Sapporo Japanese Steakhouse opens in University Place next week. And there's sushi, too

Sapporo Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi in University Place plans to open March 27.

Its owners have spent eight months turning the space that previously held Chinese restaurant Jade Palace into a 198-seat restaurant serving teppanyaki, which is a multi-course dinner prepared as a live cooking show (it’s also called hibachi).

The restaurant menu will go beyond teppanyaki with a broad menu of Japanese entrees, bento boxes and a sushi menu. There’s also a robust list of appetizers and a cocktail menu.

The restaurant at 3810 Bridgeport Way W. is separated into different dining areas depending on what kind of experience a diner is after.

“We divided it a little bit,” explained co-owner Tina Lee, who is opening the restaurant with husband, Max. “People might want to dine in the booths for nice and quiet dining. Then there are people who want to come in and have a loud, fun celebration for a birthday.”

The quieter side of the restaurant holds six private booths, a sushi bar with room for 10 and a few more tables. Diners in those areas can order from the sushi or Japanese entree menu. A cocktail bar has seating for more than 20 diners and has a full menu of cocktails, beer, wine and sake.

The louder side of the restaurant is the teppanyaki area, which is a dining room that will seat more than 100 at 12 tables.

Those tables will host teppanyaki chefs who cook dinner at a spacious grill with diners seated around those grills.

Seating is communal, meaning smaller parties are combined at every table (unless a party is large enough to take up a whole table).

The Lees hope to become a popular destination for big parties.

“We’ll host birthdays, celebrations, anniversaries, even bachelorette parties,” said Lee, who also owns three similar steakhouses around Buffalo, New York. Family members operate those restaurants now that they’ve moved here.

Tina Lee was raised in Renton. Her family once operated a Chinese restaurant in Burien. She moved to New York after college and met her husband there. Max Lee also comes from a restaurant family. Many of the restaurant’s recipes are from Lee’s mother, an avid cook.

The menu at the University Place location will mirror what their New York restaurants offer.

The hibachi side of the menu lists eight dinners with a single meat choice.

That menu includes chicken ($18), New York steak ($22), shrimp ($22), scallop ($24), salmon ($22), filet mignon ($25) and lobster tail ($30). More elaborate dinners include steak-and-seafood combinations ($24 to $48).

All hibachi dinners include salad, a shrimp appetizer, vegetables and a choice of rice (brown or white) or noodles.

Kid-sized hibachi dinners also are available ($9 to $12).

For diners seated in the booth area, the dinner menu includes a broad assortment of Japanese favorites, including donburi ($15to $20), teriyaki ($14 to $22), miso black cod ($21) beef negimaki ($17) and several other entrees. A lunch menu lists bento boxes ($12), sushi roll specials ($9 to $11) and noodle dishes ($11 to $13).

The sushi lists nearly 50 rolls ($4 to $15), plus nigiri and sashimi ($4 to $6).

The restaurant will serve hibachi meals, sushi and entrees for lunch and dinner daily.

This story was originally published March 21, 2018 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Sapporo Japanese Steakhouse opens in University Place next week. And there's sushi, too."