TOKYO -- Japanese restaurant chains are trying out a new ingredient in their latest attempt to expand in the U.S., but it is no ordinary ingredient -- it is business-related: American consultants.
Yoshinoya Holdings, famous in Japan for its bowls of seasoned beef on rice, invited a former executive of a U.S. restaurant company to head its U.S. unit and overhaul its menu and store designs. The result is Yoshinoya Japanese Kitchen, which adds bowls of tilapia, "enhanced" vegetable side dishes and a brown rice option to the menu.
