A brief history of restaurants that chose to open on the west side of Wichita
In the beginning, the east side of Wichita had everything.
It had the mall (Towne West opened six years after Towne East.) It had the nice restaurants. (When the city’s dining scene first started expanding past downtown, the east side got nearly all the nice restaurants, including Steak & Ale, Chateau Briand, The Old Way Station, the Olive Tree, The Grape, Cafe Chantilly and Scotch & Sirloin.)
Then, in the 1990s, Rock Road became the dining destination, and when Bradley Fair opened and attracted chain restaurants like Ya Ya’s Eurobistro, Outback Steakhouse, On the Border and Macaroni Grill, the contest seemed all but over for the poor west side.
But wait! In 1998, the 700,000-square-foot NewMarket Square development opened at 21st and Maize with restaurants like Panera, and long-suffering West Street finally got some dining backup. Over the next 25 years, North Maize Road became an attraction all its own, and now, many new restaurant announcements come from that part of town.
Of course, the east side shot back with a retail and restaurant boom on Webb and Greenwich roads, to which the west side retaliated with the restaurant row that popped up near Kellogg and Ridge.
The point is that beleaguered west Wichita — which seems to always be in second place — has had some pretty big restaurant wins over the years, especially lately. This week, it got a big boost when Raising Cane’s — a fried chicken favorite that’s the darling of the TikTok generation — opened its first Wichita restaurant on the west side — at 350 S. Ridge Road.
Though Raising Cane’s decision to start out west was likely motivated more by real estate availability and demographics than by a desire to back the underdog, it was nice to see the west side come out on top for once.
The opening of Raising Cane’s got me thinking: What other local, regional and national restaurant chains have chosen to start their Wichita runs on the west side rather than on the east? What dining jewels has the west side landed over the years that might have made east-siders worry that they were losing their edge?
Here’s a fun decade-by-decade list I compiled of west-side restaurants wins: (South side, we’ll get to you next.)
If you know of any big ones I missed, email me at dneil@wichitaeagle.com
2020s
Raising Cane’s: The west-side score of 2025 so far is the new Raising Cane’s that opened to big crowds Tuesday at 350 S. Ridge Road.
Sickie’s Garage: This North Dakota-based burger chain opened its first restaurant in Wichita last spring, taking over the former Logan’s Roadhouse space at 2424 N. Maize Road.
Swig: This national “dirty soda” chain opened its first Wichita location at 3080 N. Maize Road in 2024.
Culver’s, 3220 N. Maize Road: This long-coveted fast-food restaurant chain, which serves butter burgers and frozen custard, opened its first Wichita store on North Maize Road in July of 2024. Franchisee Nick Campe is also hoping to add a Culver’s one on the east side.
Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux: When the owners of this Louisiana-based sports bar chain decided to expand into Wichita, they chose a space at 2661 N. Maize Road. The massive restaurant opened there in the late summer of 2022.
Dutch Bros Coffee: Wichita got its first Dutch Bros Coffee location in July 2022 at 2860 N. Maize Road. The coffee chain now has three Wichita locations.
Pizza Ranch: Wichita loves pizza. Wichita loves buffets. Wichita was excited when, in the summer of 2020, Pizza Ranch opened its first local buffet restaurant at 2121 N. Tyler Road. It’s still open.
2010s
HomeGrown, 2835 N. Maize Road: This classy breakfast restaurant by locally based Thrive Restaurant Group opened in a new strip center near 29th and North Maize Road in 2017. Wichita now has three locations, and there are five HomeGrown restaurants in the Kansas City area, two in Iowa, three in Arkansas and one in Nebraska.
Bricktown Brewery: Wichita’s first location of this Oklahoma City-based chain opened on the west side first — in March 2015 at 2141 N. Tyler Road. An east-side location opened later that year at 2035 N. Rock Road.
Longhorn Steakhouse: This steakhouse chain’s first Wichita restaurant opened in December 2011 at 2720 N. Maize Road. The one near Towne East Square followed in the fall of 2012.
Wichita Brewing Company: Back in the summer of 2011, Jeremy Horn and Greg Gifford were a couple of home brewers who wanted to open their own craft brewery. Their first one took over an old Play It Again Sports space at 8813 W. 13th St. and served beer and pizza. The brand has since grown to include not only restaurants on the east side and in Delano but also a brewing facility and an event venue.
Five Guys Burgers & Fries: This restaurant chain now has the trifecta: restaurants on the east side, the west side and downtown. But franchisees Jay and Jeff Miller opened their first Wichita restaurant in 2010 at 2616 N. Maize Road. (The west-side restaurant moved to a new strip center at 37th and Maize in 2021.
2000s
Scooter’s: The first Wichita Scooter’s Coffeehouse opened in 2007 at 3480 N. Ridge Road, and it’s still open there today — as are many, many more Scooter’s around town.
Texas Roadhouse: In 2004, this steakhouse chain, popular for its dancing wait staff and pillowy yeast rolls, opened its first Wichita location at 6707 W. Kellogg. The restaurant has been pretty much packed ever since. The chain added an east-side location at 2526 N. Greenwich in 2018.
Chipotle: Wichita’s first location of this popular burrito chain opened in 2003 at NewMarket Square, 2241 N. Maize Road. It’s still open — as are seven other Chipotle restaurants around town.
Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers: In 2002, brothers Randy and Bill Simon partnered with longtime local restaurateur Scott Redler to open the very first Freddy’s at 8621 W. 21st St. Now, 23 years later, Freddy’s has grown to a chain that has 559 restaurants. It just added its first in Canada.
1990s
IHOP: This breakfast chain first came to Wichita in 1999, and its first of what would become many local restaurants was at 515 S. Ridge Road. Franchisee Ali Issa moved the restaurant to a new building around the corner at 526 S. Ridge Road last year.
Papa John’s: It feels like this ubiquitous pizza chain has been around forever, but the first Wichita Papa John’s actually opened at 8918 W. 21st St. in October 1996, and it still operates there today.
1980s
Little Caesars Pizza: Wichita’s first Little Caesars opened in the Crossroads Shopping Center, 7011 W. Central, in April of 1989.
Applebee’s: Then-franchisee J.S. Ventures chose 6730 W. Central for its first Wichita restaurant back in 1989. Wichita still has lots of Applebee’s restaurants: That first location is now home to Two Brothers BBQ & Sports Grill.
Taco Bell: This chain opened its first Wichita restaurant in July 1983 at 340 S. West St. In 2001, the restaurant was rebuilt a few doors down at 328 S. West St.
1960s
Felipe’s: This family-run restaurant now has four locations across Wichita. But the original at 2424 W. Central was founded by the late Felipe Lujano in 1967.
1930s
NuWay Cafe, 1416 W. Douglas: Okay, so technically there wasn’t much of a “west side” as we know it in 1930, but we’re gonna give ‘em this one. Wichita’s longest continually operating restaurant is the NuWay in Delano, which opened in July of 1930. It later grew into a regional chain and now still has restaurants serving crumbly burgers in Delano and at 7301 W. Central.
Non-chain gets for the west side
6S Steakhouse: Brandon Steven chose the west side for his fine-dinning restaurant, which opened at 6200 W. 21st St. in 2018.
Twelve Restaurant & Bar: Bryce Kuhn opened this upscale restaurant at 12111 W. Maple in 2013, which, by the way, was 12 years ago.
Coming soon:
KVH Chophouse: This super-fancy fine-dining restaurant, owned by local businessman Greg Hiser, should open in July at 2926 N. Tyler Road.
Parlor Doughnuts: This Indiana-based chain, which should open sometime in July, chose the old Hurts Donut space at 7010 W. 21st St. as its first Wichita location.
The Big Biscuit: A Kansas City-based breakfast chain, The Big Biscuit plans to open the first of three to five Wichita restaurants at 2330 N. Maize Road. It should be ready this fall.
This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 5:01 AM.
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