Dockum — Restaurant in Wichita

3.5 stars. As a New Yorker, I’m a sucker for any speakeasy, so when in Wichita I had to try Dockum. It’s a cool entry experience in the basement of Wichita’s fanciest hotel: find the wooden door and knock for entry. It’s fairly large inside, so the bar’s energy is diffuse and more subdued; I like more buzz, personally.

I was seated at the bar, where a cranky and entitled corporate type bristled when asked by the hostess to move over six inches to make room (so I wouldn’t be sitting on top of where the staff was preparing cocktail garnishes).

Service was friendly and the bartender was solid. However, two younger staffers were a bit immature (chatty, loud, and unprofessional), making the overall impression less than what I seek from a luxe cocktail bar experience.

My drink - a faintly smoky Old Fashioned called the Leadslinger - was fine, but not amazing, and in general the entire experience felt just a bit soulless. It was around 8p on a Wednesday, so maybe Wichita is just lively on Fridays and Saturdays, or it just wasn’t my night.

The best thing about Dockum is that its name pays homage to an important civil rights event that happened upstairs on this site decades ago. Courageous Black students conducted a sit-in - perhaps the first nationally, but definitely early in the civil rights movement - at the lunch counter upstairs where there is now a fancy restaurant. It inspired the broader movement for racial justice that continues on today.

This legacy, now connected by name to a basement bar of a swanky hotel, is the most soulful part of the entire experience and definitely one...

I was thrilled to visit Dockum Speakeasy—partly because I love a good cocktail, and partly because I enjoy pretending I’m in a Prohibition-era noir film where everyone is beautiful, emotionally unavailable, and probably hiding a felony. Way pre–kiss cams, if you know what I mean.

The entrance was promising: down a basement, across a random room, and knock on an unmarked door. A man greeted us with the warmth of a tax audit. He asked, “Are you cops?”—which I assume was either a legal formality or a joke at the expense of what must have looked like obvious speakeasy virgins.

Inside, the vibe was everything you'd hope for: moody lighting, a bit of modern music, and the subtle sense that someone at one of the tables was enjoying a salacious affair. So far, so good.

Then came the drinks.

For the price, I expected to be transported—maybe not spiritually, but at least to a place where the alcohol wasn’t afraid to speak up. Instead, my cocktail tasted like fruit punch that briefly considered a life of crime but chickened out. My entourage had similarly disappointing experiences. We expected speakeasy magic and got Sunday brunch mocktails.

Appetizers? Not bad. The oysters were decent, though served on wilted greens that looked like they’d given up around 4 p.m. and never recovered.

We ended the night on a good note—mostly because we left. I’d come back for the ambiance, but if you want a drink that slaps, this place...

Updated review My original review from 9 months ago: 5+⭐️’s Romantic, beautiful, chill, all the feels! It’s one of my fav hidden speakeasies around! They also serve the food from Sienna upstairs which is nice!

Current review: My husband and I have been going here a few times since a month since my original review. It’s very inconsistent the last few months. Sometimes we’re told they do an airline discount, sometimes not. Sometimes you can have the Sienna menu at Dockum, sometimes not. We usually order a few hand crafted cocktails and finish up with Bombay Sapphire and tonic, they are $9. The last few weeks now that automatically give you a “bump charge” of $4. We were told from the server that’s how they are trained now. She told me it’s because you get 1-1/2 oz pour, then she changed it to a 2 oz pour. Why are you giving people “doubles” without asking and charging them an extra charge? They said it’s always been that way but it hasn’t. I started keeping my receipts to show the airline discount from the past and noticed the original Bombay price. I think we’re over Dockum after all the inconsistencies. Whoever is training needs to make sure everyone is in the same page. I attached my receipts for reference. This somehow went from my favorite place I brag about to giving me a bad taste in my mouth. We’ve changed our date nights...