A new Wagyu eatery offering unlimited beef that guests prepare at their table will open in Lake Forest. Wagyu Factory, part of Chubby Group, a restaurant group that operates a litany of restaurants, including a handful of Southern California spots like Chubby Curry and Niku, is slated to open in early July.
Chubby Group’s upcoming restaurant will be an all-you-can-eat affair combining Japanese Wagyu, Korean barbecue and hot pot dining with tiered pricing at $35 to $45.
Guests can grill, dip and/or simmer a seemingly endless supply of beef using a hot pot and grill pan (Yakiniku-stye) at each table. Other menu highlights will include a self-serve taco station, fried chicken, egg tarts and xiao long bao.
ALSO READ: San Clemente’s Sugar Blossom Bake Shop unveils new location, with new and expanded delights
While Wagyu, noted for its high ratio of fat marbling that lends the meat its signature tenderness, is pretty pricey compared to other types of beef, like Angus or Hereford. According to Eater LA, Chubby Group offers lower prices of the prized meat because “the company sources Wagyu in such large quantities that it can command better pricing, but also raises their own cattle in collaboration with domestic ranches.”
Thirty-two years ago, the first Wagyu cows, native to Japan, came to America for breeding purposes. It has since become a popular menu item, albeit one that often gets confused with Kobe beef, intentionally or otherwise. “Wagyu beef is sometimes erroneously referred to generically as ‘Kobe beef’; that term is reserved for a specific strain of Wagyu raised in Japan’s Hyōgo prefecture,” according to a 2023 Texas Monthly article.
Chubby Group was founded in Las Vegas in 2014 by Harby Yang and David Zhao. This will be the restaurant collection’s first Orange County location.
Find it: 23621 El Toro Road, Suite C, Lake Forest