Opening days for two Wichita, two Andover restaurants
The year’s first batch of restaurant openings are upon us, and I have updates from both Wichita and Andover to share.
They include news about two new places that are opening and two others that are re-opening.
Opening
Cottonwood Coffee, 203 W. Central, Andover: A Wichita mom who loves coffee opened a new kiosk in Andover specializing in coffee, tea, healthy smoothies and breakfast bagels. Cottonwood Coffee is taking over the tiny kiosk set up at Central and Andover Road that most recently held a beverage business called Sip N Treats. Opening day was Monday.
The owner prefers not to be named, but her brand manager, Elise Bunting, said that the cafe will serve Blacksmith Coffee out of Lindsborg.
For now, the kiosk will offer only drive-through service, although the kiosk does have a front window that could serve walk-up business in the future. There’s also a little seating area on the opposite side of the drive-in window. Hours will be 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.
La Jerezana, 2227 N. Arkansas: Azsucena Ramos is just about ready to open her new Mexican restaurant in the building near 21st and Arkansas that served as the longtime home of Taqueria El Paisa but that was most recently occupied by Armando’s Mexican Grill II. She’s pegged opening day as Friday, Feb. 5.
Ramos, who also owns a restaurant at 1318 S. Santa Fe Ave. in Salina called La Jerezana, says she will serve authentic Mexican dishes, including grilled steaks, street tacos and menudo. The restaurant also will have a full bar. Hours will be 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Reopening
Applebee’s, 436 S. Andover Road: Andover’s Applebee’s on the high-traffic corner of Kellogg and Andover road closed in May 2019. But late last year, Jon Rolph’s Thrive Restaurant Group bought Jim Stevens’ 22 Applebee’s restaurants, including this one, and decided to bring it back to life. The restaurant reopened last week.
Thrive Restaurant Group also owns Carlos O’Kelly’s and HomeGrown restaurants.
Town & Country Classic, 10510 W. Southwest Boulevard: A restaurant owner reopens a restaurant that closed, then closes that reopened restaurant, then reopens the reopened restaurant he closed. Yes, it’s sort of hard to follow, but the end result is that Town & Country Classic, the offshoot of the original Town & Country restaurant on Kellogg that Billy Wood opened in July at K-42 and Maize Road, will be back in business this week.
Wood, who closed the restaurant in January citing a slow economy and COVID-19 losses, said last week that he was able to hire a former assistant manager, who has offered to help him get the restaurant back on its feet. Wood and Vance Davis plan to reopen the restaurant on Friday, Feb. 5, and will introduce some new menu items and new hours: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.
They plan to eventually add beer and wine to the menu, they said, and they’ve recommitted to strict COVID-19 precautions, including masked staff members and socially distanced seating. They also won’t seat parties with more than eight people.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 11:01 AM.
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