Thursday, May 22, 2014

Sayonara to Kobe Steaks in Sandy Springs

Kobe Steaks in Sandy Springs is closing this weekend.

Kobe Steaks Japanese Restaurant will close its location at The Prado in Sandy Springs this Saturday, May 24th, after nearly 40 years in business.  According to the Kobe Steaks website, owner Katsuhiko “Vic” Watanabe first opened the restaurant at 17th & Peachtree Streets in midtown Atlanta before relocating the restaurant to The Prado in 1978.  With business booming, the restaurant relocated and enlarged again in 1994, this time to upper level of The Prado to the space it currently occupies.

There is little doubt that the reconfiguration/redevelopment of The Prado impacted Kobe Steaks negatively.  The Prado was redeveloped by Sembler in 2009 and diminished Kobe Steaks' parking and accessibility.  

Joli Kobe Bakery & Cafe/Bistro, the sibling concept of the steakhouse, also located at The Prado, will remain open. An additional Joli Kobe Bakery & Cafe/Bistro in Midtown on Peachtree Street will also reportedly remain open.  

Other Kobe Steaks locations in Nashville, Tennessee and Dallas, Texas are reportedly unaffected by the Sandy Springs closure and will remain open.

Just north of Kobe Steaks, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse has been rumored to be considering a closure or relocation for a few years, although the business currently remains open.  

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have heard that World of Beer will be coming to The Prado...I guess this is where they will go...

Anonymous said...

I am somewhat sad to hear this, although not surprised. I have been going to that place since the early 90's when I was a kid.

I think the culinary trends are leading away from hibachi steakhouses.

Last time I was there (5-6 months ago) it was really bleak in there. The place was dirty and was in great need of a renovation. My cook was a white dude from Buford, so the authenticity of the japanese steakhouse was totally non existent.

Anonymous said...

The closure have been talked about for a good while. The reason was not less business, as Prado is always packed with people and cars. It is the owner wanting to start to retire.

Anonymous said...

Business was slowing down but the owner wanted to retire. He owned the entire land and building at Prado. Sembler bought it from him for a pretty penny (lower to mid 8 figures) but he's in his 70's and wanted less stress so he closed the location in Atlanta and the 2 Joli Kobe locations in Atlanta. He still owns 2 Kobe Steaks in Dallas and Nashville.

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