New Owners of Former Tokyo Buffet File for Construction Permit
Oct 20, 2022 12:00AM ● By Story and photos by Thomas J. Sullivan
The Tokyo Buffet restaurant building, located at 7217 Greenback Lane, is expected to be replaced by a new edifice projected to open in 2023.
CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - New owners of the former Tokyo Buffet restaurant building at 7217 Greenback Lane, shuttered since a fire occurred at the site in 2019, have filed a construction permit with the City of Citrus Heights to begin work on a new Japanese-style restaurant on the site.
The shuttered restaurant was purchased in 2021 for $1.8 million by Lincoln-based Kobe Hibachi and Sushi, Inc. which will do business under that same name according to information previously published by RealtyTrac.
Kobe Teppanyaki & Sushi is listed as both the owner and builder of the project on construction plans submitted to the City of Citrus Heights on September 7, said Susan McClendon, a development services technician for the Citrus Heights Building Department.
“We reviewed their initial plan submission and then sent it back to the owner/builder for corrections on September 8th. We’ve not heard further from them what their intentions are,” McClendon said.
“Once they resubmit their revised plans with corrections to us, we’ll review them promptly to see if they’ve satisfactorily answered all of our concerns, and then issue a construction permit.”
Kobe Teppanyaki & Sushi is a Japanese-Asian fusion style restaurant which features propane-heated, flat-surfaced teppanyaki grills where chefs prepare a meal of Kobe Beef, Lobster tail, or one of their combination plates right before their customers.
Workers erected scaffolding around multiple exterior walls of the restaurant in late September, but that has since been removed.
Tokyo Buffet closed in August 2019 due to a kitchen fire that damaged the restaurant’s heating, ventilation, and cooling system. The fire occurred during business hours and all patrons at the time were safely evacuated. Its original interior restaurant furnishings and tables remain in place.
A representative of Kobe Teppanyaki & Sushi, open at 131 Ferrari Ranch Road in Lincoln confirmed by phone that the new owners do intend to open their new restaurant in Citrus Heights under that name, but said opening date isn’t anticipated until early 2023.
