A downtown Aiken Asian restaurant has closed for good

The Red Door in downtown Aiken is “closed permanently,” according to information posted online.

When the Aiken Standard called the phone number on the Asian restaurant’s Facebook page April 14, nobody answered.

The eatery was among the restaurants operated by The Aiken Dining Group, which Norman Dunagan and Alexandrea Kneece cofounded.

Dunagan didn’t respond to a voicemail message left by the Aiken Standard prior to the publication deadline for this story.

The Red Door opened in 2024 at 126 Laurens St. N.W.

That location most recently had been the home of an Irish pub, Jameson McDubby’s, which closed for good in September 2023.

The Red Door served ramen, bao buns, Japanese curry, steamed pork dumplings and chicken yakitori

Among the other options on the menu were miso soup, grilled teriyaki wings, Sichuan green bean salad, seaweed salad and kimchi mushrooms.

“I have been interested in Japanese cooking since I was in my 20s,” said The Aiken Dining Group’s co-owner and executive chef, Chad Jajczyk, prior to The Red Door’s debut. “This is my first opportunity to really explore it in a restaurant. I’ve dabbled with a lot of Asian food at Whiskey Alley, but I wanted to open up something downtown that was a nice Asian addition.”