Phoenicia to rise from ashes of KIX restaurant
There’s something cooking in the 300 block of North Central Avenue and it has its roots in ancient civilization.
The building at 343 N. Central Ave., previously occupied by KIX Restaurant, will reopen in August as Phoenicia Restaurant after a year of construction, its owner said. When the restaurant opens, it will have a capacity of 300, with indoor and outdoor dining areas and will include new touches like arches, which owner Ara Kalfayan said reflect Lebanese culture.
Kalfayan, a Glendale resident, has owned the property since 1978. Phoenicia Restaurant was its original name and Kalfayan owned and operated the site from 1978 to 1991. He changed the eatery’s name to KIX in 1991. But after demand from the community, he is changing the restaurant’s name back to Phoenicia Restaurant and its cuisine from continental to Lebanese, he said.
“It’s the population that has changed,” Kalfayan said. “In early ’78 when I opened, Glendale was at a different population than today. We have much more minorities in town than it used to be.”
Kalfayan’s decision to change the restaurant’s cuisine seems like a sound one, said Judee Kendall, executive director of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce.
“The people who were here [in 1978], when Phoenicia opened and it was continental cuisine, have become more familiar with the ethnic cuisines, and they love them. I do,” Kendall said.
As part of the conversion, Kalfayan is remodeling and expanding the building.
Milca Toledo, a Glendale city planner, said that about 1,400 square feet of floor area was added to the structure, including a new open patio.
Kalfayan bought and demolished the business adjacent his property, PIP Printing and Document Services, to facilitate construction.
He also received a parking-reduction permit and a conditional-use permit to serve beer and wine.
Kendall said she thinks that the reopening will be part of the revitalization of the area.
“It is an excellent restaurant and I think it will draw people to Central,” she said.