Japanese steak and seafood coming to Grandin Village; CUPS coming to Roanoke College
Photo by Lindsey Nair l The Roanoke Times.
The mystery has been solved. The space that formerly housed Norberto’s in Grandin Village in Roanoke will house a Japanese steak and seafood house called Kabuto, which will open tomorrow. This sign (at left) went up today.
Kabuto will be owned and operated by Jargal Jarvis, whose husband, Kevin Jarvis, was the chef/owner of Norberto’s for about the past year. Jargal Jarvis said her husband will not be the chef at Kabuto.
Here is a quick sampling of menu offerings: hibachi vegetables, $8.95; teriyaki chicken, $9.95; hibachi shrimp, $10.95; combination shrimp and chicken, $15.55. Steak and scallops are also offered. Jargal Jarvis said she hopes to add sushi to the menu in about a month. Kabuto already has an ABC license.
She said she decided to open this kind of restaurant in the space because Grandin Village doesn’t have any Asian restaurants. She said she wants to offer affordable food at a good price.
Kabuto Japanese Steak & Seafood House
1908 Memorial Ave., Roanoke
Hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 4:30 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 4:30 to 9:30 p.m.; Sunday, 4:30 to 9 p.m. Closed Monday.
Phone number: Not yet available
In other restaurant news, the owner of CUPS, a Grandin Village coffee shop, is expanding into the Fintel Library at Roanoke College in Salem. So Salem reporter Avery Eliades has all the details here.
January 8, 2013 - 3:14 PM
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This is very exciting! May be just the perfect fit in our neighborhood. I wonder if they’ll have a nice selection of sake to pair with their menu? We’ve been getting really tasty take out lately from the Teriyaki Grill (419 and Brambleton) but this is in walking distance from home. Now if we can get a Spanish Tapas Restaurant and Bar to go into Surf & Turf’s old digs, I may never leave the ‘hood.
A nice option for the Grandin area. We’ve enjoyed frequenting the restaurants there for years and are looking forward to trying it out. Hope they do well!
She said she wants to offer affordable food at a good price.
Shouldn’t that be good food at an affordable price?
Looking forward to checking them out- I love Japanese food.
So who is the chef here? Someone with teppanyaki experience? I don’t get how you transition from a failed Italian restaurant to Asian food.
Yes Katy Cates, tapas!
Great!!!! Welcome to the neighborhood!!!
I’m still very disappointed that Norberto’s is gone. Japanese is not exactly the replacement I was hoping for, but we will give it a try and wish them the best. I hate to see empty storefronts in Grandin Village.
shame shame! Norbertoes use to be excellent before the new owners took over and ruined it! Can’t believe they would close it and open again with this. Needless to say will not be going there. They will be closed soon I am sure!!
We went there tonight and thought it was good. Japanese isn’t my favorite but figured I may as well give them a try on opening night. It was better than what I have had at the other places around Roanoke because it wasn’t nearly as oily.
Being down there they’re nuts not to open for lunch.
@Kristen – lunch is actually surprising slow for restaurants in Grandin Village – so it is not unexpected that they would only be open for dinner.
Teresa, you obviously haven’t been to the Village Grill. They are almost always packed at lunch time. Give them a try, the food is really good. Best burgers in town.
sm armstrong, we were at the Grill today for $6 burger day. They are very good.And theres always Taco Tuesday.
Speaking of lunch, my lovely bride and I stopped in at Growlers for lunch last Friday for the first time. Ugh! We won’t make that mistake again. My meatloaf sandwich was very close to cardboard, and the meat in her French Dip was so fatty, it was inedible. The “cheese” on it was literally the size of a postage stamp! The only good thing on the plate was the coleslaw. The restaurant itself was dusty and dirty overall. We should’ve left, but we wanted to give it a try. Hope their beer selections and microbrews (I don’t drink beer, so I wouldn’t know a good one vs a bad one) are better. The beer and live music might be the only thing to keep this place afloat. What have some others experienced at Growlers?
Kristen, maybe they’re waiting to see how it goes, before opening for lunch and dinner.
@Kevin, the comments I’ve heard about Growlers have fallen across the spectrum from awful to great. Our reviewer had a good experience, so I don’t know what to think: http://www.roanoke.com/food/reviews/wb/316718
Maybe, Debbie. Norbertos was open for lunch sometimes and it was nice to have an Italian lunch option. I love Sakura and I’d love something similar closer by…I hope this place makes it.
Thanks for the link, Lindsey. It was interesting to read. Perhaps they’ve had a change in the kitchen, or were just having an off day, I don’t know. But it was bad enough that I likely won’t give them a second chance. I’m still waiting for you to visit me in Blacksburg so I can take you to the new Lavery Hall on campus!
Studies show that if the service is bad on a first visit to a restaurant, patrons typically give the place a second chance. If the food is bad, they usually never go back. Interesting and not surprising.
Email me about Lavery Hall – lindsey.nair@roanoke.com
went to new jap place and food as well as service was poor!would not recommend!!
Went to Kabuto tonight I was very disappointed to say the least. Myservice and food was horrible. The most disappointing part about my experience was finding out that my food is pre cooked and not fresh. All they do is heat up your food from earlier on in the day. I found this out from our waitress when i asked about the cooking of there rice. My dinner guest found a hair in her food in thr very beginning. Will never get my business again.
Lindsey, just saw your stat about service v food quality. That describes our eating out habits perfectly…if we’re at a really new place and the service is sketchy we’ll be back, as long as the food is good. But no amount of good service can overcome bad food.
Kristen, I saw a guy who owns several restaurants, on Top Chef last week and the week before. He made the comment which is I think the one that Lindsey wrote, people go to a restaurant for the food, they return for the service. Of course your last sentence is correct too, if the food is bad the service won’t overcome it.
My daughter went to Kabuto with a friend on Saturday night and said the food was terrible.
My friends and I went there opening night and loved it enough to come back again the next day. The meal comes with soup & salad and the salad’s house dressing is really great. I ordered the shrimp which our waitress recommended. It was good, not too saucy or oily. My friend ordered the steak with extra rice which she liked too. We were really surprised on how cheap our checks were. The food is definitley worth more than the price. Its so affordable we can go there for dinner every night. I plan on going again with my husband this week.
Kristen, I could not agree more with your sentiment. We try new places as often as possible, and we try to keep in mind that some new places need time to tweak the service. If the food is good, we’ll be back (at least one more time!), but if the food is bad, so long. This brings some more questions for y’all; a tip is usually given for the quality of service. Do restaurants generally give a percentage to the cook staff? If I feel the service was lacking but the food was excellent, is there a way I can request to tip the cook staff directly and by-pass the servers, or at least request the smaller percentage of the tip go for the service? Thoughts?
Kevin, I believe cooks are paid differently than servers. Servers are given below minimum wage with the plan being tips will make up the difference. Cooks are paid at least minimum. I could be wrong but I think this is how it works.
I think that’s right, Kristen. Waiters and waitresses make an hourly wage that is lower than minimum wage, but they are tipped employees and are expected to make minimum wage after tips are factored in. When I waitressed, I always made $2.13 per hour.
Cooks should have a higher hourly wage, one that is at least minimum wage.
If anybody knows more about this, please chime in.
Thanks to you both, Kristen and Lindsey. Has anyone ever heard of someone tipping the cook staff, or has anyone tried to do so? I start at a minimum of a 20% tip for wait staff, but if the service is good, I’ll go beyond that because I firmly believe in “rewarding” those that do a good job. I know some folks believe in not tipping at all for bad service and I respect that. I’ve never had such horrible service that I felt no tip was warranted. If it gets to that point during the meal, I’ll ask to speak to a manager and request a different server. I’ve only had to do that once and the manager was happy to oblige.
As a tangent, IIRC wait staff are still paid the exact same (sub) minimum wage now as they were 2-3 decades ago. I suppose the cheapskate mentality is that they will earn more in tips? Or… the management just doesn’t give a flip, and wrongly thinks customer service has zero impact on customer loyalty. My memory was that when I was in the food service business the standard wage was approximately the same as Lindsey mentioned, and that’s been thirty years ago.
For reference, just imagine if you made the same income as you did thirty years ago, if you’re old enough to use that scale. If you’re not, just imagine how it would feel to make the same income thirty years from now, with all the inflation factored in…
#29 Kevin, some restaurants have arrangements where the wait staff & kitchen staff share in the tips. Sometimes upscale restaurant – none around Roanoke, we’re talking really upscale – distribute the tips equally. Some low end places that tend to be buffet/all you can eat places do the same.
The most efficient method of tipping the kitchen staff is to greet them personally and give them the Franklin handshake. That’s really impractical, and extremely seldom utilized. The better strategy if you want special attention from a restaurant you visit on a consistent basis is to effusively praise the entire staff every time you visit, and to grease the host(ess) whenever you do so. Word will filter, and you’ll get the Sinatra treatment eventually.
Most restaurants: servers make 2.13/hr + tips. They in turn tip a percentage of their shift total to the bartenders and hostesses. Bartenders make anywhere from 5.00 – 8.00/hr + tips. They in turn tip out the bar-backs and sometimes the disher. Hostesses normally make minimum wage and tips from the servers. Cooks make at least minimum wage and rarely, if ever,get tipped. Asian restaurants usually tip share with everyone getting a cut.
As for the “Sinatra treatment”, just be nice to the staff and tip accordingly. They will remember you. That nice part goes a long way.
Thanks, crooked road. Interesting information, especially about how the wage scale in the food service industry might not have been keeping up with the rest of U.S. industry. All the more reason to provide a generous tip to those who deserve it!
Just to be clear (many times, I am not clear!) I’m not looking for any special treatment from a place I might visit frequently. I am interested in letting those who deserve gratitude for a job well done how much I appreciate their effort. There are plenty of hard working people in this country, especially in the food service industry, who don’t get the gratitude they deserve. At the same time, there are many in this country who expect lavish praise and accolades for simply showing up. I know how hard it is to try to come up with meals that are good, I try and try at home and fail more than I succeed. Therefore, I am in awe when someone can produce food that is wonderful, and if it is in a commercial setting, I’d like to show appreciation. It is a talent I wish I had.
I wud like a dishwasers job if availiable if needed