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888 Japanese BBQ Encore
BBQ · $$$The gap is the truffle-and-wagyu upgrade tier: a smaller, self-selecting room that knows what it's paying for. A5 wagyu with truffle is the order, premium cuts at the AYCE tier, tableside short rib for the table. Dinner only; weekend tables fill.
888 Japanese BBQ Encore treats the grill-it-yourself format as a premium proposition rather than a volume play, and the A5 wagyu truffle is the reason. That cut alone signals the kitchen is sourcing well above the standard AYCE tier, where quantity usually wins over quality. Here the emphasis runs the other way: smaller portions of better beef, cooked tableside on individual grills, priced like the upscale room this is rather than a discount buffet with tongs. The tableside grilled short rib works the same angle, handing diners the actual cooking while staff manage the pacing and the swap-outs.
That division of labor is where the room lives or dies. On busy nights the service has to keep multiple tables fed with fresh cuts, refill sauces, and manage the grill changes without letting any one table feel forgotten, and the record on that is mixed: some nights the staff are sharp and attentive enough that regulars ask for them by name, other nights the kitchen's premium cuts arrive on point while the floor falls behind. That gap matters more here than at a cheaper AYCE spot, since the whole pitch is upscale execution matching the upscale price. Enterprise doesn't have a deep bench of Japanese BBQ at this level, so this fills a real gap in the southwest valley rather than competing with a dozen alternatives on the same block.
It reads as a date-night room as much as a group-dinner room: the grills space tables out enough for conversation, and the format rewards diners who want to control the pace of their own meal instead of waiting on courses. A table of regulars who know to ask for the A5 truffle and pace their orders around the short rib will get the most out of it. Anyone expecting bottomless volume at bargain pricing is in the wrong room. This is AYCE reframed as a special occasion, and the beef mostly earns that reframing even when the floor doesn't always keep up.















