Courtney Crauthers

EDMOND — Edmondites won’t go hungry anytime soon with one restaurant opening last week and two more on the way. Qdoba, Panda Express and Kabuki Steak and Sushi Bar, all new chains in Edmond, offer residents a variety of international foods and have brought a total of about 80 new jobs to the city.

Japanese cuisine

The newest concept to Edmond of the three restaurants is Kabuki Steak and Sushi Bar, 3300 S. Broadway.

General manager Jesse Maeng, head chef “Mr. Jin” and a variety of other employees have worked day and night for the past week in preparation for their official opening Monday.

The restaurant will be the fifth restaurant similar to Shogun restaurants in Texas owned by Kim and Lee Enterprise. Maeng said they had to change the name Shogun to Kabuki because Oklahoma City already has a restaurant with rights to that name.

The restaurant has a variety of seating options. Customers can opt to sit at the sushi bar, sit down in a dining area and order from the kitchen or sit at one of 10 Hibachi grills with seating for eight to nine people.

People can watch the chefs as they grill with mini fire and spatula demonstrations. Maeng said children especially have enjoyed the Hibachi grill experience at the other restaurants.

He said there are five Hibachi chefs, three cooks and two sushi bar chefs. “Mr. Jin” has 18 years of Hibachi grilling experience.

The sushi bar offers sushi and California, Spicy Tuna and Spicy Salmon rolls.

“I’ve been around Oklahoma City looking at sushi,” Maeng said. “I can guarantee my sushi is the best.”

People that choose to sit at the Hibachi grill eat a full meal of house soup and salad, shrimp appetizers, a vegetable, steamed rice and their choice of meat, including teppanyaki chicken, steak, scallop, salmon or shrimp or various combinations of both, lobster tail or geisha steak.

He said a popular appetizer is the red snapper ponzu made with red snapper sashimi in zesty lime vinegar sauce. Maeng said dinner vento boxes are ideal for people opting to sit in the dining area. Customers have the option of chicken, steak, tempura, sushi or shrimp and the meal includes soup, salad, four pieces of California roll and gyoza, assorted tempura and steamed rice. Another Japanese favorite, is the teriyaki chicken sautéed with vegetables and topped with teriyaki sauce.

Kabuki will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-11 p.m. Friday; from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday; and will open at noon on Sunday.

Mexican cuisine

Qdoba, 301 S. Bryant in the Ashling Square shopping center, allows customers to choose exactly what ingredients go in their food items as they follow it down a taco and burrito bar. The restaurant, owned by Dcw Investments, opened last Friday with a guest appearance made by former University of Oklahoma football player Jason White, who signed autographs.

“It’s not something like a full-service restaurant, but it’s not fast food either,” said Tony Ramos, restaurant partner. “They (customers) love the concept and like being able to get in and out.”

Ramos said they have signature burritos and sauces that can’t be found at any other restaurant. They offer special queso, ranchera and poblano pesto sauces and make fresh pico de gallo and guacamole daily.

The food served at Qdoba gives customers healthier choices and many of the items are good choices for people on the Weight Watchers diet, Ramos said. Customers can order any burrito as a Naked Burrito, which is served in a bowl with an optional tortilla on the side. Ramos said some of their salsas also are low calorie.

“The queso burrito is by far our most popular item,” Ramos said.

The burrito is loaded with a warm three-cheese queso sauce and the customers choose a salsa and black or pinto beans.

Qdoba will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.

For more information, visit www.qdoba.com.

Chinese cuisine

Also located in Ashling Square is Panda Express, 301 S. Bryant, which is scheduled to open in mid October. The chain includes 1,400 restaurants nationwide with several in Puerto Rico and Japan.

Rey Fruits, multi-unit manager for Panda Express, said customers can expect great fresh quality, delivery and an exceptional Asian dining experience.

“We’ll try our best to show our culture to Edmond,” Fruits said. “We just really pride ourselves in the quality of our food and service.”

This location is unique because it is the first in Oklahoma to sit on an end cap without a drive through. It also will be missing its signature purple tower in order to blend in better with the city décor. He said Edmond was chosen for the location because of its flourishing community.

Fruits said the most popular item on the menu is the orange chicken, which is a dish from the Hunan Province in South Central China. It is prepared with lightly battered boneless chicken bites tossed in a wok with “secret sauce” and spicy orange sauce.

While the hours of operation still are in discussion, Fruits said they plan to be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.

For more information about Panda Express, visit pandaexpress.com.