Wichita Italian restaurant owner devises bold idea to boost traffic: Half-price entrees
Business at her tucked-away Italian restaurant has been pretty slow lately, and Lory Wooley doesn’t know exactly why — or what to do about it.
So Wooley, who’s run Bella Vita Bistro at 120 N. West St. since 2010, is trying something unusual that she hopes will get people through the doors: For a week — from Monday, Nov. 4, through Saturday, Nov. 9 — she’s offering all of the entrees on her menu for half-price. Yes, even the filet and the lamb osso buco, which both regularly cost $45.
“There are people who I haven’t seen in a long time,” Wooley said. “It’s possible that’s because prices have gone up and they don’t go out as often. This gives them a chance to come out and enjoy some good food and remind them why they love us.”
It’s been a tough year for the restaurant, which first opened in 2010 at the end of a strip mall near West Street and Douglas. Not only did popular, longtime waiter Steve Limberis suddenly die in May, but in August, Wooley’s son-in-law chef, Adrian Prud Homme DeLodder, moved with her daughter, Crystal, to Tennessee.
But Wooley, a lifelong restaurateur, said she’s determined to keep Bella Vita Bistro going, so she decided to make a move that some have told her sounds a little crazy. Wooley said she’s assured them she’ll be fine: She expects the restaurant to fill up with reservations and assumes that people who visit during the half-price week will also order other full-price items like appetizers, salads and desserts .
Among the entrees that will be included in the half-price deal: a garlic-crusted ribeye, shrimp scampi, a lobster and havarti bake, lasagna and a whole list of pasta dishes.
Reservations started coming in as soon as Wooley announced the deal, she said. She encourages people to get their own reservations soon by calling 316-941-4500.
She hopes the half-price week will give Bella Vita Bistro the boost it desperately needs.
“I don’t want to have to shut down or sell or anything like that,” she said. “I want to stay put. This is what I do. The customers who do come in love it.”
Bella Vita Bistro’s hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. It also serves a lunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays.
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