The wait for the opening of the restaurant previously known as Royal Dynasty isn’t quite over. But it’s getting close.

According to Victor Hui, the owner of what will be known as Pacific Grove, said he expects his Lowell Street restaurant to open its doors by the end of January.

Royal Dynasty closed in September after Hui, who also owns a Chinese food restaurant in North Reading, took over ownership of the business. The original plan was to re-open by the end of 2012, but the building needed more work than initially anticipated.

“We’re excited, but it’s been a lot of work on the building,” said Hui. “We want to make sure things are just right, which is why it’s taking longer.”

Hui said there is no definitive grand opening date set as of now, but said it will "definitely" be within the next month.

The upgrades include work on the aesthetics and a sushi bar that Hui said will add to the atmosphere of the restaurants. He said it’s likely Pacific Grove will host comedians, musicians and other kinds of entertainment.

While Wilmington residents have not yet been able to step inside Pacific Grove, Hui said he’s gotten to know many of his future customers as they’ve dined at China Cuisine in North Reading.

Hui added that he wanted to give his staff the opportunity to become fully trained before opening, and thus it did not make sense to begin his business during the holiday rush.

“Because most of the time when you first open, you have a lot of people come in, I didn’t want to then also open in the holiday season,” said Hui. “I just wanted to slow things down a bit. We’re working on the store almost every day to make sure things turn out right. We can already tell we like the people here, and we are looking forward to having a good business in Wilmington.”