Landlord shares plans for space that Amore Italian Restaurant suddenly vacated
When Amore Italian Restaurant at 2315 W. 21st St. closed with no explanation in October, the landlords weren’t able to speak on the topic, said Michael Moeder, whose family’s Moeder & Associates owns the Clear Lakes Shopping Center where the restaurant operated.
Now, though, he’s able to share a bit more — including what’s next for the vacant space.
It’s now been cleared out of everything left behind when the owners of Amore suddenly abandoned the property. Moeder later learned, he said, that the restaurant closed because of the owners’ family issues.
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Now, they’re working on giving the building a makeover that they hope will draw the right tenant. They’re repairing the dining area, redoing the floors, painting the ceilings and having the kitchen commercially cleaned.
They’re hoping that the “refresh” of the space will attract a restaurant tenant who would appreciate a kitchen that includes a pizza oven, a fryer, a flat-top grill, walk-in coolers and “all the equipment someone needs to get started,” Moeder said.
“We wanted to invest a lot of money to get a new tenant,” Moeder said. “We want to find someone good. We would like someone local, in Wichita, if possible.”
Amore opened in the space in November 2023 and was owned by a family that had other restaurants both in Mississippi and in communities near Wichita. In fact, the same family opened restaurants in Derby, Salina and Great Bend in early 2024, but all of them closed pretty quickly.
In October, Tony Demaj — whose cousin Visar Milushi ran Wichita’s Amore with his wife, Makayla — said that Visar left the country and that he didn’t know the status of the Wichita restaurant.
The space that Amore took over in 2023 had previously been home to Town & Country Classic, an offshoot of the original Town & Country on West Kellogg. It lasted in the space from late 2022 until March 2024. Before that, the building’s tenant was New Neighbors, owned by Julie Yang and her husband, George Yang (owners of The Sweet Spot.) It lasted from 2019 until late 2022.
Several other restaurants have operated in the space over the years, including the late Chuck Giles’ Neighbors, Rookies Restaurant & Bar, Shoeless Joe’s, Jimmy’s Egg, Clear Lakes Cafe and T.J.’ s New York Deli.
The Clear Lakes Shopping Center was built in 2006.
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