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.

Pepper Lunch

Native name	ペッパーランチ
Company type	Public
Traded as	TYO: 3053
Industry	Restaurants
Founded	1994 (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. The restaurant's Southeast Asian operations are formerly managed by Suntory F&B International (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

A typical interior of a Pepper Lunch restaurant. (Photo: New Town Plaza Phase 3, Hong Kong)

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).

Branches

Pepper Lunch restaurant in Oji (王子店), northern Tokyo

Pepper Lunch restaurant in Shunde, China

Pepper Lunch restaurant at Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City, Philippines

Pepper Lunch has a total of 165 branches in Japan and 325 branches overseas:

• Indonesia: 64
• Philippines: 59
• Thailand: 49
• Singapore: 39
• China: 33
• Hong Kong: 21
• Vietnam: 14
• Australia: 11
• Malaysia: 6
• Taiwan: 6
• Macau: 6
• United States: 6
• Cambodia: 5
• Canada: 3
• Brunei: 2
• Myanmar: 1

Incidents

E. coli O157 poisoning

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.