WICHITA — The long-empty building at 3425 E. Douglas where fake palm trees used to sit is finally getting a new restaurant.
Josh Crowe is going to sublease the building from Taco Tico for his new Dolci & Joes, an upscale sandwich and hamburger restaurant.
A Taco Tico used to be at the space, followed by the chain’s short-lived sister concept, Breezy’s, which closed in July 2006 after less than a year.
Crowe likes the building’s central location.
“It’s kind of a strategic location as far as College Hill goes,” he says.
Crowe “wanted something that had more of a neighborhood feel to it,” says Brent Stewart of J.P. Weigand & Sons, who brokered the deal.
The menu will feature salads, burgers and specialty sandwiches, which range from traditional deli sandwiches like pastrami on marbled rye to vegetarian offerings like grilled portobello mushroom sandwiches.
The restaurant, which opens in early September, will seat 60. Next year, Crowe will add an outdoor patio and a drive-through as well.
He wants families to be able to dine together at Dolci & Joes and experience “the good times of past generations when that was kind of a big deal.”
The idea, Crowe says, is “kind of bringing back meal time as it should be.”
WICHITA — As expected, Ken Mechtley is going to bring a 
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