A final farewell: Ok Sun Oriental Restaurant will reopen for one last week in Columbus

A beloved Oriental restaurant in Columbus is closing for good, but not before they give their supporters one last week to enjoy the food they’ve served for decades.

Ok Sun Ferrell moved to Columbus from Tacoma, Washington, in the 1970s, a move that would eventually lead to the opening of Ok Sun Oriental Restaurant.

After marrying her husband, Harris, the couple enjoyed eating out. Asian cuisine, milkshakes and other sweets were Harris’ favorite foods during these dates, Ferrell’s niece, Victoria Chong, told the Ledger-Enquirer translating for Ferrell.

Harris and entrepreneur Buddy Nelms worked as business partners back then while running the Colony Inn on Victory Drive. Ferrell worked with her husband there, but her love for hosting dinner for family and friends led her to another venture.

With Harris’ support, Ferrell opened Ok Sun Oriental Restaurant in 1985 on Victory Circle. Her menu was developed from creating “Americanized” recipes for Harris’ favorite Asian cuisine items. In homage to their love of milkshakes, the restaurant also originally had a milkshake machine.

“That’s how they fused their two loves together,” Chong said.

Ok Sun built a community around the family-run restaurant for nearly 40 years until its closure was announced in July. But the family plans to reopen for one farewell week, giving their loyal customers and friends a final chance to enjoy the food.

The dates for that farewell week haven’t been decided yet, but the restaurant will post updates on its Facebook page.

Ok Sun’s history in Columbus

Harris was always a spiritual person who often went up to Pine Mountain to meditate.

Nelms, who began working with Harris when he was 19, would sometimes go with him.

One day, when they were sitting on the side of a hill, Harris told Nelms he’d seen the profile of his wife in a dream. Harris drew a picture of the woman in his, and Nelms remembers being surprised that Harris’ dream wife would have such short hair.

Nelms was shocked when he first met Ferrell because she looked exactly like the drawing Harris had shown him that day on the hill.

“When he met (Ok Sun), that was a game-changer,” Nelms said. “Everything in our whole dynamics shifted.”

The business partners originally planned to open a pizzeria in the Victory Circle building. But Harris believed in Ferrel and the recipes the two created together.

“Ok Sun is actually a chef,” Nelms said. “People don’t understand this ...You can cook right beside her and do what she does. But the food is so different because she touches it with love.”

Ferrell was joined by more of her family members to help run Ok Sun after opening. Among the family that came to help were Ferrell’s brother Chang Su and his wife Bun Im, Chong’s parents.

By the late ‘80s, Harris and Nelms planned to expand Ok Sun Oriental Restaurant downtown. Harris’ dream was to make the restaurant a franchise. Harris was the business mind in the partnership, while Nelms helped work to make it happen.

They’d begun designing the restaurant and ordering equipment when Harris tragically died in March 1989 at 63 years old.

It was devasting, Nelms said, but he did what he could to be there for Ferrell and her family after the death.

When Harris died, it became important for everyone in the family to support the restaurant.

“Harris wanted Ok Sun to have all of her family here to work together,” Chong said. “That was part of the plan, to make this very much a family restaurant.”

In 1991, Nelms, Ferrell and her family put their best face forward to finish the project and open a second Ok Sun location in downtown Columbus.

Downstairs, customers could enjoy a variety of food. Upstairs in The Loft, they offered a dinner theater experience. The business rapidly gained popularity as more people were drawn in for lunch or enjoying time in The Loft.

Nelms was eager to expand the business’ offerings for Columbus residents, but Ferrell became overwhelmed.

“We were feeding 100 people a day for lunch,” Nelms said. “And she hadn’t bargained for all of this.”

One day in 1994, Ferrell told Nelms that she couldn’t do it anymore.

Ok Sun went back to only having the one, original, location that Ferrell operated restaurant until 1999 when Chong’s parents, Chang Su and Bun Im, took over.

“But Ok Sun was still very much a part of the restaurant,” Chong said.

Nelms went on to transform the downtown space a couple more time before The Loft became the restaurant Columbus knows it as today. He remains an honorary part of Ferrell’s family, having taken trips to Korea and meeting more of her family.

“As long as I can remember, he’s been an extension of our family,” Chong said.

The community is family

Ok Sun Oriental Restaurant regularly closes over the summer so the family can visit Korea.

Some of Bun I’ms happiest memories come from interacting with customers when they reopen after returning from their break.

Some of the customers would tell her they checked in on the restaurant while the family was away, and made sure everything was OK with their business.

Their customers were like family, Ferrell said, and they always wanted to treat them as such.

This past April, they closed for their break as normal. But while in Korea, Chang Su’s health declined. It became apparent that Chong’s parents and Ferrell would no longer be able to run Ok Sun.

But they remember what it was like to see their customers again after their break was over. Because they closed expecting to reopen after returning from Korea, the family felt a need for closure.

One last week

Chong remembers being the baby toddling around Ok Sun back when she was growing up. Now she has children of her own.

But some customers have also grown up in the restaurant. People often came into the restaurant asking to see Ferrell. One man who visited her began eating at the restaurant when he was 6 years old, Chong said, and returned to see her at around 40 years old with his family.

“For my parents and Ok Sun, it’s always really good to see,” Chong said. “It’s growing the family. It’s just getting bigger and bigger.”

When they announced they were closing, Ferrell said, customers didn’t want to see it happen. And the family missed the feeling of seeing everyone after closing for the summer, Bun Im said with Chong translating.

So the family decided to serve the community one more time. They will announce the specific dates on their Facebook page.

The menu will be limited, Chong said. Some items that take a long time to prepare may not be available for that week. But some favorites, like the chicken fried rice, will be available.

“This is a time to be able to say goodbye and to see everyone in this setting,” Bun Im said. “It’s very important to give (customers) one last meal.”