WICHITA — Readers have been wondering if an A&W drive-in is really coming to Wichita.
Last August, Have You Heard? reported that former Sonic franchisee Eric Estes would bring back the A&W concept, which has been out of the market for decades.
He didn’t open the restaurants here this year as he originally thought he would — he went to Garden City instead — but Estes is still planning on it.
“Oh, yeah,” he says. “We’re absolutely doing it.”
He plans to break ground this year and open late next winter or early spring.
The only question is where.
Estes has two pieces of ground — one east, one west. One he owns, the other he’s leasing. One will be for an A&W. The other might be for an A&W or another concept.
Estes would rather not pinpoint locations, though.
“Competitors have really been on us,” he says. “They are really, really sniffing. We’re not used to that.”
Earlier this year, Estes opened a Long John Silver’s at Kellogg and Rock, near where Chipotle recently broke ground as well.
Now, he’s planning a Long John Silver’s Freshside Grille for 29th and Maize in front of Lowe’s.
Estes says the restaurant will feature a more upscale interior, decor and menu, which will have more grilled items instead of fried.
Construction should start within 45 to 60 days.
Estes says he’ll keep us posted on what he decides for A&W.
“That’s going to be a lot of fun,” he says. “That’s going to be huge for us.”
11 Comments
I don’t eat at Long John Silver’s too often; But it will be nice to have one Northwest.
As for A&W if he puts one west I will patronize it fairly often.
Any chance they’ll bring back the window trays and glass mugs? Probably not…
I had a dine-in A&W burger and root beer float out in Iola coming back from Missouri a couple years ago, and it was one of the best ever. Of course, we were starving by 2:30, but they served the float in a glass mug and it was great.
A & W kicks butt. Love the place.
I think he should start with an A&W downtown…
a&w is really not very good, compared to all the other burger joints in wichita. isn’t there still one in wellington? i have had to stop at a couple here and there traveling and they really are pretty gross. good rootbeer though
I remember the A&W locatio at Central and Edgemoor where the McDonalds is currently located.
The Root Beer floats, the steel tray on the window, the sand lot…….not cemented, but that creamy Root Beer was the best.
The ice cream would kind of freeze and there would be these frozen bits of Root Beer mixed with the colder ice cream………it was great.
I am not sure anymore of the formulation of the A&W Root Beer brand.
It used to be really thick and creamy, but over the years, the various owners of A&W have tampered with the formula for some unconsciable reason………so when they open, yes, it may be huge in people’s minds, but we are remembering what it tasted like yesterday.
Not sure if the current taste will measure up, and in that case, it will be a huge loser……..better make sure that formula is up to standards that used to make A&W the best root-beer in the land.
There is an older one in Winfield that my family visited 3 Sunday’s ago and it was totally 70’s decor–really retro. They still had the orange phone to order from your table, original orange and silver napkin holders, wood panel walls, and a very similar menu to what I had growing up on that food in the 70’s. It is less than 30 minutes from Wichita and was a fun trip down memory lane for me. We enjoyed it and look forward to one closer to home, even if it will have modern decor.
When I lived in Ponca City an A&W was one end of the ‘drag’ downtown. Everyone urned around in their parking lot; they got a lot of dring business out of the draggers. Mayb they could do that here – A&W on one end and Spangles at the other.
I see that there is still an A & W phone book listing for Russell, KS. Though I hadn’t been there for at least 15 years.
Well, rbqueen, your directions are a bit off. Don’t come looking for that A&W in Winfield. The one here was torn down about 30 years ago. I believe you must have been in Wellington.
You’re right, it was Wellington! I get the two “W” towns mixed up because we turned off the highway where both towns can be reached from the same road. It was quaint, though the store needs some work. I loved feeling like I was a kid again. Can’t wait for the new ones!
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