Japanese chain restaurants: the chains visitors love, how to get a table, order and pay, and how to find one

Which Japanese chain restaurants should you try?

A chain restaurant in Japan is not a second-best meal. GO TOKYO, the Tokyo government's official travel site, puts it plainly: "Some of the best deals on meals are served at Japan’s home-grown fast-food restaurants." It goes on: "You’ll find gyudon (beef bowls), udon and soba with tempura, ramen and Japanese-style curry at very reasonable prices." The family restaurants, or famiresu, are cheap too, and GO TOKYO adds: "Depending on the chain, drink bars, salad bars and all-you-can-eat options provide extra value."

The chains below are the ones JNTO, Japan's national tourism organisation, names in its own guides for visitors. Its breakfast guide lists Yoshinoya, Matsuya, Sukiya, Gusto and Denny's as restaurant chains with English websites. Its guide to Japan with children says of the family restaurants: "Popular examples include Saizeriya, Gusto, Denny's, Sushiro, and Hama Sushi—all great spots for a stress-free meal with little ones in tow." Its udon guide names Marugame Seimen and Hanamaru Udon, and its Muslim-friendly guide names CoCo Ichibanya and the ramen chain Ichiran.

The rest of this guide takes these chains one kind at a time. For the dishes themselves, see our guide to what to eat in Japan; for sushi prices and etiquette, our sushi guide; and for ramen, including Ichiran, our ramen guide.

How does eating at a Japanese chain restaurant work?

GO TOKYO's guide to how a meal in Tokyo flows, reviewed by the head of an etiquette school, starts at the door: "In Japan, it’s customary to wait to be greeted and shown to your seat rather than seating yourself." If there is a queue, join the back of it. "Some restaurants provide a sign-in sheet near the entrance, where you can add your name and the number of people in your party." JNTO's guide to dining etiquette for Canadians adds: "Some popular restaurants such as sushi trains may even require you to take a number from a machine (these tend to be bigger chains, where the interface is multilingual)."

Before you go in, check the sign at the door. GO TOKYO explains that 営業中 (eigyochu) means the restaurant is open, while 準備中 (junbichu), 仕込み中 or 支度中 mean it is closed. The staff will ask how many you are; if you are not sure what to say, GO TOKYO notes: "If needed, you can indicate the number with your fingers."

At ticket-machine shops, GO TOKYO's advice is simple: "Purchase your meal ticket first, hand it to the staff, and then take your seat as directed." Elsewhere, once you sit down, "you’ll usually be served water at no charge." "At some restaurants, water is self-service, with a dispenser available inside."

To order, GO TOKYO says, "either wait for a staff member to come to your table or use the call button or tablet often provided." "When ordering, pointing to photos on the menu or using a translation app is perfectly fine." One thing to know if you are in a group: "In Japan, each person is usually expected to order at least one dish, and this is particularly common during busy hours."

When you have finished, "Payment styles vary." GO TOKYO explains: "In some restaurants, you’ll pay at the table; in others, you’ll bring your bill to the register near the entrance." You do not need to leave anything extra: "In most cases, service charges are already included in the bill, so tipping is not required in Japan."

How do you pay at Japanese chain restaurants?

Cash works almost everywhere, but the big chains in the cities also take cards, IC cards such as Suica and QR codes. JNTO's guide to cashless payments says: "Cards and electronic money that can be used are indicated at the entrance of establishments and payment counters." It also warns: "Smartphone payment methods used overseas, such as ApplePay, GooglePay and AliPay sometimes cannot be used in Japan." So look for the stickers on the door or the till, and keep some cash as a back-up.

What a chain accepts can change from one branch to the next, so the best guide is the branch's own page. These are what three branches in Shinjuku listed in October 2026:

Some details from the chains themselves:

• Sukiya says on its FAQ page that some shops do not take credit cards, and that you can check which ones do in its shop search, by ticking the box for credit cards.
• Matsuya added Alipay+ and WeChat Pay to its official app on 22 January 2026, for paying online in the app, and says more customers from abroad use its shops every year.
• Sukiya's app lets you pay by credit card or PayPay, so you do not need to queue at the till.

For how cards, cash and Suica work in Japan in general, see our guide to cash or card in Japan.

Matsuya, Sukiya and Yoshinoya: how do the beef bowl chains compare?

The three big beef bowl, or gyudon, chains are the easiest cheap meal in Japan. Sukiya's English site describes the dish: "Gyudon is a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with thinly sliced beef and onions simmered in a mildly sweet soy based sauce." Matsuya calls its version gyumeshi, but it is the same kind of bowl.

All three serve the same basic dish, so the differences are in the price, the sizes and, above all, how you order. These were the prices on each chain's own menu page in October 2026, tax included, for eating in:

These are the usual prices. For its autumn beef bowl festival, from 11 a.m. on 15 October to 3 p.m. on 21 October 2026, Yoshinoya takes 100 yen off its beef bowls, to eat in or take away, so a regular bowl costs 398 yen; some shops do not take part.

At Matsuya, miso soup comes free with your bowl when you eat in; at Sukiya it comes as part of a set. Each chain also has a size with more beef on a regular amount of rice: atama no omori at Yoshinoya, atama omori at Matsuya, and "M-extra" on Sukiya's English menu.

Matsuya: buy a ticket first

Matsuya is the chain where you pay before you eat. Its How to Order sheet, in English, Chinese and Korean, sets out the steps:

In Matsuya's own words: "Your order will be automatically processed after you buy a ticket, and your order number will be displayed on the left side of the screen above the service counter. Take the ticket and wait at your seat." Then: "When your meal is ready, your ticket number will be displayed on the right side of the screen above the counter. The cooking time will differ depending on the menu." When you have eaten, "bring your tableware to the return counter by yourself."

Matsuya's English menu says: "Free miso soup for those dining on the premises!" In October 2026 the prices on that English page were lower than on the Japanese menu, so go by the prices on the machine. Matsuya says on its menu pages that it adds about 7% between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Sukiya: every branch works a little differently

Sukiya's English menu lists the beef bowl in six sizes, from S at 420 yen to MEGA at 1,060 yen, and toppings such as kimchi, three cheeses and grated radish. You can add a set, for example "Miso Soup and Salad ＋ ¥200".

How you order depends on the branch. Sukiya says it has brought in ticket machines, self-order systems and self-checkout registers, so what you find depends on the shop: a machine by the door, a screen at your seat or a member of staff. At branches with mobile ordering, you can order in the Sukiya app by scanning the QR code on your table, and pay in the app, so you do not have to queue at the till afterwards. The app takes credit cards and PayPay.

Yoshinoya: a beef bowl shop since 1899

Yoshinoya's English site traces the chain to 1899, the year a family shop opened in what was then the fish market at Nihonbashi, in Tokyo, and gives its motto as "tasty, affordable, and fast".

Since 2016, Yoshinoya has also opened what it calls Cooking & Comfort shops, aimed at a more relaxed meal. There you order on a tablet, collect your food from the counter and carry it to your seat, and you clear up and then pay when you have finished. The Shinjuku Yasukuni-dori branch in the map section below is one of them.

Yoshinoya charges slightly less to take away: a regular bowl is 498 yen to eat in and 489 yen to take away. Its breakfast set, the asagyu set, is a regular bowl with miso soup and one side dish, such as an egg, a small salad or natto, for 552 yen. It is served from 4 a.m. to 11 a.m. and only to eat in.

Which beef bowl chain is best?

Which one suits you depends on what you want from the meal, so the three are not put in order here:

The beef bowl shops are also a good bet for a very early or very late meal. The Shinjuku branches in the map section below are open 24 hours, or almost.

Sushiro, Kura Sushi and Hama Sushi: how do the conveyor-belt sushi chains work?

The three biggest conveyor-belt sushi, or kaitenzushi, chains are Sushiro, Kura Sushi and Hama Sushi. Sushiro had 659 shops in Japan on 30 September 2025, and Hama Sushi 652 on the same date. Kura Sushi had 687 at the end of October 2025, a count that includes its shops in the United States and elsewhere in Asia; its guide for first-time customers says it has more than 500 across Japan. Hama Sushi's English site puts the appeal for visitors simply: "We hope you will find and enjoy Hamasushi conveniently located near your hotels and sites you visit during your stay in Japan."

Plates still go round on a belt, but at all three most of what you eat is ordered on a touch panel and sent to your seat. For what a plate costs at each chain, topping by topping, see our sushi guide. This section is about getting a table, ordering and paying, and the three chains do each of those a little differently:

Sushiro: order on a touch panel in your language

Sushiro's English site promises a touch panel you can read: "You can order your favorite products from a touch panel that supports multiple languages: English, Chinese (simplified), and Korean." Some shops, among them the Dotonbori shop in Osaka, are what Sushiro calls Digiro shops. Instead of a small panel, the tables have a large touch display on which sushi flows past as it would on a belt, and you tap a plate to order it; the counter seats have a smaller version, and you can also order from your own phone. Sushiro says the size of the screen differs from shop to shop.

To skip the queue, use the app. In the words of the English site: "You can make a reservation for the store or for take out with the app." Its Japanese FAQ adds the details. You can book at every Sushiro except the Sakurazuka shop and the Sushiro To Go takeaway shops, only through the smartphone app and never by phone. The app works in several languages, although the web pages it links to do not. Every day from 2 a.m. until about 6 a.m. the booking system is updated and you cannot book.

Paying is where Sushiro differs most from the others. "Payment with all kinds of credit cards and QR code is available." But the English site also says: "We do not accept electronic money." If you were planning to pay with a transport IC card such as Suica, ask at the till first. The Japanese FAQ says credit cards are accepted at every shop, while QR code payments cannot be used at some shops. The Dotonbori and Asakusa Rokku shops list Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club and Discover.

Kura Sushi: book on the web and play Bikkura Pon

Kura Sushi is the chain to try if you would rather not install an app. Its guide for first-time customers, in Japanese, shows how to book a time on the web:

Groups of five or more may be seated at separate tables. You order on the touch panel or from your own phone, and what you order comes to you on a separate order lane.

When you have finished a plate, put it in the slot at your table. Kura counts your plates as you go, and for every five, the touch panel gives you a chance to win a small prize in a game called Bikkura Pon. The prizes change with the season, and Kura notes that, as it is a game, you will not always win. To pay, press the checkout button on the touch panel; the plates have already been counted, so you can pay without a member of staff. Kura's guide lists credit cards, electronic money and smartphone payment apps, but its page on how to use the shops warns that some shops do not take credit cards, and there you pay in cash.

Kura has also opened what it calls global flagship shops, designed around Japanese culture and with visitors from abroad in mind:

When the Asakusa shop opened, Kura said its touch panels worked in four languages and that staff who speak foreign languages are marked with a plate so that you can spot them at a glance.

Hama Sushi: book a place in the queue and order from the lane

Hama Sushi is not only sushi. Its English site says: "Other than sushi, Hamasushi also offers deep-fried foods and noodles such as ramen." The English site, in English and Chinese, has the menu and a shop search.

Hama Sushi does not take seat reservations, its FAQ says, but in its official app you can reserve a place in the queue or book a set time. You order on the touch panel at your seat. Each shop's page says which kinds of lane it has:

The Akihabara Denkigai-guchi shop has the straight lane and lane ordering.

For paying, the FAQ lists cash, credit cards, some electronic money and Zensho Cooca, a card of the Zensho group, which runs both Hama Sushi and Sukiya, and says that cards, electronic money and Cooca cannot be used at some shops. The Akihabara Denkigai-guchi and Ikebukuro Green Odori shops list transport IC cards, PayPay, Alipay+, UnionPay QR and WeChat Pay, among others.

Which conveyor-belt sushi chain should you choose?

Each of the three makes a different part of the meal easier, so none is put above the others:

Saizeriya and Gusto: how do Japan's family restaurants work?

Family restaurants, or famiresu, are the sit-down chains: long picture menus, booths and big tables, a button to call the staff and, at most of them, a drink bar. Saizeriya and Gusto are two of the biggest, and both are on JNTO's list for families. Denny's, which JNTO also names, is not covered in this guide.

Saizeriya serves Italian-style food. It started in 1967 in Motoyawata, in Chiba, and in February 2026 it ran 1,062 restaurants in Japan and 670 abroad; it says it serves about 300 million customers a year. Gusto is the main brand of the Skylark group, and had 1,202 restaurants on 30 September 2026. Skylark also runs Bamiyan, Shabu-Yo, Jonathan's and Yumean, among others, and uses the same ordering and payment systems across its main brands.

The two work in much the same way, with a few differences:

All prices in this section include tax.

Saizeriya: order by number from your phone

Saizeriya's dishes are cheap. In October 2026 the first dish on its list of popular dishes was the Milan-style doria, a baked rice dish, at 300 yen, and the same list had a small shrimp salad at 350 yen, spicy chicken wings and peperoncino pasta at 300 yen each, and an Italian pudding at 250 yen. Every dish has a number; the doria is 2101.

Saizeriya is bringing in ordering from your own phone. It said that at the end of August 2025 about 900 shops had it, and that it planned to have it at every shop by the end of 2025. Its English guide to the system shows the steps:

"You can find the menu number in the menu book." If you are a group, "Multiple people can place orders from their respective smartphones." "All orders from the same table will be combined into one billing slip." And if you would rather talk to someone: "If you would like to place an order verbally or ask any questions, please press the button to call a staff." The guide adds: "If you require any other assistance, please contact the staff before completing your order."

Saizeriya's English menu sets out the house rules. "All guests are kindly asked to make at least one order per person." "A 10% charge will be added to your bill after 10 p.m. as a late-night surcharge." Saizeriya has had a drink bar since 1996, with more than 20 drinks, although "Drinks available at the drink bar may vary depending on the restaurant." Children under four drink free.

Saizeriya brought in cashless payment at every shop in April 2021. The Ginza, Akihabara and Namba shops in the map section below list transport IC cards such as Suica and credit cards such as Visa.

Gusto: a touch screen, a robot and the drink bar

Gusto's English pages are machine-translated, so what follows is from its Japanese pages. Skylark says every shop of its main brands has a digital menu book, a touch screen at the table on which you order. It began putting them at the tables in February 2020. In 2022 Skylark put about 3,000 floor serving robots into about 2,100 of its restaurants. The robot that brings your food to the table has a face that changes expression, and it talks.

Skylark began trying out self-checkout registers in January 2017 and cashless payments in May 2019. At about 2,100 Skylark restaurants, Gusto among them, you can now also pay at the table on the digital menu book, although some shops inside larger facilities do not offer table payment.

Gusto's drink bar costs 250 to 329 yen with a meal and 130 yen for children. What it has and what it costs vary from shop to shop, and some shops do not have one. Orders placed after 10 p.m. cost 10% more.

One thing Gusto does not offer visitors on their own: its booking service for groups from abroad is only for travel agents.

About the photos: the drink bar is at a family restaurant photographed in 2015, not necessarily a Saizeriya, and the Gusto is in Oga, in Akita.

CoCo Ichibanya and Marugame Seimen: curry and udon your way

These two chains let you put your own meal together: at CoCo Ichibanya you build your curry, and at Marugame Seimen you collect your udon and pick your own tempura. JNTO names both in its guides for visitors.

CoCo Ichibanya: choose the sauce, the rice, the heat and the toppings

CoCo Ichibanya, or CoCoICHI, specialises in Japanese curry rice. It was "Established in 1978", in the words of its English site, and at the end of February 2026 it had 1,205 restaurants in Japan and 217 abroad. Its idea is simple: "Make your very own CoCoICHI curry by customizing the rice portion, spice level, and optional toppings." Its English page on how to order takes you through four choices:

On the heat: "Select your spice level from Mild to Level 20." The beef and vegetarian sauces cannot be made mild. If you are bringing children, "Kids' curry sauce is used for mild pork curry." Not every shop has every sauce: "Some stores do not provide hashed beef and rice."

On the rice: "Order as much rice as you want!" Between 150 g and 400 g you change the amount in 50 g steps, and above 400 g in 100 g steps. With the pork, mild pork and vegetarian sauces, 350 g of rice costs 65 yen extra and each 100 g above 400 g costs 130 yen; with the beef and hashed beef sauces the extras are 78 yen and 157 yen. On the toppings: "You can add any kinds of toppings to the curry you order." Cheese costs 264 yen and a pork cutlet 409 yen.

These are the prices for Tokyo, Kanagawa and Osaka, and for the Maker's Pier shop in Nagoya. CoCo Ichibanya's Japanese menu says the pork-based curries are cheaper in other areas. Between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. it adds 7% to the bill.

If you do not eat meat, CoCo Ichibanya has a vegetarian curry. "We cater to people with different cultures and dietary habits." Its English site describes it as "A curry only using plant-based ingredients." It costs 683 yen on the English site, which also has menu books to look at in English, Chinese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese, and in Russian, Arabic, Portuguese and Spanish. This guide could not find a list of the payment methods CoCo Ichibanya's shops take, so look for the stickers at the entrance and the register.

Marugame Seimen: collect your udon, cafeteria-style

Marugame Seimen opened its first shop in November 2000 in Kakogawa, in Hyogo, and its first shop abroad in April 2011. In September 2026 it had 906 shops in Japan. Its English pages are machine-translated, so this is from its Japanese guide for first-time customers. Marugame Seimen is self-service, and a meal goes like this:

Some shops have a separate window for takeaway, or ask you to fill in an order slip. Depending on the dish there are up to four sizes: small, with three quarters of a portion of noodles; regular, with one; large, with one and a half; and toku, with two.

On Marugame Seimen's Japanese menu, a regular kamaage udon, noodles served in the hot water they were cooked in, costs 390 yen, and a regular kake udon, in hot broth, 440 yen. The children's set, for children up to the last year of primary school, costs 290 yen. Prices include tax and may differ at some shops. If you cannot finish, you can take home only the items marked as fine for takeaway.

Whether you can pay without cash, and with what, depends on the shop, so check at the shop. Marugame Seimen's list includes transport IC cards such as Suica, PASMO and ICOCA; QUICPay, Rakuten Edy, iD and nanaco; Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club and Discover cards; and PayPay, Rakuten Pay, d Barai, Merpay, au PAY, Alipay and Smart Code, among others. Its website can be read in Japanese, English, traditional and simplified Chinese and Korean.

Hanamaru Udon, the other udon chain JNTO names, is part of the Yoshinoya group and had 424 shops in September 2026. This guide does not cover it in detail.

Where are the chain restaurants, and how do you get there?

Below are branches of the chains in this guide in seven areas that visitors often go to: Shinjuku, Shibuya, Asakusa, Akihabara, Ginza and Ikebukuro in Tokyo, and Dotonbori and Namba in Osaka. The address, the opening hours and, where the branch's page gives one, the walking time from the station were checked on each branch's own page in October 2026. Where a page gives no walking time, this guide does not guess one; use the map.

Hours change, and shops sometimes close early, so check the branch's page or the map on the day. For getting between areas, a transport IC card is the easiest way to pay your fares: see our guides to the Suica card and the Tokyo Subway Ticket.

Shinjuku: three beef bowl shops open late or all night

Yoshinoya's branch page lists the lines that stop there, among them the JR Yamanote, Chuo and Saikyo lines, the Keio and Odakyu lines, the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi line and the Toei Oedo and Shinjuku lines. All three beef bowl chains have a branch a short walk from the station:

Shibuya: a Matsuya on Center Gai and a Gusto by the crossing

Gusto's Shibuya Ekimae branch is on 7F of the Shibuya Ekimae Building, 2-3-1 Dogenzaka. Gusto asks you to use entrance A, on the side of the scramble crossing. Its page gives the distance to Shibuya Station by line: 105 metres for the Tokyo Metro Ginza line and others, 111 metres for the Keio Inokashira line, 131 metres for the JR Yamanote line and others, 232 metres for the Tokyu Toyoko line and others, and 249 metres for the Tokyu Den-en-toshi line.

Asakusa: sushi and udon around the ROX buildings

In Asakusa, Kura Sushi's first global flagship shop and a Marugame Seimen are both in the Asakusa ROX buildings, and a Sushiro is nearby. Sushiro's page gives about 2 minutes' walk from Asakusa Station on the Tsukuba Express.

Akihabara: sushi, Saizeriya, curry and udon near the station

Akihabara has four of the chains in this guide within a few streets of the station. Two are named after its exits: the Electric Town, or Denkigai, exit and the Showa-dori exit. For what else to do in the area, see our guide to Akihabara and Ikebukuro.

None of these four pages gives a walking time. The map below shows the station; open it in Google Maps and search for a shop's name to see the way.

Ginza: Kura Sushi's longest belt and a Saizeriya

Ginza has Kura Sushi's newest global flagship shop, the one with the 123.14-metre belt, and a Saizeriya.

Neither page gives a walking time.

Ikebukuro: Hama Sushi on Green Odori

Hama Sushi's Ikebukuro Green Odori shop is in the basement and keeps the same hours as the Akihabara shop. Its page gives no walking time.

Osaka: Dotonbori and Namba

In Osaka, the branches below are around Dotonbori and Namba, in Chuo and Naniwa wards. Sushiro's Dotonbori shop, a Digiro shop with large touch displays at the tables, gives about 4 minutes' walk from Namba Station on the Osaka Metro.

When can you eat? Breakfast, late nights and last orders

The beef bowl chains are open early. JNTO's guide to breakfast in Japan counts the restaurant chains among the places where commuters eat in the morning, and notes that besides beef bowls they serve Japanese set breakfasts, some with touch screens in several languages.

At Yoshinoya, the asagyu breakfast set, a regular beef bowl with miso soup and one side dish, costs 552 yen and is only for eating in. The family restaurants open later: Gusto's Shibuya Ekimae branch, for example, opens at 7:30 a.m.

Late at night, several chains add a charge to the bill. These are the rules on each chain's own pages in October 2026:

Can you eat at chain restaurants with allergies or a special diet?

Yes, with care. The big chains publish allergen lists for their menus, and some of them are in English. But the lists only cover the main allergens, kitchens share utensils and fryers, and the menu differs from shop to shop, so the chains themselves say not to rely on the lists alone.

Sushiro's English list says: "Our allergen information covers the 28 designated ingredients under the Japanese Food Labeling Act." And it is clear about the limits: "This information does not guarantee that an allergic reaction will not occur." Kura Sushi's English list is updated every day, and it notes that some restaurants do not serve every item on it.

Saizeriya's English list explains why: "As tableware and cooking utensils are shared at Saizeriya restaurants, there is a possibility of minuscule contamination." It goes on: "Please use this list solely as a reference. Consult medical specialists and make final decisions at your responsibility." CoCo Ichibanya's list makes the same point about fried food: "All deep fried food is fried using the same fryer and oil".

Gusto's allergen page, in Japanese, covers nine ingredients: buckwheat, peanuts, wheat, egg, milk, shrimp, crab, walnuts and cashew nuts. It says that traces that get into a dish during cooking are not shown on the list; that side dishes, sauces, dressings and the condiments on the table are not covered; that utensils, tableware, frying oil, batter and the places where food is stored are shared; and that noodles, including buckwheat noodles, are cooked with the same utensils and pots. The drink bar is not covered either, and its nozzles are shared.

On our allergy card page you tick what you cannot eat, and it gives you a card in Japanese for the staff.

If you eat halal, ask before you order. JNTO's Muslim-friendly guide says CoCo Ichibanya has opened shops offering halal food in Akihabara and Shinjuku. But when this guide searched CoCo Ichibanya's shop finder in October 2026, no shop came up for halal, and the shop finder says to ask the shop about what it sells. If you do not eat meat, CoCo Ichibanya's vegetarian curry, described in the curry section above, is one choice; remember that its fried toppings share a fryer.

Useful Japanese at a chain restaurant

At most chains you can order without speaking, on a screen or at a ticket machine, and the staff are used to visitors who point. These words often appear on ticket machines and touch panels; for ramen words, such as shokken and ōmori, see our ramen guide.

Our Japanese travel phrases page has more, each with audio.

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To cite or link to this page: Japanese chain restaurants: the chains visitors love, how to get a table, order and pay, and how to find one — Japan Pocket Guide, https://japanpocketguide.com/food/japanese-chain-restaurants/ Copy