In memoriam: Restaurants Wichita loved, then lost, in 2025
Losing a favorite restaurant is never easy. And yet, every year, Wichita must deal with restaurant losses over and over again.
It’s become an end-of-the-year tradition to remember, in-memoriam-style, the restaurants Wichita lost over the past 12 months.
A moment of silence, please, as we look back at the restaurants that didn’t make it out of 2025:
January
Le Monde, 602 N. West St.: This Mediterranean restaurant, known for its fattoush salad with pickles and crumbly sweet biscuits, had been in business for 30 years when it closed on Jan. 16. Owner Lilas Krichati, who took over the restaurant after the 2017 death of her husband, Mohamad, said that business was just too slow. A lawsuit filed against her by the restaurant’s longtime manager Ghassan “Gus” Hajeh that included allegations of fraud, is still ongoing. The LeMonde building was recently taken over by a new business called Blazin Halal Food.
February
Sidelines Sports Bar & Grill, 1400 E. First St.: Jeran Trotter, a youth football coach who opened his sports bar in 2022, closed it in early February saying he’d decided to sell the property to his neighbor, American Collision & Hail Repair.
Sesame Mediterranean Kitchen, 4510 E. 19th St.: Youssef Youssef opened a second location of his west-side Mediterranean eatery on March 1 of 2023. But the restaurant, which was part of the Braeburn Square development on Wichita State University’s Innovation Campus, closed in late February. A new restaurant — Rajadhani Indian Cuisine out of Overland Park — just opened in the space.
China Star Super Buffet, 5825 W. Central Ave.: This restaurant had been in business since March of 1999 but closed on Feb. 28 of this year. The owners never provided a reason for the closing. China Star Super Buffet was known for multiple buffet lines offering dozens of items. It also was once known for its incredibly campy commercials.
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March
Chick N Max, 3520 N. Maize Road: This location of Chick N Max was the first of three of the local restaurants that would close in 2025. Max Sheets opened his 37th and Maize location in January 2019 but closed it in early March. The space was taken over in July by breakfast chain The Easy Egg.
April
Ooo LaLa Stone Pho, 1415 W. Pawnee: This pho restaurant opened near Pawnee and Seneca in 2023. But in April, the owner closed it, saying the building was too big to support his restaurant. Though he said he planned to reopen in the former Mi No Bakery building at 2528 S. Oliver, that never happened. The owner recently said he has since moved on to a new career and doesn’t plan to reopen the eatery.
Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, 1441 N. Webb Road: This chain pizza restaurant lasted for two years at the Wichita Waterfront. It closed in mid-April, the result of what a spokesperson called a business decision. In October, The Eagle reported that Matteo Taha, owner of Bella Luna Cafe, planned to move his Bradley Fair restaurant into the old Grimaldi’s space. The move should happen in the first quarter of 2026.
Fusion Restaurant & Catering, 9504 W. Central: Shannon Johnson moved her restaurant from Delano to the former Magic Wok space in late 2022 but closed it in April. Then, in late October, Bella Vita Bistro’s owner moved her restaurant from its longtime spot at 120 N. West St. into the space.
Mi No Bakery, 2528 S. Oliver: The owners of this Vietnamese bakery closed their storefront at the end of April so that they could focus on their young family.
May
Stroud’s, 3661 N. Hillside: This family-style fried chicken restaurant opened in Wichita in the summer of 1993. But in April, owners surprised Wichita by announcing that the restaurant would close in May. A manager said that food and insurance prices had risen too much to keep operating.
The Anchor, 1109 E. Douglas: Though the longtime downtown bar had been closed for weeks, it was seized by the Kansas Department of Revenue on May 2. Schane Gross first opened the restaurant in 2004. The building, along with two neighboring buildings, and all the contents, were sold at auction in July for $1.9 million to local realtor Bobbie Lane, her husband, Jonathan Lane, and Parabolic Construction owner Adam Church. The trio later revealed that they plan to lease The Anchor space to Johnny’s Tavern of Lawrence.
June
R Coffeehouse, 1144 Bitting: After 13 years, Angelo and Gerard Rodriguez closed their Riverside coffee shop in late June. But James Gates and wife Sarah Jane Sovereign-Gates took the space over and reopened it in September as a new coffee shop called Riverside Bohemian.
Jimmy’s Egg, 7777 E. 21st St.: In June, local businessman and Jimmy’s Egg franchisee Wink Hartman shut down what had been Wichita’s first Jimmy’s Egg restaurant when it opened in 2008. The space will eventually become home to a new-to-town breakfast chain, The Big Biscuit.
July
Kung Fu Tea, 2120 N. Amidon: This boba shop expanded in 2022 to the New Leaf Plaza, at 21st and Amidon, but it closed in mid-July. (Its original shop is still open at 1625 S. Rock Road.) It was quickly replaced by a tea/vintage clothing shop called Tea N’ Tee.
Levantine Kitchen, 3337 E. Central: Hassan Ballout, owner of Albero Bistro at K-96 and Greenwich, closed this restaurant in July after five months. Levantine Kitchen served healthier Mediterranean dishes, but the numbers were never there, Ballout said. A new restaurant has since taken the space over: Mr. Wingz, an Overland Park-based restaurant that serves chicken wings, tenders and sandwiches.
Connekt Cafe, 9310 W. Central: In the fall of 2023, Jerry and Merlie Romer opened Vita Bella tea shop in the former Dairy Queen building near Central and Tyler. Then, early this year they dropped the Vita Bella franchise and reopened their shop as their own concept: Connekt Cafe. But by June, that was closed, too. The building has since been taken over by a food truck called J&A’s Flavored Kitchen.
Bakesale Treat Parlor, 2000 N. Rock Road: Jon Rolph and his Thrive Restaurant Group (HomeGrown, Carlos O’Kelly’s, Applebee’s) gave their dessert shop three years but closed it in July, saying the concept just didn’t work out.
Noble House, 2119 W. 21st St.: Chef Akamu Noble started his Hawaiian plate lunch journey in Wichita with a food truck. Then, over the years, he had a couple of different brick-and-mortar spots. He closed the latest one, which had been operating out of the former Angela’s Cafe spot at 2119 W. 21st St. since January of 2024, in late July. After that, he started serving his food at Plentibloom, the food hall concept inside the Ruffin Building, 100 N. Broadway. A new restaurant, Birria Estilo Zacatecas, is now operating in the space.
August
Sam’s Southern Eatery, 2706 N. Amidon, 6600 W. Central: Salina software engineer Emanuel Ashiedu said in August that he closed his two Wichita locations of the Louisiana-based Sam’s Southern Eatery chain as well as his restaurants in Salina and Hutchinson. He wanted to part ways with the Sam’s chain, he said, but planned to open similar seafood restaurants under his own brand, Scotty’s Seafood. He recently said that he’s still working on those plans.
Pig In Pig Out, 1003 E. 13th St.: This Wichita barbecue restaurant got its start in 1996. But in August, owner Derek Cochran closed it, saying he needed to focus on his health. He said in a social post about the closing that he hoped “a new iteration” restaurant could be revived in the future.
A&J Pokeraman, 550 N. Ridge Road: Dragon City Chinese Restaurant owner Jimmy Liu opened this restaurant in October 2024 in the former Bento Cafe space near Central and Ridge Road. But it didn’t last a year, closing about five months ago.
Wichita Cheesecake Company, 801 E. Douglas: Mark and Grace Daniels opened a brick-and-mortar spot for their cheesecake business in August 2021. In August of this year, they closed it, citing worries over paid downtown parking. Mark Daniels said at the time that he planned to eventually reopen the business as a carry out-only operation.
Peerless, 919 E. Douglas: The owner of this longtime downtown bar decided not to renew his lease when it was up in August. It first opened in 2019 but was closed from March to early November 2019, when Marcello Venegas bought it.
September
Tianluo Bistro, 11309 E. Kellogg: This Chinese restaurant opened in a strip center near Kellogg and Greenwich in 2021. But in late August, the owner announced on social media that the restaurant was temporarily closing. It’s remained closed since, but the owner said she plans to reopen in a new spot in 2026.
Hibachi Boy, 3010 E. Central: Lou Kumgool, who has owned several Asian restaurants in the Wichita area over the years, opened a Hibachi Boy near Central and Hillside in spring 2022. But she started to have disagreements with her new landlords at Green Elephant Village and was struggling with parking issues. So she decided to close and did so in September. She recently said she’s not sure if she’ll open another restaurant in Wichita but promised to share plans if she did.
The Mango Tree Indian Kitchen + Tap House, 111 E. 47th St. South: This Indian restaurant opened in an old Burger King building in the fall of 2023. But the Idaho-based owners closed it sometime in late August or early September. They didn’t return calls about the closure.
Chick N Max, 8977 W. Central: The Central and Tyler location of this restaurant, which had been open since March 2023, closed in September, and the building is now listed for lease.
Paradise Donuts downtown, 612 E. Douglas: Though their shop at 10607 W. Maple St. is still open, the owners of Paradise Donuts announced in September that they were closing the small downtown shop they’d operated since August 2018.
October
Amore Italian Restaurant, 2315 W. 21st St.: In October, this 2-year-old restaurant closed suddenly and with no explanation. The owners never returned calls about why the restaurant, which had been open since November 2023, closed, but the space it occupied is now for lease by owners Moeder & Associates.
Crafted/Sharky’s Island Bites, 9710 E. 21st St.: Mike Brotemarkle opened a coffee and poke shop called Crafted near 21st and Webb in 2019. Then, earlier this year, he rebranded it to Sharky’s Island Bites to go along with the restaurant that he opened in September at 8918 W. 21st St. But in late October, Brotemarkle — who had to have major back surgery — closed the 21st and Webb restaurant. A social media post said that he planned to focus on the west-side Sharky’s and on his food trucks.
Express Kitchen, 725 E. Douglas: Natasha Gandhi-Rue, who in May 2024 opened at K-96 and Oliver a larger location of her downtown restaurant The Kitchen, reimagined her downtown as a quick-service restaurant serving build-your-own bowls, salads and wraps. She opened it in April but decided to close it in late October.
BBQ Express, 6249 E. 21st St. North: This barbecue restaurant took over the former Da Cajun Shak space in April. But the owner closed the restaurant in October, citing high utility costs. He is still offering catering.
Manhattan Brewing Company, 117 N. Handley: The owners of Manhattan Brewing Company in Manhattan — including Wichita native and former K-State football player Jake Voegeli — opened a small Wichita tap room in an event space adjacent to the Slape & Howard law firm (and the former home of Aero Plains Brewing.) in August 2024. But in late October, the owners announced they were closing the tap room. Voegeli said that they were just breaking even in Wichita and decided to turn their focus back to their Manhattan tap room.
Moroccan Cafe, 301 N. Main: This cafe opened in the lobby of the Epic Center in downtown Wichita in February, taking over a space that previously had been occupied by Il Primo. But it was closed by February. A spokesperson for the Epic Center says that building management is looking for a replacement restaurant.
Chick N Max, 5510 E. Central: Chick N Max quietly closed another location, this one near Central and Edgemoor, in October, leaving it with only one remaining Wichita restaurant (at 352 S. West St.) Sebastian Gordon, owner of the local sandwich shop Red Bird, is planning to open a new burger concept in the space that he’ll call Black Bird Burger.
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November
Abuelo’s, 1413 N. Waterfront Parkway: Mexican restaurant chain Abuelo’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this year and closed its underperforming restaurants. One of them was Wichita’s original Abuelo’s, which opened at the Waterfront in early 2015. Wichita’s second Abeulo’s, at 452 S. Ridge Road, remains open.
Tad’s Carryout, 25445 N. Hillside: This carry out restaurant, which served burgers, catfish and chicken tenders, had been open since 2019 but closed in November. A new restaurant, called Taste of Flavorz, has since taken over the space.
December
Cofellow Coffee Parlor, 150 N. Main: Dec. 27 was the last day in business for this coffee shop, which opened a year ago on the first floor of The National, a luxury apartment and office space in the former Commerce Bank Building. Owner Jeremy Weldon still has his flagship store in Goddard as well as a shop that operates inside the lobby of Vima Church, 2120 N. Woodlawn.
Sesame Mediterranean Kitchen, 2755 N. Maize Road: Youssef Youssef also closed his original Sesame, this one in NewMarket Square, on Dec. 28. It had been open for nearly five years.
Margarita’s Cantina, 3109 E. Douglas: The Wichita building near Douglas and Hillside that has been home to Margarita’s Cantina since 1992 got new owners in October. Then, in December, Margarita’s owners said that they needed a smaller place and would close the restaurant at the end of business on Dec. 31. They promised to share their new address when they got one.
Notable closings outside of Wichita
El Toro, 121 E. Fifth St. Newton: A Mexican restaurant staple for more than 60 years, El Toro closed in early June when the longtime owner decided he was ready to slow down. The building is now for sale.
IHOP, 1906 N. Rock Road, Derby: Derby’s IHOP was underperforming, said franchisees Moe Touffaha and Mike Issa. So in late September, they closed it. The Big Biscuit out of Kansas City will take over the space.
Abode Bar & Bistro, 837 N. Andover Road, Andover: Il Primo owner Daniel Mariotti opened this concept — which was half casual bar and grill, half fine-dining establishment — in early April in the former Rusted Rooster coffee shop space. But he closed it in September, citing personal reasons. A new restaurant will take over the space on Jan. 2: Patrick Alvarez’s Uno Mas Cantina.
Starbucks, 18731 W. Kellogg: When the Starbucks chain announced in September plans to close about 1% of its North American stores, the Wichita area wondered if it would lose any. The only one that closed, though, was the 2-year-old store in Goddard. Its final day in business was Sept. 27.
The Breadbasket, 219 N. Main in Newton: After 41 years in business, this Newton mainstay restaurant and bakery — known for its weekly German buffet — announced it would close on Dec. 31. Current owner Chad Lehman said that he’d just had too much trouble keeping employees since the pandemic and decided to close. He and his father, the co-owner, had been trying to sell for two years.
This story was originally published December 30, 2025 at 5:09 AM.
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