WICHITA — While serving in the Army for the last four years, Jeremy Ga-Ye had an epiphany.
Previously, he criss-crossed the country working in various service jobs, such as bartending and cooking.
“I was like, wow, I should have really stayed with the service industry business,” he says he realized.
So now he’s opening Lexi’s Restaurant and Bar in the former Maharaja space at 3008 W. Central.
Istvan “Ish” Tamas of J.P. Weigand & Sons handled the deal.
Ga-Ye named the restaurant after his daughter, 6-year-old Lexi Raven.
“She’s my first daughter, and this is my first business.”
Ga-Ye has two other children, 5-year-old daughter Alexandria Raven and 3-year-old son Akillies Raven.
So is he already thinking of more restaurants to name for them?
“You know, actually that was the plan,” Ga-Ye says.
The menu at Lexi’s will include burgers, steaks and vegetarian dishes — what Ga-Ye calls “basic food” that’s affordable.
“That’s really what everybody wants.”
He didn’t want to focus on one kind of cuisine that attracts only people who like that type of food.
“Why have just one type of person come in your place?”
Ga-Ye plans to add a pizza oven at some point.
He’ll be open for lunch, dinner and drinks until 2 a.m.
Look for Lexi’s to open a few weeks into May.
Ga-Ye says the restaurant will feature art from local artists who paint directly on his walls.
“It’s a twist to the place.”