After two decades in business and a string of bad luck in recent years, a popular South Riding restaurant is giving up the ghost. The Kirin Asian Cafe is closing permanently, effective Christmas Day.
Located just off Elk Lick Road, next to the South Riding Town Center, Kirin recently started spreading the news to customers about the closure. Signs on the door tout the news too.
“Sorry! We are closing permanently. (Lease expires 12/31/23). We will close our doors on 12/25/23,” one taped up note reads. “Thank you for your support over the last 20 years!”
Like all restaurants, Kirin Asian Cafe was impacted by the pandemic which started in 2020. Then in February 2021, a devastating fire hit the restaurant that closed it for roughly a year.
Since then, the folks at Kirin have been focusing on carry out and delivery orders and now they have decided they are done. Today — Sunday, December 24 — is their last day open.