Cafe Shi has moved from its Campustown location to a new and bigger place at 823 Wheeler St. in the Northern Lights area just north of Cub Foods, 3121 Grand Ave.

“The reason we moved was because we grew,” said Hong Willer, owner and chef of Cafe Shi.

Its old location, which seated roughly 60 to 70 people, didn’t seem adequate for the business it was doing, she said.

Willer said the restaurant had increasing requests for private parties, and if it had one request it would have to shut down the whole restaurant to make room.

That shouldn’t be the case now – its new location seats more than 100 guests and even has an area for private parties.

“We moved to serve our clients better,” Willer said.

Willer is concerned, however, that the business will lose university customers.

“I hope all the faculty and students from the university still come out here,” Willer said. “Ninety percent of our business in Campustown was because it was in walking distance.”

Despite the setback in customer traffic, Willer hopes people will come out to visit anyway.

Jason Shiverick, junior in aerospace engineering, has eaten at Cafe Shi once before.

“It was really nice because they had jazz music playing – it was enjoyable,” Shiverick said.

“I would go back maybe on a date or something [but] it’s more upper class – a little more spendy,” he said.

Even with additional space to accommodate for more guests, this expected loss of foot traffic has led Cafe Shi to change its hours at its new location to transition into its new situation at Northern Lights.

“At the new location, we do not open for lunch because we don’t have the walking distance [advantage] anymore,” Willer said.

“We loved the atmosphere [in Campustown], but we grew and so did our clients,” Willer said.

Cafe Shi has found hospitality at its new location and is being supported by surrounding businesses.

Ryan Colburn, manager of Ge-Angelo’s, 823 Wheeler St. #9, said he expected Cafe Shi’s move would affect them “in a positive way.”

“She will bring her regulars out here [and] they’ll see that I’m here and eventually want to have Italian food and come over here,” Colburn said.