Yoshinoya D&C Co. said Monday its restaurants will stop serving its mainstay bowls of "gyudon" beef on rice this week after stocks run dry due to an import ban on U.S. beef.
When the dish disappears from menus Wednesday, it will be the first time since Yoshinoya opened in 1899 that it has halted servings of gyudon. Smaller rivals such as Nakau and Sukiya stopped serving similar beef dishes last week.
Due to its almost complete reliance on U.S. beef for its popular dish, the nation's largest gyudon restaurant chain has become a symbol of the beef shortage following the discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States in December and the ensuing wrangling between Tokyo and Washington over the resumption of such imports.