Disappointment at Northrock Bar and Grill

When we first came up with the idea for (3YUM6) I never wanted to put a restaurant on blast. My intentions were to only bring up Wichita, specifically local establishments, in a hope of shining brighter lights on the incredible options we have here in town and what the hard working people of Wichita are putting together. So, I was very hesitant on writing this blog, but for the reasons I will talk about below, I feel compelled to post this - even if more for a cathartic release and no one ever actually reads it. Also, I only have a few pictures to share, because I was not anticipating on writing anything when I first went so bear with me and my words.

AJ’s Sports Grill was known for many things revolving around the bowling alley attached but the main attraction was, of course, the incredibly large pizza. Standing at 29 inches in diameter, the Superdome was by far the largest pizza you could find in Wichita and probably in most cities for that matter. And the pizza itself was unique to the rest of Wichita. I have incredibly fond memories of my cousins being in town from the Washington DC area, going over to our other cousin Mark’s house, his parents ordering us the ‘dome, and watching Gone Fishin’ in his basement until we fell asleep. It was, to say the least, a 10. (maybe a 10+, borderline 11).

Fast forward into the future and AJ’s quickly became my favorite pizza in Wichita. It may not have been everyone’s favorite but most people would agree that the flat, square pizzas popping out of the oven over at 3232 N Rock Rd were very different from anything you could find in Wichita and were, of course, delicious. I gave it a 9.68 out of 10 over on the Wichita Podcast - making AJ’s easily in my top 5 of restaurants in Wichita. I really began to grow fond of it because the aforementioned Mark and I would play trivia there almost every single Tuesday for several years in a row (winning several rounds might I add). They had buy-one-get-one-free on all pizzas (except Superdomes) and we had a nice little trivia group put together. Such as life goes, though, Mark ended up moving away from Wichita, I started a family, and the trivia does not happen anywhere near like it used to but AJ’s was still one of my go-to spots when ordering pizza. Even the Pig Out Bros took on the Superdome (maybe successfully? Go find out!).

All of this lead up to say - AJ’s had a very special place in my heart as my favorite pizza in Wichita and one of my top 5 favorite restaurants of all time and all of that came crashing down when news broke that the owners were selling the company to Bowlero. My first thoughts were I would be losing a slice of me as they would most certainly make several changes to the menu including removing the Superdome. I went to AJ’s the last week before they officially closed, got a Superdome, and asked the current staff what they had heard about any changes. I was told that the recipe might be changing slightly but there really should not be much to worry about with the changes - Bowlero is determined to keep the AJ’s we knew and loved because it really was such a Wichita staple.

So, they changed the name to Northrock Bar and Grill and I had heard through rumors and Wichita Podcast co-host Andrew Maness that the pizza was similar, but definitely not the same. Oh well, I knew it could not be perfect, but my hopes were still medium that maybe, just maybe, it was something we could grow to love.

Cousin Mark was in town this last weekend for Christmas and stuck around an extra day specifically so we could go play trivia at Northrock Bar and Grill. We talked about it all weekend in anticipation of getting some of the old squad together, splitting some pizzas, and continuing our domination streak. RIP TO THE COMPETITION.

We had heard before hand that the buy-one-get-one-free promotion was no longer in place so we were slightly disappointed about that going in, but figured we would get the win ($50 gift card to Northrock Bar and Grill) so it did not matter that much. We showed up to the restaurant which looked fairly similar to the previous design but were greeted with a new set of menus. Okay, that was to be expected, but the good news was - the pizza sizes were still on there! I SAW THE SUPERDOME (although not called that anymore) so there was hope!

There were some other new menu items as well - notably new burgers, the “Alley Sampler,” “Nacho Avalanche,” and the “Party Pretzel.” Now, as I stated at the top of this post, I did not get many pictures nor did I get pictures of the menu and strangely Northrock Bar and Grill does not have prices listed online. However, if my recollection serves me, the “Alley Sampler” was $34.49, the “Nacho Avalanche” was $14.69, and the “Party Pretzel” was $19.99?! Not to mention that the pizzas were at least $5-$6 more than what I remember from when it was AJ’s. Okay again, inflation is a thing, so let’s not knock it ‘til we try it.

We opted to try to “Nacho Avalanche” and added the steak for $2.50. You can tell by the above picture that the nachos were not much to look at. Good sized portion, but the queso was bland, the cheese not melted, the “taco meat” lifeless, and the steak was gray. The best tasting thing on the nachos were the pickled jalapeños. We choked down the steak so that it was not super obvious our distaste of the flavorless, gray meat. I would highly recommend not trying the nachos.

My brother-in-law Ben ordered the “Party Pretzel” which I did not try. I texted him after the trivia to ask about it and he said it was “pretty bomb” but for a $20 pretzel it was lame. So, I take that to mean decent flavor but definitely not worth the price.

Time to move on to what everyone has probably scrolled past my ranting above for - the pizza. We ordered a large pizza, double pepperoni, half with black olives (for me) and half with jalapeños (for Mark). Ben, my other brother-in-law Cooper, and (3YUM6) favorite cousin-in-law Stephen tried a little but it was predominately for Mark and me. Based on the picture above, yes, it looks very similar to what the AJ’s pizza looked like. That might be where the comparisons stopped. The dough was different, the sauce was not as sweet, and the cheese was just okay. Look - was the pizza bad? No. In fact, if I had never had AJ’s I would probably be fine with this pizza as an option. It was definitely not top 10 pizza in Wichita but it was decent. And it most certainly was not AJ’s. I also want to mention, quickly, the service was not very good the night we were there - but I chalk that up less to the serving staff and more to the amount of people dining in/playing trivia and management of the restaurant.

Full disclosure and being fully transparent - we got our butts kicked in trivia but I do not think that sullied my overall outlook on the actual food of the restaurant. We left that evening incredibly disappointed and finding ourselves agreeing we may never go back. It is far too expensive to keep trying if the quality is not going to be the same. The pizza being different, that was expected. However, the other overpriced products on the menu turning out as average as they did were enough for us to say this was it. Sorry to our dude Gualberto who hosts the trivia but we may have to find you somewhere else in the future.

You might be asking yourself - why is he so upset over the restaurant going downhill? That happens all the time, why devote a blog to it? Well…I woke up this morning from a text from my brother-in-law Ben saying he made it back to where he lives in Seattle and went to a pool place there…

That’s right - it is the EXACT SAME MENU as Northrock Bar and Grill here. The only difference is the pizza area, that must be Bowlero’s more stock pizza option. It is kind of hard to tell from the picture, but please explain to me how the prices in Seattle are the exact same as in Wichita? I get inflation, but that seems like a ridiculous comparison between the two and huge rip-off to us here in Wichita.

I do not blame the previous owners of AJ’s for selling everything - good for them for creating an establishment that is worth being bought. That is the Wichita hard work and magic I talked about earlier. So, while I do not blame them, this mega corporation stepping in and turning a beloved local joint into an overpriced, generic option completely rubs me the wrong way. I might sound a little dramatic in this post but think about your personal top 5 local restaurants, no matter where you live. Those top 5 probably have more meaning to you than simply being a tasty restaurant - for me it was the nostalgia of spending time with family over a unique slice of pizza. That is all out the door now and I probably will never eat at Northrock Bar and Grill again. I most certainly will never eat AJ’s again in Wichita. I am a firm believer in second chances and trying a place more than once, but this mega corporation making this many changes, I think I have seen (and tasted) enough. I truly, truly hope the rest of Wichita has better experiences there than I had but I think that’s it for this food blogger.