Moroccan Cafe owners plan to start small then expand to a bigger space in downtown Wichita
The owners of a soon-to-open Wichita Moroccan restaurant are starting their business in the little cafe space on the ground floor of the Epic Center at 301 N. Main.
But that’s not where they plan to stop.
Chef Tony Alhadran and his business partner Brahim Alhamdawi are the new tenants for the Epic Center cafe that Il Primo vacated back in November. They plan to open a restaurant there called Moroccan Cafe that will be open Mondays through Fridays and serve a daily buffet that will include dishes native to several different parts of the world, including Morocco, Italy, India, China and the Middle East.
They plan to have the restaurant open in early February, Alhadran said. And if it goes well, they plan to eventually expand into a bigger downtown space that will have room for more dine-in customers.
Alhadran, who said he’s had experience in many Wichita restaurant kitchens, also cooked in Kuwait, Dubai and Morocco during his career.
He wants to create for Wichita the kind of food he’s been searching for since he first moved here a decade ago.
“To be honest, I’m dying to find good Mediterranean or Moroccan food in town,” he said. “It’s hard. I’m not trying to say the others don’t know what they are doing. It’s just the consistency of the food.”
Moroccan Cafe will be open not only to the people who work in the Epic Center: Anyone will be able to eat there, Alhadran said. He’s hoping to attract people who work nearby at places like Wichita City Hall, the Sedgwick County Courthouse and the post office.
The Wichita Eagle’s offices are now in the Epic Center, and my colleagues were very eager to know if Moroccan Cafe will serve coffee.
It will, Alhadran said. The cafe will be open from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and in the morning will have not only American-style coffee drinks but also Indian, Moroccan and Turkish coffee.
The cafe will have a salad bar with prepared salads like fattoush and tabbouleh as well as a build-your-own option, Alhadran said.
The theme of the hot buffet will switch daily. The owners envision having days that focus on Italian food, Chinese food, Moroccan food, Indian food and Mediterranean food.
“There is nothing canned, nothing frozen, nothing from the shelves of Sam’s or Walmart” Alhadran said. “It’s homemade.”
The restaurant will serve halal, kosher and vegan options as well. It won’t serve any pork products.
At first, he said, customers will get their food in to-go boxes — just until the owners get a feel for how many people it will be serving each day. The cafe area also has some tables and chairs where people can sit and eat.
People who want to hire the restaurant for catering also will be able to use the building’s banquet room.
This story was originally published January 10, 2025 at 12:16 PM.
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