Downtown Kelowna Thai restaurant closure is bittersweet

A beautiful Thai restaurant in downtown Kelowna is closing its doors at the end of the month.

For Thai Terrace co-owner Luke Sumpantarat, the closure is bittersweet.

“We’re happy with our experience with the community and our product,” he said. “The last two years have been stressful and it will be nice for everyone to take a break.”

Sumpantarat and his wife, along with business partner Tik Pangathunad, opened the restaurant at 210 Lawrence Ave in May 2018.

Sumpantarat said after COVID set back the business financially, labor shortages and inflation in food and utility costs have been too much to handle this year.

This means that the restaurant will be open for the last time on October 30th.

“I’ve been in the restaurant business for fifteen years and it’s ailing me and starting to affect my health,” he said. “There is not enough aid and too much spending.”

CONTINUE READING: New distillery vies for space in downtown Kamloops

Sumpantarat announced the closure in a Facebook post, in which he thanked the community, employees and customers for the support they had received over the years.

He said they received a lot of feedback from regular customers who expressed their disappointment at the closure.

“It was overwhelming,” Sumpantarat said. “We really didn’t know that the community supported us so much.”

Money Bags appetizer at Thai Terrace in Kelowna, a stuffed spring roll pastry.

Photo credit: SUBMITTED / Thai Terrace

When asked what Thai Terrace’s favorite dish was, Sumpantarat had a hard time deciding.

“My guess is the Money Bags appetizers,” he said. “My thumbs are too big to tie the onions together. We will miss cooking and eating here.”

CONTINUE READING: Things are getting spooky at this South Okanagan winery’s Halloween event

Sumpantarat said he will return to the food industry to further pursue his passion for cooking, but not until he takes a much-needed break.

To contact a reporter for this story email Shannon Ainslie or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also send photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and enter a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories, but play nice. We will not censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam, or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor at the link above.