Restaurants are of the belief that dads like beef.
I always feel bad for dads. Restaurants don’t feel the need to roll out the buffet carpet for him as much as they do for mom or for Easter and Thanksgiving.
Sorry, dad.
Still, there are plenty of places willing to give dad a deal and a meal this Father’s Day, which is Sunday. Check out my story, which will appear in tomorrow’s Go! section.
Wichita’s newest barbecue restaurant is Amazing Ribs BBQ, a family-owned place that opened last week at 3930 W. Douglas in the space once occupied by Lola’s Sports Bar and Grill. It’s open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
Owner Brian Moses is a former auto repair shop owner who was always encouraged by his friends to open a restaurant to sell his ribs, which he says are so fall-off-the-bone tender that his motto is “Leave your teeth at home.”
He and his wife, Debra, who’ve been married 34 years, put all their savings in to the restaurant plus helped finance it by selling their camper, two classic cars and all Brian’s auto repair equipment. He wanted to open a barbecue restaurant, he said, not a “shack.” Moses giddily told me how a championship barbecue master visited his restaurant last week and told him his ribs were among the best he’d ever tasted.
The huge menu includes ribs, brisket and all the barbecue regulars, plus sides such as breaded green beans, cucumber and tomato salad, breaded mushrooms, macaroni and cheese and more. Moses is particularly proud of his flatbread sandwich, which is grilled on buttery sourdough and filled with smoked turkey, smoked chicken, smoked ham plus pepperjack and American cheeses.
For more information, call 316-440-4130.
I just got word from Intrust Bank Arena about a rib-tastic sounding new event they have planned for August.
The River City Ribfest will be staged Aug. 25-27 outside of the arena on Cessna Plaza and in the south parking lots.
It’ll have barbecue, music and rib aficionados competing for cookoff titles such as “Best in Show” and “People’s Choice.” Six national rib vendors will be there, and both local and regional bands will perform. It also will have a beer garden, a kid’s play area and a VIP section.
The Ribfest will be sponsored by House of Schwan and Wichita Downtown Development Corporation. Tickets are $4, free for children 12 and under. You can read more information about the event here.
I love ribs, and I love festivals centered around food. I don’t love August, however, but maybe it’ll be one of those unseasonably cool, almost-September weekends. Plus, it’ll be a nice appetizer to the Wagonmasters Downtown Chili Cookoff, which takes place on the other side of the arena a month later.
I loved the ribs at When Pigs Fly, the restaurant I reviewed this week.
But I also know enough to know that everyone who loves ribs has a pretty firm opinion about which ones are best.
Who, in your opinion, serves Wichita’s best ribs? I’m talking restaurants, here, people, even though I’m sure your Uncle Jim knows his way around his backyard smoker.
Answer in the comments section below.
As of Monday, the west-side Two Brothers BBQ restaurant will have a new home, a new name and a new approach.
Owners of the local restaurant chain are moving the 8406 W. Central store (which it closed a week ago) into the former Applebee’s spot a few blocks east at 6730 W. Central.
The restaurant now will be called Two Brothers BBQ and Burger Grill. It’ll have a full-service menu that includes seafood, steaks and burgers along with the usual barbecue offerings, and it will have a full bar as well. The restaurant will have a few car-hop spots where drive-up diners can order burgers and other fare, Sonic-style. The location’s barbecue buffet will be available still, but only at lunch.
The new Two Brothers will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily starting Monday, and the new phone number is 316-440-4077.
I’ve been hearing rumors for a week that film crews were in Pig In Pig Out at 1003 E. 13th last week filming some sort of reality show. Initially, I thought it was “Man Vs. Food.”
But now, sources are saying that Pig In Pig Out will be featured on a show debuting this summer on The Discovery Channel called “Road Eats.” Though there’s not a lot of info out there about the new show, it is said to follow a truck driver around the country as he stops at his favorite restaurants. The Internet is full of reports of the show stopping recently in places such as St. Louis and Tucson.
Managers at Pig In Pig Out said they weren’t allowed to discuss the topic. I’ll let you know when an air date is set.
I received an enthusiastic e-mail recently about a new-ish barbecue place at 4628 S. Seneca called “Fire It Up.”
It’s owned by Shawn Naegele, Brian Patterson, Brandon Greenlee and Patrick Davis, who were appealingly described to me as “four friends dedicated to lip-smacking bbq.”
What a coincidence! I also am dedicated to lip-smacking bbq, and I’m especially dedicated to eating it.
Fire It Up is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and specializes in ribs, brisket, pulled pork, turkey, hot links, etc. It also offers meats by the pound, ribs only, and sides such as sweet potato fries and fried okra. The rubs and sauces were created by the owners.
For more information on Fire It Up, call 316-425-7020, or visit the website, where you also can view the menu.
Michael Rodriguez and some Red Barn ribs.
On Friday night, a few friends and I decided we were in the mood for a dining adventure.
We decided to eat in a barn. The Red Barn, to be specific.
The Red Barn is a restaurant on the east side of Lake Afton (technical address: 24401 W. MacArthur Road, Goddard.) It was taken over by the Rodriquez family a year ago. Gerard Rodriquez, who had culinary training at Johnson County Community College, and his father, Michael open the place to the public a few days a week, selling barbecue, tamales, tacos and breakfast on weekend mornings.
Winter hours are pretty abbreviated, and when we arrived at 7 :15 on Friday, the place had just closed. But Gerard and Michael invited us in to enjoy the tamales and barbecue they still had left over while the family cleaned up the restaurant. It was all so good, we happily forked over $15 for a dozen tamales to-go.
Mmmmm. Tamales.
The inside of the barn was quaint, featuring a fireplace and a log cabin feel, with wood everywhere. It’s available for rental for weddings and other private parties.
I’m really looking forward to visiting this summer. In May, the family is planning an outdoor music festival. (Apparently there’s a zip line outside, too.)
For now, hours are 3 to 7 p.m. on Fridays, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call 316-794-3320.
A couple of people have asked me about the Two Brothers BBQ and Burger Grill that’s under construction at the corner of Douglas and Hillside where Autoplex used to be.
I talked to the owners today, and the new restaurant is scheduled to open on Thursday. It’s set up sort of like a Sonic Drive-In, where customers drive up to a stall, place an order, and have their food brought out by carhops. There’s also seating for 55 inside.
The restaurant, which will serve Two Brothers barbecue plus burgers, hot dogs, fries and onion rings, will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.