The vacant BurgerFi space at NewMarket Square is about to get a new restaurant tenant
The old BurgerFi space at NewMarket Square is about to get a new tenant whose flavors are already familiar in Wichita.
Alex Harb, who owns four Meddys restaurants in Wichita, is taking over the space at 2441 N. Maize Road that has been vacant since BurgerFi closed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last March.
Harb, who just opened a Meddys in October at Kellogg and Ridge behind Cracker Barrel, said he’s putting his previously announced plans to expand into Tulsa on hold and will focus on Wichita for now. He hopes to have the new restaurant open by Aug. 1.
The past year has changed many things for Meddys, Harb said, and has helped him develop a deeper appreciation for Wichita and all the customers who stood by his restaurants during the pandemic and its accompanying shutdowns.
“I want to keep my dollars and my employment opportunities in Wichita as long as I can,” he said.
The new restaurant will have a large covered patio on the building’s south side, and it will seat between 70 and 80 people. Inside, there will be seating for about 100. The new Meddys will be slightly larger inside than the one at 21st and Greenwich, which is the smallest of the existing restaurants, Harb said.
It will be designed to look like the already established Meddys restaurants and will also have a bar serving craft cocktails. Outside on the patio, the restaurant will feature live music Wednesdays through Saturdays. Harb plans the same live music setup at his other restaurants, starting April 15 and running until Sept. 15.
Harb said that he’s long wanted to open a restaurant in NewMarket Square but hadn’t found the right space until now. It’s far enough away from his newest Meddys at Kellogg and Ridge that he’ll be able to find a new audience, he said.
“I think it’s a different market,” he said. “It’s a little more than five miles away. It’s perfect.”
BurgerFi opened in the space in July 2018. Before that, the corner spot on the Maize Road-facing strip center was home to Pei Wei, which was open from 2008 to 2017.
Harb’s first Meddys, a quick-service restaurant focused on fresh Mediterranean fare, opened in 2014 at 7906 E. Harry, followed by 21st and Greenwich in 2016,
He opened his third Meddys downtown at 120 S. Washington in late 2018, and it became the design prototype he wanted to adopt for all future restaurants. Over the next two years, he retrofitted his first two restaurants with that design.
The Meddys at 560 S. Ridge Road has been operating for five months.
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 5:01 AM.
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