar — which is still open today — was unrelated to the original Pat O’Brien’s, but the owners meant it as an ode to the former business. (Developer Andeel, who died in 2015, had been an owner of the Pat O’Brien’s building.)
The smilin’ Irishman Pat O’Brien died earlier this year at age 81. His obituary mentioned his once-famous business:
“He was a restaurateur, owning the favored Pat O’Brien’s back in the 70’s. You know the one. You probably even stole one of his fishbowl mugs,” the obituary read. “He pioneered the original St. Patrick’s Day parade in Wichita, which still happens every year. Next time you attend that or any St. Paddy’s parade, please drink a green beer and think of ole Pat. He would love that.”
More Flashback Fridays from The Eagle
Flashback Friday: Some of Wichita’s best Chinese food was once served from a bowling alley
Flashback Friday: Beloved family restaurant chain started as a tiny burger spot in 1946
Flashback Friday: 1960s Wichita fell in love with this restaurant’s German dishes, vibe
.jpg)