East County locals looking for a fun dining experience don’t need to travel over the hill for the excitement of teppanyaki-style cooking now that Shirasoni has opened in Brentwood.

Much like the popular Benihana restaurant chain, Shirasoni offers a unique dining experience, as the food is prepared right before your eyes on an iron griddle.

“You order your food, and it is prepared at the table,” said owner Stan Le. “The chef is right there, so if you change your mind, you don’t have to track down the server – just tell the cook. We’re very flexible.”

And just like at the chain restaurants, all Shirasoni chefs are masters of classic teppanyaki tricks, such as knife tossing, to entertain guests while they wait for their meals.

The significant difference between Shirasoni and the bigger, well-known teppanyaki restaurants is that the Le family stresses a family experience at an affordable price. While dinners can cost more than $40 at Benihana, the most expensive meal at Shirasoni is $30.95 for the Kobe Lobster combination, which comes with lobster, shrimp and scallops. The average dinner price is $19.40, which includes the main entrée, plus soup, salad and steamed or fried rice.

You get your money’s worth at Shirasoni, especially with the Chef’s Choice specials, said Le. For $23.50, guests can enjoy three types of meat along with salad, soup and rice. “You get a little bit of everything, and for that price, even when people are trying to spend less, they’ll order the Chef’s Choice because you get so much food.”

For a more traditional Japanese meal, the sushi bar offers 30 variations, including the Shirasoni favorites, the Happy Roll, which consists of deep-fried shrimp tempura, cream cheese, jalapeños and salmon; and the Brentwood Roll, featuring salmon and avocado on the inside and tuna on the outside. All sushi rolls are made to order, so the chef can customize the roll to include your favorite flavors if nothing on the menu tickles your taste buds.

The Le family opened the first Shirasoni restaurant in Stockton in 1999, and after realizing that many of their customers traveled from the Brentwood-Antioch-Oakley-Discovery-Bay area, the family decided East County was the perfect place to establish a second location, which they opened in April.

“We always wanted to open a second restaurant, and Brentwood is the perfect spot because there are so many families in this area,” Le said. “We are big on celebrations, and our family wants to be a part of your special occasions. For birthday parties, we all come out and sing the ‘Shirasoni Happy Song’ and we serve free ice cream for the birthday person. We like to make it fun for people. We are a family-oriented restaurant. We like to make people feel at home.”

The average table at Shirasoni, which means white tiger, seats eight to nine people, but for large parties, there is a table that seats up to 30 guests. Le recommends that parties of six or more make reservations, and that all guests call in advance for weekend dining.

This month, Strange Brew will perform at Shirasoni on Aug. 8 and 15 from 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. While the main dining area will be closed for these special performances, the bar will remain open and appetizers will be available.

Le said if there is a good turnout for the event, Shirasoni will feature more live music in the future. He also hopes to host karaoke contests by the end of the year.

Shirasoni, located at 6367 Lone Tree Way in Brentwood, is open Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. for dinner. On Saturday and Sunday, the restaurant is open from noon to 9:30 p.m. and dinner is served all day. For more information, call 925-240-7808.