Hey y’all: This Wichita chef is about to launch new concept offering Creole, Southern food
Wichitans who crave Creole and Cajun fare will soon have a new option.
Hey Y’all Creole & Southern Kitchen is a new business that longtime Wichita chef Roger Cox plans to open May 14.
It won’t be a restaurant, though: Cox is opening the concept as a ghost kitchen that will offer dishes through delivery platform DoorDash. Customers also will be able to pick up their food at the commercial kitchen where Cox will be working: The Shared Kitchen at 926 W. Harry.
Cox has worked as a chef in Wichita for years — most recently, he helped Morrie Sheets open the new Sheet’s Creek at 1720 N. Webb Road. But, he said, he decided he wanted to run his own business and be the “final decision maker” in the kitchen.
To start, Hey Y’all will serve food from 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays. But Cox’s goal is to graduate to a food truck that he can take to food truck rallies and use for private catering gigs.
His menu will include things like gumbo and jambalaya plus entrees like bone-in pork chops with grits and greens. He’ll make all the dishes from scratch, he said, including his own andouille sausage, boudin and tasso ham.
Cox described himself as a “born-and-bred Southerner,” adding that he grew up “on the hills side of Alabama, not the coast side.”
“I have a long running love affair with New Orleans and the food from down there,” Cox said.
Cox said that the ghost kitchen/food truck route was the best option for him because the rent at physical restaurant spaces is more than he can manage. He does, however, hope to find a venue where he can put on Sunday jazz brunches. He’s been inquiring around town but hasn’t found a good fit yet.
His delivery and takeout menus to start will include starters, sandwiches, main courses and a dessert.
Among the other jobs on Cox’s resume: He worked as the chef at NetApp on Wichita State University’s Innovation Campus, which has a restaurant that’s open to the public, and he also did a stint at the Sedgwick County Zoo, which lasted until the start of the pandemic in 2020.
Starting on May 14, people will be able to order Hey Y’all’s food on DoorDash. If they want to pick their orders up themselves and avoid fees, they can choose the pick up option on the app.
This story was originally published April 28, 2025 at 2:45 PM.
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