OK, already: Spangles gives in to years of customer gripes, restores menu item
The COVID-19 pandemic took away lots of things people loved. In Wichita, the list included the Spangles pita sandwiches.
Because of supply chain issues back in 2020, the local restaurant chain removed pita sandwiches — a decades-long staple — from the menu. The owners didn’t think it would be a big deal.
But it was, said Rene Steven, Spangles’ director of operations. During the more than five years since the sandwiches were deleted from the menu, customers have never stopped protesting, complaining, emailing and demanding to know where the heck they went and when the heck they were coming back.
“From that point on, we just received email after email and phone calls and comments saying, ‘I’m never coming back,’” Steven said. “What’s crazy is it just kept going on, and it just never stopped.”
Now, Spangles has given in. The pita sandwiches, which are served at both breakfast and lunch, returned to the menu on Friday, Steven said. And it’s not a “limited-time” deal. They’re back for good.
“They won,” she said with a laugh.
Steven said she couldn’t remember a time before COVID that the sandwiches, which are served on soft, pillowy pita bread, weren’t on the menu. Before COVID, the chain’s 27 restaurants served two breakfast varieties, one a pita filled with sausage, eggs and cheese and the other a “breakfast club” pita filled with eggs, ham, bacon and cheese. For lunch and dinner, customers could get the “turkey turkey” pita or a chicken pita.
All four are now back, Steven said, but lunch and dinner crowds have a few additional options. Since Spangles stopped serving pita sandwiches, they added crispy chicken and spicy chicken to the menu. Now, people can get their chicken pitas filled with either grilled, crispy or spicy crispy chicken.
Steven said that she guesses people loved the pita sandwiches so much because they are a healthier alternative: Pita bread is lower in fat than a hamburger bun.
“I think it’s unique,” she said of the pita sandwich. “It’s not on everyone’s menu. People like burritos, but it’s not a burrito: It’s healthier. It’s filling. It’s good in size. It’s just a feel-good, warm sandwich.”
Plus, she said, the pita sandwiches just tasted good, and although Spangles owners’ knew that, they didn’t know how deep the pita patronage ran.
Still, they’re surprised by how upset they made their customers, she said. They tried replacing the pita sandwiches with new products — a few sandwich melts stuffed with the same fillings the pitas had — but they didn’t take.
“People just did not want to give in,” she said.
This story was originally published February 10, 2026 at 1:21 PM.
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