Two years after Kansas City restaurant shares plans for Wichita, there’s movement
It was the final week of July 2023 when husband-and-wife Bogart Sauza and Diana Perez announced their plans to turn the former Jax Restaurant and Bar building at 21st and Webb into a Wichita location of their Leawood-based Viva Tacos & Tequila.
But in the two years following, nothing really happened, and Wichita began to wonder if the project was still a go.
Now, there’s movement. Recently, signs were put up at the building, 9719 E. 21st St., and the owners say that opening day is close. They’re waiting on their certificate of occupancy from the city and then will choose an opening date.
When they first shared their plans in 2023, the couple said they’d open the restaurant in about three months. But earlier this year, they explained that they’d encountered issues with the building that set them back.
They also were busy on a different project. In September of last year, they opened an Olathe restaurant in the former Wahlburgers space at 11935 Black Bob Road.
Viva Tacos & Tequila is known for its high-end margaritas and tequila selection and serves a large variety of margaritas hand-made with fresh juices and blue agave tequila. The bar stocks more than 100 tequilas, mezcals and sotol.
The large food menu offers guacamole made table-side, fajitas, seafood dishes, burritos, quesadillas and special dishes including a birria pizza, mini chimichangas and a dish called Viva Trompo, which features pork and veggies skewers that are hanging from a special stand.
The owners’ Leawood restaurant opened at 5031 W. 135th St. in June 2022.
The Wichita Viva Tacos & Tequila will be open from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Sundays. It will offer both a lunch and a dinner menu.
Stay tuned for the official opening date.
Viva Tacos & Tequila menu
This story was originally published July 23, 2025 at 1:14 PM.
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