Take a peek inside Goldfinch, a new coffee/cocktail bar in downtown Wichita
He’s owned the building and has been working on plans for what he’d do with it since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, developer Brian Cunningham — along with his wife, sister and brother-in-law — has finally opened the cocktail bar that many of their friends and followers have long been anticipating.
Goldfinch Coffee and Cocktails quietly opened on Wednesday in an old service station building at 1640 E. Waterman: That’s on the northwest corner of Waterman and Hydraulic, in the Hyde Park neighborhood. The new business is not far from Central Standard Brewing and White Crow Cider.
Goldfinch serves coffee, craft cocktails, classic cocktails, beer, wine and mixed drinks. It also has several breakfast items and is developing a menu of heavy appetizers for the evening hours. It even has a coffee drive-through that’s open from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. daily.
Cunningham — who co-owns the bar with his wife, Amy; his sister, Molly Shawver, and her husband, John Shawver — said the owners wanted the place to feel like a hotel bar, which has a different vibe in the morning, the afternoon, the early evening and late at night. The owners, he said, were inspired by hotel bars in New York and New Orleans that they’d visited.
They’ve completely transformed the building, built in 1925 and recognizable for its wishbone-shaped roofline and tall brick chimney. The owners have added on to the building, including an outdoor patio, and completely transformed the interior.
Those who step inside will be greeted by plush furnishings, French-made bistro tables, and muted blue walls featuring tree murals painted by a local artist and set designer Jordan Slusher. The walls reflect different shades of color at different times of the day.
Goldfinch has several different rooms, some of which can be reserved for private parties. It also has a wooden bar and is decorated with unique pieces the owners have collected over the years, including retro signs for the restrooms that came from a hotel and four crystal chandeliers salvaged from a friend’s mother’s house. Outside are a pair of flickering gas streetlamps from New Orleans. The main seating area also has garage-style doors that can open up to the patio in nice weather.
Customers can get coffee and cocktails at Goldfinch seven days a week, though evening cocktails will be served only Wednesdays through Sundays: The owners are reserving Monday and Tuesday nights for events they hope to offer in the future, like wine tastings.
Goldfinch’s coffee menu offers espresso, drip coffee, cortado, American, cappuccino and lattes, and people can get various syrups or milks in their drinks. Signature coffee drinks include a caramel latte, a hazelnut coconut mocha, and a white chocolate and Irish Cream cappuccino.
The cocktail menu is filled with classics like the old fashioned, Moscow mule, Pimm’s Cup, French 75 and Negroni. Among the bar’s signature cocktails are the Lark’s Song, made with pineapple, St-Germain, lemon, vodka and bubbles; and the Season of the Witch made with Strega, dry Curacao, lemon and rye. The list also includes an espresso martini. Several beers and French wines are also available.
The breakfast menu, which includes personal quiches, breakfast puff pastries, a sausage strata, a yogurt parfait and house-made granola, is available all day while the business works on its evening menu. Though Goldfinch also offers olives in the evening, the owners are in the process of testing some evening food items they hope to add soon, including a couple of sandwiches and some heavy appetizers.
The bar’s general manager will be recognizable to many longtime Wichitans: Justin Mork, who helped Tanya Tandoc run her Tanya’s Soup Kitchen when it first opened at 725 E. Douglas in the late 1990s.
Mork said that he and the owners have been quiet about the bar’s opening as they work through details. Still, they had a strong opening weekend, and the business was filled with friends and family and people celebrating Valentine’s Day.
“It’s a unique spot,” Mork said. “It’s hard to define. We’re trying to do two different things, so we want to make sure we do both right.”
Goldfinch is open to ages 21 and over after 5 p.m. Before 5 p.m., minors are allowed in but only when accompanied by a parent.
The hours are 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays; 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 7 a.m. to midnight Fridays; 8 a.m. to midnight Saturdays; and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.
Goldfinch menu
This story was originally published February 17, 2026 at 2:01 PM.
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