By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Mini donuts, stuffed waffles, energy drinks, and Middle Eastern food. That's what makes Rock'n Rooster Baked Mini Donuts and Rawya's Middle Eastern Cuisine unique to the area. The businesses have been open since June, but last week Larned Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting for the two eateries located at 1123 Broadway Street in Larned.
"We're trying to offer something that has more of an ethnic background that nobody else can get," said Rock'n Rooster owner Sharon Towery. "They either have to drive to Wichita or Manhattan, or some of the bigger cities. Overall, we've had a very good reception from the community. Most people are just thrilled to eat something totally different."
Rawya Evers is a native of Israel and became good friends with Towery. Evers had built a Middle Eastern food following out of her own home. The friends decided to open their own business.
"This building came open, and I had already kind of started doing the baked mini donuts out of my home," said Towery. "I just said let's go for it, so we decided to join forces, and here we are."
Everything about the businesses is unique, from the non-fried menu, to healthy energy-drink options, to Rawya's ethnic menu. The businesses do have tables for dining, but most orders are made to go.
"It's just Rawya and I here," Towery said. "We don't have any employees, so basically we run the front, run the back, and in between. For lunches, we're a pre-order system. We mostly post on Facebook what our menu is going to be. We try to get pre-orders from there because once we make so many meals, we're out.
"We're not like a regular restaurant. We're a special eatery, so we don't have overage, we don't have food always stocked. It's basically that special that day, and once we're out, we're out. The next day we have something totally different. That way people don't have the same thing over and over, and also, it helps us with overhead and costs."
The pre-order method usually means shorter wait times, typically no longer than 10 minutes. The stuffed waffles for breakfast - blueberry and cream cheese for example - are also made in short order.
Rock'n Rooster offers a variety of mini donut flavors that vary from week to week. The business offers a wide variety of drinks, including hot and cold lattes with seasonal flavors. Lotus Energy drinks are a natural way to find a little pep in the step.
"It comes from the green coffee bean, so they're a lot healthier than Monster or Red Bull," said Towery. "They offer B-12, they've got a beta-alanine in them. They're just a healthier alternative to getting your regular energy drink."
Rock'n Rooster and Rawya's are open Wednesday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., but will be temporarily closed on Saturdays through Oct. 22. Find the gals on their respective Facebook pages for menu updates, or visit the Rock'n Rooster website by CLICKING HERE.