11 Activities and Restaurants to check out in Wichita, Kansas

We recently visited Wichita, Kansas and we had a great time! It is a good spot to spend a weekend or go to for a couple days. Here are the activities we did and the restaurants we went to while there. 

Restaurants

Delano BBQ company

Delano’s was initially not on our list to visit. I am so glad that we did though! We had planned on going to another restaurant but it was unfortunately closed at the time we were going to go. Delano’s BBQ restaurant is located not far from the Keeper of the plains statue and makes for a great spot to eat at before or after you visit this area. 

While there is no parking directly in front of the store, there is a conveniently placed public parking lot across the street. We had no problem finding a spot in the parking lot on the evening we went. The area where the restaurant was located appeared to be nice and would have been fun to explore if we had more time. 

The staff was very friendly and helpful when we went up to order and helped with recommendations. They also pointed out the tea that was around the corner and harder to see. They had some unique and delicious tea flavors to try! I tried the watermelon and the tropical. They were both great. I ordered the Sweet heat pulled pork and the chicken for my two plate dinner. I also got the homemade BBQ seasoned potato chips and fries. Everything we ordered was very good and we were glad that we ended up at this restaurant! We highly recommend giving this restaurant a try. Here is a link to their menu!

Homegrown

Before we visited Homegrown we had heard rave reviews about this restaurant, knowing this information, we decided to put our name on the waiting list before we arrived. This was such a time saver as we went to this restaurant on the weekend and it was PACKED! I was so grateful that we had thought to do that and it made it so simple! You can join the waiting list here. If you do not get on the waiting list ahead of time and have to wait, Naftzger park is right outside of the restaurant and is a small but beautiful place to hang out while you wait. 

One of the things that makes this restaurant unique is their dedication to using locally sourced products for each of their restaurants. That means that they will use different products depending on what city and state you are in! I love when I am able to support local communities and this was such a fun way to do that. 

The food here was incredible! My favorite item had to be the homemade poptarts! They have a Brown Sugar Cinnamon flavor that is always on the menu and a seasonal flavor that changes. We chose to try to Brown Sugar Cinnamon and loved it! My sister ordered the avocado toast and she said it is one of her favorites that she has ever had. We also ordered biscuits and gravy, French toast, and a gluten free pancake plate. All of it was delicious! I would definitely go back if I am in the area or I would love to try a different location and see the differences in the menu. 

Nuway Burger

I was interested to check out Nuway Burger as it has been around since 1930! I love getting to explore places that have been around for so long. There were several things that were different about this restaurant that made it unique. First off, when you go to sit down, someone comes and takes your order and they deliver the order to you, beyond that you do not have much communication with the server. You then take your ticket to the front of the building and pay at the register. It felt similar to a fast casual restaurant except they initially come to you.

We visited the original location and when you enter the first “room” it has barstools and a counter to eat at. If you prefer or have a larger party, the second “room” has booths that you can sit in. The restaurant itself is fairly small. 

The second thing that is unique about this restaurant is the way they make their burgers. They are a loose meat burger which looked similar to sloppy joes minus the sauce. When we tasted them they tasted like a normal burger but the meat was crumbly. I split the burger with someone and I will say this was a bit hard because it was so crumbly! The last thing and my favorite was the homemade Root Beer. It was truly delicious and it would have me coming back! See more of their menu here.

Jacalito

This restaurant is a bit outside Wichita in Strong City. While I would not drive out of my way to come here, if you are visiting Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, this is a great option! This restaurant is less than 10 minutes from the visitors center and is perfect for lunch or dinner after visiting the preserve. We visited for lunch and we were able to order off the lunch menu. The staff were friendly and kind and we enjoyed our visit. I ordered the lunch fajitas and they were very good! Here is where you can find more information on this restaurant.

Pumphouse

Coming back to Wichita, there is a great restaurant called Pumphouse. This restaurant does not have much parking right next to it, but there is a large parking area a block or so away. When we entered the restaurant it felt a bit confusing as there was not a host to sit us down. It almost felt like we entered on the wrong side of the building. We found a waitress and asked what to do and she said we could sit wherever we wanted and a waiter would be with us soon. 

We were not planning on getting an appetizer, but when we saw the Raspberry Chipotle Black Bean dip we couldn’t pass up trying it. It sounded so unique. While the raspberry flavor was not super strong, it was still good and fun to try a new food combination. We ordered a pizza, pasta, and chicken strips. It was all tasty but our favorite was the pizza! We loved getting to try these foods. Look at their menus here.

Old Mill Tasty Shop

This restaurant was on our list but unfortunately they are not open everyday and they are only open for lunch. We thought we had looked at the hours correctly but we unfortunately messed up our schedule and missed getting to go here. This one will stay on our list for next time! When we were at homegrown we realized it was diagonal from the restaurant and right across from Naftzger park. Hopefully we will get to try it in the future. Check out their Facebook page here.

Keeper of the Plains

The Keeper of the plains Sculpture is one of the most talked about activities I found when researching Wichita. Honestly, I was not that excited about it. It did not seem super exciting before we went. We decided to go in the evening a little bit before the ring of fire was scheduled to begin. When we arrived we walked across the two bridges, walked down to the base of the statue and then found a spot further out to view the ring of fire. 

When we walked across the bridge and as we saw the sculpture up close, it was truly impressive. I was not expecting to enjoy seeing it as much I did. There were several things about this area that I did not realize before we visited. First off, each part of the bridge is actually the Big and Little Arkansas rivers flowing separately that then come together on the other side of the Keeper of the Plains sculpture. Another thing we began to notice as we were walking the bridges is that they appeared to look like arrows. We researched it and it is supposed to be bow and arrow inspired. What a fun way to incorporate the design into the bridge. 

The ring of fire was a bit anticlimactic. While it was cool to see the fire lit around the base of the statue, once it was done we did not feel like we needed to stick around. We had arrived early enough to explore the grounds before the fires were lit and I think that was best. You get to see the sculpture as the sun is setting and it is especially beautiful with that background. I think it would also be nice to see during any of the daylight hours as well. See the current time for ring of fire here.

Find all the miniature keeper of the plain statues (Keepers on Parade)

I am unsure how many there are in total but as we drove and explored around Wichita we began seeing quite a few of these 10 feet tall mini replicas of the Keeper of the Plain sculpture. They are all decorated differently by local artists and it was fun to see them around the town. We saw them in multiple places while driving but we also saw some at Naftzger Park outside Homegrown, cowtown, and outside of dinner one night. It was so fun to be on the lookout for them! Check out this link to see where you can find them all. 

Cowtown Museum

Cowtown museum is a replica town from the 1800’s. They have done a wonderful job of incorporating all kinds of buildings that would have been used and allowing you to learn about what it would have been like to live in a prairie town during that time. Seeing the doctor and dentist office was one of the coolest things to me and to learn about how they treated their patients during that time. The dentist mainly just pulled teeth! We visited in July and it was HOT! Thankfully almost all of the buildings have air conditioning. It felt good to be able to get inside out of the heat and learn about the different stores and residences. Check out my sister site to learn more about this museum here: 

Is the Old Cowtown Museum a good place to visit?

Botanica

I truly loved Botanica and all it had to offer! It is beautiful here and a great place for families, couples, or even if you wanted to visit by yourself. Check out my article here for more information on this botanical garden.

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is part of the National Parks System and this was one of my favorite activities that we did. It is around 1.5 hours to make it Tallgrass preserve from Wichita but I think it is worth it! Read all about our experiences here and see why you should add this preserve onto your places to visit. 

Wichita surprised me with the food and activities that we did and how much I enjoyed them. The food was delicious and the activities were varied. I would recommend if possible to not visit during July or August. It was bearable but definitely hot during our visit. Most of the activities that we enjoyed were outside and it would be a bit more pleasant during cooler weather. Kansas had previously not been a place I was planning on visiting but after this visit, I look forward to going to other Kansas cities!

Love the outdoors? Check out why you should go to the Albuquerque, NM Balloon Fiesta here.

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