Walt’s Klassics building at Kellogg and Tyler has new owner, will soon have new address

Denise Neil

The old Walt’s Klassics building that has been at 616 S. Tyler since 1997 has a new owner, and soon, it’ll have a new address.

Alex Eftekhar, who in February opened his Station 8 BBQ restaurant in the old firehouse at 1100 E. Third St. in Wichita, has purchased the prefab metal building and plans to move it across the street from his barbecue restaurant.

The move should be complete in the next three to four weeks, he said. The Walt’s building will sit on land Eftekhar also owns on the southeast corner of Third and Wabash, where several old fire trucks are now parked.

His plan is to turn the building into a breakfast, lunch and brunch place that will close at 2 p.m. The rough plan in his mind is to create something in the vein of HunnyBunny Biscuit Co., a brunch restaurant he loves in Oklahoma City.

Eftekhar said he doesn’t have a name in mind for the new place yet, nor does he know exactly when he’ll get it open. He has to find someone to help him run Station 8 first, he said, but he plans to have the new brunch restaurant open by the end of 2023 at the latest.

Chef Alex Eftekhar bought the old Walt’s Klassics building and plans to open it as a new brunch eatery across the street from his Station 8 barbecue restaurant.
Chef Alex Eftekhar bought the old Walt’s Klassics building and plans to open it as a new brunch eatery across the street from his Station 8 barbecue restaurant.

Eftekhar, a onetime chef at Flint Hills National Golf Club, said he became aware that the Walt’s building was for sale before Lange Real Estate — the new owners of the property it sits on — announced they planned to auction it. After I wrote a story about the online auction, which was supposed to start on July 19, Eftekhar contacted the owners and made an offer. The auction never happened.

“The diner came up, and I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know if I want to do another project, but I also don’t know when I’d get another opportunity for a building like this,” he said.

The building is a 2,135 square-foot modular Starlite diner unit whose interior has a 1950s look complete with checkered floors, steel and Formica tables and a dining counter with seven bar stools. It was the longtime home of Walt’s Klassics, which closed in March after 25 years in business.

Stay tuned for more details as Eftekhar finalizes his plans for the new restaurant.

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