Wichita was promised this Mexican restaurant 18 months ago. Here’s what owners say now:
Nearly a year and a half has passed since the owners of Viva Tacos & Tequila in the Kansas City area announced plans to expand into Wichita and open a restaurant in the former Jax Restaurant and Bar space at 9719 E. 21st St.
And still, nothing much has happened.
But the owners now say that 2025 is their year.
They said in July 2023 that they’d need only about three months to convert the space, the owners said recently that they ended up having several issues with the building that set them back.
Responding to messages about the restaurant’s future in Wichita, they said they would definitely open in 2025 and that they were targeting the middle to end of February.
There have so far been a few small signs of progress.
For one, Facebook and Instagram pages now exist for the Wichita location of the restaurant — though both were created back in June and, besides “coming soon” posts shared that same month, have been filled with mostly the same content as the pages for the restaurants in Olathe and Leawood.
Also, late last year, a giant dumpster appeared in the parking lot of the space at 21st and Webb — a promising sign that renovations were underway. But as of Tuesday morning, the dumpster contained mostly brush and was barely half full. It and the parking lot has clearly not been touched since last week’s snow storms.
To be fair, the owners were busy late last year on a different project. Back in September, they opened their Olathe restaurant in the former Wahlburgers space at 11935 Black Bob Road. (Their Leawood restaurant opened at 5031 W. 135th St. in June 2022.)
The owners promised to let me know as soon as they had an opening date for Wichita.
Viva Tacos & Tequila is known for its high-end margaritas and tequila selection and serves a large variety of margaritas hand-made with fresh juices and blue agave tequila. The bar stocks more than 100 tequilas, mezcals and sotol.
The food is inspired by flavors from Jalisco, Mexico, and includes plantains served in different ways and unique seafood dishes. Kansas City-area diners love the restaurant’s quesabirrias — quesadillas made with birria meat — and its various steak entrees.
The restaurants are owned by husband and wife Bogart Sauza and Diana Perez, who also have restaurants in a few other states. Perez has family members in Wichita, which is one of the reasons the couple wanted to come to the area.
Viva Tacos & Tequila will serve lunch and dinner, and the owners plan to use the existing patio at the Jax building.
This story was originally published January 14, 2025 at 11:24 AM.
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