ELYRIA — The owners of a new Japanese restaurant are turning up the heat on the hibachi grills at Midway Mall.

Mall officials confirmed Tuesday that Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse is moving into the mall in the same location as the defunct Tokyo Steakhouse, between Harry Buffalo and Best Buy.  The restaurant, complete with sushi bar and more than 10 hibachi stations, is expected to open by mid-October.

Crews are just finishing up construction work on the 7,800-square-foot restaurant, said Susan Godorov, vice president of marketing for Centro Properties Group, parent company of Midway Mall.

Co-owner Kevin Chen said the Elyria location will be the first in Ohio, although there are nine other locations across the country.

“The food will be better than before,” he said. “We will make coming for dinner and lunch interesting and entertaining.”

Wasabi’s announcement that it is moving into Midway Mall comes a week after Bennigan’s and Fazoli’s closed up shop. Bennigan’s parent company closed 300 restaurants nationwide after filing for bankruptcy protection and Fazoli’s left after the franchise owner decided to close the restaurant.

Wasabi will be open for lunch and dinner until 11 p.m. most days and will employ about 10 people when it opens in the fall, Chen said.

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.

 

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