WICHITA — If you were hoping to celebrate the new Five Guys Burgers and Fries downtown location by dining there today, you’re out of luck.
The opening at the southwest corner of Douglas and Ida was delayed a day due to construction and permitting issues.
Franchisee Jeff Miller says it will open Tuesday, though.
For now, hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., but Miller says he’s willing to adjust that if customers show an interest in dining later.
UPDATED — There’s a lot of downtown news this week with more approvals coming on the area’s master plan.
What might bring a little more immediate excitement is Five Guys Burgers and Fries‘ confirmation that it has a deal to open Sept. 1 at the southwest corner of Douglas and Ida.
Have You Heard? first reported that was a possibility in August.
Five Guys franchisee Jeff Miller says he’ll locate on Douglas across from the Anchor, which is on the southeast corner of that intersection, though the city’s Historic Preservation Board still needs to approve the restaurant’s design.
“We’re pretty confident that they’ll be real happy with what we’re bringing to them,” Miller says. “We don’t anticipate any problems there.”
WICHITA — Five Guys Burgers and Fries franchisee Jeff Miller confirms what we suspected about his next site.
“You were right about Comotara,” he says of the shopping center near 29th and Rock.
“We are going to be in the Material Comforts location.”
That store already has closed.
Miller signed the new lease today and expects to be open by November.
The space is 4,800 square feet. About 3,500 of that will be for the restaurant, which is substantially bigger than the 2,300 square feet Five Guys has on the west side in front of Lowe’s near 29th and Maize.
“When it’s busy, we’re very crowded, and we’d like to have a little more space for our guests,” Miller says.
“We feel like we’ve been so well received in town, we’d just like a little bigger space.”
The rest of the building will be used to train employees in the market.
Miller also is eyeing several downtown sites.
“We haven’t committed to anything,” he says.
He is shopping, though.
“We’ll have several more in the area.”
WICHITA — It seems downtown won’t be left out of the Five Guys Burgers and Fries craze.
The west side Five Guys has been open since February, and an announcement about an east-side Five Guys likely is mere hours away.
“I’ve looked at several places downtown,” franchisee Jeff Miller says. “It all depends on several factors.”
The southwest corner of Ida and Douglas, across from where La Chinita may go, is looking likely.
Miller won’t be specific at this point.
“I’d like to tell you that it would be walking distance from your offices,” he says of The Eagle’s 825 E. Douglas Old Town address. “It might not be, but it probably would be.”
It could be dangerous having those Five Guys fries this close.
Given Miller’s timetable, better start exercising now.
“The odds are good that it’s sooner than later.”
WICHITA — Next to repeated Chick-fil-A questions — when’s it coming? where? — the next fast food restaurant we hear the most questions about is Five Guys Burgers and Fries.
When is the chain going to add an east-side Wichita location?
Answer: soon.
Franchisee Jeff Miller says he’s just this close to signing a lease.
The Five Guys in front of Lowe’s near 29th North and Maize opened in February.
Sources have reported several east-side sites Miller has eyed.
He reportedly looked at reconfiguring part of the former Ethan Allen space near Central and Rock, but that’s where Mattress Hub is now going.
Comotara Center at 29th North and Rock Road is another reported possibility.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Miller has focused on Rock Road.
So where’s the final spot?
Miller will tell us within days.
WICHITA — The much-anticipated Five Guys Burgers and Fries now has a firm opening date.
The restaurant, which will be in the retail center in front of Lowe’s near 29th and Maize, will open Feb. 15.
The restaurant will begin hiring at 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday at the Courtyard by Marriott in Old Town.
Franchisee Jeff Miller says he plans on hiring 40 to 50 people. Starting wages are $7.75, but employees have an opportunity for potentially substantial weekly bonuses.
Five Guys hires a third party to visit its restaurants twice weekly. Employees working that shift have an opportunity to share about $1,300 a week if they perform well.
In the fourth quarter of last year, Five Guys paid almost $3.5 million in bonuses to its hourly workers at 500 restaurants.
“That’s a lot of money,” Miller says.
He’s now negotiating for space on the east side as well.
“We would love to have a store open by Aug. 1, and if we can beat that date, we’re definitely going to try.”
WICHITA — Larry and Susan Cook still plan to open a new healthy market and restaurant in their Tuscan Village at 1812 S. Seneca on Jan. 25.
Now, they have a new name to replace Sprouts, which is already trademarked elsewhere.
Larry Cook says they’ll call their business d’Sozo. It’s a made-up name, but the Sozo part is Greek in origin and means healing or improvement.
On the other end of the dining spectrum, Five Guys Burgers and Fries will open near 29th and Maize sometime in February.
“The earlier the better,” says franchisee Jeff Miller. “Keep your fingers crossed.”
WICHITA — Wichita’s already impressive array of hamburger places, including national franchises and mom-and-pop shops, is about to get what many will consider an exciting addition.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries is coming to the market with several locations.
There are almost 500 of the restaurants nationally.
“Toward the end of last year, they just exploded,” says Jeff Miller, who has the franchise rights to this area with his brother, Jay, and Jay Brehmer of Overland Park.
The Millers grew up in the Kansas City area.
Jay Miller then spent time in Philadelphia and, when he left the city, terribly missed Five Guys.
“That’s how we got turned on to it,” Jeff Miller says.