New Wichita restaurant will be only one in Kansas serving this type of cuisine
It’s rare that a restaurant opens in Wichita serving a style of cuisine that no one else in the city is serving.
But that will happen soon when husband-and-wife Sahan Subasinghe and Shyani Subasinghe open Wichita’s first Sri Lankan restaurant. In fact, they say, theirs will be the only Sri Lankan restaurant in the state.
Called Serendibz, the restaurant is taking over the space at 3700 N. Woodlawn that was previously occupied by Mediterranean market Eastern Gate. The owners say the restaurant, which sits just to the south of Jumbo’s Beef & Brews and across the street from the 37th and Woodlawn Dillons, should be ready to open within two to three weeks.
Serendib is an old Persian name for Sri Lanka.
Sahan Subasinghe, a local tech engineer who in 2005 came to Wichita from Sri Lanka to study at Wichita State University, said the couple is opening the restaurant to showcase Shyani’s cooking skills. The two got married in 2011, and Shyani left Sri Lanka, an island country off the southeastern coast of India, to join her husband in Kansas. They’ve since had two boys, who are now 12 and 6.
Shyani has always made Sri Lankan dishes for her friends in Wichita, and over the years, many have suggested she open a restaurant. The couple has been planning it for several years.
Sri Lankan food, they said, is sort of like Indian food, but the spices and flavors are different. People who live in that country — an island off the southern tip of India — eat lots of rice and curry dishes, and that’s mainly what the restaurant will serve on weekdays. Customers will be able to build their own plates, Chipotle style, choosing from the various curry dishes, and they’ll also be able to get different Sri Lankan snacks. Among them will be “rolls,” which are similar to egg rolls; patties, which resemble empanadas; and cutlets, which are meatballs made with potato, onion and chicken or tuna.
Fridays through Sundays, the restaurant will serve more dishes, including some that are commonly eaten as street food in Sri Lanka and others that are enjoyed by families on special occasions. A Sri Lankan street food favorite known as hoppers, which are savory, bowl-shaped crepes that have a sunny-side-up egg inside, will be on the weekend menu. Another dish that will be available on the weekends is called lamprais. It’s a single dish composed of many different parts, including rice, curry, boiled eggs, cutlets and eggplant moju, which is fried eggplant with a sweet-and-spicy sauce. The dish is arranged in a big banana leaf and baked.
“She makes everything from scratch,” Sahan said.
The restaurant will have a fast-casual setup: People will order at the counter then take their food to one of the 40 or so seats in the dining room or take it to go.
The owners are feeling good about their chances of finding customers, they said. Many people stop by the yet-to-open restaurant to ask when it’s opening. And when the couple recently set up a booth at the Wichita Asian Festival, which was Sept. 27 at Century II, they sold out of food. The lumprais was especially popular, they said.
“People are still texting me about the lamprais,” Sahan said, adding that he’s heard from people from Kansas City, Manhattan and Lawrence who are already planning to travel to Wichita to eat at the restaurant.
Serendibz will be open for lunch and dinner six days a week, the couple said. The restaurant will likely be closed on Mondays. The owners also said that they plan to eventually add online ordering.
“We think this is going to be a big hit,” Sahan said. “This is unique, compared to the other restaurants.”
This story was originally published October 29, 2025 at 5:21 AM.
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