A 200-seat brewery with a rooftop patio overlooking Douglas Avenue opens at noon Aug. 28 in Wichita's Delano district after more than a year of construction delays.
Flatlanders Brewing, at 623 W. Douglas, is owned by a group of 12 people led by Kurt and Jessica Schmidt. The Schmidts also own Picasso's Pizzeria next door at 621 W. Douglas, and a new pass-through door will let brewery customers order pizza, calzones and salads from Picasso's menu and pick them up without stepping outside, the Wichita Eagle reported.
Kurt Schmidt has been planning a brewery for more than six years. The original idea was to enclose Picasso's back patio, but the COVID-19 pandemic shelved those plans. When the neighboring space became available, Schmidt pivoted. He acquired a seven-barrel brewing system from Topeka's Norsemen Brewing Co. after that brewery closed in 2024, according to an earlier Eagle profile of the project.
The brewery fills a building that housed motorcycle-related businesses from the 1940s through the 1980s. A reproduction of a 1955 Wichita Eagle advertisement for the Harley-Davidson Cycle Co. hangs inside, alongside artwork by Schmidt's brother, Eric Schmidt, and Eric's wife, Jamie Tabor.
The Schmidts put up the Flatlanders sign in early 2025 and hoped to open that year. Construction delays and zoning issues pushed the timeline into 2026, and the brewery sat ready for several weeks before Friday's launch while the owners finished hiring staff.
The beer
Brewer Wyatt Fullmer, who relocated to Wichita for the job, built the opening tap list. Fullmer previously brewed at Boulevard Brewing Co. in Kansas City, Fields & Ivy Brewery in Lawrence and Gella's Diner + Lb. Brewing Co. in Hays.
His debut lineup includes a pale ale, an amber, a hefeweizen, a West Coast IPA and an oatmeal stout. Three additional beers were brewed in collaboration with Central Standard Brewing, Nortons Brewing Company and Hopping Gnome Brewing Company, all Wichita breweries.
The space
Flatlanders spreads across two floors with a long bar on the main level and a second bar upstairs. The second story doubles as a private-event space. A rooftop patio fitted with four large tables overlooks Douglas Avenue, and a ground-level patio faces west.
"On Friday nights, you can see the fireworks from the rooftop," Kurt Schmidt told the Eagle in an Aug. 12 interview, referring to the weekly Wichita Wind Surge fireworks show. The team's stadium at 275 S. McLean Blvd. sits a few blocks away.
Hours and food
Flatlanders' regular hours are 3–10 p.m. Mondays; noon–10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; noon–midnight Fridays and Saturdays; and noon–8 p.m. Sundays. Food from Picasso's is available whenever that restaurant is open, excluding all day Mondays and late evening hours.
The brewery's name comes from what Schmidt's cousin in Colorado calls his Kansas friends.
