Restaurant chain serving teriyaki bowls about to open its first Wichita location
A new fast-casual restaurant is expanding into Wichita, and its chief marketing officer says the metro area could eventually support 14 locations.
But it’s starting with two.
Teriyaki Madness, a Denver-based chain that has 180 restaurants across the United States, should have two restaurants in Wichita by fall. The first one is expected to open on Aug. 8 at 3801 N. Ridge Road, in a new strip center called Shops at Avante that also is home to Papa’s Ice Cream & Treats, Jimmy’s Egg and Bricks & Minifigs.
Within about four months, said chief marketing officer Jodi Boyce, a second restaurant will open at 344-346 N. Hillside, which is an open lot just south of Central and Hillside, next to the strip center that has Doc Green’s, Great Wall and El Capitan Seafood and Grill. That restaurant is in the design phase.
Johnny Steven, a local insurance company owner, is the franchisee of the two Wichita restaurants, and he’s also planning to open a restaurant in Overland Park, Boyce said. A Teriyaki Madness restaurant has operated at 7074 W. 105th St. in Overland Park since 2000. The first restaurant for the chain, in the Kansas City, Missouri, area, opened in 2022 at 10408 NE Cookingham Dr. in Kansas City.
Teriyaki Madness, Boyce said, has a menu that appeals to a younger demographic looking for healthier restaurant meals. It serves made-to-order bowls featuring teriyaki chicken, steak, salmon and tofu. It also offers orange chicken, chicken katsu and yakisoba. The portions are huge, she said.
Customers can choose to have their bowls made with white, brown or fried rice; stir-fried or steamed veggies; or noodles. It also offers appetizers such as chicken egg rolls, chicken pot stickers, crab Rangoon and edamame.
The top seller, Boyce said, is the chicken teriyaki bowl, followed closely by the spicy chicken teriyaki bowl.
“Our food is fresh, it’s made to order, it’s customizable, and it happens to be a little bit healthier,” Boyce said. “It’s just better for you than pizza and burgers and fries, and so it just lends well to young, active, working adults who are constantly on the go.”
The brand is going over so well in the Kansas City area, Boyce said, that the chain decided to look for franchisees in Wichita.
Customers will be able to either order their food at the counter and dine in or order food to go. Though Teriyaki Madness restaurants don’t have drive-throughs, they do employ a service they call “Mad Dash.” People who order their food online through the restaurant’s app can pull up to the curb and get their food immediately.
“Because we have technology in our app that tracks the customer’s phone, we know exactly when they’re pulling up,” Boyce said. “Our goal is to literally be standing at the curb when the customer pulls up so they don’t have to park. They don’t even have to stop. They could just slow down and we take it to their car and they’re on their way. It’s really fast.”
Boyce said that the chain is focusing on Steven’s first three restaurants but that it thinks the Wichita metro area has room for around 14 Teriyaki Madness locations.
“There’s definitely plans for the three,” she said. “And we’re a franchise system, so we’ll go where franchisees want to go.”
Franchisee Steven started Eddy’s Insurance Group in 2014 with his brothers Brandon and Rodney. Steven told The Eagle in April that his cousin, Craig Steven Jr. of the Spangles chain, also has a small stake in the franchise.
This story was originally published July 10, 2025 at 1:22 PM.
.jpg)