Building that was home to Wichita’s first IHOP is about to get a new tenant

Earlier this month, I told you about a former Wichita restaurant space that was about to be repurposed as a bank: the old Torchy’s Tacos space at 21st and Rock, which sometime next year will reopen as a branch of the Hutchinson-based Heartland Credit Union.

Now, I have another story about a former Wichita restaurant space that’s about to be repurposed as a bank.

People who frequent the area between Kellogg and Maple on Ridge Road have noticed that the building at 515 S. Ridge Circle that for 25 years held an IHOP restaurant is now in the midst of a big renovation. (A year ago, IHOP franchisee Mike Issa moved the restaurant just across the street to a new building at 526 S. Ridge Road.)

This fall, it will reopen as a second Wichita branch of Chase Bank, which opened its first physical location in Wichita at 2210 N. Rock Road in July of last year.

According to a city building permit application, the interior of the old IHOP will be completely renovated, and the new branch will have a drive-up ATM. A sign posted outside the building says it will be ready by fall.

The building being turned into the bank was home to Wichita’s first IHOP, which opened in 1999. Issa and his brothers Ty and Mike took over the lease in 2011.

Last August, though, Issa moved the restaurant to a new building he’d had put up just across the street. It has 185 seats as opposed to the previous building’s 125, which he needed, he said, because the IHOP on Ridge was consistently the busiest in town.

This story was originally published July 21, 2025 at 10:48 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.