‘Lack of decent food’ in Andover inspires longtime restaurateurs to put off retirement
After years of working in the bar and restaurant industry in Wichita, longtime business partners David Allan and Charlie Badeen had sold almost all of their restaurants and were planning to slow down and retire.
Then, Allan said, a culinary problem in Andover that needed solving was brought to their attention.
“There’s a lack of decent food out here,” he said. “That’s a lot of the big complaints from people I know who live out here: There’s not enough options.”
So Allan and Badeen — who own Rain Bistro & Lounge in downtown Wichita and recently sold Dudley’s Irish Pub at 8550 W. 21st St. — agreed to join forces on one more project.
Victory Sports Bar, which Allan describes as a family-oriented, neighborhood bar and grill, should open sometime in early to mid-January at 418 N. Andover Road. The space, the former home of a physical therapy office, is in the same building as a Sherwin-Williams Paint Store.
The new business, Allan said, will have a menu that reflects what Dudley’s had as well as what the partners served when they owned Joe’s Old Town Bar and Grill, which operated at 222 N. Washington from 2011 until 2017.
The menu will include pizza, sandwiches, burgers and specialty appetizers.
“Almost everything’s made from scratch,” he said.
This will be the partners’ first venture in Andover, Allan said, but he feels like their touch is needed on the dining scene there.
“Since we even started talking about this six or seven months ago, I’ve been coming out here and eating everywhere, and I have to agree: There needs to be more options,” he said. “There’s a lot of people I know that drive to Wichita every time they eat or drink. That money is leaving Andover and not coming back.”
The name for the bar was inspired by the memory of another longtime Wichita business that the partners used to own: Heroes, which operated at 117 N. Mosley for 30 years but closed in 2022. Allan and Badeen owned it for two years.
That business was known for a giant neon sign hanging on a wall that read “victory.” Allan said he always remembered that sign and was reminded of it when he was looking at photos of sports bars and restaurants across the country. The name fit, he said.
The Victory space has about 4,800 square feet, he said. It will be open for both lunch and dinner, will have seating for between 70 and 75, and will feature a small patio.
Among the other businesses Allan and Badeen have owned over the years: Mulligan’s Pub, O’Brien’s Irish Pub and Full Moon Pub & Grub on South Seneca.
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