Change of scenery could be coming to high-end steakhouse, sushi restaurant in Springfield

The owners of Empire Korean Steakhouse aren’t changing their signature business, but it may look different in the near future.

A recent social media post about Empire Korean Steakhouse and Sushi at 2100 West White Oaks Drive has garnered a swath of attention the past few days, after the building was found listed for sale on Coldwell Banker Commercial .

The 2.2-acre property and 6,500-square-foot building, which was renovated in 2022, has been listed for $162,500 a year for lease and buyout at $2,350,000.

Kevin Huang, who co-owns the high-end steak and sushi restaurant said that while the location is listed for sale, nothing has changed about the hours or operations of the location.

“It was just to see how much the property is worth,” Huang said. “There’s been people looking but (there has been) no official offers… It’s just kind of up there to see and see how business goes through the summer.”Huang went on to say the building has been listed since April as a "low-key" dip into the market. If the building is given a good offer, Haung said business isn’t ending and they would likely move to a different location.

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The scenery change comes from Huang saying that while the Korean BBQ style cooking pit has been open since October 2022 , many residents still don’t know about the location – pairing with a higher rent for a busier area in the city and a rough summer.

“It’s slow for everyone around this time but we’re still trying to reach new clientele,” Haung said. “Just based on seeing people talk about it shows people really don’t know that we’re here. We’re going to continue to get the word out and see where it goes.”

Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for the State Journal-Register. She can be reached at CLGrant@gannett.com; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Change of scenery could be coming to high-end steakhouse, sushi restaurant in Springfield