accessAtlanta

BY ITS NAME, you might think that this Snellville strip center restaurant specializes in Yakiniku — the Japanese-style barbecue derived from Korean-style barbecue — with small, do-it-yourself grills at each table to cook the ingredients you order.

Nope. Yakiniku Japanese Steakhouse is more like a mom-and-pop version of Benihana, where chefs perform at large grill tables while customers sit, eat and watch the show.

JEAN SHIFRIN/AJC (ENLARGE)
Yakiniku dazzles with fiery flair and food, including the steak and shrimp combo with fried rice and hibachi vegetables.
EMAIL THIS PRINT THIS MOST POPULAR

BRING THE FAMILY: A family-friendly establishment in every way, Yakiniku is surely as much about entertainment as food. Pale blond wood floors and paneling give the place a surprisingly comfortable and airy feel. On one side of the restaurant, there's a small sushi bar and an adjacent private grill room for parties and business lunches. On the other side are four large grill tables, each seating up to a dozen. On a recent Sunday evening, most of the seats around the grills were taken, and the private room was overflowing with a birthday party, complete with balloons and a cake. But there wasn't a soul eating sushi.

DOING THE DINNER: Though the menu features appetizers and sides, we didn't see anyone order tempura or even a bowl of edamame. Everyone was having some combination of grilled meat or seafood, all of which come with soup, salad, vegetables and dessert. An additional $1.75 per person brings on the fried rice.

After cleaning the grill, with a whoosh of flame guaranteed to delight the kids, the chefs get to work scrambling eggs and mixing in steamed rice. After that, it's on to the veggies (onions, peppers, mushrooms and zucchini) and then various entrees, until everything is cooked and everyone at the table is served. We tried shrimp, teriyaki chicken and steak. All were simple and exactly as expected. Same for the soup, with salty broth, bits of mushrooms and green onions, and the iceberg lettuce salad with ginger dressing. A bowl of bright orange sherbet finished our meal. And somehow, after all the stylized slicing and flipping was done, the whole deal came off as perfectly satisfying, if not exactly dazzling — something like the Japanese version of the meat-and-three.

DRINKS AND LUNCH: Yakiniku has hot and iced tea, soft drinks and a small beer and wine list, including the usual Japanese lagers and a few cold sakes by the bottle. Lunch specials range from $8 to $11 and come with salad and rice.

THE VERDICT: Home-grown Japanese steak house aims to be a crowd pleaser.

HOURS: Lunch: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Mondays-Fridays. Dinner: 5-10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 5-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

PRICES: Appetizers $4.25-$6; sides $1.25-$8; entrees $9-$33; sushi $3-$11; lunch specials $8-$11

CREDIT CARDS: All major credit cards accepted

RESERVATIONS: Yes

RECOMMENDED DISHES: Grilled shrimp, teriyaki chicken, steak

CHILDREN: Kids' menu

PARKING: On site

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes

SMOKING POLICY: Nonsmoking

NOISE LEVEL: Moderate

TAKEOUT: Yes