Yoshinoya

So today I got off of work very late and was looking for something small and quick. I ordered a side of 4 Asian bbq wings to go. I ordered at 10:50 pm and waited ridiculously long. Didn’t receive my wings until 11:15. The reason I’m still giving 4 starts is mainly because of the kind young man in the front, Andrew. Sweet, tried to make the situation better, juggled a lot of orders at once, still managed to keep the front clean, helped in the back, remembered my name, and brought me my food when it was ready. The wings were pretty good (they took 25 mins to make). Dear ownership, I hope you take this into consideration and either retrain your kitchen staff to be more efficient or add another member to this shift. I understand trying to maintain labor cost and keep your bottom line large because I work at a restaurant similar to Yoshinoya, but I pass this location often and they seem to have a consistent crowd around this time. Help your employees out.

Avoid this location like the plague. I’m not sure if they have a different operations manual but the food here is disgusting compared to any other locations.
The beef is so fatty and feels like it’s been stewing in some sauce for the past day or two. Even when it feels fresh given by the indication of firmer onions it still has that terrible for your heart taste. It’s like I can feel arteries getting clogged little by little for each bite I take.
Don’t even get me started on the chicken. Have you ever accidently put in too much corn starch when you’re thickening a soup and it becomes all goopy? Well this is the consistency of their chicken sauce.
Everything is just terrible here. The only reason I keep coming here is because after a couple months I forget how terrible it is and it’s oh so so convenience in relations to my house. For the most part I usually drive an extra 2 miles to go the location on woodman and roscoe. It’s quality is so much better and the place is so much cleaner.

I have been coming to this locations for quite a while now. This is by far one of the cleanest and friendliest locations around. Food is great as well

I’m hurt that I was skimped on chicken in my combo bowl. I hope this was a onetime thing and not a permanent Yoshinoya thing.

I had my first Yoshinoya experience today at lunch. I was encouraged to go by a Japanese friend as we drove past during his visit to Los Angeles. Knowing that this Japanese fast food chain sources its beef from the U.S. he encouraged me to check it out. He didn’t realize this chain was also in the U.S. and had never been.
Today, I had lunch with another Japanese friend who warned me the quality in the U.S. is not quite the same as in Japan. Therefore with appropriate expectations I ordered by Beef Bowl (small). Looks like Sean M. had a similar experience.
Nice portion of food for the price. Lots of rice to fill you up. Enjoyed the thinly sliced and marinated beef. The calories are displayed alongside the menu item… otherwise I might have ordered a Big Beef Bowl.

Gyudon, to me, has been the like the Chinese fast food combo me: cheap, full of rice and meat and you’d be satisfied with it once its done, so I think of Yoshinoiya (at least in the US) as the the Panda Express of gyudon.
So after having the opportunity to experience Yoshinoiya in Japan, gyudon as the US Yoshinoya branches hasn’t been the same for me since. If you’re wondering why, its not only the taste (as there is a different meat and rice texture), but also the value and different items only found in Yoshinoya across Japan, as you can get a large beef bowl with Kimchee and miso soup for about $ 7,(along with free barely tea) which is something you can’t get at any local Yoshinoya
But I digress…
Anyway, this particular Yoshinoya is the main one I go to. Even though the other Panorama City (between Roscoe Blvd. and Woodman Ave.) location is closer to where I live, its a big hassle to park in their lot or even the lot next door that shares Seafood City, Jollibee and the other Filipino businesses, not to mention the on going road construction that they still haven’t finished on Roscoe between Sepulveda and Coldwater Canyon.
Its across the street from Galpin Ford, and 2 different gas stations and shares the plaza space with a Chinese bakery, convenience market, photo lab, and an ever changing fast food restaurant next to Yoshinoya (it went from Chinese fast food to Peruvian food and now in its current incarnation, Hawaiian BBQ). I usually go there for dinner, as there is usually a lot of space there around nightfall (then again, its Sepulvedia Blvd. so yeah, not exactly a safe, friendly area)
The inside is clean looking, though for some odd reason, they have signs saying that no photography is permitted inside. Staff seems to be pretty good with handling orders and you can clearly see them cook your food.
I always order the large gyudon bowl, and save the pickled ginger and shichimi togarashi seasoning for when I get home (even though its available and close to the register area) since I usually just pick those items up whenever I’m go to Mitsuwa. Besides actually having real Yoshinoya gyudon. the gyudon here is pretty decent and there have been pretty generous with the beef (though there had been a time or two when they were a little stingy, and that happened usually when the old Filipino guy wasn’t there working in the kitchen)
Overall, its a decent restaurant with decent food, if you don’t mind the nightlife that hangs out along Sepulveda Blvd. and it sure beats trying to fight for parking at the other Panorama City location. But once you have real gyudon in Japan, you will not view the gyudon from the US Yoshinoya branches in the same way again.