A new Wichita restaurant called 54 Craft & Co. will open this summer in a local hotel

For years, the Green Mill restaurant inside Wichita’s Holiday Inn at Rock and Kellogg was a reliable place for hotel guests to grab some pizza or for Wichitans to enjoy a holiday buffet.

But the hotel restaurant closed sometime during the last year after more than two decades in business.

Now, a new concept will open in the space. Later this week, crews will start a “major renovation project” and turn the old Green Mill into a restaurant called 54 Craft & Co. Will Harrington, director of operations for Kinseth Hospitality Companies — which owns the Holiday Inn at 549 S. Rock Road — said that construction will be completed this summer.

54 Craft & Co is named for Highway 54, also known as Kellogg, which the hotel overlooks. The restaurant will offer a “crafted culinary experience.”

“The ambiance and menu will be significantly different from the old Green Mill,” Harrington said.

When complete, 54 Craft & Co. will be similar to other hotel restaurants the company has recently opened in Iowa. One, called JC Craft & Co., is inside the Marriott hotel in West Des Moines and offers entrees like a grilled and seasoned porterhouse chop, chicken paillard served over sauteed vegetables and pan roasted salmon. It also serves sandwiches, burgers, fish and chips, pizza and flatbreads.

The other new Kinseth restaurant is in Iowa City and is called Vue Rooftop. Part of a Hilton Garden Inn, the restaurant offers a similar menu to JC Craft & Co., with steak, chicken and seafood dishes plus burgers, sandwiches and shareable appetizers. Both restaurants also have bars offering craft cocktails, beer wine, martinis and more.

Kinseth is also opening a restaurant called KC Craft & Co. at the Holiday Inn at 8787 Reeder St. in Overland Park., and it should be open a few weeks before Wichita’s.

Wichita’s 54 Craft & Co. will come with a special surprise, Harrington said.

“I cannot share details yet, but we are excited to also be including some classic favorites on our menu from another restaurant chain that left the Wichita market over a decade ago,” he said.

That restaurant is almost certainly Bennegan’s. Not only does Kinseth own Bennigan’s restaurants in Urbandale and Clear Lake, Iowa, but the official Bennigan’s restaurant website lists “Bennigan’s On the Fly” under its “coming soon” section, and the address it lists — 549 S. Rock Road — is the same as the Holiday Inn’s.

Bennigan’s On the Fly is a virtual kitchen concept that the chain has been expanding to hotels. Kinseth has opened two Bennigan’s On the Fly virtual kitchens in Iowa — one in Coralville and one in Dubuque. Those two operations serve Bennigan’s dishes for delivery and carryout only. Menu items include Bennigan’s famous Monte Cristo and Turkey O’Toole sandwiches.

Kinseth also appears poised to open a Bennigan’s On the Fly inside the KC Craft & Co. restaurant in Overland Park.

bennigan's 26 Jun 1983, Sun The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kansas) Newspapers.com

Wichita once had a Bennigan’s restaurant at 111 S. Rock Road, but it closed in 2008 after nearly 25 years in business.

“We will have much more to share as we get closer to completion and begin planning our grand opening celebration,” said Harrington, who is based in Wichita.

Flashback Friday: Wichita loved this Old Town soul food restaurant in the late 1990s

Flashback Friday: 1960s Wichita loved the charcoal burgers and the western theme at Lazy R

Flashback Friday: Red Mesa Grill was a spicy restaurant pioneer on Wichita’s west side