One area Taco John’s closes, but two more will open early next year in Wichita
There’s a bit of fast food taco news in the Wichita area, and it involves Taco John’s, Taco Tico and even a couple of Kwik Shop stores.
First is the news out of El Dorado that Wichita Taco Tico franchisee Greg White — who owns the Wichtia Taco Tico restaurants at 460 N. West St. and 13th and Tyler — is taking over the building that Taco John’s vacated in September.
That restaurant had just opened in March of this year in a brand new building at 2521 W. Central but made it only about six months.
“We just couldn’t get any traction in that market after we opened,” said Dave Hintz, a field marketing manager for Taco John’s International.
White and his partners, who were looking for another location, bought the building and recently closed on it. They hope to have a new Taco Tico open there in December. Taco Tico left the El Dorado market in 2013 after it closed its restaurant at 1530 W. Central. Hog Wild operates there today.
“It works out great for us, especially being a new building with the same sort of concept,” White said. “It makes it a whole lot easier to get into.”
Taco John’s may not have worked out in El Dorado, but the taco chain is preparing to try its luck in Wichita.
As we reported before, a Taco John’s will open inside the under-construction Kwik Shop at Kellogg and West, on the site where Willie C’s and Rowdy Beaver once stood. Although the restaurant will be inside the store, it will have a full Taco John’s menu, a drive-through window and seating inside. It should be ready by January, Hintz said.
And now there’s news that another Kwik Shop — the one at 7107 W. 37th St. — will also get a Taco John’s added inside of it with a full menu, seating and a drive-through. It should be ready by the end of March or beginning of April, Hintz said.
The first Taco John’s in the area opened last February in the Derby Marketplace in Derby and is still open. The chain also is adding a restaurant in Garden City, and its opening will coincide with the opening of the store on West Street in Wichita.
Taco John’s is a Wyoming-based fast taco chain that has nearly 400 restaurants in 23 states, including 18 locations in Kansas.
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 1:43 PM.
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