What happened to District Taqueria downtown?

Wichita’s first “urban taco bar,” as its owners called it, is gone.

The almost 8-year-old District Taqueria just west of Douglas and Washington has closed except for catering.

“It just became a little too much for now,” owner Marc Humsi said. It was “just a bunch of little things adding up.”

He opened the business with Michael Farha, who left last year.

“I had a great opportunity there and I’m grateful that it was a fan favorite for several years,” Farha said via text. “It had been just my time to go.”

Humsi said he’s working to secure a small kitchen and for now is renting spaces out of churches for catering.

One issue has been the rising cost of food.

“You can only raise prices on people so much.”

Also, he said the city wanted him to install an in-ground grease trap.

The restaurant hadn’t ever had one, he said, “But now all of a sudden it was an issue.”

Instead of the average $20,000 cost of a grease trap, Humsi said his would have been more like $40,000 because the building he was in is older and would have needed an extra line.

District Taqueria had been doing well before the pandemic, Humsi said. He thinks a lot of people still are working remotely and aren’t around as much for meals.

“You can definitely feel a difference in the amount of people downtown,” he said. “It’s been a long couple of years in the restaurant business.”

Humsi said reopening elsewhere may be an option one day.

“It would be something I would think about if the cost was right.”

This story was originally published November 23, 2022 at 10:56 AM.