Wichita pizza chain closes downtown restaurant, moves it to address that’s ‘a better fit’

Knolla’s Pizza added a downtown restaurant in 2020 , taking over the corner space of the Century Plaza building at Douglas and Main.

In December of last year, owners and sisters Darinda and Raelene Knolla announced plans for an Old Town location, too.

Now, one is closed and the other is about to open.

Darinda Knolla said that the new Knolla’s restaurant will open on Tuesday in the former Pinot’s Palette space at 338 N. Mead in Old Town Square.

It will replace the restaurant that operated at 111 W. Douglas , which the sisters closed on Aug. 25 and have since emptied.

The Old Town spot — which will have closer parking spots and patio seating — is just “a better fit,” Darinda said.

“We just found this spot and fell in love,” she said. “It is more in the heart of Old Town, which is really where we wanted to be.”

For now, she said, the new Knolla’s hours will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

The new space will have about 2,500 square feet and will have brick walls and concrete floors. The space will include room for about 40 or 50 dine-in customers, too.

The Old Town restaurant will have a glass garage door that can open onto the patio, but the door is still being made. The owners plan to serve beer at the new address but won’t be ready to do that right away.

Darinda also owns the Knolla’s at Central and Rock . The Knolla’s at 7443 W. Central ( which is also moving ) and at 4041 N. Maize are owned by a different member of the Knolla family.

The space in Old Town Square that the new Knolla’s is taking over has been vacant since 2022, when Don Siedhoff and wife Ruthanne Timm-Siedhoff closed their paint-and-sip business , Pinot’s Palette, and their next-door wine store Beyond Napa.

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