Wichita’s Coney Island restaurant being evicted over unpaid rent, court records show
Less than six months after opening in Delano, Coney Island Hot Weiners at 1001 W. Douglas has closed.
The restaurant has been dark for several days, and there’s writ of restitution notice from the Sedgwick County District Court posted on the door. Writs of restitution are filed when a tenant is being evicted.
Court documents show that the restaurant is being evicted from the space over $14,614 in unpaid rent and late charges. Tad Fugate, the restaurant co-owner who is named in the writ of restitution, did not show up to court on Jan. 15, the records say, so the judge entered a default judgment in favor of the landlord, 1001 W. Douglas Investments.
I have messages in to Michael Frimel, another of the restaurant’s owners, and will update this post if I hear back.
The restaurant was part of a Tulsa-based chain, and a group of partners that included Frimel and Fugate announced in late 2018 that they had been licensed to open restaurants in 12 markets including Wichita. There were several delays on the Delano restaurant before it finally opened in July of last year. The menu included coney dogs, Frito pies, tamales and “3-way chili,” a dish made by topping spaghetti with chili and beans.
I’ll be curious to hear what the owners thought went wrong with the restaurant. I tried it shortly after it opened, and it was certainly different. The interior was fun, whimsical and professional, and the bean-free chili the restaurant made was different than any I’ve tried around here, though I didn’t mind it. But I live not far from the restaurant, and when I would drive by, whether over the lunch or dinner hour, it always looked empty.
I will update this post if I hear back from the owners.
This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 11:38 AM.
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