Like Mexican food? These three near-Wichita restaurants may be worth the drive
If you don’t mind a little drive with your dinner, you might be interested to learn about three Mexican restaurants opening in two near-Wichita towns.
One is a modern tacos and tequila “gastrobar” that recently arrived in Newton and has been drawing crowds. One is a Derby location of a growing area chain. And the other is a soon-to-open sit-down restaurant in Goddard.
Here are the details:
Dos Amigos
19940 W. Kellogg, Goddard
Latashia and Jesus Gutierrez opened their first Dos Amigos restaurant eight years ago in Sterling, a small town about an hour northwest of Wichita.
Now, they’re ready to add another location and have chosen Goddard. They’re taking over a space on West Kellogg that was formerly occupied by a liquor store.
The transformation of the building, though, has taken longer than the couple expected, Latashia Gutierrez said. Originally, they’d hoped to be open by February or March, but they learned they’d need to hire an architect to transform the space into a restaurant, so the process was slowed significantly. Now, she said, they’re aiming for an early August opening.
One of the reasons the couple chose Goddard, besides the fact that Latashia grew up nearby in Kingman, is that the city lacks sit-down restaurants, she said.
“It’s a very, very fast-growing town, and it’s just unbelievable that there’s no sit-down restaurants,” she said. “It’s all fast food.”
Once open, Dos Amigos will serve lunch and dinner and will have a full bar offering margaritas, sangria and mixed drinks. The food menu will include many of the items the couple serves in Sterling, such as fajitas, tacos, enchiladas, tamales, chimichangas and chile rellenos. But the Goddard restaurant will also have things that Sterling customers don’t tend to want, like ceviche and shrimp cocktail.
The restaurant’s most popular dish, Latashia said, is called pollo cheese dip and consists of strips of grilled chicken, rice and beans all drizzled with queso.
The people of Goddard have been excited about the restaurant’s impending arrival, Latashia said.
“I have received lots and lots and lots of inboxes and private messages from people asking, ‘Are you getting close?’”
To start, the restaurant’s hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Candiles Tacos & Tequila
619 N. Rock Road, Derby
Derby’s newest Mexican restaurant, Candiles Tacos & Tequila, has just opened in the spot formerly occupied by Keto On With Kerri and is part of a regional chain that also has restaurants in Augusta and Salina. A Candiles restaurant also operated in Mulvane but closed in November after three years in business, saying on social media that it was relocating to Derby.
Candiles serves Tex-Mex dishes like chili rellenos, flautas, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas and burritos as well as seafood and steak combos. Customers seem to particularly love the restaurant’s Jalisco special, which includes grilled sliced chicken, steak and shrimp cooked with onions, bell peppers and tomatoes served over rice and topped with cheese sauce.
The restaurant also has a bar offering beer and margaritas. It has a drive-through but also room for dine-in customers.
Its hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and 11 a.m. to 8 p,m. Sundays.
La Cava Tacos & Tequila
1109 E. First St., Newton
The owners of La Hacienda, who have restaurants at 5905 W. Kellogg in Wichita and at 1138 N. Nelson Drive in Derby, recently teamed up with two former employees — Miriam and Marvin Molina — to open a modern Mexican restaurant in the former Mike’s Steakhouse space in Newton.
La Cava’s first day was in late April, and since then, the restaurant has been drawing in locals who want to try its food and soak in its atmosphere. The owners drastically remodeled the space, adding a giant yellow sign and lots of stone work to the exterior. Inside, they installed new flooring, added a selfie wall with neon angel wings, tiled the bar and put up dramatic light fixtures dripping with faux flowers and greenery.
The extensive menu is filled with things like nachos, burritos, enchiladas, chimichangas, tacos, steak and seafood dishes, and house specials like tamales, chilaquiles and flautas. So far, Miriam said, the best sellers have been the fajitas and the quesabirrias. The restaurant also offers a lunch menu, a kids menu and a selection of vegetarian dishes.
La Cava has a full bar but specializes in different kinds of tequilas and mezcals and offers a number of different fruity cocktails.
“We wanted it to be different from everybody else,” Miriam said. “Newton is very small, and a lot of people from Newton said they wanted something different.”
The hours at La Cava are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
This story was originally published July 1, 2025 at 1:55 PM.
.jpg)