Chicken fried steak with gravy and fries at Riverside Cafe.
One of my favorite neighborhood cafes in Wichita is Riverside Cafe, a charming and eclectic little diner tucked in the Riverside neighborhood at 739 W. 13th St.
Owned by Paul Cohlmia, the restaurant serves fabulous chicken fried steaks, burgers and fresh-cut fries with the skin still on.
It’s also a great place to go for breakfast, especially on the weekends, when neighborhood residents leisurely sip coffee while grazing on Riverside Cafe’s breakfast specialties, including my favorite, a breakfast burrito stuffed with melted cheese, slices of link sausage, eggs and salsa.
Riverside Cafe's funky decor includes lots of historical pictures of Wichita and a chalk menu board.
The service is great, and I love Riverside Cafe because they’ll give me a tiny pitcher of half-n-half for my coffee rather than those bothersome disposable containers. (I need about three six of those to get my coffee the right color, so opening up all those packages is just too much work.)
Cohlmia also recently opened Riverside Too in the former Livingston’s space at 924 S. Woodlawn. It has the same menu as the original.
Both Riverside Cafes are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays.