The Bierwas Family: A Night on the Town in Wichita

Dave and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this last Saturday, and to celebrate, we set out for a night on the town that included dinner and a movie.

We had decided on Chinese food, as we love the Shanghai Buffet on Harry Street, but as we were driving to the restaurant, Dave mentioned he was craving fried chicken, and that sounded great to me, so off in a different direction we went. We drove across town, hoping to locate a suitable restaurant close to the 13th street Warren where our movie tickets were reserved. As we were driving down Rock Road, we noticed Amarillo Grill in it's new location. Amarillo Grill's parent company filed chapter 11 bankruptcy back in May of 2003, and as a result, all of the Wichita area stores were closed. The founder of the chain repurchased several of the stores, and also reopened this one here in Wichita. We remembered hearing that the menu still contained many of the local favorites from the original restaurant, so we decided to give it a try. When we arrived, we were told there was a 20 - 25 minute wait, which we agreed to, although we weren't sure why as there were numerous empty tables in the rather small dining area. So, we went ahead and took a seat on a long couch, and waited about 15 minutes for our name to be called. The restaurant was very dimly lit, but on the swankier side, that is until you are seated. It is only then that you can then see the food prep area, as it is arranged similar to a diner, in which you can not only see the commotion behind the scenes, but you can hear it as well. It was extremely loud for the type of customer the owner was obviously trying to attract.

As soon as we were seated, we quickly scanned our menus, and noticed that a huge portion of the original menu was missing, and I need to add here that it was the majority of the good foods that were given a permanent vacation.

The quick scan of the once enticing menu revealed that among the remaining items were plenty of expensive steaks, a barbecued chicken, a mushroom smothered chicken, and a few other meals that weren't noteworthy enough to make it into my memory. That coupled with the fact that they had a separate wine list in a diner style atmosphere made us quickly realize this was not the restaurant for us. So, we advised the server that we would not be dining there, as we were hoping for a few more choices for dinner (there were only about 15, and 8 or so of them were steak, and not one of them was of the chicken fried variety!) and we left. I have never left a restaurant before ordering, but there was absolutely no way I was spending over $50.00 on a meal that wasn't what I wanted. Do you remember the little loaves of bread they used to serve with every meal? They don't anymore. It's a sad day when a family favorite restaurant turns into this. Although I do not wish for the demise of any business, I do not see how this restaurant can survive with this type of atmosphere, and limited menu choices.

So, we decided to just drive to the Warren and have dinner in their restaurant. It was loud, and the service was horrible, but the food was at least affordable, and tasted great. We were out of there for less than $20.00.