Restaurant in iconic Lexington location has closed after less than a year
One of Lexington’s most unique and largest restaurant buildings is empty again after less than a year. Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse, which opened last fall, is gone.
It’s unclear exactly when the restaurant closed; reviews on its Facebook page were posted as recently as Sept. 17.
A sign on the door of the restaurant at 2041 Richmond Road said that the Lexington restaurant had closed.
“Thank you for your patronage. Please come see us at one of our locations in the Carolinas,” the sign said.
Owner Edson Munekata could not be reached immediately for comment. He brought his churrascaria style steakhouse to Lexington last year.
At the time, Munekata, who had four other locations, hoped his all-you-can-eat concept — a massive salad and sides bar, and 16 different cuts of beef, chicken, pork and lamb served hot off the rotisserie skewer — would win over customers.
But a similar restaurant, Texas de Brazil at The Summit at Fritz Farm off Nicholasville Road, gave Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse competition.
And the 300-seat restaurant apparently never found enough of a following.
Originally opened in March 2013 as Coba Cocina, the building was known for its jellyfish tank. Coba Cocina closed after three years of operation.
Lee Greer of the Greer Companies was not immediately available to say what might become of the building, which features a golden dome and elaborate architecture and cost $5.7 million to build. When Coba Cocina first opened, it was considered a prototype for a potential restaurant chain.
This story was originally published September 18, 2019 at 9:53 AM with the headline "Restaurant in iconic Lexington location has closed after less than a year."
