Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop opens its newest location in downtown Overland Park Wednesday.
This marks the third location for the popular restaurant, which started more than a quarter century ago in Kansas City’s Crossroads area and has since opened a second shop in Westwood.
“We’re proud to expand our operations to historic downtown Overland Park and could not have envisioned a better location for our third restaurant,” owner Malisa Monyakula said in a news release Tuesday.
Where exactly?
The new Lulu’s is at 7921 Santa Fe Dr., on downtown Overland Park’s central strip right next to Clocktower Plaza.
Most recently, that space was the location for CommuniTea, which closed in November 2020. It’s also the original location of Mildred’s Coffee, which has now moved to downtown Kansas City.
The building, which dates back to 1945, has been extensively renovated, according to previous statements from officials with the Downtown Overland Park Partnership.
“The building offers charm and history,” Monyakula said. ““The quaint outdoor patio offers everything you could want in the center of downtown OP, surrounded by small businesses and with the popular Farmer’s Market right in our backyard.”
The 3,400-square-foot space seats up to roughly 130 patrons between the indoor dining area and the outdoor patio.
What’s new? What’s the same?
Fans of Lulu’s can still expect “authentic Thai street food” inspired by Monyakula’s upbringing in Bangkok and the food cooked up by her father and grandmother.
The menu at the new Overland Park location will be the same as the other two, including the restaurant’s signature dishes like spicy beef jantaboon, pad thai, Thai cashew chicken, pork rolls, lettuce wraps and Thai hot wings.
What will be different is a “revamped” cocktail menu that features new offerings like a mango margarita and “Thai tini.”
When is it open?
The grand opening will be Wednesday, May 24, at 11 a.m.
Regular business hours will be 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
Happy hours will run Monday through Friday, from 3-5 p.m. (and until 7 p.m on the patio), and from 1-4 p.m on Saturdays and Sundays.
