Payao Thai restaurant, which dates back nearly 20 years to the heyday of Restaurant Row, is preparing to close.

The complex at 500 Ala Moana Blvd. has been re-branded as Waterfront Plaza in recent years, and its tenant mix significantly changed since its establishment in the late 1980s.

Payao Thai owner Art Srivong, who also founded Chiang Mai Thai Cuisine in the 1980s, had been on a month-to-month lease and said of the impending closure, “It’s OK for me.”

He was running both restaurants for a while, but other family members run Chiang Mai while he has focused on Payao Thai.

“I’ve been here a long time. We’ve been hanging in there a long time,” Srivong said.

He plans to close Payao Thai as early as Nov. 13 or perhaps Nov. 18, depending on supply levels.

The restaurant was most popular right after it opened in 1996 or 1997, with the broad range of nightlife available at the complex then called Restaurant Row, he said.

Over the years he has seen many of the venues such as Blue Zebra nightclub either close or change hands. Payao Thai itself was once a Greek restaurant called Yanni’s.

Srivong said his business waned after the former Wallace Theatres Restaurant Row 9 multiplex closed in 2009.

“When the theaters closed, at night there are no customers,” he said.

Payao Thai ceased dinner service.

Conversely, Ruth’s Chris Steak House had discontinued lunch service in the economic downturn that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“Ruth’s Chris has a name,” Srivong said, adding that “people eat steak at night,” whereas his $10 average lunch price was affordable.

Inside Payao Thai at lunch, you will see everyone from well-heeled attorneys in expensive suits to office workers and the occasional Honolulu Star-Advertiser employee noshing on coconut-creamy Royal Thai soup, Pad Thai and other dishes fragrant with lemongrass or basil and redolent with garlicky red chili paste.

A two-course lunch special offering several choices of dishes has ranged from $7.50 in the restaurant’s early days to its present maximum of $13, depending on a customer’s meat choice.

Srivong is “not going to look for a new spot,” he said, and is going to take a break.

“The current tenant was struggling,” said Steve Sullivan, vice president of operations and property manager of Waterfront Plaza. “We’re very excited to welcome a new restaurant operator with an updated concept.”

Incoming tenant Mimi’s Place is a Peruvian restaurant that has operated as a pop-up in Hawaii Kai and, most recently, in Manoa.

“We’ve been operating for seven years. We have a following,” said Katya Rivasplata, daughter of owner Mirtha Rivasplata.

The owner adopted the nickname Mimi “20 years ago because nobody can pronounce” Mirtha, Katya Rivasplata told TheBuzz.

The business will be a family-run operation, with the matriarch and other family members in the kitchen and Rivasplata running the front of the house.

Mimi Rivasplata “is the chef,” Katya Rivasplata said. She is taking this time between the Manoa pop-up closing and the new opening to take some advanced courses, Rivasplata said, adding that her nephew also is a culinary student.

The Payao Thai lease ends Nov. 19, after which Mimi’s Place will undertake about a month’s worth of renovation work.

They hope to open in the second week of December, but possibly by the 18th or 19th, Katya said.

Mimi’s Place initially will serve lunch and dinner six days a week, but the plan is to eventually also open for breakfast, serving Peruvian– and American-style breakfasts.

Peru is a leading food destination, according to some travel publications, Rivasplata said.

Peruvian food has a “big following outside Hawaii … and we serve authentic Peruvian cuisine,” she said.

The food is not necessarily spicy, she said. Customers can order dishes to their desired level of spice, or simply mild.

Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle.