Buzz around new Wichita restaurant overwhelms it with customers. Now, it’s scaling back.
UPDATE, Monday, Aug 22:
The owners of Mi Ya Izakaya apparently reconsidered over the weekend what their issues have been and on Sunday announced that they were not, in fact, planning to continue requiring reservations. The problem, owners said in a Facebook post, was that the sushi menu was too large, and so they planned to “drastically reduce” sushi options.
The restaurant also has changed its hours and now is open 4 p.m. to midnight.
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A new restaurant, if it’s lucky, gets lots of buzz when it opens, resulting in big crowds.
Sometimes, though, a buzz-worthy restaurant isn’t ready for those crowds, and that’s what’s happened this week to Mi Ya Izakaya, the new sushi and Korean fried chicken restaurant that opened Monday in the former home of The Chalet, 3030 N. Penstemon.
Local diners, intrigued by the menu, poured in, and the staff was not able to keep up. In candid social media posts, the owners apologized and said their “lack of experience” and the fact that they have been unable to hire a server caused problems that resulted in some disappointed customers.
The owners closed the restaurant early on Wednesday then on Thursday announced their plan for dealing with the issue. For now, they will accept customers by reservation only and will seat only nine tables at a time.
“It is thought that the problem of table ordering, food quality, food time, etc. are damaging to many customers,” the post read.
Customers and potential customers were encouraging in the Facebook comments, thanked the owners for their candor, and they vowed to be patient.
For now, those who want to try the restaurant should call 316-239-6250 to make a reservation.
This story was originally published August 19, 2022 at 10:39 AM.
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