Natives of a small Kansas town transform rundown burger joint into regional destination

The restaurant scene in Douglass, Kansas, — a town of around 1,500 that sits 30 miles southeast of Wichita — has been a tad depressing over the past decade.

Around 2014, the town’s favorite burger joint — Craig’s Drive-Inn, at 833 E. First St. — closed after more than 30 years in business.

Then, in November of 2021, the Triangle Restaurant — a cafe that also served Mexican fare — also closed, leaving the town with nearly no dining options at all.

A couple of months ago, the town’s Pizza Hut closed, and that was a real blow. In a small town, Pizza Hut is usually the last to go.

Douglass diners’ fortunes, though, finally changed for the better in September, when three natives of the town got together and opened Betty’s, a shiny new restaurant featuring a menu of burgers, sandwiches, hand-cut fries and homemade ice cream. Since opening day, Betty’s has had a steady flow of business, sometimes nearly more than it can handle, and it’s become a destination for people from Arkansas City, Winfield, Derby, Andover, Augusta, Haysville, Hutchinson, Clearwater and Towanda. Even Wichita residents have driven to Douglass just to check out Betty’s.

“We get everybody: Oh my gosh, they all come to Douglass just to come here,” said Kathy Gibson, one of Betty’s owners. “We’ve been here eight months, and the word is really starting to spread.”

Betty’s, named for Gibson’s mother, is a labor-of-love project taken on by Gibson, her husband, Kirby, and her longtime friend and business partner, Terry Gulick.

Gibson and Gulick had been working together for a while flipping houses: He owned a construction company for 20 years, and she worked at the post office. They were in the process of buying another house to flip when they noticed that the old Craig’s Drive-Inn was coming up for sale, and they decided to buy it.

Craig’s, a onetime town favorite, was in a nondescript, square brick building that sat empty for years before it went up for sale. Gibson, a talented designer, had a vision, and she knew that Gulick, who she describes as he best construction guy in town, had the ability to bring her vision to life.

The two envisioned Betty’s as a destination stop for people from around the area, and during its first eight months, that’s what it’s become. Groups of retirees from different towns use Betty’s as a place to meet up and have long lunches. Classic car and motorcycle clubs stop in for a bite after a long day of cruising. Some days, the crowds are wall-to-wall.

“The reason we put it here is because we wanted the town to be able to come and gather again and enjoy it,” Gibson said. “We wanted it to kind of become a destination spot for people.”

‘When’s it going to open?’

The Gibsons and Gulick bought the old Craig’s in 2019. But they all had day jobs and could commit only after-work hours to the diner.

Once the town realized something was going on in the building, though, residents grew impatient. The owners would get nonstop questions. But they couldn’t hurry the project, even if they wanted to.

“They’d come by and say, ‘When’s this going to be done? When’s this going to be done? Everybody just couldn’t wait,” Gibson said. “But they had to wait because we were doing it and paying for it as we went so that when we opened up, we didn’t have to sell 100 burgers a day or the bank’s coming. We just did it ourselves. We did everything ourselves.”

Among the impatient observers was well-known Wichita businessman Tom Devlin, who would drive past the restaurant on the way to his Butler County home. He also noticed the activity and stopped in frequently. He befriended the owners, and they gave him a preview of their food before they even opened.

Devlin described the burgers as “terrific,” the onion strings as “the best I’ve had in Wichita” and the homemade ice cream as hard to resist.

“They brought me a big bowl, and I was only supposed to eat a couple of bites,” he said. “But it was so good, I ate it all.”

They completely gutted the old Craig’s building then added on to it. When they were done, they spent lots of time tracking down antiques to fill the space. In antique stores, on eBay, even in Wichita’s Old Town Architectural Salvage they found old diner seats, antique signs, even an 1800s box car that Gulick turned into the restaurant’s front counter.

Both Gibson and Gulick quit their day jobs to devote themselves to Betty’s. She would be on the grill, and he would be on the fryer. They hired three of their fellow retiree friends to work the counter.

Finally, after nearly three years of work and planning, they were ready to open Betty’s. It was Sept. 5, 2022, and Gibson remembers she was overcome with nerves.

“We didn’t advertise it. We just opened,” she said. “The first person that saw the open sign on, and it was barely a flicker, and bam, it hit Facebook. Everybody was down here.”

Burgers, fries and more

The first customers were greeted with a dramatic transformation from the old Craig’s.

Not only did the owners add a bright new facade to the front of the building, but they also added an indoor/outdoor space to the west side of the building that is connected to a covered outdoor patio by a modern glass garage door.

The squeaky-clean inside of the restaurant had all new stonework on the walls, antique signage everywhere, copper countertops and a chalkboard menu behind the counter. So far, Gibson and Gulick say, the biggest seller on the menu has been the classic Betty Burger and the hand-cut fries. Another big hit has been the signature Black Knight Burger, which features a quarter-pound patty topped with barbecue sauce and homemade onion strings. It’s the only burger that gets branded with a “B” on the top of the bun.

Betty’s has also become known for its homemade ice cream, and its level of popularity surprised even the owners. The ice cream is sold only by the pint in rotating flavors like vanilla bean, pistachio, strawberry, salted caramel, lemon poppy seed, peach and more. It’s got an airy, creamy texture, and people buy it as fast as the owners can make it.

“We were looking for a little niche that somebody didn’t have,” Gibson said. “We had no idea it was going to become its own business.”

Betty’s also sells shakes and “Jumblers”, (the owner’s version of a Blizzard), but it uses soft-serve ice cream to make those. From a glass cabinet by the counter, it also sells fresh baked goods like homemade pies, cookies and occasionally cinnamon rolls.

Gibson also carefully designed the packaging for the food. Burgers are all wrapped in brown paper held together with a “B” sticker, and all the food comes out in a white paper bag. People can stay and eat or take their food to go.

Not always peachy

The owners are happy about business at Betty’s so far, but the first months haven’t been without difficulty.

Customers have been vocally displeased about the owners’ decision not to accept call-in orders. People can come in and get food to go, but Betty’s doesn’t take orders in advance over the phone.

“Sometimes, it’s to wall-to-wall people in here,” Gibson said. “I’d have to hire a person just to answer the phone. And then I don’t know where we’d put the orders on the grill because sometimes, we’re back-to-back, and the orders are going out every eight minutes.”

Also: Betty’s was the only restaurant in town after the Pizza Hut closed, but only for a very brief time. Owners of a food truck called Sweet Thangz opened a bricks -and-mortar restaurant in Douglass in late April, setting up in part of the old nursing home on the edge of town. On their menu: burgers, fries and ice cream. And Sweet Thangz does take call-in orders.

It’s been a bit tough to swallow, Gibson and Gulick say, and the restaurant is even more work than they imagined it would be.

But they’re happy they made the decision to open Betty’s.

“My mom always used to say, ‘You need to stop and take time to smell the roses,’” Gibson said. “We think people should be able to come in, sit down and take some time to say hello instead of all this rush.”

Betty’s Restaurant

Where: 833 E. First St., Douglass

Seats: 32 inside, 28 on the patio

Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays

Online at: www.facebook.com/bettysrestaurants

Betty’s Restaurant menu