About-to-open Wichita restaurant is known for happy-hour specials, craft burgers
Wichita’s newest hotel restaurant will be different from many of the others in town in that it won’t be hidden inside, waiting to be forgotten about.
Bar Louie, a bar and restaurant chain based in Dallas, is just about to open at the new airport-adjacent Hilton Garden Inn/Homewood Suites hotel at 1523 S. Ridge Road in Wichita. The restaurant will open to the public on Monday, Oct. 27, right around the same time the hotel is set to open.
Bar Louie is taking over a building that, at least from the front, appears unconnected from the hotel. It has its own outdoor signage, its own entrance and feels like its own space. The back side of the restaurant building, though, holds the hotel’s conference space, which is connected to the main hotel.
I got a tour of the almost-completed Bar Louie on Wednesday, and it looks like a modern sports bar. It has a big, U-shaped bar with seating for 36. Scattered around the bar are high-top and low-top tables and big booths. Around 15 television screens, where sporting events will be shown, hang on the walls, some of which are brick.
The open outdoor space between the restaurant and the hotel will serve those who prefer patio dining. The space is filled with tables and chairs and also has lounge seating around a fire table. Patio customers also will be able to watch sporting events.
Brian DeHart, who is the director of operations for the Bar Louie chain, was in town this week helping with final details. He said that Bar Louie sells itself more as a bar than a restaurant, though it does have a large food menu and is welcoming to families.
The stars of the food menu, he said, are the craft burgers, but Bar Louie also serves entrees like steak frites, grilled citrus salmon and chicken tenders. It also has sandwiches, flatbreads, salads and sharable appetizers like pretzels with beer cheese, bruschetta, spicy chicken fundido, wings, sliders, calamari, and fried pickles.
The bar is known for its craft cocktails, classic cocktails and 18 beer taps, six of which will be reserved for local beers. Customers love the bar’s happy hour, which happens from 3 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and offers discounted beer, wine, cocktails, bar bites and flatbreads.
“We’ve always been known for our happy hour,” DeHart said. “We’re known for our sharables, so you can come in with a group, come in with your friends after work and take advantage of the discounted prices and still get the same great food and drinks.“
Bar Louie has struggled since COVID: It once had more than 100 locations across the country but has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice in the past five years and now is down to around 40 locations. The closest one to Wichita is in St. Charles, Missouri.
The chain was sold out of bankruptcy earlier this month to Sun Holdings, which owns fast-food franchises across the country, including Burger King, Papa Johns, Popeyes, Arby’s, IHOP, Applebee’s and Golden Corral. Sun Holdings, which also purchased the Freebirds and Uncle Julio’s chains, plans to build Bar Louie back up and open four or five new locations a year going forward, DeHart said.
At the moment, about half the Bar Louie restaurants in the country are owned by the company, and the other half are owned by franchisees. Wichita’s Bar Louie is owned by local franchisees.
Bar Louie will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and from 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays. It will serve brunch on the weekends and also will keep its kitchen open as long as the bar is open, meaning it will offer a rare opportunity for late-night dining in Wichita.
Most people will find the restaurant by taking the Eisenhower Airport exit off of Kellogg, traveling south, taking the Harry exit off of Eisenhower Airport Parkway, turning east, then turning north onto Ridge Road.
This story was originally published October 15, 2025 at 2:51 PM.
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