Has anyone been past the Hickory Ridge village center to see if Maruha Japanese Steakhouse is still serving sushi and hibachi?
There was a tweet yesterday from Theycallmef where he reported Maruha "dark and shuttered" on a Saturday night. Maybe they were just closed for a night. The restaurant only opened last year.
I think it did. I have been by a few times and haven't seen any signs of life.
ReplyDeleteIt was ok. Little pricey for zero ambience. There are better Japanese steak houses around. That shopping center needs a place you can buy a beer after work.
Although it's always sad to see non-chain restaurants close. I'm not surprised by this one. I have been there quite a few times and the restaurant has always been absolutely dead. The hibachi side of the house was ok, but really overpriced. They lured quite a few people in (including myself)when they first opened and mailed out all of those coupons, but I think that the non-coupon prices, spotty service and just ok food prevented most folks from returning.
ReplyDeleteOn the sushi side, the rolls were pretty decent. When they first opened the rolls were pretty big, but then they got smaller and smaller. At one point they opened an all you can eat sushi lunch buffet that was decent, but I guess that didn't bring in as much business as they had hoped.
I loved the restaurant. Food was always good. But I never saw it packed in there, except for those first few coupon-fueled weeks. I got really worried when the buffet opened up because it reeked of desperation (and the quality of the buffet food was markedly worse).
ReplyDeleteClearly, they weren't doing nearly enough business. I also found it odd that it opened up when there's already another sushi place in the same shopping center. Ultimately, I think, it fell victim to the location. Lots of traffic goes in and out of that village center for basic stuff (grocery, shoes, haircuts), but I don't see too many people taking detours to stop in for a nice sushi dinner after hauling groceries to their cars. Maybe a decent sports bar would be better there? Whatever takes the space next needs to bring in some of the local daytime business traffic to survive and it needs to do enough business after 5 p.m. to keep the lights on (hence the sports bar suggestion). Otherwise, we're just going to see another place open up and close again in 12 months.
I thought the service on the hibachi side of that restaurant was horrid, but had a good experience on the sushi side.
ReplyDeleteI am much more upset about the loss of China Chefs up the road!
I'm not sure they ever hit their stride. The presentation, service and even the menus changed just about every time I went there - and I went about once/twice a month, at least. The prices were also not great (though not as high, imo, as Sushi Sono), but then again, you're eating in a strip mall next to a Subway and a shoe store.
ReplyDeleteI'm most peeved because I still have a bunch of Restaurant.com coupons to go there. (The irony, of course, is that coupons like this might have very well contributed to their closing).
I believe restaurant.com will give a refund if the restaurant closes.
ReplyDeleteMy family and I visited Maruha once or twice a month. Always ate the sushi. Thought it was ok and much easier to get into than Sushi Sono. Sorry to see it close.
ReplyDeleteThe really irritating thing was that on October 29, I purchased five $15 gift certificates directly from them to give as gifts at an event. They closed on October 31. Fortunately, I had charged the gift certificates and was able to get my money back from the credit card company.
I feel bad for the independent business, but in a way, I'm glad to see them go. They were taking business away from Narita Sushi, another independently-owned restaurant in the same shopping center with phenomenally-underrated sushi.
ReplyDeleteI live near the village center and it is definitely closed. It is all papered up. I went there a couple of times to try the sushi and then to try the hibachi - was not crazy about the food. It is such a large amount of space to rent that the places really need to take off in order to last.
ReplyDeleteNot only has Maruha closed, but so has Nairita Sushi. Yesterday all the fixtures had been removed from their space.
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