Cinnamon’s Deli to join Five Guys and Long John Silver’s near northwest Lowe’s

WICHITA — A third restaurant is joining Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Long John Silver’s Freshside Grille in front of Lowe’s near 29th and Maize.

Cinnamon’s Deli will open in 2,400 square feet next to Five Guys, which will anchor the south end of the strip center there.

Long John Silver’s anchors the north end.

Central Park Place Retail is developing the 8,960-square-foot center.

Brad Saville of Landmark Commercial Real Estate and Christian Ablah of Classic Real Estate are principals in Central Park. Cook Construction is the builder.

They broke ground on the project Wednesday.

At a time that not many strip centers are under construction — and many are sitting empty — Ablah thinks “the exciting tenants that we have with this kind of location” is why he and Saville are able to proceed with theirs.

The center is 81 percent leased. There’s 1,680 square feet left to lease, and Ablah and Saville are open to either a restaurant or retail.

Look for the new restaurants to open in early 2010.

Five Guys coming to Wichita with several restaurants

fiveguysWICHITA — 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.

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Pho Hot Bistro owner to expand west, south

WICHITA — His newest restaurant is less than two weeks old, but Danny Nguyen is already at work on his next two concepts.

Nguyen opened Pho Hot Bistro in the former Amarillo Grill space at 306 N. Rock Road on Aug. 21.

It’s a more upscale version of his Pho Hot near Pawnee and the Canal Route.

Now, he’s looking to do a west-side Pho Hot Bistro by the Lowe’s near 29th and Maize.

Nguyen doesn’t have a deal yet but hopes to soon.

He’s also working on an express location for Derby near the Target in the Derby Marketplace at 71st South and Rock Road.

“It’s kind of like Chipotle style,” Nguyen says of his concept.

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A&W drive-ins are still coming to Wichita; so is a Long John Silver’s Freshside Grille

mugWICHITA — 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.

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New retail center to open by Lowe’s at Maple and Ridge

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Developer Leisa Lowry, who is also a commercial broker for J.P. Weigand & Sons, is close to building on the southeast corner of University and Ridge across from Lowe’s.

“I have been pursuing this for a while because it’s a great intersection with very high traffic,” Lowry says.

In addition to access to Kellogg and traffic on Maple and Ridge, nearby Taft is extremely busy as well thanks to the strip of shopping by Sam’s Club and other businesses in Westgate Market.

“A lot of the residential people on the west side take that to go to those retailers,” Lowry says.

She initially plans a 12,000-square-foot center for retail and restaurant space. But she says she’s open to doing pad sites instead if that’s what someone would prefer.

“I just started marketing it and have seen a lot of interest,” Lowry says. “I will start building in the next few months.”