Shanghai Bistro calls it quits after 3-year run
Shanghai Bistro will close its doors tomorrow after a little more than three years of operation.
"It no longer made business sense to keep the restaurant open," according to owner Li May Tang, in a statement.
She cited low meal counts and rising rent built into the lease terms for the 6,573 square foot space at Discovery Bay Center in Waikiki.
Reviewers' raves about the Chinese fusion dishes and creative dim sum by chef Chih-Chieh Chang -- and an interior called, "exquisite," by Star-Bulletin restaurant reviewer Nadine Kam, were insufficient to turn enough diners into devotees.
Tang also owns and operates Hong Kong Harbor View Seafood Restaurant in Aloha Tower Marketplace and Royal Yakiniku in Waikiki, which she says are highly successful.
"I could not continue to underwrite Shanghai Bistro, as much as I loved it, with money from my other two restaurants," she said.
The sister restaurants will honor unexpired Shanghai Bistro gift certificates and will absorb chef Chang as well as all other employees, Tang said.
The restaurant was listed three or four months ago for an initial asking price of $500,000, according to commercial real estate broker Russell Shiroma, of Marcus & Associates Inc.
That won't necessarily be the sale price though, as the sale "is in discussion," and is not close to final, he said.
Initial terms for the sale also included all improvements, fixtures equipment, trade name and a long-term lease through 2013.