This longtime Wichita restaurant is about to leave its home of 33 years
Margarita’s Cantina, a Mexican restaurant that has operated at 3109 E. Douglas since 1992, is closing after all.
On Wednesday evening, co-owner Jesse Lee shared a news release that said Dec. 31 would be the restaurant’s final day in business at its current address. The owners will say farewell to the restaurant’s longtime home with a big New Year’s Eve party.
The announcement comes after the building that has housed Margarita’s for three decades got new owners at an auction in October. The building was purchased by the Suellentrop family, which includes brothers and real estate developers Brian and Paul Suellentrop. The two have built, among other things, the Shops at Avante at 37th and Ridge, the Shops at Chadsworth on North Maize Road across from NewMarket Square, and Brunswick Place near Maple and Ridge Road.
Although the owners of Margarita’s spoke out in October to reassure customers that they weren’t closing despite auction signs posted outside the building, in the end, they decided that leaving the East Douglas address would be the best option. Their lease was set to expire in April 2026.
I was not able to reach Margarita’s owners on Wednesday evening, but the release implied that they may open the restaurant elsewhere. It also said that the sale of the building was a “blessing in disguise.”
“While Margarita’s Cantina has welcomed countless guests with live music and entertainment over the years, that part of our business has naturally slowed, and the space became more than we needed,” the release said. “We recognized this moment as an opportunity to find a better fit.”
I have messages out to both Lee and Brian Suellentrop and will try to get more information to share after Thanksgiving.
The release did say that the new owners of the Margaritas building “are excited to shape the building’s future in their own way.”
The building was previously owned by the late Darrell Leason, a commercial real estate broker in Wichita who died in 2016 at age 87. The building has been tied up in probate, and Leason’s heirs recently decided they wanted to sell it. Leason was Wood’s grandfather.
Wood and Lee bought Margarita’s in 2021 from founder Don Overstake, who opened the restaurant on July 22, 1992. Margarita’s became known not only for its sour cream enchiladas but also as a place where people could dance the weekend away to the music of Overstake’s band, Lotus.
The band continued to perform on weekends at the restaurant even after Lee and Wood took over. But the two decided in the summer of 2024 to stop having live bands inside the restaurant and focus on the food. Lotus, by that time, had already stopped playing as a group.
Wednesday’s release said that Margarita’s farewell party on Dec. 31 would “celebrate 33 years of memories with music, dancing, great food, and plenty of margaritas as the Cantina raises one last toast to its storied past, and perhaps to its next chapter.”
I’ll post an update when I get more information from the current owners of Margarita’s or from the Suellentrops.
This story was originally published November 27, 2025 at 12:33 AM.
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