After closing for nearly eight weeks to redesign and renovate, Nikki’s Restaurant & Sushi Bar’s downtown location recently reopened with a new look and updated menu
 
The restaurant at 16 S. Front St. held a reopening ceremony earlier this month with downtown and city officials.
 
“We are very happy with the renovation project, especially the expanded dining room and kitchen area,” Nikki’s general manager Jimmy Valimount said. “The space is much more comfortable for our patrons and also allowed us to update the menu and improve the dining experience.”
 
The sushi restaurant, which opened downtown more than a decade ago, closed after Labor Day, when tourism season dropped off, to do the work, according to a news release.
 
The improvements include custom-made tables and seating, a new sushi bar and workstation, updated lighting and an expanded bar, officials said. The new space offers an open, airy setting for customers.
 
“Nikki’s is a Downtown landmark and has been on the leading edge of the center city’s dining scene for some time,” Wilmington Downtown Inc. president and CEO Ed Wolverton said in a statement about the reopening. “The renovated space and new menu will solidify and reinforce their role into the future.”
 
Nikki’s originally was opened downtown in the early 2000s by Nikki Spears, who sold it a couple of years later. After it changed hands again to be owned and run by brothers Andy and Johnny Chen, the concept expanded locally. There are now five locations in the area including downtown. The others are in the Mayfaire area, Carolina Beach, on Racine Drive and at Independence Mall.