After just under five months in business, Ming Yao H Chinese restaurant has gone dark at 525 Haight St.

The restaurant opened in November, taking over the space that was formerly occupied by Tandoor On Haight. It was active until earlier this month, when the hours became increasingly sporadic. For the past week or more it has been completely shuttered, with no explanation provided in its windows, on its website, or on its answering machine. (In fact, Ming Yao has no answering machine—calls to its main number ring indefinitely without response.)

Meanwhile, recent reviews on Yelp claim that the restaurant is still taking orders, but not fulfilling them.

"They will happily take your delivery order and payment, then neither deliver nor answer their phone. Fortunately I was able to stop payment the next day."

"This restaurant has setup an account with Seamless but apparently does not monitor their orders. I waited over thirty minutes for a delivery and was later told that the restaurant was closed. The hours seem inconsistent and non-standard."

So what gives? Is Ming Yao officially closed for good? Though we can't say with 100 percent certainty, a post on the restaurant's Facebook page in late February seems to have foretold Ming Yao's demise:

"we are very sorry to inform loyal customers that we will be closing soon forever."

In March, while it was still in business, Ming Yao's space was listed on Craigslist and other real estate websites, offering the restaurant's equipment and presumably the transfer of its lease for $145,000. That listing is now off market, indicating that the restaurant has likely been sold.

Our efforts to get a definitive answer out of anyone at Ming Yao have thus far been fruitless, but we'll keep trying. In the meantime, might we suggest Wonderland?