Yoshinoya is a chain of Japanese fast food restaurants, having more than 1400 locations worldwide. There are over a thousand locations in Japan where the beef bowls are an established institution. The one-hundred-plus US locations are mostly in California, but there are outposts in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and New York City. The chain is still most famous for its beef, onions, and sauce served over rice, but they also serve up chicken, shrimp, and combo bowls, and now soup, bento boxes, chicken wings, and other dishes. I think the beef bowl is good, but the sesame chicken wings and miso soup are fast food standouts.

During a recent visit to the location in Santa Clara, near San Jose, California, I checked out the beef bowl lunch, the large version. The combination deal included a drink and soup. The large beef bowl was $4.69, and the combination deal about $7.50. The soft drink machine included peach green tea, which distinguishes the chain from American-style fast food, but the tea was quite sweet, which wouldn’t happen in from Japan, where green tea would not be sweetened. Unsweetened is better, I think.

The beef is a fatty cut called short plate, sliced thin and cooked with onions. The sauce is distinctly Japanese, and tastes to me of miso and soy sauce. It’s not exactly medium rare prime rib, but it pleasantly reminds me of Japan. I visit McDonald’s in Japan for the a similar for similar nostalgia value.

The miso soup at Yoshinoya’s is really good.

The sesame chicken wings are exceptionally good, and nine of them for less than $4 is a bargain.

The home town of the chaiin’s founder iss Yoshino, a town near Osaka, and ya means shop, hence the name Yoshinoya. The first shop was opened in the famous Nihonbashi fish market in 1899, and remain there. The chaiin also retains the motto “cheap, fast, tasty.” The YoshinoyaAmerica web site touts a new menu, featuring bento boxes and deserts. The web site in Japan recently announced the addition of of cole slaw. I wonder how much overlap they keep between the menus. Incidentally, McDonald’s Japan features corn soup, but always the hamburgers as well.

I recommend Yoshinoya for its connections to Japan, its good new menu items, and its value.