A Wichita restaurant has been ready to open for months. COVID is all that’s stopping it.
If the COVID-19 pandemic had never arrived, Hassan Ballout would likely be several months into operating his fancy new restaurant at Greenwich Place — the same development at K-96 and Greenwich that has Dave & Buster’s, Saltgrass Steakhouse and the new REI.
But COVID-19 did arrive, and so for several months, Ballout’s new Albero Bistro has been just sitting, 95 percent finished, and he’s been waiting for a sign that it’s time to open.
Ballout’s still not sure when that will happen, he said recently. But he’s hoping it’s soon. His goal is to open the new restaurant before the year is out.
What’s stopping him?
His main concern is COVID-19 and how it could affect business once he opens. If people aren’t going out and if he can only fill the restaurant to 30 percent capacity, it’s not going to work.
But business has been picking up at Greenwich Place, especially since REI opened, he said, and it feels like the time to open is getting closer.
“You want to make sure that people want to come out and mingle,” he said. “In this place, they’ll want to meet — not just have dinner but sit outside and have a drink and chat. That’s what we want, and hopefully, we’ll get there. I see it happening soon.”
Late last week, Ballout offered a tour of the nearly completed restaurant, which he said he can have ready three weeks from the day he decides it’s time to open. Assembling and installing tables, chairs and furnishings is really all that’s left to do.
The restaurant, which can seat 80 indoors, has an open concept with modern sage-green booths, exposed duct work, cement floors and an eye-catching wooden structure hanging above the main seating area that will help absorb sound.
There’s a semi-open kitchen, a full bar, and on the north side of the building, Ballout has constructed a large enclosed patio space that has a fireplace and built-in outdoor heaters.
His menu will include most of the favorites from his Albero Cafe, which he’s operated at 4811 E. Central for the past five years, but he plans to serve “more authentic Italian, more modern Italian cuisine,” he said. Not only is Ballout working on several risotto dishes, but he’ll also have vegan and gluten-free options.
His full bar will feature reasonable prices for wine and spirits, he said.
It was almost a year ago when Ballout first announced that he planned to open a second Wichita restaurant that would be similar to his original but have more of an Italian restaurant feel. Originally, he’d hoped to be open by the 2019 holidays, but that didn’t happen. Then, he was aiming for spring.
That’s when COVID-19 hit, and although it was bad timing for his business plans, Ballout said he knows it could be worse. He has restaurant owner friends in larger cities whose restaurants are suffering badly.
His Albero Cafe near Central and Oliver, though, stayed open for carryout throughout the shutdowns of March and April, he said, and it did okay. That restaurant is now performing pretty well, he said, although much of his business still comes from carryout orders.
“I don’t blame people,” he said. “People are scared, and they have every right to be scared. This is not funny stuff. It’s dangerous.”
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Ballout, who worked for 10 years at Bella Luna Cafe before branching off on his own to open Albero Cafe in 2014, had been quietly planning for years to open another restaurant but wanted to find the right space. He signed the lease at Greenwich Place last October.
Although it’s hard to sit on a restaurant that’s ready to go, Ballout said, whenever he visits the space, he reminds himself that he’s lucky. He likes the K-96 and Greenwich area and is looking forward to meeting his future customers.
“We are all in the same boat,” he said. “We live together, and we survive together. You have to keep a positive outlook on things. Otherwise your heart will blow up.”
This story was originally published September 17, 2020 at 11:58 AM.
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