Take a peek inside the new Sheet’s Creek restaurant, opening next week at the Waterfront
It’s been a minute since the space at 1720 N. Webb Road has housed a restaurant: Almost 10 years worth of minutes, in fact.
But now the space on the south end of the Waterfront strip center that also is home to Charles Schwab and “Golden Bachelorette” contestant Chock Chapple’s Insurance Services Group is back to being what it was built to be: a classy restaurant with a dreamy back patio.
On Monday, the owners of Old Town’s Mort’s Martini Bar will open Sheet’s Creek in the space, which from 2016 until 2022 had been home to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Alliance. Before that, the most recent restaurant to occupy the space was Ciao Italian Kitchen, which closed in 2015. Over the years, the space also housed restaurants like Press, Sabor and Piztros, the first restaurant to occupy it back in 2006.
The new restaurant is owned by Morrie Sheets — also known for his longtime Old Town hot spot Morts, 923 E. First St. — and the name he chose is a play on the title of the popular television show “Schitt’s Creek” updated with his own last name.
On Thursday night, I got a preview of the restaurant, which feels both familiar and new. I still remember dining in the space during its previous incarnations, but nothing is left of those except the unique, curved ceiling and the spacious back patio facing a wooded area.
Sheets said he had to start from scratch inside. Everything’s new, from the flooring to the bar to the half-circle booths. He extended the patio, he said, and he also installed a giant panoramic door that opens the dining room to the patio.
And that patio might be one of Sheet’s Creek’s best features. It’s separated from the civilization beyond it by a wooded area, and a tiny stream runs right beside it. It feels private and cozy, and it’s somewhere Wichita is going to want to dine before the weather gets too cold.
Sheet’s Creek feels like a smaller, more laid-back version of its neighbor, Chester’s Chophouse. Its menu, which you can see below, isn’t huge and includes non-fussy, affordable dishes like steak, salmon, airline chicken, pasta, sandwiches, salads and a burger.
Longtime chef Roger Cox, who’s spent much of his career in corporate kitchens and used to do food popups at Mort’s, is leading the kitchen, and Emma Johnsen — who’s worked for Sheets at Mort’s since she was 18 — is the restaurant’s operating partner.
Sheet’s Creek also has a big bar menu that includes both craft and classic cocktails, wine by the bottle and by the glass, lots of scotch, and martinis.
But martinis might be the only thing Sheet’s Creek really has in common with Mort’s, except for one thing: Mort’s is famous for displaying photos of its customers all over the walls. Sheets plans something similar for Sheet’s Creek: He’s having a caricature artist create likenesses of his friends and customers and already has several on display.
Sheet’s Creek’s hours starting Monday will be 3 to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. It will offer live music on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Sheet’s Creek menu
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