Throwback Wichita restaurant, a west-side favorite since the 1980s, is facing closure
Unless a buyer is found, a popular 1980s-era Chinese restaurant will soon join the ranks of local eateries that Wichitans fondly remember but dearly miss.
Mary Weinman, owner of the 40-year-old Magic Wok at 9504 W. Central, says that she’s trying to sell the restaurant and that if she can’t find a buyer in six months, she’ll have to close.
Her cook, who has been with the restaurant since it first opened in 1981, is 66 and is ready to retire, she said, and his young assistant doesn’t want to stay. She’s burned out and doesn’t think she can run the place without them. She recently broke her leg, and although she’s recovering, she can’t do what she used to do.
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So she’s putting the restaurant up for sale. An interested buyer can have the Magic Wok name and all the recipes, she said. And even though she doesn’t own the building, her landlord — Magic Wok founder Steve Cho — is willing to sell that, too.
The decision was a tough one, but it was also necessary, she said.
“Everybody’s heartbroken,” she said. “I’m sad, but everything’s got to come to an end.”
Weinman was 20 in July 1981 when she took a job as a waitress at the new restaurant. Back then, Magic Wok — which founder Cho opened in a space previously occupied by a supper club called the San Franciscan — sat on the edge of the west side of town.
Magic Wok wasn’t too busy at first, Weinman remembers, but then in 1982, a fire damaged the nearby Rolling Hills Country Club, and it had to close for a year. Members looking for a place to eat discovered Magic Wok, which at the time was one of the few Chinese restaurants in town.
Magic Wok finally had a following, and when Cho moved to New Jersey in 1993, he left his restaurant in Weinman’s care. She bought it from him in 2002.
The decor of the restaurant really never changed from opening day, which is what appeals to many of its longtime customers. They love the dim lighting, the throwback wooden tables and booths, and the retro sign touting “American-Oriental” food.
They also love the restaurant’s straightforward, reliable fare, which includes dishes like chop suey, chow mein, Imperial Chicken, mandu, crab Rangoon, hot and sour soup and more.
Longtime fans will have until at least this summer to make another visit. Hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and Sundays and 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 12:19 PM.
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