The upscale Japan Inn has opened in the large space at Arlington Village formerly occupied by Kidz Zone and The Blue Kangaroo children's arcades. The restaurant specializes in sushi and traditional Japanese fare.

Owners are Jeff Lin and his wife Wei Ni.

The 8,600-square-foot space features several dining rooms, a private party room, a large cocktail bar and a separate sushi bar, where patrons may watch sushi chefs work. There also is a small kitchen area that opens onto the dining room, where patrons may watch a chef cook on a teppanyaki grill on the weekends. The restaurant seats 200 at booths, tables and at the sushi bar and cocktail bar. Five booths have platforms with holes in which the tables have been inserted; the unusual seating arrangement allows patrons to dine in the traditional Japanese style, as if seated on the floor at a low table. The traditional Asian decor includes shoji screens and bamboo.

Sushi ranges in price from $3.50-$11.95 and includes eel, flying fish, Japanese red snapper, smoked salmon, egg, bean curd and squid along with California rolls, spider rolls, dragon rolls, oyster rolls, spicy yellowtail roll and tempura asparagus roll.

A lunch roll special, served with miso soup or salad with house-made ginger dressing, is $7.95 for two rolls and $10.95 for three rolls.

Hibachi or teriyaki entrees are served with soup or salad, vegetables and fried rice and include vegetable, chicken, salmon, shrimp, steak, scallop, seafood, filet mignon, lobster and rib-eye steak. Prices range from $6.95-$8.95 for lunch and from $9.95-$17.95 for dinner.

Traditional Japanese Bento box meals also are available for lunch and dinner. The sectioned Bento box features a choice of entree along with a California roll, rice and other accompaniments. Bento box lunches are $8.50-$8.95 and include miso soup or salad, shumai and a choice of sushi, sashimi or several teriyaki, katsu or tempura dishes. Bento box dinners range include tempura, gyoza (Japanese potsticker dumpling) and a choice of chicken, steak, shrimp or salmon teriyaki for $15.95-$17.95.

Japan Inn has all ABC permits. No smoking is allowed in the dining room.

Lunch hours are 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays and noon-3 p.m. Sundays. Dinner hours are 4:30-10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays and 4:30-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. Call 364-2222 or fax orders to 364-2221.

Sommelier honored

Inez Ribustello, owner of Greenville's Fourth Street Wine Shop and Tarboro's On The Square restaurant has won the Super Regional Finals for the American Young Sommelier Competition (ages 32 and under).

She was selected as one of three sommeliers from the South Central Region (North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia) to compete in the final stage in Las Vegas. The competition is sponsored by Chaine des Rotisseurs USA, a food and wine society.

She will be flown to Las Vegas for the final round of competition on May 24 at the Red Rock Casino. The national competition will consist of three parts including blind tasting, practical skills and theory. The national winner receives a trophy and gold medal and $1,000 educational scholarship.

Ribustello is currently an Advanced Sommelier. A sommelier, or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional who specializes in all aspects of wine service.

Andy's new look

Andy's, one of the Southeast's fastest growing fast-casual restaurants, is changing its name and updating the look of its restaurants from a casual small-town diner to a celebration of the 1950s.

Formerly known as Andy's Cheesesteaks & Cheeseburgers, the Mount Olive-based company has changed its name to Andy's Burgers, Shakes, and Fries.

The face lift will consist of a new logo and signs, new dining room decor and new uniforms for the staff. The stores will be more colorful and have huge colorful murals celebrating American pastimes on the walls. The wait staff will wear poodle skirts and the cooks and management will wear bowling shirts.

Andy's menu — which features cheeseburgers, hot dogs, cheese steaks and shrimp burgers — will remain the same.

The Bells Fork Andy's, 1929 Smythewick Drive in The Covington Shoppes shopping center, will be one of the first Andy's to be renovated. The restaurant opened in June 2000.

"All the changes and the new look have made the staff very excited," said Operator Kristen Davis said.

Andy's founder, Kenney Moore, opened its first location in Goldsboro in 1991. The North Carolina burger chain has grown to more than 100 locations across the state.

Marley Fund benefit

Animal lovers and volunteers will wait tables to raise money for the Marley Fund's special-needs animals from 5:30-9 p.m. May 7 at Greenville's Golden Corral restaurant, 504 S.W. Greenville Blvd.

The Marley Fund is the only non-profit organization in the nation dedicated to striking back at Feline Leukemia (FeLV) and Feline Immunodeficiency (FIV) viruses, the number one killers of felines to date.

All tips collected during that time will help support the animals in Marley Fund's Greenville Division and educational programs.

Call 215-0925 or visit marleyfund.com.

Wine tastings

The Beef Barn, 400 St. Andrews Drive, will hold its informal weekly wine tasting, "Drink Wine with Bob Thursday" from 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday in the restaurant's bar. Beef Barn owner and wine expert Bob Simon has selected five wines for the tasting — Coppola Diamond Claret–Bordeaux Style Red, Trefethen Double T Red Meritage, Chateau Souverain Syrah, Deloach Russian River Zinfandel and Cline Ancient Vines Mourvedre. Light hors d'oeuvres will be provided. Cost is $10 for five, 2-ounce portions. Special by-the-glass and bottle pricing is available. Reservations are not required. Call 756-1161.

Fourth Street Wine Shop will hold a free wine tasting featuring three wines from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday. Selected wines are Wolfgang Gruner Veltliner, Cruz de Piedra Garnacha Rose and Sfida Puglia Rosso. Fourth Street Wine Shop is at 330 Evans St. Call 758-6900.

Nibbles

Work is progressing on Greenville's Texas Roadhouse, beside Cracker Barrel in the new Greenville Grande shopping center. The company has not released an opening date.

A new Starbucks, Greenville's fifth location, has opened in the Bells Fork area at 1889 E. Fire Tower Road, beside CVS near the intersection of Arlington Boulevard and Fire Tower Road. Other locations are 100 E. 10th St. near East Carolina University, 2205 W. Arlington Blvd. in Stanton Square, 518-B S.E. Greenville Blvd. in La Promenade, and in the Harris Teeter store at 2120 E. Fire Tower Road in the Bells Fork shopping center.

Hot Dish is a weekly column of restaurant and food news. To submit items for consideration, call Jane Hudson at 329-9577, fax 754-8140 or e-mail jhudson@coxnc.com.