Goddard Needs a Diner

Written by: Case Brown

Cover Photo taken by: Jamie Duty

If there’s one thing Goddard has, it's fast food. If there’s one thing Goddard doesn’t have, it's good food. There isn’t a single establishment where one can find quality food that’s healthy. I’m sure that many Goddard citizens are tired of having to drive upwards of half an hour into Wichita to find something good to eat. At least the three liquor stores in town make finding a drink easy. 

What we need is a good ol’ Mom and Pop (locally owned)  diner; healthy, quality food for an affordable price. I think that a small business like that would do very well in town. It’s a need that’s not being fulfilled and something that would greatly improve the quality of life that the citizens of Goddard experience. 

The community economic development we’ve been seeing is a step in the wrong direction; our timing is awful. At almost the same time, four coffee shops were established in town: Scooters, Starbucks, Rusted Bean, and Cofellow (a small business that I highly recommend and support). I understand wanting to have a place dedicated to coffee, but who’s idea was it to open all of them at once?

Small businesses are important for helping a town or city form its own identity. I don’t want Goddard to feel like a highway stop for someone’s trip to Denver that they didn’t plan to take. I want Goddard to feel like Goddard, an independent community worth stopping at. The first step in fulfilling that goal is to make sure we have restaurants that keep Goddard residents happy and encourage those passing through to stay a while. 

It wouldn’t hurt to repair the frontage roads either.