It’s that time to start a new tradition and one that shines a light on Wichita’s Best Restaurants. Whether it’s hole in the walls tucked away in the most obscure part of town, long-time classics or new additions to our dining scene, I wanted to put together something that gave diners, restaurants owners and anybody who is in the industry a reason to celebrate.
Welcome to The ICT 100. It’s a project I’ve been working on with a collection of other food bloggers around town. The goal was to celebrate the culinary work that is in Wichita.
Creating The ICT 100: Wichita’s Best Restaurant List
At first, I was going to make the list based off my own experiences, as I’ve eaten at every restaurant at the time the list was put together. At the same time, I wanted to involve the input of many fellow food bloggers who support our local dining scene; many of whom I have met once or never before. After some thought, I chose the latter because I felt the need to make sure the list was inclusive of multiple opinions, and who doesn’t love a good local collaboration?
I pulled together a panel that included Just Try It, Significantly Spicy, Fert the Foodie, ICT Broke Girls, No Need For Silverware, Live Local ICT, Jen with the Coffee, JustBeingJulz, and Bottomless Pit ICT. Big thanks to MarkArts for hosting our meeting!
- The panel was tasked with deciding 75% of the list. They were presented with a list of every restaurant in Wichita; chains and locally owned. Their job was to narrow that big list to 75 restaurants solely on food.
- The remaining 25% was decided on by me. My reasoning for this was because I knew that most of the panel hadn’t been to every restaurant on the list, so I thought it was a good compromise to make sure every restaurant had a fair shot of making the list.
- To be considered for The ICT 100, only Wichita restaurants with a brick & mortar location were taken into consideration. Food trucks and pop-ups were not included, along with any restaurant outside the Wichita city limits.
In no particular order…
MANNA WOK
4865 E Harry St, Wichita, KS 67218
N & J CAFE & BAKERY
5600 E Lincoln St, Wichita, KS 67218
MR. TACO
711 W 25th St N, Wichita, KS 67204
WHEN PIGS FLY BAR-B-QUE
7011 W Central Ave, Wichita, KS 67212
SAPPORO
8065 E Peachtree Ln, Wichita, KS 67207
WHISKEY DICK’S BAR & GRILL
801 S Seneca St., Wichita, KS 67213
ANGELO’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT
5900 East Central Avenue, Wichita, KS 67208
BILL’S CHARCOAL GRILL
2957 N Arkansas Ave, Wichita, KS 67204
JAPAN EXPRESS
2250 N Rock Rd Ct, Wichita, KS 67226
KNOLLA’S PIZZA
7343 W Central Ave, Wichita, KS 67212 (location pictured)
PHO KC
4875 E Pawnee, Wichita, KS 67218
GORDITA’S DURANGO
527 W 13th St N, Wichita, KS 67203
GRACE MARKET
1030 Oliver, Wichita, KS 67218
DOO-DAH DINER
206 E Kellogg St, Wichita, KS 67202
GEORGES FRENCH BISTRO
4618 E Central Ave, Wichita, KS 67208
POLLO EXPRESS
2501 W Pawnee St, Wichita, KS 67213
NEWPORT GRILL
1900 N Rock Rd, Wichita, KS 67206
JUAREZ BAKERY
2209 S Seneca St, Wichita, KS 67213 (location pictured)
THAI HOUSE
969 N West St, Wichita, KS 67203
FIRST MILE KITCHEN
2141 N Bradley Fair Pkwy, Wichita, KS 67206
PHO CUONG
6605 E 37th St N, Wichita, KS 67220
BOMBER BURGER
4860 S Clifton Ave, Wichita, KS 67216
B&C BARBEQUE
355 N Washington St, Wichita, KS 67202
MALAYSIA CAFE
7777 E 21st St N, Wichita, KS 67206
MEDITERRANEAN GRILL
335 S Towne East Mall Dr, Wichita, KS 67207
PIATTO NEAPOLITAN PIZZERIA
1706 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67214
MI NO BAKERY
2528 Oliver, Wichita, KS 67210
SPORT BURGER
134 N Hillside St, Wichita, KS 67214
STATION 8 BBQ
1100 E 3rd St N, Wichita, KS 67214
PUERTO VALLARTA MEXICAN RESTAURANT
602 N Tyler Rd, Wichita, KS 67212
DA CAJUN SHAK
6249 E 21st St N, Wichita, KS 67208
TACOS TJ 664
1014 N West St, Wichita, KS 67203
ZIGGY’S PIZZA
3700 E Douglas Ave STE 100, Wichita, KS 67208 (location pictured)
LA GALETTE FRENCH BAKERY
1017 W Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67213
KIMLAN SANDWICHES
1035 N Broadway, Wichita, KS 67214
SAKURA JAPANESE CUISINE
605 W Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67207
RESTAURANTE USULUTECO
2265 S Seneca St, Wichita, KS 67213
NAPOLI ITALIAN EATERY
7718 E 37th St N #500, Wichita, KS 67226
SABOR LATIN BAR & GRILLE
309 N Mead, Wichita, KS 67202
FREDDY’S FROZEN CUSTARD
3450 S Meridian Ave, Wichita, KS 67217 (location pictured)
CHUYITO’S BIRRIERIA
1415 W Pawnee St, Wichita, KS 67217
KRISPY’S FRIED CHICKEN & SEAFOOD
3009 S Hillside Ave, Wichita, KS 67216
TANYA’S SOUP KITCHEN
1725 E Douglas Ave #105, Wichita, KS 67211
LE MONDE CAFE & DELI
602 N West St, Wichita, KS 67203
PROST
2721 E Central Ave #101, Wichita, KS 67214
WICHITA BREWING CO.
535 N Woodlawn Blvd, Wichita, KS 67208 (location pictured)
COLLEGE HILL DELI
3407 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67218
RICE & ROLL BY XING XING
1920 E Pawnee St, Wichita, KS 67211
FROST
3429 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67218
ALBERO CAFE
4811 E Central Ave, Wichita, KS 67208
NORTON’S BREWING COMPANY
125 St Francis St, Wichita, KS 67202
M.I.F. DELI
5618 E Central Ave, Wichita, KS 67208
PHO CAO
9203 W Central Ave, Wichita, KS 67212
TIANLUO BISTRO
11309 E Kellogg Dr, Wichita, KS 67207
PUBLIC AT THE BRICKYARD
129 N Rock Island, Wichita, KS 67202
HOMEGROWN
2835 N Maize Rd, Wichita, KS 67205 (location pictured)
KOBE JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE
8760 W 21st St, Wichita, KS 67205
WICHITA SUBS & MORE
2251 E 21st St N, Wichita, KS 67214
VORA RESTAURANT EUROPEAN
3252 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67214
TAQUERIA EL FOGON
1555 S Bluffview Dr, Wichita, KS 67218 (location pictured)
THE MONARCH
579 W Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67213
GRANDMA THUY’S
8728 W Maple St, Wichita, KS 67209
OAK & PIE
2244 N Greenwich Rd #900, Wichita, KS 67226
TY’S DINER
928 West 2nd St N, Wichita, KS 67203
CHIANG MAI THAI
3141 S Hillside St, Wichita, KS 67216
JUMBO’S BEEF & BREW
3750 N Woodlawn Blvd #102, Wichita, KS 67220
BELLA VITA BISTRO
120 N West St #2, Wichita, KS 67203
R COFFEE HOUSE
1144 Bitting St, Wichita, KS 67203
SIENA TUSCAN STEAKHOUSE
104 S Broadway, Wichita, KS 67202
GABBY’S PERUVIAN RESTAURANT
1002 S Seneca St, Wichita, KS 67213
MI LINDO MICHOACAN RESTAURANT
2120 N Broadway, Wichita, KS 67214
BELLA LUNA CAFE
2132 N Rock Rd #107, Wichita, KS 67206 (location pictured)
THAI TRADITION
650 N Carriage Pkwy, Wichita, KS 67208
BUSTER’S BURGER JOINT
1202 E MacArthur Rd, Wichita, KS 67216
KELLY’S FAMILY DINER
2131 S Broadway, Wichita, KS 67211
CRAFTED
9730 E 21st St N, Wichita, KS 67206
NINZA SUSHI
306 N Rock Rd, Wichita, KS 67206
LOCAL FLAVOR GRILL & TAPWORKS
5400 E Central Ave, Wichita, KS 67208
NEW PARADISE BIRYANI POINTE
1648 S Rock Rd, Wichita, KS 67207
SAIGON ORIENTAL RESTAURANT
1103 North Broadway Avenue, Wichita, KS 67214
PM SESSIONS AT THE CANVAS (GAGA’S GRUB)
650 N Carriage Pkwy, Wichita, KS 67208
HIMALI EATS
3238 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67208
IL VICINO
4817 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67218 (location pictured)
TAQUERIA LA CHONA
3415 E Harry St, Wichita, KS 67218
THE BELMONT
3555 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67218
MILKFLOAT
535 W Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67213
VIETNOM NOM
8641 W 13th St N, Wichita, KS 67212
THE KITCHEN
725 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67202
PALETERIA LA REYNA
2925 N Arkansas, Wichita, KS 67204
LITTLE SAIGON
1015 N Broadway, Wichita, KS 67214
YOKOHAMA RAMEN JOINT
613 W Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67213
PIG IN PIG OUT
1003 E 13th St N, Wichita, KS 67214
BIRRIERIA TITO
2815 S Hydraulic Ave, Wichita, KS 67216
DOMA
7703 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67207
PHO ONG 8
3801 E Harry St, Wichita, KS 67218
Closing Notes:
- Narrowing down the list to 100 was harder than I imagined, especially with the way it was put together. There were some restaurants I, personally, enjoyed but didn’t have enough room to make the cut.
- The panel had some good back-and-forth discussions on which ones should be included. Of the 75 they included, there were a handful unanimous decisions, like Gabby’s Peruvian Carryout and Georges French Bistro.
- One restaurant who was going to be on the list but recently closed was Lola’s Bistro.
- For next year’s list, I’m weighing in whether to include a “Reader Vote” and give them some say in the matter and allot readers a certain percentage of restaurants they feel deserve to be on this list.
- I’m confident this list will cause some debates, that’s pretty much the point of any list…. to get people talking. I only take blame for a quarter of these places. (insert smiling emoji)
- Now that I have a baseline to work from, next year should be interesting with many more restaurants opening. This should only make it harder on which ones to include and which ones to remove.
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