Nashville's West Side officially has an Asian-inspired steakhouse with Kobe beef on the menu, as Noko Yaki, one of only two restaurants in Tennessee officially designated and registered by the Kobe Beef Marketing & Distribution Promotion Association, opened on November 6 inside the former Tin Angel space on West End Avenue, a nearly 100-year-old building long beloved by local diners. The team behind Noko and Kase x Noko spent more than two years building the restaurant around premium cuts of beef and tableside grilling, and the beef program it opened with runs from Australian Wagyu through Japanese A5 all the way to Kobe from Hyogo Prefecture.
Noko Yaki is Noko Hospitality's third restaurant, from Founder Jon Murray, Executive Chef Partner Dung "Junior" Vo, and Managing Partner Wilson Brannock, and it builds on Vo's approach to live-fire cooking, with the beef at the center of the room. The program spans Australian Wagyu; U.S. prime, Wagyu, and dry-aged cuts; Japanese A5 from Miyazaki and Kagoshima; and Kobe beef from Hyogo. Guests can order the restaurant's signature spread of Prime Filet, Prime NY Strip, Wagyu Ribeye, and Noko Yaki Wagyu Galbi, served with house accompaniments and banchan. "Our hope is that Noko Yaki has everything you love about going to a steakhouse, while still feeling like us," Vo said. "There are incredible cuts of beef at the center of it, and we want the experience to feel elevated and unlike anything else in Nashville, but more than anything, we want it to be fun."
The rest of the menu takes the steakhouse canon and runs it through the group's kitchen. Small plates include Shrimp Cocktail with Vietnamese Cocktail Sauce and a Wagyu Sando with Bacon XO, American Cheese, Truffle Aioli, and Gochugaru. Larger plates include Lobster Fried Rice, Street Noodles, and a Wedge Salad with Sesame Blue Cheese Dressing and Chili Crisp Bacon. The sides get the same treatment: Miso Mashed Potatoes with Red Miso, Garlic Confit, and Gruyere, and Creamed Spinach with Creme Fraiche, Panko, Parmesan, and Shirodashi.
Behind the bar, Beverage Director Peyton Pound balances steakhouse classics with house cocktails and dedicated Martini and Old Fashioned menus. Sake is poured by the glass, and the wine list runs to more than 100 bottles, from approachable selections to rare, celebratory pours. A fully private dining room seats up to 12 guests.
Noko Yaki keeps the original archways, the exposed brickwork, and other historic details of the building at 3201 West End Avenue and weaves them into the design of the new room. Noko opened in East Nashville in March 2023, and Kase x Noko, its intimate omakase restaurant, followed in December 2024.
The group is opening its third restaurant with the same staff model it started with. When Noko opened in 2023, the team promised its employees four-day workweeks, company-funded health insurance, paid time off, paid birthdays, complimentary therapy, complimentary gym memberships and group yoga, and an annual travel stipend. Since then Noko Hospitality has invested over half a million dollars in employee benefits and continues to reinvest approximately 5.5% of sales into its team, and its restaurants carry an employee turnover rate of approximately 14.5%, against an industry average of roughly 80%. Those same benefits now extend to the team at Noko Yaki. "We've never wanted to grow just for the sake of growing," Murray said. "From the beginning, we've wanted to prove that taking great care of people and building a successful restaurant business can go hand in hand."
Noko Yaki serves dinner Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m., closed Monday, with reservations released on OpenTable 30 days in advance. "Come grab dinner on a random Tuesday. Have a date night. Or celebrate something. We want Noko Yaki to be a place you can come back to all the time, not somewhere you save for once a year," Brannock said.