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.