An inside peek at one of two fried chicken chains opening in Wichita this week
Two new-to-Wichita national fried chicken chains will both open this week within a day of each other: Raising Cane’s at 350 S. Ridge Road opens its doors to the public at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, and then at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Golden Chick will open at 1705 S. Webb Road.
On Monday, the franchisee of Golden Chick put on an invite-only “soft opening” event at his new restaurant, where he let the staff practice and let his guests choose from one of four meals to sample: a chicken tender combo, a fried chicken sandwich combo, a three-piece chicken combo or a fried catfish combo.
I took the opportunity to stop by and meet Adam Abusaleh, who is the Wichita franchisee for Golden Chick, a Texas-based fried chicken chain that has 240 restaurants across Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Florida and Mississippi. The Wichita store will be its first in Kansas.
Abusaleh said the Harry and Webb Golden Chick will likely not be the last for Wichita. He plans to build as many as the market allows.
“It took so much to get this built,” he said on Monday. “We wanted to take a little bit of a break to see how things go, and then we are planning on having more.”
Abusaleh said he’s lived in Wichita for 32 years: He was a college student in 1995 when he got a job at Antoine Toubia’s Olive Tree restaurant at 2949 N. Rock Road. Now, Abusaleh has his own food company called Sunorah Hospitality Management. He once was in charge of food services for Kansas Heart Hospital, and he’s handled food services for the Kansas Medical Center in Andover for the past 20 years.
He was introduced to the Golden Chick chain by his cousin, who in 2016 had four restaurants in Oklahoma City, Abusaleh said.
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“We liked the food, the atmosphere, the colors, and the way it was laid out,” he said. “And the numbers looked good.”
Abusaleh decided the chain would be a good fit for Wichita. In May of last year, Golden Chick announced its plans to expand into Kansas with the Wichita restaurant, owned by Abusaleh.
Golden Chick serves bone-in chicken and chicken tenders that are marinated for 24 hours, hand battered, hand breaded and fried fresh multiple times a day. The restaurant is also known for its fresh-baked yeast rolls, which are proofed and baked throughout the day and served as side items or used as buns for the chicken sandwiches.
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On Monday, Abusaleh and district manager Julie Burt took turns standing at the door of the restaurant, asking for QR codes that would allow invited guests inside. Over the lunch hour, several other people also stopped in but were asked to come back on Wednesday. Over the past several weeks, a few different opening dates have circulated online, but the official public opening date is Wednesday.
Golden Chick, which also has a drive-though, will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Raising Cane’s opening day details
A reminder for those who want to visit the new Raising Cane’s when it opens on Tuesday morning:
Though the new restaurant, which specializes in chicken tenders, fries and sauces, will officially open at 10 a.m., people will likely start lining up early for the restaurant’s opening-day promotion.
People ages 13 and older who are waiting in line between 8 and 9 a.m. at 350 S. Ridge Road will get to enter the restaurant’s “Lucky 20” drawing. The 20 local winners, chosen at random, will get free Raising Cane’s food for a year. The drawing will be held shortly after 9 a.m. (Winners will get one free box combo three times a month for 12 months.)
Also, the purchasers of the first 100 combo meals sold that day will get a commemorative hat and a card good for a free box combo on a future visit. Store managers also plan to present a check to Rainbows United on opening day, and an official ribbon-cutting ceremony will happen at around 9:30 a.m.
Golden Chick Wichita menu
This story was originally published June 23, 2025 at 2:30 PM.
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