Dinner, drinks and the warm sounds of vinyl: A national trend arrives in Wichita
A national restaurant trend that pairs the warm sounds of vinyl with the warm feelings created by good food and drink is now taking hold in Wichita.
At least two local businesses — First Mile Kitchen at 2141 N. Bradley Fair and Good Company Taps & Spirits at 930 W. Douglas — have started putting on regular “vinyl nights.” First Mile, owned by Nick Korbee and wife Amanda Luginbill, started offering once-a-month vinyl nights two years ago. Good Company, the cocktail bar that operates in the evenings at Pennant Coffee, started doing once-a-week vinyl nights when it moved to Delano a year ago.
Many large cities have recently begun filling up with “listening lounges,” designed exclusively to attract those who want to spend their evenings surrounded by throwback tunes and libations. Though Wichita doesn’t have such a bar yet, the business owners behind Wichita’s vinyl nights say they were inspired by vinyl bars like Mr. Melo in New York City and Gold Line in Los Angeles.
Korbee said he has been to several such lounges over the years and that he thought monthly vinyl nights would help establish the vibe he wanted for his restaurant, which opened in Bradley Fair in January 2022.
“...This idea of music influencing food and wine and beverages is the core of what we’re doing creatively,” Korbee said. “So it kind of grew from there.”
First Mile’s vinyl nights have from the start been a collaboration between the restaurant and Spektrum Muzic, the 13-year-old shop at 112 S. Handley owned by Adam and Kirsten Phillips. First Mile’s owners and the Phillips get together each month to decide which record to feature, then Korbee and his staff start searching for culinary inspiration.
At the May Monthly Moods event, the featured record was the Grateful Dead’s “Europe ’72,” a live album that the California-based band primarily recorded in May 1972. For that dinner, Korbee chose to feature food inspired by Chez Panisse, a famous Berkeley restaurant founded around the same time by chef Alice Waters. That restaurant is considered to be the epicenter of the farm-to-table movement, and First Mile’s kitchen paid homage with a menu that featured a cheese souffle, smoked and roasted quail, and a tart topped with fire-roasted berries.
That dinner drew a larger-than-normal vinyl night crowd — about 90 people, who filled every available seat in the restaurant. The crowd was so big that the sounds of conversation all but drowned out the sound of the record, which was spun behind the bar by Kirsten Phillips.
When First Mile opened, she said, Korbee — who wanted background music at the restaurant to be provided by a record player — bought lots of records from Spektrum to help build the restaurant’s vinyl collection. After that, the two businesses kept collaborating.
“He’s also a music nerd, which helps a lot because he goes so far with the menu and pairing it with the menu,” she said. “They’ve been super cool the whole time. We love working with them.”
Vinyl night pairings at First Mile are often inspired by the season. In February, for example, the Valentine’s Day-themed Monthly Moods dinner featured Sade’s “Diamond Life” album and an “aphrodisiac dinner”; In March, the month of St. Patrick’s Day, the dinner featured the music of Irish-born Van Morrison paired with a feast of corned beef and cabbage, soda bread and shepherd’s pie.
Across town, Good Company Taps & Spirits is embracing two popular national restaurant trends. The first: The shop is among a couple of Wichita businesses that transform from coffee shop in the daytime to cocktail lounge in the evening. Similar “hybrid cafes” have been popping up around the country over the last several years.
Good Company’s owners Caleb Porter, Andrew Schwartz and Nick Unruh also offer once-a-week vinyl nights, though theirs are set up differently than First Mile’s. They happen every Thursday night from 7 to 10 p.m., Porter said, and the owners choose a different person to serve as host each week. Usually, the hosts are staff members, regular customers or people who have large vinyl collections. The hosts bring their own records and serve as DJ for the night.
“It brings a lot of different types of people out to listen to the style of music they like, and it’s a way to make connections,” Porter said. “We try to give people more of an experience when they come in, and this is something that’s pretty easy to execute. It’s been really good for us. We’ve seen it grow quite a bit every week, and every week it’s something different, so the vibe is completely different.”
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Though Good Company doesn’t change up the menu to fit the musical theme each week, it does offer its usual list of craft cocktails and pizzas. It has two turntables that are hooked up to the sound system, and the host is part of the show: He or she stands at the turntables throughout the night and cues up songs.
The guest hosts frequently choose themes — like ’80s music, hip hop or jazz. Good Company each week posts a video on its social media channels in the days leading up to each event that advertises the playlist.
Good Company’s owners also were inspired by other vinyl bars they’ve seen or visited. Porter visited one in Mexico City called Tokyo Music Bar and said he loved the experience.
“It was cool to see, and we want to try to bring those types of experiences to Wichita,” he said. “We’re trying something different here. We think Wichita deserves places like this.”
No reservations are required to attend Good Company’s weekly vinyl nights.
To make reservations for First Mile’s “Monthly Mood” dinners, email events@firstmilekitchen.com or call 316-358-0130. Those who want first dibs on vinyl night reservations can sign up for the restaurant’s newsletter at its website, firstmilekitchen.com
The dinners at First Mile usually are $75 a person, and the optional wine pairing is an additional $45.
This story was originally published June 16, 2025 at 11:14 AM.
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