IHOP restaurant that closed on Sunday will be taken over by new restaurant chain

As of today, Derby is down one breakfast chain — but it won’t be for long.

Sunday was the final day of business for the IHOP at 1906 N. Rock that franchisees Moe Touffaha and Mike Issa opened eight years ago. The location, which operated in the Derby Marketplace development, just wasn’t doing well, Issa said on Monday.

“It was slow, so we decided to shut it down and figure out something else,” he said.

Also on Monday, a spokesperson for breakfast chain The Big Biscuit confirmed rumors that had been floating around Derby: The Kansas City-based breakfast chain plans to take the IHOP building over and turn it into its third Wichita-area restaurant.

The Derby Big Biscuit will be part of the chain’s plan to open four corporate-owned restaurants in the Wichita area, the spokesperson said. He didn’t have an exact timeline for when The Big Biscuit might open in Derby, he said, but added that it likely wouldn’t be before the second half of next year.

The Wichita area’s first Big Biscuit restaurant is under construction in an old Mexican restaurant space at 2330 N. Maize Road and on track for an October opening. The sign recently went up on the building.

Earlier this summer, the chain announced that it would also be taking over the old Jimmy’s Egg spot at 106 S. Hydraulic, which closed at the end of last year. That location of The Big Biscuit is likely to open in early 2026.

The Big Biscuit, which has nearly 30 locations in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas, serves a big menu of breakfast dishes including biscuits and gravy, omelets, pancakes, Benedicts, waffles, french toast and breakfast sandwiches. It also serves lunch items like salads, burgers, sandwiches and fried chicken strips.

Touffaha and Issa haven’t had the best luck with restaurants in Derby. They also opened a Taco John’s at about the same time they opened the Derby IHOP — and in the same strip center. But they closed the Taco John’s in early 2020, Issa said, because it also wasn’t busy.

But they are still in the IHOP business: They own the restaurants on North Rock Road and on East Kellogg and have about 14 others around the region. They will soon add three or four more in Kansas, Missouri and New Mexico, Issa said.

This story was originally published September 22, 2025 at 12:55 PM.

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.