Pepper Lunch

Pepper Lunch (ペッパーランチ, Peppā-ranchi) is a Japanese "fast-steak" restaurant franchise popular in the Tokyo area. There are approximately 500 locations in Japan, as of 2023.^[1]

Pepper Lunch

Native name	ペッパーランチ
Company type	Public
Traded as	TYO: 3053
Industry	Restaurants
Founded	1994; 31 years ago (1994)
Founder	Kunio Ichinose
Headquarters	Tokyo, Japan
Key people	Kunio Ichinose (chef)
Products	Steak, chicken, salmon, carbonated and other beverages
Website	pepperlunch.com

Beef Pepper Rice

Pepper Lunch is a subsidiary of Pepper Food Service Co., Ltd.^[2] The restaurant's Southeast Asian operations are formerly managed by Suntory F&B International^[3] (in Asia) and Former Oishii Group in Australia and the U.S. Since April 2023, Asia, Australia and U.S. restaurants are managed by Hotpalette.

History

Pepper Lunch was created in 1994 by chef and inventor Kunio Ichinose, who wanted to serve quality fast food without hiring a chef. He devised a method using hot metal plates that are heated to 500 °F (260 °C) by an electromagnetic cooker. The raw meat with vegetables and/or rice are then placed on the plates, where they cook in front of the customer. The meat can be eaten rare or well done, depending on the customer's preference. The meal is then mixed with a choice of either the special honey brown sauce (Amakuchi) or garlic soy sauce (Karakuchi).^[4]

In September 2009, all branches in Japan temporarily closed after 38 customers, aged 2 to 81, suffered from food poisoning. The cause was E. coli O157 poisoning, which spread throughout 19 stores among 14 prefectures in Japan. A supplier of diced beefsteak was ordered to recall the E. coli-affected product.^[5]