Beef & Beyond
Sure, Scotch and Sirloin is good for a delicious steak. But is there more to the menu?
When people speak of Scotch & Sirloin, they typically refer to the restaurant’s namesake. But while the long-time establishment’s Sterling Silver steaks are delicious, having won the Beef Backer Award for three years in a row, there is far more to The Scotch than steak. As Scotch & Sirloin Manager Sonny Glennon says, “We’ve built our business around lunch. People come in for a business lunch and then they think, ‘I should bring my wife back in for dinner one night.’” We recently visited the restaurant for a business lunch to go beyond the beef and see if Glennon’s theory held up.
After being seated in a corner booth in the dim-lit dining room, we eyed the menu. To our surprise, the only beef on the entire lunch menu was the prime rib sandwich, the Scotch Sirloin and the hamburger steak. For the most part, however, the midday menu included soups, salads, sandwiches and seasonal specials, such as fried catfish, shrimp and low-calorie options.
We settled on healthy choices that steered clear of the steak. Associate Publisher Chris Elston ordered the mahi mahi sandwich ($9.95). The sizeable sandwich consisted of a large piece of fried fish between two hoagie buns, served with lettuce, tomato and spicy tartar. “Wow, this is spicier than I expected,” Chris said after her first bite, but the dish quickly grew on her. French fries on the side offered more than she could eat.
Loni Woolery, our art director, ordered the Scotch Salad with shrimp ($11.95). Besides fresh shrimp, the salad had a mixture of lettuce greens, pepper jack cheese, hearts of palm, red onions, bell peppers, tomato, egg wedges and chic peas. She asked for a cup of homemade ranch dressing on the side. Again, the large portion size surprised her when the server brought it to the table, and she had plenty left over. “I would definitely order it again,” she said afterward.
I ordered the Hawaiian chicken kebob served on a bed of rice pilaf ($8.50). Before the dish arrived, I had a side salad with blue cheese crumbles. The salad was delicious and, to my surprise, when the colorful main dish arrived, the contents on the three skewers were far larger than expected. A side of pineapple sauce served as a sweet complement to large chunks of chicken, fresh tomato and grilled onions.
All of us were pleasantly surprised with our lunch. The dishes were priced around $10, and the portions were well worth it. The same plates are available at night along with fresh seafood and more—though you can imagine the dinner portion sizes.
We also noticed that Scotch & Sirloin recently added a wine bar with more than 100 wines from around the country. We declined to sample the wine list because it was still the middle of the day. We look forward to returning for a glass of wine during the evening.
David Borror, Executive Chef
Even before Scotch & Sirloin pulled up its roots and moved from Bluff Street to east Kellogg, David Borror worked for the Wichita institution. Borror has worked at the restaurant for more than 20 years and served as executive chef for about half that time.
At just 16, the Wichita native took his first restaurant job as a busboy at Tom and Sonny’s, an eatery once co-owned by Scotch & Sirloin Manager Sonny Glennon. He went on to wash dishes, work as a prep chef and eventually serve as a sous chef at On the Waterfront. When he wasn’t in the kitchens of Wichita’s restaurants, Borror briefly studied to become a computer technician at the ECPI Institute of Technology, but he found that he enjoyed the fast pace of the kitchen. “I just couldn’t sit at a desk,” he says. Finally, after joining Scotch & Sirloin in January 1987, he was promoted to executive chef four years later. Seventeen years later, he’s a pro at keeping the Scotch running smoothly.
Every day, Borror is the first one to arrive at the Scotch. He gets there at 5 a.m. to accept deliveries and to review reservation and party sheets. At 7 a.m., other chefs file in and start the day’s prep work. As they chop carrots and make the salad dressings, he prepares for the day. Today, his job consists primarily of ensuring everything runs smoothly and the chefs are equipped with the necessary ingredients. “Management pays more, but it’s not as exciting as when I was cooking,” he admits. Still, Borror does provide recipes for the soups, sauces and daily specials, and he takes great pride in being a part of Scotch & Sirloin’s legacy. He recently shared about life beyond the Scotch.
• Age: 44 years old
• Family: My wife’s name is Linda. I met her at the Scotch in the ’90s, and she currently serves as a restaurant manager. We’re foster parents, and we have a miniature Schnauzer named Buddy.
• Other Jobs: I do computer repair on the side. I studied to become a computer technician at the Wichita Area Technical College.
• Cookbook: The Joy of Cooking. It’s The Bible for cooking.
• Favorite Food to Cook at Home: Mexican food, but we’ll make grilled chicken and a whole lot of different things.
• TV Shows: Anything on the History Channel, especially any programs pertaining to The Bible.
• Vacation: South America. I’ve traveled to Ecuador for church mission trips with Evangel Assembly of God, where I work with the children’s ministry department. We’ll travel to South America and help build churches. We’re actually going to Galapagos Islands in October.
