Yoshinoya Restaurants

Yoshinoya America, Inc. operates the United States division of Yoshinoya, a long-established Japanese quick-service restaurant brand known for its beef bowls and other rice-based meals. In the U.S., the company focuses on fast, affordable Japanese-inspired bowls built around beef, chicken, seafood, and vegetables, complemented by sides and combo options that appeal to everyday, value-driven diners. Locations offer counter-service dining, takeout, and digital ordering, serving high-frequency lunch and dinner traffic.

The Yoshinoya story begins in 1899, when the first beef bowl restaurant opened in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi fish market. Over time it developed into one of Japan’s best-known quick-service chains centered on gyudon, or beef bowl, and related donburi rice dishes. The brand entered the U.S. in the 1970s and later formalized its American business as Yoshinoya America, Inc., incorporated in California and operating for decades from the Los Angeles area. The global system is now overseen by Yoshinoya Holdings Co., Ltd., which serves as the parent company.

As of March 2024, Yoshinoya operates approximately 106 restaurants in the United States, with the footprint concentrated in California and other Western markets. Units are commonly found in dense urban and inner-ring suburban trade areas, often in inline or freestanding quick-service formats with strong street visibility and easy access. These stores are designed for efficient kitchen-forward operations that can handle steady throughput on relatively compact sites, which allows Yoshinoya to fit into a wide range of neighborhood centers, street retail, and outparcel locations.

Within the broader group, Yoshinoya Holdings reported more than 1,200 restaurants worldwide and roughly ¥250 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ended March 2024, spanning Japan, China, other Asian markets, and the United States. The American business benefits from this global scale through purchasing, supply chain support, and shared menu development, which helps sustain a stable value offering in competitive Western U.S. trade areas.

Over roughly the last five years, Yoshinoya’s U.S. division has focused on refreshing its stores, refining trade areas, and adapting the brand to changing customer habits. That evolution has included updated interiors, expanded digital ordering, and ongoing menu testing while keeping the core beef bowl positioning intact. During the same period, Yoshinoya Holdings has outlined plans to open approximately 50 new restaurants globally by the end of 2025 across its core brand and related concepts, with continued investment in international markets, including the United States. The U.S. arm participates in these broader expansion efforts, concentrating on California and select Western urban and suburban markets where quick-service and fast casual operators cluster.

For landlords, brokers, and developers, Yoshinoya functions as a repeatable quick-service tenant with more than a century of brand history, an established Western U.S. customer base, and a clear focus on compact, high-turn formats that drive regular traffic to multi-tenant retail environments.