Shattered Glass | Unshaken Spirit

Pedro Concepcion had been the majority owner of The Wheel Barrel, a gourmet grilled cheese restaurant located in the North Topeka Arts and Entertainment District (NOTO), for three years when a vehicle crashed into it last May. 

Fortunately, no one was injured in the accident, but the restaurant’s front façade was destroyed. The NOTO community launched into action within minutes of the glass shattering, helping Pedro — who works double duty as NOTO’s chief executive officer — and his team clean up the mess.  

Thanks to their efforts and the work of NOTO neighbor Galaxy Glass, the restaurant reopened just five days later on May 14, with a new glass window in place. Ever since, The Wheel Barrel has experienced an uptick in social media followers who are eager to try the restaurant that made headlines.  

Meanwhile, Pedro is turning lemons into lemonade by using the restaurant’s rebuild to reimagine their interior space. The Wheel Barrel’s new lounge area will soon replace the front façade, which remains roped off with caution tape on the inside. 

“The car accident was a bad experience, but the support of our community and our neighborhood made it feel a lot better,” Pedro said.  

Picking Up the Pieces 

Beautiful weather had drawn most of The Wheel Barrel’s patrons to the back patio on the day of the accident, meaning they missed the dramatic scene entirely. The handful of customers seated at the indoor bar were shaken but unharmed.  

After the driver was taken to the hospital, Pedro surveyed the damage while fellow NOTO business owners arrived with gloves and shovels to help clean up the glass. The community took care of the debris within an hour. 

“It warmed my heart to see our little neighborhood come out to make sure we and the driver were okay,” Pedro said. “It reminded me that our Topeka community is very wholesome. There are extraordinary individuals who were willing to lend a hand to make sure you keep going. I was very humbled.” 

During the cleanup, Matt Wiltz, owner of Galaxy Glass, began measuring the storefront for a new glass window. The project could’ve taken weeks or even months if Pedro had to undergo the process of getting bids from several different glass repair companies, but his fast-acting NOTO neighbor helped him reopen in less than a week. 

“The team at Galaxy Glass was our savior,” Pedro said. “If we were closed for months, it would’ve been devastating for cash flow.” 

Silver Linings 

Reopening after only five days demonstrated an incredible recovery effort for The Wheel Barrel. Unfortunately, they still had to overcome losing three days of business. The accident happened on the Friday before Mother’s Day — a weekend that’s typically a popular time for the restaurant.  

Pedro also had to contend with losing 13 seats from the still-under-construction front area behind the façade. He and his team decided they’d need to cook up a strategy to ensure the community knew they were open for business again.  

Part of that strategy was creating the restaurant’s new, cheekily named “Crashing Cuban” sandwich, a special menu item featuring slow-smoked pulled pork, ham, pickles, house-ale mustard, mozzarella and Swiss cheese between two thick slices of white bread.  

The dish riffs on The Wheel Barrel’s “Kickin Cuban” sandwich and follows the restaurant’s tradition of giving tongue-in-cheek names to their menu items, which range from “How Now Bleu Cow” to “Not-Yo-Mama’s BLT.” 

“We’re always one to keep things light, so we decided that since everyone was okay, it was fine to do something like this,” Pedro said. “We wanted to show the community that, while this was devastating, we will be okay.” 

The Crashing Cuban was so popular it sold out the week it premiered, as well as the next. Pedro says their social media campaign made a huge difference in getting people to visit.  

“Some customers didn’t even know we existed before the crash,” he said. “Others always wanted to try us and suddenly had a reason to support us.” 

The Wheel Barrel team kept the social media momentum going by documenting the process of rebuilding the restaurant’s façade. They even shared footage of the caution-tape ribbon cutting on Facebook Live. 

“I didn’t want people to think this was the end of us,” Pedro said. “If people really think about how tragedies like this hurt small businesses, I think they’d come out and support them as much as they did The Wheel Barrel.” 

Today, Pedro is focused on moving forward with a few new plans for the restaurant. The good news for loyal fans of The Wheel Barrel is that he doesn’t feel the need to make any major changes — just some thoughtful additions. 

“When I purchased the restaurant, I didn’t need to change a lot,” said Pedro, who bought The Wheel Barrel from Jennifer and Jon Bohlander in the spring of 2022. “I’m happy Jennifer and Jon trusted me by selling it to me and pushing me to make it better.” 

A Lasting Connection 

After he became the majority owner of The Wheel Barrel, Pedro added a new patio. The updated outdoor space features a steel structure with lights and heaters to make patrons feel more at ease while enjoying the restaurant’s signature comfort food. 

Pedro also dialed up their focus on the Topeka art scene, rotating the restaurant’s display of artwork from approximately 500 local art students every season. 

“Considering we’re in the NOTO district, we feel like we should try and do as much as possible for the arts,” Pedro said. 

His team remains hard at work as they transform the front façade into a lounge, which will add seating for another 10 people. But Pedro says he’s more concerned about how the space feels to customers than the number of seats available. 

“We’re focused on making it nice and giving people a good environment,” Pedro said.  

In the aftermath of the accident, Pedro says he feels a deeper connection to his fellow NOTO business owners – and tries to offer Matt a beer whenever he sees him. 

“I am proud to say that even before the crash, I could walk down the district and identify every single business owner,” said Pedro. “We all said ‘Hi’ and stuff like that, but now we’re on a different level.” 

Now more than ever, he sees the value in being a good neighbor to the businesses around him. 

“Small business owners are all going through our little struggles. Sometimes it’s hard to lend a hand,” Pedro said. “But in this economy, a lot of us are feeling a bit of pressure, so every transaction and lending hand helps to make sure we can stay open.”