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Gyudon is typical Japanese fast food and consists of a bowl of rice topped with beef cooked in a sweet sauce of spring onions, soy sauce and mirin.

Three large chain stores: Yoshinoya, Matsuya and Sukiya head the list of the top three gyudon restaurants in Japan. Typically these three restaurants operate 24/7 and 365 days a year.

The three have different menus and may serve not just classic gyudon, but also butadon (pork on rice), kimichidon (kimchi on top of the meat) and unadon (eel on rice).

There are also variations for the amount of the meat, gravy sauce on the rice such as tsuyudaku (extra sauce) and negidaku (extra onions). Gyudon is traditionally eaten with miso soup and Japanese green tea which may or may not be complimentary depending on the store. Various sets are also served which include miso soup and Japanese pickles - tsukemono.
Visitors to Japan on a budget or looking to try Japanese fast food should try eating at one or all of the three chains. Menus are usually in English, Chinese and Korean as well as Japanese.

Yoshinoya ???

Yoshinoya is the oldest of the three gyudon chains and dates back to 1899 when meat-eating became more widespread in Japan as part of the increased westernization of the early Meiji Period. The first store appeared in Tokyo in the Nihonbashi fish market of Tokyo (maybe to offer the workers a new experience and change to their diet) before moving to the Tsukiji Fish Market after the Great Tokyo Earthquake of 1923.

Yoshin...