Six Wichita restaurants earn Wine Spectator awards. One falls off the list, one returns

Denise Neil
·2 min read

Wine Spectator magazine has just put out its annual Restaurant Awards list, and six Wichita restaurants are on it.

Five were on the list in 2022. But this year, a new Wichita restaurant was added, a restaurant that was on last year’s list fell off, and a restaurant that fell off last year was reinstated.

The magazine, which each year honors the “world’s best restaurants for wine,” this year recognized 3,505 restaurants from all 50 states and from more than 70 countries. The magazine chooses award winners on three levels. The top is the Grand Award, given to only 93 restaurants this year.

The next best is the Best of Award of Excellence, which for the second consecutive year was given to Wine Dive at 4714 E. Douglas. That restaurant has been on the list of winners since 2016. Of all the winners, 1,411 earned this distinction. (Wine Dive + Kitchen in Manhattan also won the Best of Award of Excellence, and the one in Lawrence joined the list for the first time this year, earning the Award of Excellence, which is one tier lower.)

The five other Wichita restaurants on the list received an Award of Excellence, the third and final tier of awards. They were: Scotch & Sirloin, 6325 E. Kellogg; Vora Restaurant European, 3252 E. Douglas; Chester’s Chophouse, 1550 N. Webb Road, 6S Steakhouse at 6200 W. 21st St., and Newport Grill at 1900 N. Rock Road. Overall, 2,001 of the honored restaurants received this award.

Siena Tuscan Steakhouse fell off the list of Wine Spectator Award winners for the first time since 2016.
Siena Tuscan Steakhouse fell off the list of Wine Spectator Award winners for the first time since 2016.

Of note: Siena Tuscan Steakhouse at 104 S. Broadway fell off the list this year, having previously been included since 2016. And 6S Steakhouse rejoined it after falling off in 2022 for the first time in four years.

Newport Grill, meanwhile, joined the list for the first time.

Scotch & Sirloin, owned by Mike Issa, has been on the list since 2018. Vora, which like Wine Dive is owned by Brad and Brent Steven, has been on the list since 2019.

The Restaurant Awards issue will be available on July 11. The Wine Spectator awards were launched in 1981. To see the full list, visit www.winespectator.com