Owners of Sapporo are bringing a second restaurant to Rock Road, but it’s not sushi
The owners of one of Wichita’s most popular sushi restaurants are growing their Wichita profile by opening another restaurant.
This one, though, will serve ramen and boba tea.
Lee Li and Leo Lin, owners of Sapporo at 8065 Peachtree Lane, have signed a lease to take over the end cap of a strip center that sits just behind the Freddy’s Frozen Custard on Rock Road. The address of the space, which previously held a martial arts studio, is 314 N. Rock Road.
That’s where they plan to open Kansas’ first franchise of a New York-based restaurant chain called Kyuramen/TBaar. The restaurant will fill 4,800 square feet and will have ultra modern decor and a separate area for the ramen (Kyuamen) and boba (TBaar) parts of the business.
Li said she became acquainted with TBaar during her travels to New York City. The shop sold the only boba she truly loved, and she later also found a ramen restaurant she liked. Eventually, she learned that the two businesses were under the same ownership umbrella.
She started talking to the owner about franchising the restaurant in Wichita. At the moment, Kyuramen has restaurants in New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, Florida, Georgia and Illinois but was interested in her Kansas pitch. Li said she decided to move forward, then COVID-19 hit, and everything was put on pause.
Now, she said, the timing feels right.
Li said that construction on the space should take several months, and she hopes to have the restaurant open sometime this winter. She shared interior photos of Kyuramen restaurants, which feature lots of light-colored wood, private seating areas that can be closed off with curtains, and a unique honeycomb-style booth structure.
Kyuramen’s menu offers a long list of ramen soups plus appetizers, rice and ramen burgers, and desserts. Li said she particularly loves the restaurant’s dessert menu, which features a matcha pudding she can’t get out of her mind. It will be a full-service concept and will have a bar.
TBaar serves a menu of classic milk teas, fruit teas, smoothies and lemonade.
Li said that Sapporo is her “baby” and it will continue to operate as it always has. She’ll focus her attention on the new restaurant while she’s getting it up and running, and her husband — Sapporo’s sushi chef — will stay there.
Stay tuned for more information about the new restaurant as opening day gets closer.
This story was originally published August 29, 2023 at 1:27 PM.
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