Wok & Roll closes doors

After 16 years as owner of Wok & Roll, Vogel found himself sitting in the middle of his restaurant at 231 W. Seventh St. wondering if the business had a future. At the end of the day Vogel said the decision was clear.

“I sat and observed all day and decided to close her down,” Vogel said. “We’ve got some other businesses going on and it got to be too much of a baby sitting job.”

Vogel first opened the Wok & Roll restaurant with his business label Hard Wok Cafés in 1991 at a location in the Northpark Mall food court. He moved into the new building at 231 W. Seventh St. in 1998, and then renovated the interior in 2003.

Vogel said the business has been profitable throughout its tenure, but that competition and rising costs within the food industry have created too much of a headache.

“The business has pretty much stayed the same but the cost of business is getting harder,” he said. “There are certainly a lot more profitable businesses to be in. When we first opened in 1991 there were only three Chinese restaurants in town. Now there are 20.

“We’ve just been so blessed to see a lot of success. We’ve survived a lot of blood, sweat and tears and we’ve received a lot of joy out of it.”

Though the Seventh Street location is closing its doors and the 12 employees who worked there will be out of jobs, Vogel said Hard Wok Cafés is exploring other options in the restaurant business, including an Italian restaurant in the former Wok & Roll building —though there is no timetable for any new endeavors.

“We love the restaurant business and haven’t decided exactly what we want to do at this point, so I guess we could consider it more of a sabbatical,” Vogel said. “Part of that is up to our partner. The building itself is a beautiful building. It’s very, very nice.”

Vogel said the main reason he’d like to continue with the restaurant business is because of the relationships he’s built with “repeat customers” over the years.

“They’re pretty much what kept us in business for so long,” he said.

“We’re really thankful for our customers and the employees who have been with us for so long. I could probably write a novel on all of the learning experiences I’ve had over the years.”