Wichita’s third Church’s Chicken is finished but still not open. What gives?
Fried chicken fans who live near Pawnee and Broadway are getting hungrier and more impatient by the day.
Mike Jizzini’s new Church’s Chicken, his third in Wichita in three years, has been completely finished with a “coming soon” sign posted out front for at least a month, one neighbor says, but opening day has still not arrived.
I reached out to Jizzini this week and he gave me an update.
The restaurant is, in fact, complete both on the inside and outside, he said, but the supply chain interruptions that are stymieing so many businesses have affected him as well. Some pieces of “essential equipment” are delayed, on back order from the supplier, he said. The last he heard, the equipment should be arriving after Oct. 15.
He promised to update me once the equipment arrived and an opening date could be set.
Jizzini, an engineer and longtime fan of Church’s chicken, announced in 2017 his plan to revive the chain in Wichita — two years after the five remaining Church’s restaurants in Wichita closed suddenly with no explanation.
He opened his first restaurant in new construction at 13th and Oliver in November 2018 to long lines and big crowds. His second, in new construction at 3824 E. Harry, opened in January of this year.
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