There’s still nothing happening at Wichita’s future Pizza Ranch site. What’s the latest?
Wichita has been waiting since March, when local restaurateur Doug Wessley first announced that he was bringing Pizza Ranch to town, to finally step through the doors of the restaurant.
But as it turns out, by the time it opens, they will have waited for a full year.
When I last reported on the progress of the restaurant, which is taking over the space at 2121 N. Tyler that had previously held a west-side Jimmie’s Diner and was known as the longtime home of Tommy’s, it was August. At the time, Wessley said, construction was about to start and the restaurant should be ready to open by December.
But now it’s December, and as many worried readers have been pointing out to me in concerned e-mails over the past month, there’s still nothing happening at the space.
Take a deep breath, Wessley said earlier this week. The project is still on but has “run into a couple of minor snags” of late, including the fact that Wessley has had to wait for his builder to finish up another job.
Construction really, truly will begin anytime now, he said, and he’s “hopeful” verging on “positive” that he’ll be able to get the restaurant open in mid-March.
“It’s going to happen for sure,” he said. “Everything’s done now, and we’re just waiting for it to get popping.”
Wessley, who originally had hoped for a fall opening, is putting the new Pizza Ranch into the entire 7,500 square feet that Tommy’s once used. When it’s complete, the restaurant will feature a buffet offering not only pizza but also big salad bar, fried chicken and fixings and desserts. It will also have a big arcade room.
He understands the concern, Wessley said, but he wants to reassure people that their patience will pay off.
“It’s weighing on me, so I know it’s weighing on everybody else,” he said.
This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 10:25 AM.
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