Another Wichita Church’s Chicken is under construction, should be ready by December
For years, the lot at 3824 E. Harry held a hard-to-miss trolley car-shaped restaurant that most recently was painted bright blue and held a Mexican restaurant called Mariscos Vuelve a La Vida El Perron.
But recently, people have been noticing that the old trolley car is gone and a new building is taking shape on the site. Several people have messaged me lately asking what it’s going to be.
The answer: A Church’s Chicken that could open sometime in December.
Mike Jizzini, the entrepreneur who is reviving the Church’s chain in Wichita, opened his first restaurant at 13th and Oliver in November 2018 to long lines and big crowds.
He’d planned to have his second Church’s on East Harry open by now, but late last year, he said, complications with getting approval to merge three small lots and create the 30,000 square feet he needed had slowed him down.
But now, construction is moving along, and a “coming soon” sign posted out front encourages people to apply for jobs.
The site is right next door to an old Church’s building that has been vacant since 2015 when the chain abruptly left town. It’s now boarded up.
Jizzini is also planning a new Church’s for Pawnee and Broadway. He said construction on that restaurant should start in January or February.
The spot at 3824 E. Harry has been home to many restaurants over the years. In the 1980s, a location of The Grinder Man operated there. In 1992, it opened as Tubby’s Diner, selling burgers, fries, shakes and pies. It also once had a barbecue restaurant called Smoke House Express and later a Fish Depot.
This story was originally published October 5, 2020 at 11:30 AM.
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