Noko Yaki opens on West End: hours, menu

By Midstate Daily Food Desk · Edited by Channing Webb · Nov. 9, 2026

Slices of beef, chicken and pork cooking on a round brass tabletop yakiniku grill, the style of tableside grilling Noko Yaki is built around (file photo, not taken at Noko Yaki) — File photo of a yakiniku grill (not Noko Yaki): Benlisquare via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)

TLDRNoko Yaki, the third restaurant from the team behind East Nashville's Noko and Kase x Noko, opened Friday, Nov. 6, in the former Tin Angel building at 3201 West End Ave. It is a dinner-only, Asian-inspired steakhouse with tabletop grills and Japanese A5 and Kobe beef. It is open 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and closed Mondays. Book on OpenTable.

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Nashville's newest steakhouse cooks a lot of its beef at the table. Noko Yaki opened Friday, Nov. 6, on West End Avenue, more than two years after its owners signed the lease.

The restaurant comes from Noko Hospitality, the group behind Noko in East Nashville, which opened in March 2023, and Kase x Noko, its small omakase room, which followed in December 2024. Founder Jon Murray, executive chef partner Dung "Junior" Vo and managing partner Wilson Brannock leased the old Tin Angel space at 3201 West End Ave. in 2024 and expected to open within a year, The Tennessean reported.

Where it is

Noko Yaki is at 3201 West End Ave., at 32nd Avenue on the west side of Midtown, a short drive from Centennial Park and Vanderbilt. The building is nearly 100 years old and was home to Tin Angel for years. The new owners kept its original archways, exposed brick and other historic details, according to the restaurant and Markets of Tomorrow.

Hours and reservations

Noko Yaki serves dinner only. Hours, from the restaurant's website:

Tuesday through Thursday, and Sunday: 5 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday: 5 to 10 p.m. Monday: closed.

Reservations are on OpenTable and open 30 days in advance, Markets of Tomorrow reported. New restaurants often book up in their first weeks, so check the app early and look at weeknights first. Brannock said the team wants it to be a place for "a random Tuesday," not only special occasions.

What is on the menu

Vo, a James Beard semifinalist, built the menu around premium steak and tableside grilling inspired by Japanese yakiniku and Korean barbecue. The posted menu lists three groups of beef:

Australia: Wagyu filet, strip and ribeye from Grassdale Farms in Queensland's Darling Downs. United States: Certified Angus Beef prime filet, New York strip, ribeye and galbi, plus dry-aged strip and ribeye from Flannery and a Kuro Wagyu ribeye. Japan: A5 filet from Miyazaki Prefecture, A5 New York strip from Kagoshima and a Kobe New York strip from Hyogo Prefecture, all priced by the ounce.

Groups can order a signature spread of prime filet, prime New York strip, Wagyu ribeye and galbi with house sides and banchan, the small Korean side dishes. The menu asks that everyone at the table take part.

Beyond steak, small plates include bluefin tuna crudo, hamachi crispy rice, a kimchi Caesar and a Wagyu sandwich with bacon XO. Sides include charred scallion cornbread and red miso mashed potatoes. Large plates include lobster fried rice, market fish and street noodles with mushroom, tofu and bok choy. The online menu does not list prices.

What Kobe registration means

Not every "Kobe" on a U.S. menu is the real thing. Genuine Kobe beef comes from Tajima-strain Wagyu cattle raised in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture and certified by the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association, which also registers the restaurants allowed to sell it. A5 is the top grade under Japan's beef grading system.

Noko Yaki says it is the only restaurant in Tennessee certified and registered by the association. Markets of Tomorrow described it as one of two in the state.

Before you go

Allergies: the restaurant says it cannot safely serve guests with allium or sesame allergies because both are used throughout the kitchen. That includes onions and garlic, so plan ahead if anyone in your group has those allergies.

Grilling at the table: some dishes are cooked on Japanese Shinpo tabletop grills, so expect a lively room. If you want to try yakiniku at home afterward, a tabletop yakiniku grill is the usual starting point.

Gift cards are sold on the restaurant's website.

For more new openings, see our Wawa Nashville opening story, more Nashville-area business news and all Davidson County news.

Sources

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