I never thought I’d be saying these words, but Wichita officially has its very own Cheesecake Factory. I’ve been writing about restaurants in this town for 26 years, and rarely has a month gone by without a reader lamenting that Wichita didn’t have a Cheesecake Factory and demanding to know when it might get one. For years, the answer from the corporate office was that Wichita was not a large enough market. Then, about eight years ago, the chain began building smaller restaurants that would work in smaller markets. Wichita became one of those markets on Tuesday, when The Cheesecake Factory opened its doors at Bradley Fair, 21st and Rock. Since then, wait times have been long, but here’s a hot tip: The seats at the bar and at the high-top tables set up just in front of the bar are first-come, first-served. Cheesecake Factory has a huge menu that includes more than 250 items. It also always has around 30 types of cheesecake. It’s open daily for lunch and dinner and has brunch on Saturday and Sundays until 2 p.m.
Another restaurant chain that Wichita has long been clamoring for is Dave’s Hot Chicken. Wichita’s first Dave’s location was supposed to open today, but the franchisees faced delays, so that won’t happen. And it’s probably a good thing because I’m not sure Wichita could take getting two huge restaurant wishes granted over a short, four-day period. The new opening date for Dave’s is Oct. 9. The restaurant has taken over the spot formerly occupied by Blaze Pizza at the Greenwich Place shopping center at K-96 and Greenwich.
There was also less happy news this week. Barrel Boys BBQ at 13th and McLean had been getting good word of mouth reviews since it opened two years ago. But over the weekend, the owner announced that he was closing the doors. He cited food and labor costs and the toll that running a restaurant was taking on his life. He’d been trying to run the place while also working a full-time job.
