Classic Restaurants of Wichita (American Palate)

I enjoyed reading about the restaurants that were in town.

If you grew up in Wichita,Kansas, then you know that no other city in the WORLD produces more aircraft than this metropolitan city in Southern Kansas in the middle of nowhere! The original home of Clyde Cessna and Walter H. Beech, it is also the place where Bill Lear started making Lear Jets (now Bombardier) and Boeing produced Heavy Bombers during WWII and during the Cold War Following (B-47 and B-52). What also developed in this great little town in the Great Plains, was rather eclectic restaurant business to serve factory workers and aircraft executives on their nights out! If you have ever eaten at a White Castle or a Pizza Hut, they were both started in Wichita, Kansas. Wichita even had a Macy's Department store with an upscale "Tea Room" restaurant on it's seventh floor, just like in Big City Macy's. Intros lovely little paperback book, Denise Neil, lifestyle and entertainment writer for the local newspaper, chronicles the histories and memories of Wichita's classic eateries from Cowtown to today! You will enjoy the nostalgia and photos that accompany this delightful read!

Bought this for my husband John Freeman. He loved the trip down memory lane, having lived in Wichita from late 1975 until 1991. We first met at the Looking Glass about 1977 and had our wedding rehearsal dinner there in 1982 under the stained glass rotunda. An early date was at Diamond Head, also profiled in the book. And then there's his photo from the Old Mill Tasty Shop, also featured on the cover. A photographer at the Wichita Eagle-Beacon, John also took photos of the owners' living quarters above the restaurant. Even if you weren't there for the early history section, the book does a great job with nostalgia!

I grew up in Wichita, Kansas. Eating in restaurants was a large part of my childhood. I had intended to read this book and then give it to my brother. Instead I bought him a book so I could keep this first one. He enjoyed reminiscing with his book as much as I did with mine.

I loved remembering Wichita restaurants from the past. Some I had forgotten, but not many. This book is a great read for anyone who has ever lived in Wichita.

This book offers a brief but interesting history of restaurants in 20th century Wichita. A great trip down memory lane.

Great history of eating places in Wichita, Ks.

When I stumbled on this book online, they had a copy of the index you could look at. I was impressed with the comprehensive list of restaurants. Every restaurant I had frequented after moving to Wichita in late 1981, and which is no longer in business, was included in the book, so I ordered it, somewhat out of curiosity and somewhat out of nostalgia. The author obviously did a lot of research and there's a ton of information in it. What disappointed me, however, was I had anticipated a lot more pictures, especially of the interior of restaurants. I would have thought more photos would be floating around that could have been included, but maybe there aren't. One minor detail, the book says that the Forum Cafeteria closed in May 1973, but it was one of my favorites that I frequented in 1981 after moving to town, and into 1982 at least. (It was where I was first introduced to bieroks!) If my main interest had been the historical or gee whiz information about the restaurants, I would have given the book a 5-star rating.