National restaurant chains make plans to expand into Derby, Andover

Two Wichita suburbs — Derby and Andover — won the fast food lottery this week.

One learned that it will get the area’s next Culver’s restaurant. The other is seeing indications it will get its first Chipotle.

Derby will get the new Culver’s hamburger restaurant, which will be only the second Culver’s in the Wichita area. The first opened in July at 3210 N. Maize Road in Wichita.

This Culver’s — which is going next to the QuikTrip at 2801 S. Rock Road — will be owned by a different franchisee, though. Though Nick Campe opened the Wichita Culver’s, the Derby restaurant will belong to Ryan Vaughn, who started at Culver’s as a 19-year-old and worked his way up through the chain.

Culver’s, based in Wisconsin, is known for its butter burgers and frozen custard

This will be Vaughn’s first Culver’s franchise, but he has rights to parts of the Wichita area, too, and hopes to eventually add one in the city limits, he said. (Campe has said he also has plans to open more Wichita Culver’s restaurants.)

Crews should break ground on the Derby Culver’s in March, Vaughn said, and if all goes well, it could be open by August.

Derby, meanwhile, is the only Wichita suburb that already has a Chipotle restaurant. But it looks like Andover will get one, too.

Andover’s Site Plan Review Committee approved last week a plan to put a Chipotle at 520 E. Cloud Ave., which is near the Dillons at Kellogg and Andover Road..

Representatives from Chipotle have not yet returned a message seeking confirmation that the chain plans to build in Andover, but the action by the committee is a pretty solid indicator. Look for an update when more details become available.

Build-your-own burrito chain Chipotle has 39 restaurants in Kansas, and eight of them are in Wichita.

This story was originally published February 13, 2025 at 11:41 AM.

Denise Neil

The Wichita Eagle

316-268-6327

Denise Neil has covered restaurants and entertainment since 1997. Her Dining with Denise Facebook page is the go-to place for diners to get information about local restaurants. She’s a regular judge at local food competitions and speaks to groups all over Wichita about dining.