Local Japanese restaurant opening its first franchise in Wichita; KC, Lawrence to follow
Last week, signs appeared on the former Bocco Deli space that indicated a new location of Hibachi Boy — a quick service hibachi and sushi restaurant with locations in Derby and west Wichita — would soon take over
At the time, I couldn’t reach owners Philip Sayvong and Lou Kumgool, but I’ve since been able to gather some details, and the news is even more interesting than it initially sounded.
The new restaurant at 3010 E. Central, which should open in mid-April, will actually be the first franchised Hibachi Boy restaurant, Kumgool said.
It’ll be owned by Dan Nguyen, a longtime friend of the couple’s son who worked at Hibachi Boy while he was studying business in college. During that time, Nguyen said, he sat down with Kumgool for a school assignment that required him to interview a business owner. The conversation evolved into the idea that Ngyuen could be the driving force behind Hibachi Boy opening franchised stores.
“That was probably a year ago,” he said. “After that, it was kind of like a snowball effect.”
In addition to his own franchised store, Nguyen is working to get Hibachi Boy restaurants in Kansas City and Lawrence open by the end of the year. After that, he said, he’ll target markets in surrounding states like Colorado and Oklahoma. Nguyen is partnering with Evelina Le, who plans to open the Kansas City location, and Stephan Phan, who will run the Lawrence store.
Nguyen, 22, said he liked the old Bocco Deli space for its location.
“I like the traffic there,” he said. “It’s a good space, especially for the east side of town.”
The franchised restaurants will have the same menu as the restaurants in Derby, which opened in 2011, and at 2243 N. Tyler Road, which opened in 2019. (Kumgool and Sayvong also own Hibachi Boy restaurants in Milwaukee and in St. Peters, Missouri, a St. Louis suburb.)
The quick-service restaurants offer hibachi meals with choice of meat, a sushi menu, fried rice and more. People order their meals at the counter and can either dine in or take them to go.
For now, Nguyen said, he’s focused on finishing major renovations inside the building near Central and Hillside. His Hibachi Boy will likely be the last one for the Wichita market — at least for now, he said. His next focus will be on expanding outside of the city.
“I feel like we’re going to have to see how time plays out,” he said.
I’ll keep you posted on his progress toward opening day.
This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 9:15 AM.
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