Eating and drinking in Wichita Falls: Kemp, Southwest Parkway, downtown and the north side

Food in Wichita Falls is spread along a handful of long roads rather than packed into one district. This guide sorts the roughly 280 places in our restaurant, bar, coffee and bakery listings by where they are, so you can tell what is near your hotel, your office or the base gate. The counts come from the addresses in those listings.

We have not eaten our way through the city and we do not rank anyone. Nothing here recommends a business. Think of it as a map with notes.

The south side: Kemp Boulevard and Southwest Parkway

ZIP 76308, on the south side, holds about four in every ten of our food and drink listings, more than any other ZIP in the city. Two roads carry most of them.

Kemp Boulevard has more food addresses than any other street in our data, around 30. General restaurants are the biggest group, followed by coffee shops, then a few Mexican and pizza places each. Kemp is also where our coffee listings bunch up most. If you want a coffee on the way somewhere early, this is the likeliest road.

Southwest Parkway comes next with about 25, a similar mix: sit-down restaurants first, then Mexican, coffee, pizza, a barbecue place and a couple of bars. It runs past Weeks Park, so a meal here pairs with a round of golf or a walk.

Nearby, Call Field Road has a dozen or so, including several Asian restaurants and a pair of bars, and Midwestern Parkway has about 10, with bakeries and pizza among them.

Downtown

Downtown, ZIP 76301, has about 60 of our food and drink listings, fewer than the south side but closer together. Indiana and Ohio Avenues and the numbered streets from Seventh to Ninth hold the most, a few blocks from Depot Square and the Museum of North Texas History.

Downtown leans Mexican more than anywhere else in our data: 14 of our 44 Mexican listings have a 76301 address, the most of any ZIP. It also holds five of our 13 barbecue listings. One of the two brewing taprooms in our data is on Indiana Avenue; both are listed on our Bars page.

Downtown is also where the city's After Hours ArtWalk happens, with food vendors on its nights, and where a farmers market sits on Ohio Avenue.

The north side and Sheppard

North of the river, ZIP 76306 takes in the Central Freeway along I-44, Sheppard Access Road and North Scott Avenue, and it is where the bars are. Fourteen of our bar listings have a 76306 address, more than a third of the total. North Scott Avenue alone has six, and Sheppard Access Road has four more, along with a few pizza places.

Sheppard Air Force Base is about five miles north of downtown. Its 82d Training Wing trains people from every branch of the armed forces and students from other countries. Places to eat on the base itself are for people with base access, and we do not publish them.

Along the Central Freeway, near the north-side hotels, our listings hold a dozen or more places to eat, several of them Mexican.

The rest of the map

Old Jacksboro Highway, Seymour Highway, Lawrence Road, Maplewood Avenue and Taft Boulevard each carry a handful. Taft Boulevard runs by the Midwestern State University campus.

Some categories are thin in our data. We hold 13 barbecue listings, five Italian, five American, a handful for breakfast and brunch, and three steakhouses. Mexican, with 44, is the largest cuisine category we carry.

Two city rules you will notice

Water comes when you ask. Under the city's year-round water rules, restaurants serve water only on request. It is not the server forgetting. Ask, especially in summer. The city came through a drought from 2010 to 2015 that took its lake supply below 19 percent, and it keeps a set of water rules in force all year.

Food trucks need a city permit. The city issues a Mobile Food Establishment permit, and it keeps a page on the Texas Cottage Food Law for people selling baked goods and other home-made food.

Hotter'N Hell weekend

In late August the Hotter'N Hell Hundred bicycle ride fills the city. Ride weekend brings a spaghetti dinner and a breakfast buffet at the MPEC downtown. Our Hotter'N Hell Hundred guide covers the weekend.

Getting home

If you are drinking, leave the car. The city's Falls Ride buses run hourly on seven routes, with one route on Sundays. Check the schedule before you count on one for the ride back.

Using our listings

Our Restaurants, Mexican, Bars, Coffee Shops, Pizza, Bakeries, Asian, Barbecue, Breakfast and Brunch, American, Italian and Steakhouses pages list what we hold, with the street address. We carry no menus, prices, ratings or hours. Call ahead, especially on Sundays and holidays.