First Mile Kitchen — Restaurant in Wichita

This morning I was deciding where I could go to brunch by myself, and it not be so packed when I got there. The decision was made to try First Mile Kitchen. This is my initial visit here, and brunch was probably something I should have done on my next visit. Anyway, everything was pretty good for what it was. The Carnitas had a really good flavor, with almost like a hint of sweet BBQ sauce. The onions were pickled perfectly with a sweetness to them and the vinegar wasn't over powering. The avocado and tomato is exactly what they are, avocados and tomatoes. Nothing special. At least they were fresh. The FMK hot sauce sprinkled on this dish really wasn't spicy at all, and I could barely taste it. All in all, everything was good, just not great. Reminds me why I like Homegrown so much. I do want to come visit First Mile Kitchen some other time, just hopefully when they're serving dinner.

Stopped by First Mile Kitchen for lunch today. Last time I was here, was for brunch. It was good, but I really wasn't impressed, so I figured I'd give them another try. I ended up ordering the Sweet Chili Chicken Sandwich. It was beyond my expectations. The actual chicken on it was hand battered and literally a chunk of chicken breast. I especially liked the sweet chili sauce. It had that right amount of kick and was packed with flavor. The pickled onions were just the icing on the cake. And of course it came with homemade chips that I'm a sucker for.

My new favorite place for lunch is you guessed it, First Mile Kitchen. The sandwiches on the menu are first class, and average about $15. Today I ordered the Chicken Bacon Club. The chicken was grilled, which is fine but I kinda thought that if it was fried, it would have made the sandwich a ton better. Not saying it was bad or anything, it was actually pretty darn delicious. The bread was toasted and lightly buttered which was perfect in my opinion. Bacon had the perfect crispness to it, and the mayo kinda had a little Dijon flavor to it. All in all, I really enjoyed this sandwich, and look forward to trying more items on their lunch menu.

Another visit to First Mile Kitchen for lunch. It was my significant others first time visiting. She really enjoyed the environment and thought the establishment was on the classy side. That's something I totally agree with. We ended up splitting a French Dip. Bread was made by them like always, roast beef wasn't extravagant but still was good enough for my taste buds. The dijonaise was special. I'm not a mustard fan but this was definitely something to write home about. The Truffle Fries were basic and I wasn't really impressed. But I did enjoy dipping them...

Edit: Updated from a 1 star review to 4 star review. My friend and I originally had an unfortunate experience at this restaurant detailed below, but First Mile quickly contacted us to rectify the situation without minimizing our experience, or trying to make excuses for what happened. I was also promptly refunded. The general manager, Joe, seemed sincerely apologetic and generously invited us back to make amends for what occurred. He was transparent when speaking on assuring incidents like this don’t happen to any of their patrons again, & was open to facilitating future discussions. Big kudos to management. Thank you for caring, First Mile Kitchen.

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Original review: Extremely disappointed and appalled at our first experience at First Mile. Made reservations for 5:30PM and when we arrived, we were sat at a large communal table even though it was only a party of two. We were told “all other tables are taken” so it was impossible for us to be sat anywhere else. Not ideal but it’s no big deal. Additionally, we were told a party of four would be sat at the other end of the communal table at 7PM. Again, not a problem. Our server, Serenity, barely spoke to us throughout the entire dining experience, nor bothered to serve. We ordered a drink, two appetizers, an entree, and a dessert. In the middle of our meal, less than two hours later, our server puts down the bill at our table without a single word or glance at us. Seeing as we were still chatting and eating, both Serenity and the manager eventually come by together to tell us we need to MOVE seats because they have a 10 top party coming in. They said we’d be moved to the bar area instead. It was a demand. We did not make reservations to be sat at the bar. This was a full restaurant, yet ONLY our table of two is being forced to move when we didn’t ask to specifically be sat there in the first place. What happened to the original 4-top we were told would be sat at the other end? We were being rushed out and completely disregarded. They were relieved to see us offer to leave instead of taking up more space. When I put my card down to pay, Serenity picked up my card without a single word, and then returned the card & check without a single word AGAIN. Not even a ‘thank you for coming’. We were shocked. This was a special dinner for me and my out of town guest to catch up. I don’t know if it was a case of blatant discrimination or poor planning, or both, but as a patron in an upscale establishment, that should NOT have been made our problem in the first place. Spent over $100 to essentially be ignored and kicked out of our reservation. First...

I am from out of town and wanted to find a place to take my Mom for Easter Sunday breakfast. I searched for restaurants in Wichita, KS and selected First Mile Kitchen. I made a reservation through Open Table. At the time I wanted, there were only high-top tables available. I looked through all of the pictures on their website to view the high-top tables. None were shown. Thought that was odd but went ahead and booked the reservation.

We arrived 10 minutes early for our 10:30 am reservation. I found out why the restaurant does not show these tables in their photos. There were two high-top tables for two against the back wall, kind of dark, and right outside the kitchen. I was disappointed and more importantly, so was my Mom. Knowing they were booked for table reservations, I went to see if we could sit at the bar. A manager (male) saw me and asked what I needed. I explained the situation. He talked to the bar tender who said seats were available. As I was going to get my Mom, another manager (female) came up. She was not friendly (no smile ever), and said no, she had reservations for the bar (interesting as that was not an option to book in Open Table). I explained the situation, was from out of town, I looked on their website and these tables were not shown. Told her I would not have booked the reservation if I knew. She didn’t care, never apologized, and basically said too bad. Horrible customer service! I made a choice to patronize this restaurant and was sorry I did.

Then to make matters worse, I got a message from Open Table asking why we no showed. Really?!? That’s dishonest. I informed them that we did show up, early, and explained the situation. Grateful that Open Table was reputable. They apologized for our experience, and said they would work with First Mile Kitchen to be accurate in their records.

Wichita has plenty of wonderful restaurants that offer great food and customer service. After we left First Mile Kitchen we went to another restaurant. They were friendly, our server was great, very attentive, and they got us a place by the window. You have a choice when going out to eat, do not choose First...