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The Maridor’s restaurant serves fusion fare and sushi in a historic Grandin Village mansion.
Courtesy of The Maridor
Seth Brubaker describes the signature Dragon Balls as Japanese arancini
In modern restaurant parlance, the hidden gem label is often applied to an off-the-beaten path eatery or a no-frills joint tucked into a strip mall. Although The Maridor restaurant is housed in a historic mansion on a well-trafficked street in Grandin Village, it embodies yet another facet of the hidden gem.
You’ve likely walked or driven by the stately home, perhaps admiring the expansive, manicured lawns beyond the boxwood hedge, or maybe you know it as a sought-after wedding venue. What you might not realize, even if the open sign is glowing in the window, is that the house’s ground floor is home to an intimate restaurant and bar with an eclectic menu, where sushi rolls share top billing with fusion snacks like naan-chos and Korean ramen deviled eggs. How exactly to define this hidden gem? “Southern comfort with a global twist,” says Seth Brubaker, The Maridor’s director of operations and chef.
The Maridor was built in 1916 and was once home to Marion Augustus Smyth, president of National Business College, who named the home “Maridor” after his daughters Marion and Dorothy. For over 30 years, The Maridor has been a wedding and events venue with a ballroom that seats up to 120 guests and a charming courtyard that’s the stuff of wedding photo backdrop dreams. Brubaker, who has been with The Maridor for about two years, spent the first year streamlining the catering operation before turning his attention to the restaurant, which opened on February 14, 2024.
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Courtesy of The Maridor
The Maridor restaurant is located on the ground floor of this historic mansion
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Courtesy of The Maridor
An assortment of fresh sushi
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Courtesy of The Maridor
Crispy beef can be ordered in the Crispy Beef Bowl or Korean Street Tacos
Brubaker shares that one of the reasons for opening the restaurant was to allow the public to enjoy the historic home during more regular hours (typically Tuesday through Friday, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.) and to bring a new option to Grandin Village’s already diverse restaurant landscape. Initially, The Maridor’s menu was split more evenly between Southern and Japanese- and Korean-influence, but Brubaker said that diners responded more to the fusion fare.
Brubaker, a born-and-raised Roanoker, drew from 25 years of hospitality industry experience to inform the menu’s line-up of eclectic, globally-inspired dishes. Brubaker worked a variety of positions in the front and back of house at several local establishments, including a formative stint at Metro, where he developed a passion for fusion cuisine working under chef-owner Andy Schlosser, as well as 202 Social House, The Quarter, Ben Gui Sushi, and Hidden Valley Country Club, where he developed his own unique sushi style that led to operating his own food truck, where he gained a following for his creative rolls.
Want to learn about how The Maridor blends Southern comfort with global flavors in Roanoke's historic Grandin Village mansion? Check out the latest issue, now on newsstands, or see it for free in our digital guide linked below!
The story above is a preview from our May/June 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!