Name of fried chicken restaurant opening this weekend in Wichita may confuse some diners
A new fried chicken restaurant will open at Towne East Square mall this weekend, and its name may confuse some people.
The restaurant is called Bb.q Chicken, and it’s on the east-facing side of the mall, just inside the upper level entrance that’s north of J.C. Penney and south of Von Maur. Its specialty is various flavors of extra crispy Korean-style fried chicken, but traditional American “barbecue” isn’t one of them.
The bb.q in the title actually stands for “best of the best quality,” and the chicken is served with flavors like honey garlic, soy garlic and Caribbean spice. Korean fried chicken is characterized by its light and extra-crispy skin.
The restaurant opens on Sunday at the mall. Its hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and noon to 7 p.m. Sundays. The restaurant has entrances both inside and outside of the mall.
It will serve wings, whole chickens, chicken sandwiches and combo meals, said Leah Park, who is part of the team bringing the restaurant to Wichita. It will also offer rice bowls, and a section of the menu will include items dubbed “K Food” — things like kimchi fried rice with a fried egg on top and ddeok-bokki, a classic Korean street food dish made with rice cakes and fish cakes.
The restaurant is part of a chain that started in Korea in 1995 and now is in 59 countries with more than 4,150 locations.
The chain has three Bb.q chicken formats: an express version, which offers takeout and delivery only; the fast-casual Bb.q Chicken Café; and Chicken and Beer, a full-service restaurant that also has a bar. Wichita’s location will be a Bb.q Chicken Cafe, Park said.
Korean food is having a moment at the mall: Just south of Bb.q chicken, construction continues on a new restaurant called KPOT, a Korean barbecue and hot pot restaurant that, according to Towne East’s website, will be a “unique, hands-on, all-you-can-eat experience that merges traditional Asian hot pot with Korean BBQ flavors.”
It’s set to open sometime this fall.
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