Old Town is the best area for restaurants in Wichita — the warehouse district east of downtown has a genuine concentration of independently-owned places rather than chains, and the outdoor patios along Douglas Avenue are busy on warm evenings. Doo-Dah Diner on East Douglas serves breakfast and lunch with a creative regional American menu and a devoted local following. Larkspur Bistro near the riverfront has a strong seasonal menu and reliable wine list for a more sit-down dinner.
The city's most distinctive culinary tradition is the Kansas City–style barbeque influence that bleeds across from the Missouri border: slow-smoked brisket and burnt ends appear on many menus. Pig In, Pig Out at the Wichita Farmers Market is a good starting point, though the market itself only runs seasonally. For something lighter, the Wichita area has a surprising number of Vietnamese and Southeast Asian restaurants, legacies of refugee resettlement in the 1970s and 1980s — several cluster along Broadway Street.