An upscale, sit-down Chinese restaurant will open this weekend in east Wichita
Ever since Beijing Bistro, Kwan Court and Yen Ching closed, Wichita has had a shortage of sit-down Chinese restaurants.
Sure, there are plenty of super buffets in town, and who doesn’t love Wichita throwbacks like Ming’s and Lee’s?
But when people ask me for a more upscale, locally-owned experience, Oh Yeah China Bistro at 3101 N. Rock Road is often about the only option I can come up with.
That will change later this week with the addition of Tianluo Bistro, which is taking over the former Beijing Bistro space at 11309 E. Kellogg. The restaurant will have a soft opening on Friday and Saturday then fully open for business on Monday, Oct. 25.
It’s owned by Katie Qu, who made a career in real estate but had long wanted to start her own restaurant. Her chef is Jack Yang, who has New York City restaurant experience and moved to Wichita to help Qu open Tianluo Bistro.
The restaurant, which manager Melisa Hatfield described as a full-service, upscale eatery, will specialize in hand-pulled noodles made fresh daily. It’ll also serve dishes not available in many other local restaurants, like hot pot and handmade dumplings. You can see the full menu below, but it’s extensive and lists many traditional Szechuan Chinese dishes, Hatfield said.
Eventually, the restaurant will have a full bar, but it’s taking the owners longer than they expected to get their liquor license so it will open without alcohol, Hatfield said.
Diners may occasionally see Qu demonstrating how to make hand-pulled noodles while they’re visiting.
“She’s very excited and can’t wait to serve the community,” Hatfield said. “Her goal is to have a fine dining family-style restaurant.”
Tianluo translates to “river snail,” and Qu named the restaurant after an old Chinese fable about a man who rescued a snail from the road then would come home daily to find meals prepared for him. The snail turned into a beautiful woman, and they fell in love.
The restaurant space, which is in a strip center at Kellogg and Greenwich, most recently was home to a short-lived Mexican restaurant called El Rincon but is better known as Beijing Bistro, which closed in 2019 after 14 years.
Soft opening hours for Tianluo Bistro will be from 4 to 9 p.m. on Friday and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday. Starting on Oct. 25, hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
For more information, call 316-337-5088 or visit www.tianluobistro.com.
Tianluo Bistro menu
This story was originally published October 18, 2021 at 11:47 AM.
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