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What's opening in Nashville, and what's in the works.

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Noko Yaki is nearing its debut in the former Tin Angel on West End

After more than two years of planning and a difficult build-out, Jon Murray's Asian-inspired steakhouse is preparing to open at 3201 West End Ave, with staff working Japanese tabletop grills.

Some openings take a season. This one took nearly three years. Noko Yaki, the Asian-inspired steakhouse from the team behind Noko and Kase, is nearing completion at 3201 West End Ave, the former home of Tin Angel, and is expected to open this fall.

What it is

Owner Jon Murray describes a meat-forward restaurant built around Shinpo grills, the Japanese smokeless yakiniku grills he calls the gold standard. This is not a cook-your-own setup: the staff works the grills for diners. The room seats nearly 150, and the menu aims at familiar steakhouse pleasures given an Asian turn, with a wide steak selection at the center. Murray has said he does not want it to feel like a traditional steakhouse, and that the goal is food that stays approachable and, in his word, craveable.

Why it took so long

The Tennessean's inside look at the project in September catalogued the trouble: a collapsed clay sewer line that took months to replace, limestone hit while crews excavated under the dining room for the downdraft ventilation the grills require, and water seeping through concrete around the new ductwork. The project ran well over budget and behind schedule, and at one point Murray and his partners sat down and considered walking away. They did not.

Where it stands

The renovation behind those stories is a $2 million one, a full rebuild of the room around the grills, which goes some way to explaining both the ambition and the timeline. The restaurant's own channels still carry a coming-soon posture, and its listings describe an opening in mid to late 2026, which matches the fall timing the team has given the press.

The local anchor

West End has carried the Tin Angel name for a long time, and Nashville diners navigate by it. A 150-seat steakhouse with tabletop grills is a very different use of the room, but it keeps the address in the city's dining life rather than losing it. When the doors open, this will be one of the fall's biggest debuts.

Follow along at @nokoyaki on Instagram.

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