Yoshinoya Beef Bowl

They are closed after march 27, 2013…

Ok, so on the whim my bf & I decided to try Yoshinoya after years & years of not having it since people have said that it was decent.
It is decent for what it is, but there’s something that lacks…& I can’t seem to put my finger on it. Maybe the lack of sophistication, or the fact that I might have overhyped myself into thinking it’ll be delicious…
It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t the best either. Won’t be coming back for a while.
._​.

I love this place! I don’t get why people hate Yoshinoya… the food is awesome!
The Filipinos that work there hook it up!
My only complain is that when they get busy… they tend to get slow and they give you less food.

I used to not like the place but since my boyfriend loves this place so much it’s grown on me.
I honestly don’t know what it is but I love the beef bowl.
Simple n good. Just how I like it.
Gyudon rules.

The first time I ate here was the first time I had eaten at a Yoshinoya in California in 15 years. The first time I had eaten it when I was 9, I thought it was absolutely disgusting. I went to Japan and was amazed at how good Yoshinoya tastes there. After my great experience in Japan, I decided to re-​try Yoshinoya after not eating it for so long. It wasn’t all that bad. It could have been better. I tried it again for the second time and I no longer want to eat there ever again. The chicken is too salty as is the Teriyaki sauce over it. The beef could be better. I wish it were more like Flame Broiler. The onions cooked with the beef were good. Outside of that, this place is kind of crappy.

Yoshinoya seems to taste good at Costco as the sauce they use at the food sampler carts. Yet this place I’ve heard is known for its beef and chicken bowls. I thought I’d try a Chicken Bowl one evening after seeing the Chiropractor in the same parking lot, and oh was I wrong. While the bowl consist of some strange consistency of chicken (KFC is 1000 x’s better), the bowl has an abundant amount of white rice, that is flavorless, and very little sauce.
Save your money, and time, and either go to Sushi Deli 3 down the street, or even In-​in-​out and go protein style, and forget about the rice here… you’ll be way better off!

Okay, this would be my first review so please, bare with me.
This is the first time I have Yoshinoya. Well, my last time, too.
I’d passed by this place for quite some times now and I’d always wondered what would their food taste like, since this plaza was totally decorated out to be a little Japanese town. Their food must be great!
How I was wrong!
Though, the prices was cheap, I decided to go with the second most expensive dish there, grilled fish plate, which cost me about 6 dollars without a combo.
The fish tasted bland, like a soggy paper. It was moist, but tasteless. Seemed like they used dry spices for decorations instead of flavoring the dish.
The rice was horrible! Part of the rice were mushy, the other, hard and dry. Rice are not hard to cook. After all, most Asian restaurants do serve rice. It’s the fundamental of Asian cooking. I don’t want it to be perfect at this price point, but god, can they do better than this?
Lastly, it came with salad and I guess there was a dipping sauce for fish, too. I had one piece of cabbage and I’d stopped there. Open the sauce package; again, I’d stopped there.
It Definitely the worst Japanese food to dine by far. I believe if I can make a comparison just to get a picture.
The Jack in the Box, 2 tacos for 99 cents were much better on the tastes AND values.
Most importantly, I’m Asian. Enough said.
Thank you and no thank you, Yoshinoya.
P. S. Is there a way to put negative stars?

I really wish I lived closer to a YBB. There is just something about the way they put together beef, chicken, rice veggies and get the sauces tasting just incredibly right together. I like it well enough that I have driven out of my way to get my big beef and chicken combo bowl. This location always has many Japanese people dining here, so I guess that is validation of the authentic flavors here. With the music playing or not, I think I’m turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese I really think so… every time I get my big bowl here hot, fresh and tasty! Buzz on by and get yours, too, today!

You can’t go wrong with a large beef bowl with a side of chicken vegetable soup.
The chicken bowl is awesome. I usually get the sauce and vegetables on the side.
Their chicken wings are pretty good but the portion size is small.
If you want something fast/​cheap with rice this is the place to go.

Came here for the first time because my friend was craving it.
I’ve never tried Yoshinoya because it looks like a mediocre and unhealthier version of Flame Broiler. Was I right? Yup.
Tried my friend’s beef bowl and was unimpressed. Also tried the chicken wings and those were okay for what they were (which is not saying much).
It’s like the Wendy’s of Japanese American fast food. Don’t expect much from it.
Won’t ever come back. There are LOT of better places around Convoy.

Yoshinoya is great! I’ve had the Japanese version which got me to start going to the US restaurants, but obviously there are subtle differences. But nothing major that will make you want to call the Yoshinoya corporate office and call them out on the differences.
You may want to call on the corporate office for this specific store since it does produce a distinct homeless lady smell that unfortunately I have to endure on EVERY visit here. She leaves her special cart outside and her usual table is the first table on the left so you get that whiff of old dirty lady smell which I’ve gotten accostomed to now as I hold my breath for the first 8 seconds upon entry.
I do need my Yoshinoya fix! Don’t get me wrong. $ 5 for a large beef bowl has enough protein and carbs for a day’s outing. Plus they include Japanese chili too. (Not sure if it is authentic, probably not, but in my mind it is) And their ginger, although I know it’s not Japanese, I still need to put some on my beef bowl.
But other than that, I’ll still come to get my beef bowl despite the old homeless lady smell that I have to endure on every visit.
Maybe a little Febreeze in that area would work. Just a thought… that’s all. okthxbai.

Funny how there is such an even split of opinion on this one. Even in my family, we’re half and half and it’s pretty obvious what side I’m on.
I hate to admit it, but i kinda like their beef bowls. The beef is thinly sliced and flavored beautifully with onions and spices. But seriously, after consuming half the bowl, my stomach starts to hurt. I think it’s all the fat and sodium. The chicken bowl is the other dish we usually order and that is just okay. I appreciate that they try to add in a daily serving of veggies (a mix of broccoli, carrots, etc), but they are so over-​boiled i think they voided it from any nutritional value.
Cheap food and perhaps one small upgrade from fast food joints like McDonald’s.

So I needed a quick meal before I went to my night class today and the quickness was definitely there but definitely not the satisfying part.
I looked up Unilocal reviews at work (shhh hahaha) there was a bunch of people who either liked it or hated it and I decided to try it out for myself since a lot of people mentioned cheap LOL.
Since a lot of people were raving about their beef bowls, I decided to try one of them at $ 3.99 (that’s including tax). I ordered and the meal was probably ready in less than 2 minutes, bagged, napkins, forks and all. Obviously it was pre-​prepared but I guess the emptiness of people of it not quite being dinner time (5:30pm) helped the guy rush along.
I arrived at class a little early and opened the lid. Everyone turned and said it smelled really good. I hoped that all the positive comments would mean at least a satisfying meal. But I was disappointed.
The whole bowl itself tasted like soggy rice with a little bit of beef and like 3 onion slices with a little bit of soy sauce on top. First, I hate soggy rice. Second, why do all the places have to skimp on the meat and veggies and third, there was not even enough soy sauce to flavor the meal. I could have desperately used some siracha sauce or something.
I ate it anyways because it was that or suffer through 3 ½ hours of class with an empty stomach.
Verdict: I would probably most likely not go back unless someone wanted to or unless I reach the point where I’m so poor, I’m desperate for even just a meal: knock on wood:

I stopped in here on a whim looking for some lunch. I had zero expectations and honestly I didn’t know exactly what kind of food it was. I ordered the beef bowl which has beef rice and veggies. Now we all know that food rarely looks like the pictures but this joint was about the farthest from the pictures I have ever seen! The rice was mushy, the veggies were all one color and way over cooked and the beef looked like the rejects from a thin sliced Arby’s sandwich, except that it was grey.
It didn’t look like it would kill me, it just looked like bad camp food or food from a bad old folks home, so I ate it anyway.
The flavors weren’t horrible but the textures were bad.
The place was moderately clean but there was some random early 90s sounding R&B song about a «Nasty Boy» playing on the radio. I’m pretty sure that was the worst part.
2 stars for lackluster flavor and acceptable cleanliness.

Simple, Cheap, & Satisfying. TWSS
I love their beef bowls! It is fast food and I don’t stop by a lot but when I do I always get the large and added some of that spice to it! Hmmm… definitely gets the job done for only like $ 4!

Yoshinoya is the BOMB! This is the only yoshinoya in the greater SD area. I think there’s one in south side but thats not my hood!
Everytime im up in LA I see mad drive thru yoshinoyas. If they had those here I’d go all the time!
What’s great about this place is that you can get a great meal for under 4 bucks!
The beef bowl and veggies r always on point, love to put soy sauce with it and sometimes I put the peppers they have on top.
They even have ginger you can eat and it’s really good.
Most of their menu always comes through!

So i have recently become the Duke of Yoshinoya and I AM DO DAMN PROUD ABOUT IT!!! This place brings me back to my childhood when I used to live in L.A. My family and I would frequent the Yoshinoya by our townhouse, close to L.A. community college. The fact that I live 5 min. away from one is just too much too handle. I will do my best to remain the Duke of this establishment, it is an honor and a privilege… and tasty!
I am huge huge fan of the Combo bowl, which is mix of the terriyaki chicken and the beef with some vegetables. Now I must say though, I love this place to death, but the veggies are kind of sticky icky, I mean really!!! Could they at least get some freshness up in there???
I do want to throw down some random facts about Yoshinoya. In Japan, they have plenty of Yoshinoyas there that are 24 HOURS OPEN!!! Can you imagine the possibilities if the Yoshinoya here in the U.S. was open 24 hrs!!! Heaven I tell you. Also, Japan is a really clean and sanitary type country, so Yoshinoyan does the same, by keeping it simple to the max as far as décor goes. Don’t you ever get the feeling, when you step into a Yoshinoya, you’re kind of stepping into a bathroom. I don’t know if you follow me on this, but if you ever go in sometime, you’ll get what I’m saying. Thanks to my friend Bryan for that sanitary fact!!!
Hail to the Beef bowl, with love from SYU! (pom pom)

Some people just don’t like the food here. Me, on the other hand, love the beef bowls! I’ve tried their other stuff but didn’t really mind them. They put to much sauce in the chicken bowls and it the veggies are not that great. Also the chicken wings are not bad.
Okay now let me tell you about their beef bowls… I think they are delicious! The meat is thinly sliced and sauteed onions are mixed in with it. What I like to do is drizzle some soy sauce and mix in the spicy seasoning that they have on the counter. Gives it a little kick! And each bite I have a little of the ginger that they offer free too. It ain’t authentic Japanese food, but the beef bowls got me coming back! Yummmm!

Cheap food. Comes out HOT and fast.
Think about it: its actually a well balanced Asian meal, you got your veggies, meat and of course rice.
Large beef bowl with veggies. YUM

For what it is, which is fast food teriyaki… Yay! I’m a fan. I’ll even order a side of extra beef (looove the sauce). Have had the chicken and shrimp, both tasty. I also like that they have low sodium soy sauce. But as if that makes a difference to how much MSG it all has. Which is probably like ordering diet soda with your burger and fries. But the option is nice to have in addition to their hot pepper flakes (tho not very hot) and ginger (though not very ginger-​y).
There’s not too much else to say about this place. It’s teriyaki bowls that they serve plus a few other appetizer type items that’s on their menu. But what you come here for are the bowls. And for the under 4 bucks during these hard times, this is the place to get your teriyaki fix.