The space at the corner of West Cary and South Rowland was previously home to Olio and Subconscious Cafe before it became the Lucky Whale. (Mike Platania photos)
Backed by a mystery owner, a new restaurant serving sushi, ramen bowls, pad thai and more has debuted in the Fan.
Lucky Whale opened at 2028 W. Cary St. in late December.
The Asian fusion restaurant took over a space that was once home to sandwich and salad shop Olio, and most recently Subconscious Cafe, which closed in late 2020 after roughly a year in business.
Manager and chef Eric Wang said the ownership group behind Lucky Whale is a local family that wishes to remain anonymous.
Lucky Whale opened in late December after months of renovations.
“It’s a business venture from a small company. They wanted to make some investments and they talked to me and I convinced them to put money into this,” Wang said.
State Corporation Commission records associated with Lucky Whale are all tied to Wang, who previously worked at Wild Ginger in Midlothian.
Lucky Whale’s menu includes a variety of Asian-inspired dishes like lo mein, drunken noodles, Kung Pao chicken and bulgogi beef, as well as a full list of sushi rolls.
“We’re trying to bring our skills to this community and serve people the most popular Asian food,” Wang said.
Entrees at the restaurant are between $13 and $16, while sushi rolls range from $4 to $17.
In addition to ramen, classic Chinese and pho dishes, Lucky Whale also offers sushi. (Courtesy of Lucky Whale social media)
Lucky Whale is open for lunch and dinner, and Wang said they’re currently open every day except Tuesdays but hope to eventually be open seven days a week.
Despite the recent tenant turnover in the space, Wang said the roughly 1,500-square-foot storefront’s back-of-house needed renovations.
“It turned out that we had to remodel the kitchen fundamentally — changing the hood, adding gas pipes,” he said. “Basically, we redid everything to be able to sell the food we wanted to sell.”
Lucky Whale’s building was redeveloped in 2015 by local developers A.J. Shriar, Ronnie Shriner and David Levine. They gutted and renovated the building, while also adding a new three-story, six-unit apartment building next door.
The space at the corner of West Cary and South Rowland was previously home to Olio and Subconscious Cafe before it became the Lucky Whale. (Mike Platania photos)
Backed by a mystery owner, a new restaurant serving sushi, ramen bowls, pad thai and more has debuted in the Fan.
Lucky Whale opened at 2028 W. Cary St. in late December.
The Asian fusion restaurant took over a space that was once home to sandwich and salad shop Olio, and most recently Subconscious Cafe, which closed in late 2020 after roughly a year in business.
Manager and chef Eric Wang said the ownership group behind Lucky Whale is a local family that wishes to remain anonymous.
Lucky Whale opened in late December after months of renovations.
“It’s a business venture from a small company. They wanted to make some investments and they talked to me and I convinced them to put money into this,” Wang said.
State Corporation Commission records associated with Lucky Whale are all tied to Wang, who previously worked at Wild Ginger in Midlothian.
Lucky Whale’s menu includes a variety of Asian-inspired dishes like lo mein, drunken noodles, Kung Pao chicken and bulgogi beef, as well as a full list of sushi rolls.
“We’re trying to bring our skills to this community and serve people the most popular Asian food,” Wang said.
Entrees at the restaurant are between $13 and $16, while sushi rolls range from $4 to $17.
In addition to ramen, classic Chinese and pho dishes, Lucky Whale also offers sushi. (Courtesy of Lucky Whale social media)
Lucky Whale is open for lunch and dinner, and Wang said they’re currently open every day except Tuesdays but hope to eventually be open seven days a week.
Despite the recent tenant turnover in the space, Wang said the roughly 1,500-square-foot storefront’s back-of-house needed renovations.
“It turned out that we had to remodel the kitchen fundamentally — changing the hood, adding gas pipes,” he said. “Basically, we redid everything to be able to sell the food we wanted to sell.”
Lucky Whale’s building was redeveloped in 2015 by local developers A.J. Shriar, Ronnie Shriner and David Levine. They gutted and renovated the building, while also adding a new three-story, six-unit apartment building next door.