Over the weekend, Fired Up Bar & Grill in Wichita became one of the first two local restaurants to offer a percentage of proceeds to the victims of Saturday’s incident at Stryker Sports Complex that left two people dead.
Before that, though, few people had any idea that Wichita even had a business called Fired Up Bar & Grill.
That’s because the business just opened on Friday.
Chef Marcus Wooley, known for the over-the-top burgers he serves at his restaurant Appetite 316, is heading the kitchen at the new Fired Up Bar & Grill.
Owned by Kimberly Calloway, Fired Up Bar & Grill is an LGBTQ+-friendly business that recently took over the spot at 1110 W. Harry, near Harry and Seneca, that most recently was occupied by a bar called Dirty D’s.
Calloway, who also owns Affordable Painting in Wichita, said that when she was in her 20s, she loved going to Our Fantasy, which operated from 1981 to 2015 at 3201 N. Hillside.
She’d always wanted to own a bar and grill and decided to open a place that offered the same vibe as Our Fantasy, which she described as a safe space that welcomed people from all walks of life, including those from the LGBTQ+ community.
“I feel like we don’t have a lot of those places that are not overrun and that do a lot of diverse things in Wichita,” she said.
Fired Up, she said, will offer all kinds of events, from Friday-night drag shows to karaoke to trivia.
It also will offer a lunch and dinner menu designed by a chef who once had his own restaurant.
Marcus Wooley, a former Butler Community College Culinary Arts program student, previously owned a restaurant called The Appetite 316. It briefly operated out of the Beautiful Day Cafe building at 2516 E. Central and, before that, at 2959 S. Hillside.
Wooley, known for his over-the-top burgers, ultimately closed his restaurant and switched to catering, basing his business out of The Shared Kitchen Wichita at 926 W. Harry.
He’s now the chef and kitchen manager at Fired Up and is making many of the dishes he made at his restaurant, including burgers, chicken wings coated in homemade sauces and desserts like banana pudding and pineapple upside down cake.
“I honestly feel honored to be in his presence,” Calloway said of Wooley. “He has real, real talent in the kitchen.”
The bar will offer lots of drink specials, she said, including $3.50 you-call-its on Fridays.
The upgraded interior of the new Fired Up Bar & Grill, which opened over the weekend at 1110 W. Harry.
Calloway said she’s done some major upgrades to the space, which she said was in bad shape when she got it. But now, it’s up to her standards and will seat 80 inside. It also has a patio.
Her opening on Friday went well, Calloway said, but more customers are starting to find Fired Up. When she heard about the incident at the soccer fields, Calloway said, she felt compelled to do something.
She posted on Facebook that the bar would donate 10% of all proceeds collected through Nov. 15 to affected families. Calloway also committed to personally matching the money raised.
“. . .We still have victims and families that need help,” she said. ” So, even after one day of being open, I just kind of sent the message in hopes that it would get to the right person, and it did.”
People who were affected by the weekend’s events should email firedup051726@gmail.com or call or text 316-254-9764.
For now, Fired Up is open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Starting next week, it will open the doors at 11 a.m. and serve lunch as well as dinner.
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Dining and Cooking