After yearlong wait, this Meridian restaurant finally nears opening. Here’s the ‘hope’

The light at the end of the tunnel is gradually emerging for a much-anticipated Meridian restaurant.

KPot, a Korean barbecue and hot pot chain coming to 3380 N. Eagle Road, is “hoping for October,” it said in a message this week.

Customers’ stomachs definitely will be growling by then. A fall launch would put the wait between initial announcement and debut at over a year. KPot signed a lease for the building — previously a Sizzler for 17 years — in September 2023.

Equipping an old Sizzler with built-in cooking gear at tables is no overnight task, so it’s unsurprising that remodeling has taken time.

The KPot chain — which stylizes its name as “KPOT” — operates dozens of locations, primarily in the East, according to its website .

“KPOT is a unique, hands-on, all-you-can-eat dining experience that merges traditional Asian hot pot with Korean BBQ flavors,” the website says, “but modernized with a full bar and a nightlife-like atmosphere.”

Hot pot is similar to Korean barbecue. But rather than grilling, it involves a pot of boiling broth and an array of meats, veggies, noodles and other ingredients. You plop them into the bubbling goodness at your table and treat the resulting creation like soup. Or you scoop cooked delicacies from your pot and dip them in various tasty sauces.

When KPot does finally launch, it will have fresh hot pot competition. Umi Japanese Shabu Shabu rolled out the red carpet in May at 2325 E. Fairview Ave., suite 160, in the Pine 43 development. (For reference, it’s near Marie Callender’s.)

Umi, which also has a location in Utah, is a similar cook-at-your-table, hot pot experience.

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