 | Faye Graves, a native Wichitan, attended school at Friends and Wichita State, concluding at Midwestern Theological Seminary. He has been active in media for many years with Channel 12, KIRL, KFDI, KOOO AM & FM (Omaha), KFRM & KICT 95, as an owner, manager, producer, director and announcer. He has served as President of the Haysville Board of Education. He has also served on several national boards of the Southern Baptist Convention. Faye currently serves as Executive Pastor and Director of Administration and Education at Immanuel Baptist Church, 1415 S. Topeka, Wichita. You may contact Faye by e-mail fmgraves@amenibc.org, or by phone at (316) 262-1452. |
Nostalgia
2012-08-02 09:22:53
Do you remember?
Q- Do you have any memories of some of the older restaurant concepts of Wichita?
A- I wrote last month on some unique restaurants of the past. After the article came out, I received a call from the owner of the NuWay corporation. He reminded me of so many more of the unique fast food restaurants. His restaurants, the NuWays, have been around a long time. They have been one of my favorite sandwiches since the the40s when I discovered them. A lady that worked at a drug store, where my buddy Bill Nulik and I liked to play the pinball machine, asked us if we would get on our bicycles and ride over on W. Douglas and get them and us some NuWays. We did and they were great . The sandwich was crumbled beef with cheese and condiments. It started a new habit for us, and we have been eating NuWays ever since. The original store on W. Douglas, operated by the McEvoys until their retirement, is celebrating its 82ndyear. They have now expanded to various other locations in Wichita.
We are fortunate to have so many hamburger and fast food stands that served such a big variety
of foods. Remember TAKHOMA burgers? There were several at first but the one that
lasted was the one west of Lawrence Stadium that was owned and run by Arkie. You see
he was the cook but he was also a philosopher and a friend to many. Every day at noon there
were so many folks there that they had to stand in a small grass area outside. Arkie always had a story to tell as he cooked the burgers, like the one that he told about his hamburger masher. He said the mashing part came from an old Dodge truck motor, but I want to tell you his slogan was true, “We didn’t invent the hamburger, we just perfected it”.
Then there were several Ralph Baum burger houses, a really super burger. How about Calvin’s Hamburger Haven, located at Harry and Seneca? They are still in business in a shopping center on South Seneca. Henry Burger was on North West Street and Kings X is still in business but under other names . Then there were the White Castles who served hamburgers in a little box. Charlie’s is still going strong on West 13th. One of my favorite places was Ted Christian’s CONEY ISLAND in downtown Wichita located at Emporia and Williams streets. Also the DOG AND SHAKES are still going strong. Directly across the street from North High School is a super burger house where many present and past students go. It used to be Jack’s Burgers but then changed to North Hi Burgers which makes sense and presently still serving great burgers. I know there are many more but these are some of my memories.
Also, back then you could get a real good bowl of chili at the Dallas Chili Parlor on E. Douglas or quick meals at the West Urn Grills. Then there was Bill’s Barbeque on East First Street and a unique place called MOO TO YOU that served a variety. I am sure you can think of many more. Those were the days we didn’t worry about carbs and calories. We would drink all the malts and shakes and eat all the hamburgers we wanted.
It was sure great to have all of the unique concepts we did back then and so many which have still survived today.
