Doughnuts are out, chicken sandwiches and boba tea are in on this busy Wichita corner

Over the summer, the signs for the old Chicago Donuts came down at 3233 E. Harry and signs for a new business called Chick’n Pop went up.

Since then, there’s been little to no information about the business taking over the 50-year-old space — which went up on the southeast corner of Harry and Hillside in 1972 to house Wichita’s very first Dunkin’ Donuts.

Now, Chick’n Pop owner Nita Phommarath is almost ready to open her new restaurant and is ready to share some details.

Chick’n Pop, which should open by the end of the month, will specialize in boba tea plus fried chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets and chicken strips. It’s an unusual combination, Phommarath admits, but only in Wichita. In Texas, where she’d lived off and on since childhood, boba and chicken sandwich shops are fairly common — and quite popular.

Her menu will offer several flavors of boba milk teas and fruit teas as well as coffee drinks including lattes and frozen coffee drinks. Chicken sandwiches will be available spicy or not, and the menu will also include loaded fries topped with fried chicken and the restaurant’s “special sauce.”

Phommarath, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Justin Reynolds, was the longtime general manager at Old Tokyo Steakhouse. She helped owner Henry Son, who also owns Mr. Miyagi and now Pho King ICT, open Old Tokyo — which he started just before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 — and worked there until February of this year.

She and her husband have been working for months remodeling the old doughnut shop and essentially gutted the interior, adding new flooring, paint and furniture. The inside will have seating for about 20., and there’s also space for a patio out front, though Phommarath doubts she’ll get much use out of it this year.

Eventually, Phommarath said, she’d like to also add “boba snacks” to her menu — items like popcorn chicken, shaved ice and bubble waffles. She also hopes that the restaurant is a hit and that she can add other locations, preferably with drive-through lanes, in other parts of town.

Once open, Chick’n Pop’s hours will be 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays.

I’ll let you know when Phommarath has settled on an opening date.