As one-time Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi once said: “It is what it is.”
Those were the final words to KelownaNow from Thai Terrace owner Luke Sumpantarat when discussing reasons behind the closure of the popular downtown restaurant.
Thai Terrace will close its doors for the final time at its location on the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Abbott Street on Sunday, Oct. 30.
Sumpantarat and his wife Ess, along with their friend Tik Phangathunad, opened Thai Terrace downtown in May 2018 and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience over the past four-and-a-half years.
However, some personal matters prompted a discussion into the restaurant’s future and for a number of different reasons, they decided it was time to shut it down.
“It’s just a lot of stuff that added up,” Sumpantarat said. “I’ve been cooking and running restaurants for a while now, 15 years at least full time like this, 60-80 hours a week, so it gets to you eventually.”
He said that they’ve been blessed to have such an incredible staff during their tenure, most of whom have become like family, but it’s been increasingly hard to find new help.
“We've been lucky to keep our crew for a while, but have had a hard time getting any more help, especially good help,” he noted. “So with all that kind of put together, we just decided to sell the assets as we can and at least get something out of it.”
And while this is the end of this chapter of their story, Sumpantarat said the trio has no plans to leave the area and he didn’t shut the door on the future of Thai Terrace.
“We're going to keep our Facebook page active because we still have our name and recipes, and if we're able to reopen we will definitely look into it,” he told KelownaNow.
“We will take a break right now for a couple months for sure (and) see what next year brings us.”
In the meantime, Sumpantarat wanted to thank everyone who has dined at their restaurant for all of the incredible support over the years.
“We do have a big customer base and we enjoy what we do and we'd like to keep it going, but it was just overwhelming,” he explained.
You still have a few days to get your Thai Terrace fix, or try it for the first time if you have never been, before the doors are shut for good downtown.
The restaurant is open from 3-9 pm, Thursday until Sunday, at 210 Lawrence Ave.
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