Coming soon to Wichita: a business serving drive-through daiquiris
If Spangles could do it, she reasoned, so could she.
And so Kara Korean decided that she’d expand her Dallas-based to-go daiquiri and food business to Wichita, where she lived for much of her childhood and where her sister, Atlantiz Pete, still lives.
Last week, I told you about three Wichita restaurants that had recently opened, and one of them was Different Type of Flava, which opened earlier this month in the old 750 Soul/ Miller’s Bar-B-Que building at 4601 E. 13th St.
Since then, I’ve learned more about the owners’ plans for the place, which for now is operating as a to-go restaurant serving Cajun- and Caribbean-inspired dishes.
But in the next 30 to 45 days, Korean plans to launch the next phase of the business and start selling colorful frozen daiquiris to-go from the drive-through. Once she does, the business will become known as Different Type of Flava: Daqs 2 Geaux.
Korean, who works as a paralegal in Dallas, started her first Daqs 2 Geaux business in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, Texas, in 2019, and she says it’s been successful ever since. The drive-through-only business specializes in swirled, frozen daiquiris and also serves food.
Korean wanted to expand into Wichita before the COVID-19 pandemic but learned that it wasn’t legal to serve alcoholic beverages from a drive-through in Kansas. She wanted to change that and said she spent time in Topeka working with Alcohol Beverage Control and a few state senators to try to change the law.
Then, COVID-19 did it for her. In April 2020, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly issued an executive order allowing drive-through and carryout cocktail service for the remainder of the pandemic. The law stuck even after the pandemic ended.
When word got back to Korean that Spangles in Wichita had started serving margaritas, screwdriver slushes and tequila sunrises from its drive through, Korean decided to re-explore the Wichita market. Her sister found the old Miller’s space on 13th Street, and they negotiated with building owner Melody Miller to take over just a small part of the massive space.
The daiquiris will come in more than 50 different flavor combinations, and the business will also serve alcohol-free daiquiris for kids.
Before the daiquiri service gets up and going, though, Korean and Pete are focusing on their food — and on a passion they share: giving job opportunities to young people.
Helping young people find jobs
Pete said the business is focused on offering jobs to youth as young as 14. So far, she said, 90% of her staff is under the age of 18, and more than half are ages 14 or 15. (Once the business starts serving alcohol, the owners will add some 21+ workers.)
Pete calls the business a “teaching restaurant.”
“These 14- and 15-year-olds, they want to work,” she said. “And we know if they get bored and don’t have anything to keep them productive, they can get a little restless.”
The younger staff members focus on taking orders, handling food preparation and working the cash register.
Korean, who went to culinary school, devised the menu for her restaurants. Some of her most popular dishes, she said, are a Cajun Cobb salad and things like nachos, quesadillas and tacos with a Cajun or Caribbean twist. There’s also a vegan/vegetarian menu, and Pete is known for making her own zesty Ranch dressing.
“When thinking of the menu, I wanted to still put my personality in it,” she said “I know a lot of small, family-owned Black-owned businesses like to focus on soul food or fried chicken and fried fish, but I never really cooked in that kind of way. I did my own thing when it comes to cooking.“
For now, the restaurant’s drive through is not quite open, so customers can walk in to order the food. The hours are 3 to 8 p.m. Fridays and 1 to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays After July 4, the owners will also begin opening from 5 to 10 p.m. on Thursdays. Monday hours will likely be added sometime in August.
The restaurant does not accept cash but does take cards and PayPal, Zelle and Cash App.
This story was originally published June 30, 2025 at 12:40 PM.
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