A Wichita Italian restaurant has been ready to open for a year. Wednesday, it finally did.
For more than a year, Hassan Ballout’s new Albero Bistro has been finished and ready to go at Greenwich Place — the same development at K-96 and Greenwich that has Dave & Buster’s, Saltgrass Steakhouse and REI.
But Ballout kept waiting and waiting for the right time to open.
For months, the COVID-19 pandemic kept him from moving forward. Then, he had trouble finding staff and securing supplies.
But the day has finally arrived. Wednesday morning, Ballout quietly opened the new restaurant, a sister business to his Albero Cafe, which he opened at 4811 E. Central seven years ago.
“I feel good about it,” Ballout said Wednesday. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, and it’s about time.”
The new restaurant, whose address is 2684 N. Greenwich, has the same Italian-focused menu as Albero Cafe but a more upscale interior. Once his staff feels more comfortable, Ballout said, he will start offering daily specials not available at the original. (You can see the menu below).
The restaurant, which can seat 80 indoors, has an open concept with modern sage-green booths, exposed duct work, concrete 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 that in the winter will be warmed by built-in heaters.
The hours for the new restaurant are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Ballout first announced his plans for the restaurant two years ago. Originally, he’d hoped to be open by the 2019 holidays. Then, COVID-19 hit. He worked for 10 years at Bella Luna Cafe before branching off on his own to open Albero Cafe in 2014.
Albero Bistro menu
This story was originally published July 28, 2021 at 12:01 PM.
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