Originally posted on the Asheville Citizen Times
ASHEVILLE — Fans of the Asiana Grand Buffet on Smoky Park Highway will have to get their Chinese food fix somewhere else while the restaurant gets a significant facelift.
The 10-year-old restaurant closed recently and won’t re-open until March or February, according to Michael Ar, one of the owners of the family-run restaurant.“The place is pretty much gutted. We’re starting from scratch,” said Ar, noting that the eatery is located in space that once housed an Ingles grocery store, which now sits nearby in the same shopping center. “We thought about upgrading one section at a time, but then we decided we’d do it all at once. It’s for our future.”
The new restaurant will still feature great Chinese food, but Ar said details are still being nailed down.
“We’re still working on the concept. It’s going to be similar, but atmosphere-wise, it will be more upscale than it was. We’ll be adding more dishes, but we’re still working on that,” Ar said
.The restaurant will also open under a new name, Yao’s. That is the Mandarian form of the family name, according to Ar, who said the name change is to honor the family patriarch, who died two years ago. Ar and his brothers Steve and Ling now run the restaurant, with other family members pitching in.
Ar said either a Facebook or Twitter account is coming to keep the restaurant’s fans updated about the renovation work. Also, the Hendersonville Road location of Asiana remains up and running and unchanged. In the meantime, “we welcome anyone who wants to to come by and take a look” at the work, Ar said.
