YOSINOYA [YOSI] Closed

Yoshinoya first opened in 1899 at the Nihonbashi fish market in Tokyo.[3] When the market was devastated by the Great Kanto Earthquake, Yoshinoya moved to the new Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo in 1923.
In the early 2000s, Yoshinoya triggered a price war in Japan along with other chains such as McDonald's, by introducing a regular beef bowl dish for 280 yen, or around US$3.
In late 2001, a domestic mad cow incident critically damaged beef bowl sales. In late 2003, Japan suspended imports of American beef due to a BSE incident in Washington, cutting off Yoshinoya's main source of short plate (fatty beef) that is the main component of its beef bowl. This forced Yoshinoya to terminate beef bowl sales in Japan for the first time in its history on February 11, 2004. News of the removal of this item from Yoshinoya's menu caused its fans and non-fans alike to queue in massive lines at its restaurants all around Japan to taste what might be their last beef bowl for a long time. Yoshinoya then switched to serving pork bowl (butadon) instead of beef. On the other hand, its restaurants in the United States continued to serve the beef bowl using American short plate. From December 2, 2004, restaurants in Japan started serving "beef yakiniku bowls" (gyū-yakiniku-don) which use Australian beef, different sauce and additional vegetables,[4] distinguished from original "beef bowls" that use American beef.
In December 2005, Japan agreed to remove the restriction on importing beef from the United States. A letter to customers was then put up in restaurants promising that the beef bowl would return in a couple months or so. In January 2006, imports stopped again because inspectors found banned cattle parts in a veal shipment from the United States. In June 2006, Japan lifted the ban on imports again, and on July 31, 2006, Yoshinoya re-posted the letter promising to retrieve the beef bowl in about two months.
On September 18, 2006, Yoshinoya brought back their beef bowl for one day as "the beef bowl revival festival" (gyūdon fukkatsusai?). This "revival", however, meant that its beef bowls would be available only the first five days of the month in October and November. On December 1, 2006, they began serving beef bowls daily, albeit at limited hours.