Kobe Japanese Grill — Restaurant in Halls Crossroads

The Kobe Japanese Grill is a hidden gem that has been in the Halls area of Knoxville, TN for years. I remember when they first opened there doors many years ago. My friend and I decided to try their Restaurant out. We meet the Owner and his Mother as well. My friend and I had a lengthy conversation with the Owner's Mother about the Food offered there, the history behind the creation of this Restaurant and the outlook for the future as well for Kobe. My friend and I ate there often. I knew one of the waitresses from church as well, she was working there while in College. Also, my friend and I saw the Owner at the Gym sometimes too. But back to the Restaurant information. They have a wide selection of Japanese Cuisine. They have an open kitchen with a bar area so they people can watch the food being created. During COVID, things slowed down for many restaurants including Kobe but they still had the Drive-Thru option available to there customer base. Which was used a lot because still to this day, Kobe Japanese Grill is still open for business. I have had a lot of the dishes on their menu including the Hibachi & Teriyaki dishes. Proteins that they offer are Chicken, Shrimp, Scallops, Salmon, and Filet Mignon. They have also added Spicy Tuna Poke Bowls, Spicy Crab Poke Bowls and Seared Ahi Tuna. There are side orders that are offered and Side items you can include with your dinner. Sweet Carrots and Fried Rice come with every dinner. Whether you are ordering in-store or from the Drive-Thru, the Kobe Sauce is a must with your meal, it is so yummy. Also, the Japanese Hot Green Tea is yummy too. Lastly, they offer Desserts to, the Banana Sunrise is divine, I recommend it. They do have a Kids Menu as well. Their restaurant is clean, plenty of parking, Wheelchair accessible as well, and The Staff are...

I have only been here twice and I intend on coming back due to the quality of the food. The first time I went the service was consistent and we got everything we ordered. Most recently when I went back, I was disappointed with the customer service, or lack thereof. The few times our waitress actually came to our table, she spoke to us as though we were aliens. That sounds silly but I have no other way to explain it. Right after taking our order, she got low to our table and said a long, drawn out “We are so grateful to have you here with us tonight” It was friendly but her delivery caught us off guard. Regardless, we figured she would be top-notch since she was so happy to have the two of us in the restaurant that night. 20 minutes pass and we never receive our salads or even another visit back to our table for refills. Our food comes out (by someone else, not our waitress) and it tastes fantastic. I have no complaints on the quality of the food. Obviously, we weren’t going to ask for salads to-go because the purpose is to eat them before the meal so we made sure to ask for our check when our waitress finally made it back to our table by the time we were done eating.

Ultimately, I think we just ended up with an under-trained waitress because other customers received salads and regular table service. So like I said, I will be back because the food was awesome but I hope we get someone...

Save your money and time go to wasabi or hibachi factory. Salad had brown lettuce in salad, no traditional asian dressing or any dressing at all for that matter. They told me to use shrimp sauce/yum yum sauce in it. They said everyone does that, probably because they have no dressings at all. (To be fair the shrimp sauce had a very runny texture and tasted like it was the french dressing based type. ugh)

She then brought some ginger type paste, not really a sauce, and it still couldn't make the salad edible. The ahi tuna was also tiny with again no sauce that it normally comes with. Just small quarter sized pieces with some dry wasabi and ginger.

I set it aside for the hibachi entree only to see that the rice isn't even fried/grilled. It was simply seasoned and bland. Would have been better off just giving plain white rice. If the place was hibachi factory price it would have been expected, but not at this price point. Wasabi is the same lunch price point and 10,000 times better. Hibachi factory is half the price and even they grill their rice. There weren't any Asians working so I have to assume that an American that made these recipes. I make better on my own at home.

The staff was nice and the place was clean, but I would never pay this for such low quality food again. Anyone who says this place is good is either an employee or someone who has never been to a real hibachi...