Staff of this Wichita restaurant ‘blindsided’ by news of closure, employee says
Today is Wichita’s last day to dine at the On the Border restaurant that opened in NewMarket Square in 2004.
The chain notified Slawson Companies, NewMarket Square’s owner, that it would be closing the restaurant by the end of the month, said Kimberly Fowles, the shopping center’s listing broker. And this morning, multiple employees, including one who answered the phone at the restaurant, confirmed that today would be the restaurant’s final day.
But what does that mean for the east-side On the Border, which has been operating at 1930 N. Rock Road in Bradley Fair since 1997?
Reached on Friday morning, general manager Chloe Demitras said that the east-side On the Border will remain open.
“We are absolutely not closing,” she said.
The Texas-based chain’s parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2025, citing $25 million in debt.
Then, In May of last year, Houston-based Pappas Restaurants — known for Mexican restaurant Pappasito’s Cantina, among others — purchased the chain out of bankruptcy at auction and has since closed several of the remaining On the Border restaurants. Topeka’s On the Border had its last day on May 15. Pappas also closed restaurants in Fayetteville and Hot Springs, Arkansas; in Colorado Springs; and in Longview, Texas, this month.
When Papas Restaurants bought the chain, 60 On the Border restaurants were still operating in the United States. After today, there will be 34, according to the On the Border website. The east-Wichita restaurant will be the last one in Kansas.
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Demitras said the east-side store could pick up staff members from the west-side location.
Shana Ohlman, who has worked at the west-side On the Border for a year, said that the staff was blindsided when informed by management on Wednesday morning that the restaurant would be closing. Ohlman had worked in the restaurant for years, she said, and employees were so shocked, none really asked questions about the reasons for the closing. They were told only that the east-side’s numbers had been better pre-Covid, she said.
“The restaurant felt like a second family,” she said. “Our management team, everyone I worked with, it was truly an exceptional group, and I was completely broken-hearted when I found out.”
Fowles of Slawson Companies said NewMarket is now looking for tenants not only for the 6,000-square-foot On the Border space but also for the TGI Fridays building, which has been vacant since 2017. NewMarket sold that building but bought it back two years ago and has cleaned it out, hoping to attract a new tenant.
This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 11:39 AM.
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