Owner of west Wichita restaurant turns beachy sports bar into sleek French Quarter eatery
The transformation from surfboard-themed sports bar to sleek New Orleans hideaway is complete, and now, all Chris Tincher needs before he opens his new restaurant — Todd’s Creole Kitchen — are some employees.
Tincher, who took over the former Hurricane Sports Grill space at the Tyler Pointe development, 13th and Tyler, said that he should be ready to open the doors to his new restaurant late this month. Todd’s Creole Kitchen is the next evolution of Tincher’s previous Cajun restaurant — Todd Brian’s Brick Street Café & Tavern — which he operated in Old Town Square from 2012 until he closed it in late October.
The new restaurant’s menu will include many of the Cajun favorites customers of the Old Town Square spot loved — like meatloaf, fried catfish, crab cakes, crawfish etouffee, and creamy shrimp pasta.
But Tincher and his executive chef, Cameron Wright, are also adding lots of seafood and Southern specialties. When customers walk in the front door, they’ll be greeted by a giant refrigerated display case where they’ll see Blue Point oysters, Gulf Coast oysters, crawfish, Argentinian red cold water peel-and-eat shrimp, and salmon, which will be used in different dish preparations. Customers also will be able to order crawfish by the pound, and sea bass is also available as an entree.
The menu also will include four types of steak, shrimp and grits, Po’ Boys and lots of burgers and sandwiches. The chef is particularly excited about one of the desserts on the new menu: a Bananas Foster bread pudding flambe that will be set alight at the table.
Tincher, along with his son and the restaurant’s general manager, Hadden Tincher, have spent the past six months overseeing the transformation of the L-shaped restaurant at 8614 W. 13th St. During its previous life as Hurricane Sports Grill, it was filled with bright primary colors, surfboard-shaped tables, and tables underneath thatched roofs. Now, it’s a sleek restaurant done in grays and metallic tones.
The new dining room also has gray carpeting, raised booths with plush backs, a copper bar, Art Deco wallpaper, and lots of black-and-white images from the French Quarter hanging on the walls.
In the back of the restaurant are big enclosed booths that can seat parties of eight and will have drapes people will be able to pull closed to make their experiences more private. Each of those booths has a glowing, flickering, New Orleans-style lamp attached to the wall.
The dining room has an upscale feel, but Tincher hopes people don’t think the place is too upscale.
“What we’re trying to target is upscale casual dining,” he said. “My whole fear when we put this together was I didn’t want it to be unapproachable. . . . I think that people like to dine in an upscale-feeling environment. But we’ve got to make sure that people feel good coming here on a Tuesday.”
To make sure people understand that the restaurant is a place they can frequent for more than just special occasions, the owners will offer daily specials: The restaurant will have half-price “funtinis” on Mondays; half-price daiquiris and $12-a-pound boiled crawfish on Tuesdays; half-price bottles of wine and $1 off oysters on Wednesdays; all-you-can-eat fried catfish on Thursdays; hickory-smoked prime rib on Friday and Saturday evenings; and a big brunch buffet from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays that will include a cold-smoked salmon bar.
Tincher, who also owns Bite Me BBQ at 132 St. Francis, said that he always planned to grow out of Todd Brian’s Brick Street Cafe & Tavern. He started in his tiny Old Town Square space, he said, so that he could find out how Wichita would respond to his menu of Cajun specialties. Over the years, he said, he learned many things about what he should and shouldn’t do as he worked toward the larger restaurant. Todd’s Creole Kitchen will seat about 140 inside and another 38 on the covered patio out front.
The first restaurant seated 55 people total.
“There’s a lot of anticipation right now, but most of it at this point is excitement,” Tincher said. “I’m ready to open the door.”
Once Todd’s Creole Kitchen opens, its hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays.
Tincher encourages anyone looking for a job to stop by the restaurant from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. People also can find a job application at indeed.com.
He said he’s in need of bartenders, servers, server assistants, cooks, dishwashers and managers.
This story was originally published May 1, 2025 at 2:44 PM.
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