Asiana Thai & Sushi has closed its Hyde Park dining room for good after more than two decades of scratch-made curries and sushi rolls along Edwards Road. The restaurant, a fixture of Cincinnati's east side since 2002, quietly pulled down its location-specific website, and online searches now list the spot as permanently closed.
According to WKRC, the closure follows more than 20 years in business at 3922 Edwards Road, a stretch that sits along the busy commercial corridor connecting Hyde Park and Oakley near Rookwood Commons, according to Asianati. The restaurant served a menu built around Thai dishes and sushi, including stir-fries, noodles and curries that had become neighborhood staples over the years, per the station's report. Owners' social media posts indicated the landlord did not renew the lease, WKRC reported.
A Prime Corridor Under Pressure
The 3900 block of Edwards Road sits in a high-density retail area directly adjacent to major shopping centers including Rookwood Commons and Rookwood Pavilion, according to Zumper. Under Ohio commercial lease principles, landlords are governed strictly by written contract terms rather than the tenant protections that apply to residential renters, meaning commercial property owners face no statutory requirement to offer a lease renewal once a term expires, per the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland. That legal reality left Asiana Thai & Sushi with little recourse once the landlord decided not to continue the lease.
The Edwards Road dining room had long been known locally for its compact layout, window seating overlooking the street, and a bring-your-own-beverage policy that patrons appreciated alongside scratch-made dishes like Khao Soi and Massaman curry, according to Asianati. The restaurant's reputation extended well beyond Cincinnati: Yelp ranked it No. 42 on its annual list of the Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S. in January 2020, per Forbes. Hoodline's own 2018 roundup of the city's best Thai spots had also singled out the Hyde Park destination among the top five in town.
The Crestview Hills Location Carries On
Diners don't have to say goodbye to Asiana Thai & Sushi entirely. The restaurant's other location, at 2886 Town Center Boulevard in Crestview Hills, Kentucky's Crestview Hills Town Center, remains open and is not affected by the Hyde Park closure, according to LINK nky. The restaurant is owned and operated by native Thai restaurateurs Jay and Tuoy Holmes, who expanded the concept across the river into Northern Kentucky, the outlet reports.
Ahead of the Hyde Park closure, the owners had already begun adjusting operations at the surviving Crestview Hills spot, closing on Sundays as of June to give staff and owners dedicated rest days, according to a Chowdown Cincinnati Facebook post. That schedule change now stands as the only operational shift tied to the broader transition, with the Crestview Hills dining room otherwise running as it has for years.
Part of a Wider Shakeup on the East Side
Asiana's exit adds to a string of recent changes shaking up Cincinnati's east side dining scene. It follows the closure of the 12-year-old Asian eatery Stone Bowl in Oakley earlier this month, and comes amid a wave of commercial turnover along the nearby Hyde Park dining corridor, including Parkside's recent expansion into the former Mexcantina space on Hyde Park Square.
For patrons on the east side looking for their next bowl of curry, a handful of long-standing independent Thai restaurants remain within reach, including Lemon Grass Thai Cuisine on Madison Road and Ruthai's Thai Kitchen on Linwood Avenue, according to Secret Cincinnati. Still, for the regulars who spent two decades eating Khao Soi by the window on Edwards Road, the loss of Asiana's original home marks the end of an era for one of Hyde Park's most decorated restaurants.
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