What’s taking so long? Owner of Itzcali restaurant explains why project has taken 2 years

Nearly two years ago — in July 2021 — local real estate developer Navid Haeri and his wife, Veronica, announced plans for a flashy new restaurant and tequila bar in a building at 2819 E. Central that had previously been home to a second-hand shop.

It would be called Itzcali, a word that is Aztec for “House of Beauty,” and Haeri talked of a restaurant with a modern Miami look, a big patio and a bar featuring 100 types of tequila. He projected a spring 2022 opening. Wichita diners were excited.

Now, it’s spring 2023, and although the signs have been up on the building for a while, the restaurant still isn’t open, and diners are starting to wonder what’s taking so long.

This week, Haeri and Kevin Derks, the longtime Newport Grill chef that he hired on a year ago to lead the kitchen at Itzcali, met at the restaurant, and over the noise of construction equipment, they said this was hardly the first time they’d been asked about the delay.

“That’s the main question I get,” Haeri said. “And I say, ‘It’s art. We’re creating artwork, so you can’t cut corners.’”

Besides real estate — Haeri’s main job is running a real estate firm called HK Brothers — his passion is art and design. Haeri was an art major at Wichita State University, and the appearance of the restaurant is one of his top priorities, he said.

When construction was partway through, he said, he decided the restaurant’s interior was “too plain.” He started over with some of the design, which his general contractor Jorge Torres brought to fruition. That also meant the inspection process also had to start again, which added months to the project.

“To be honest with you, I’ve never built a restaurant, so I had no clue,” Haeri said.

Another holdup: Haeri realized during planning that he’d need more room for parking because of the restaurant’s size, and he approached next-door neighbor Brian Pistotnik about buying his half of the strip center, which sat to Itzcali’s east. The two came to an agreement, and Brian & Brian Pistotnik Law Offices moved to 311 S. Hillside in late July. Haeri demolished the building a couple of months later and had to re-frame the east side of the restaurant. Working out the deal for the building’s purchase and demolition held up progress, too.

Also, Haeri said, he’s just not in any hurry. He wants the restaurant how he wants it, and he’s under no financial pressure to rush it.

“This is a real estate investment,” he said. “Not so much a restaurant investment.”

Two more months

Haeri now estimates that the restaurant should be ready to go in about two months. All the pieces he needs to put the interior together are onsite, he said, and construction should be completed within a month. It’ll likely take another month to hire and train staff.

Derks and general manager Alicia Elleman, who are working with Veronica Haeri on staffing and menu development were at the restaurant on Tuesday morning with Haeri, and Derks was excitedly cutting into a big shipment of just-delivered dishware. The three giddily inspected shot glasses and gold flatware, and Derks offered a tour of his under-construction kitchen, which he was able to design from scratch.

The owners say they don’t want to reveal much about it until the restaurant is ready to open. They imagine a dramatic premiere where they debut both the menu and the interior simultaneously.

They have given some hints, though: The restaurant will have a V-shaped bar, more than 75 chandeliers and pendant lights hanging from the ceiling, a dining room that will seat 135 people, and a big Central-facing patio accessible to the dining room by two big garage doors. The patio is situated so that it will be in total shade in the afternoons and evenings, they said.

It also will have a big lounge room in the back with its own bar that can be used as a private venue or for overflow seating.

Haeri said he’s developing his own signature tequila brand, and his hope is that the tequila will become so successful, Itzcali will be considered the tequila brand’s restaurant. Details on that will come later.

Overall, Haeri said, he’s not sorry that the project has taken so long. It’s given him the latitude he needs to get things just right.

“It has given us time to adjust, to adjust the marketing, to adjust the project,” he said. “It allows us to adjust as we go.”