Wichita restaurant closes after two months. ‘We didn’t know it was going to be that slow’

Just two months after opening his R&R Public House in the former Lotus Leaf space at 251 N. Washington, owner R.C. Campbell has shuttered the business.

The reason: No one seemed to know it was there.

Now, Campbell said, he’s on the hunt for a better piece of real estate, and once he finds it, he’ll try the concept again.

“There’s really no true way to describe it,” Campbell said of his experience in the space, which sits next to Blue Fin Sake Bar & Sushi in a building at the corner of Second and Washington in Old Town. “...The most common thing we got from every single person who came in was that they either didn’t know we were there or we were too far tucked back there, so no one could get a good visual of us.”

The restaurant’s last day was Saturday. Campbell said he’s already looking at new spaces and thinks a more visible spot in Delano or on Douglas would work out better.

If he finds a turn-key spot, he said, he could reopen within a few months. If renovations are required, it’ll likely be January or February.

He anticipates settling on a new address in the next couple of weeks.

“The numbers were not there that we were expecting to see,” Campbell said of his first two months in business. “We knew it was going to take some time, but we didn’t know it was going to be that slow.”

Campbell, a Salina native who picked up his pub knowledge while living and working in Seattle, remodeled the old Lotus Leaf space to give it more of a pub feel before opening in June. He served a menu that included wings, burgers, pizza, sandwiches and salads along with pub-style bangers and mash. The business also had a menu of craft cocktails.

Lotus Leaf, which served healthy fare, closed in November after 13 years in the space.

I’ll let you know when Campbell settles on a new spot.

With latest closing, Wichita business owner is down to one restaurant. He used to have 6.

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