The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON -- If the number of questions Dayton Chamber of Commerce Director Claudia Nysoe has been getting lately are any indication, there's quite a bit of excitement and anticipation in the valley about a new addition to Dayton's restaurant community.

"I've had two or three people a week asking me when's that new place going to open," Nysoe said. "Everyone here in Dayton is really excited about having a new place to eat."

The place in question is the Asian Grill and the answer to the much-asked question is: soon!

Members of the Kim family, who used to own "I Love Teriyaki" on Main Street in Walla Walla, said they hope to open their doors to the old bowling alley and former home of Fiesta En Jalisco sometime before the end of the month.

The Kims are still waiting on some equipment and are in the process of obtaining their beer and wine license of the establishment, which they say will serve Korean, Japanese and Chinese cuisine with dishes ranging in price from $7.50 to $13.50.

"I hope it will be wellreceived," said Kyung Kim, who will run the new restaurant with her husband Yon and their son Chung. Daughter Julee, who lives in the Seattle area, is the Asian Grill's owner.

The Kims have a long history of owning and operating Asian restaurants. The elder couple immigrated from South Korea in 1978, joining a far-flung immigrant family that also consisted of Kyung Kim's sister in Ohio and another sister in Arizona, where she had a Japanese restaurant in Phoenix.

Shortly after they moved to Arizona, the Kims opened a Japanese restaurant in Tucson, which they ran for almost a decade before relocating to the Seattle area in the early 1990s and opening the Seoul Olympic Restaurant in downtown Bellevue, which they ran until they sold it in 2002.

Suffering from heart trouble, Kyung Kim had surgery after their divestment, but was eager to work again so the family opened the "Juice Plant" fresh juice bar inside the City Center Building at Fifth and Pike in Seattle in 2005.

After four years amidst the downtown hustle and bustle, the Kims decided they were ready for a quieter community and moved to Walla Walla, where they opened "I Love Teriyaki."

Several months ago, after two years at their Main Street location, they learned their landlord intended to raise the rent, an adjustment they couldn't justify financially and they closed the restaurant.

"Business was slow, but rent was very high," Kyung Kim said. They moved to Dayton at the end of September after Robbie Metzler, the owner of the old bowling alley building and once a regular at "I Love Teriyaki," suggested they consider using his space, which was still set up as a restaurant.

"Everyone (in Dayton) has been like a big family to us," she said about the help and support they have had from Daytonites ranging from the Chamber to City Hall. "There are very kind people here."

Daytonites in turn speak highly of the Kims, who have already put their personal touches on the former Mexican restaurant that seats 60 in the regular dining space and as many as 100 in the adjacent banquet room.

The restaurant will feature a wine and beer bar with a television screen for sports games and offer a variety of barbecue style and other Asian dishes, including teriyaki, Korean short ribs, yaki sobe, and sweet and sour chicken among others.

The Kims plan to hire two more employees for their wait staff and two more to help run the kitchen. Asian Grill will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Although Manila Bay Cafe and the General Store's Chinese Express offer some Asian food, Dayton has room for a mid-priced Asian restaurant that caters to families much the same way Fiesta En Jalisco does, Nysoe said.

"I'm thrilled," she said. "This gives our community another choice."