Wanting to try a new type of cuisine? This Wichita restaurant opens on Tuesday
.JPG "Cutlets are a Sri Lankan fried meatballs made with either chicken or tuna mixed with potato and onion.")
There’s finally a public opening date for a restaurant that will serve a new-to-Kansas cuisine.
Serendibz, a new restaurant at 3700 N. Woodlawn that will serve Sri Lankan food, will begin opening for dinner only starting this week. Its first night in business will be Tuesday, Dec. 2.
Sahan Subasinghe, who is opening the restaurant with his wife and the restaurant’s chef, Shyani Subasinghe, said that Serendibz will continue with dinner only for two weeks and then will add lunch service. To start, the restaurant’s hours will be 5-9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays.
The owners say that Serendibz will be the only Sri Lankan restaurant in the state.
Sahan , 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 married in 2011, and Shyani left Sri Lanka to join her husband in Kansas.
Shyani has always made Sri Lankan dishes for her friends in Wichita, and over the years, many have suggested she open a restaurant, she said.
The menu will be filled with favorites from Sri Lanka, an island country off the southeastern coast of India. Its dishes resemble Indian food, the owners said, but the spices and flavors are different. People in Sri Lanka eat lots of rice and curry dishes.
Serendibz customers will be able to build their own “combo bowls,” Chipotle style. Each bowl will include choice of ghee rice, vegetable fried rice or white rice and choice of meat: deviled or curried chicken, deviled shrimp, or deviled or curried beef.
Various Sri Lankan snacks also will be available. Among them will be “rolls,” which are similar to egg rolls; empanada-style pastries; and cutlets, which are meatballs made with potato, onion and chicken or tuna. Customers also will be able to get hot chai tea and hot ginger tea and a couple of desserts. The menu is included below.
Serendibz 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 name for the restaurant comes from an old Persian name for Sri Lanka: Serendib.
Serendibz menu
This story was originally published December 1, 2025 at 12:18 PM.
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