A couple of well-known Wichita restaurant owners are about to make some big changes. One of them is Natasha Ghandi-Rue, owner of The Kitchen. Last week, she closed her original restaurant at 725 E. Douglas and plans to reopen it soon as Express Kitchen. It will be designed for people who want to get in and get out quickly, something Gandhi-Rue says will work better, especially with the impending arrival of paid downtown parking. Express Kitchen customers will order their food from a more streamlined menu and will do so at the counter rather than at the table. Fans of The Kitchen’s original approach and menu can still find it at the second location at K-96 and Oliver, where nothing is changing.
Another change on the dining scene is happening at Ruben’s Mexican Grill. Owner Ruben Acosta is selling his restaurant after 28 years so that he can finally retire and continue to mentally recover from being shot during an attempted robbery in his restaurant eight years ago. He found a new owner in Tony Madrigal, who once had a restaurant called La Familia. Madrigal says he’s keeping the same staff, the same name and the same recipes. Acosta’s last day in the restaurant will be April 25.
In new restaurant news: Tuesday was opening day for Smalls Sliders, a new-to-Wichita burger chain that’s now operating out of a bright orange shipping container at the Plazzio Development. 13th and Greenwich. It serves slider-sized cheeseburgers, waffle fries and milkshakes. There’s no room for dine-in , so people order their food at walk-up and drive-through windows. A second Smalls Sliders is set to open at 37th and Maize later this year.
