Last week on February 24, 2021, the Japan Productivity Center released its quarterly Japanese Customer Satisfaction Index report. In it, businesses were categorized by store type (Cafes, Drug Stores, Electronics, etc) and ranked based on reported customer satisfaction.
Ranked #1 in the “Food Industry” section, right above heavy-hitters like Saizeria and Ringer Hut, was an unfamiliar name: Bikkuri Donkey (びっくりドンキー).
Wait, What Exactly is a “Bikkuri Donkey”?
Shoji realized that competing with a powerhouse like McDonald's was impossible. So in 1971, he came up with the "hamburg steak set". Click To TweetOwning a total of only 334 restaurants, it’s no surprise that Bikkuri Donkey isn’t exactly a household name in Japan. In comparison, the runner-up Saizeria owns over 1000 locations. Even Ringer Hut, which also tied for second in the same ranking, owns 733 locations.
Founded in 1968 under the name “Bell”, the restaurant was originally a hamburger shop in Iwate Prefecture. After hearing a rumor that McDonald’s would be coming to Japan, the owner Shoji Akio decided to visit one himself and booked a flight to Hawaii. There, he witnessed what he described as the “forefront of the hamburger business”.
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Shoji realized that competing with a powerhouse like McDonald’s was impossible. So in 1971, he came up with the “hamburg steak set”, which took the ingredients of a traditional burger, replaced the bread with rice and the lettuce with a side salad; a change made with Japanese cuisine culture in mind.
The business quickly grew, and in 1981 Bikkuri Donkey moved its headquarters to Sapporo, where it now resides. Two years later, it officially rebranded as 「びっくりドンキー」, picking びっくり (meaning “surprised”) in an attempt to create an impactful name. It chose ドンキー (meaning… well, “donkey”), to represent its theme of being “not the coolest or the smartest, but kind and hardworking.” Apparently, like a donkey.
A Cut Above the Rest
According to Gendai News, the main points of appeal seem to be in the restaurant’s more unique aspects. The most obvious is the interior design, which looks like something out of a spaghetti western. Rustic wooden beams and corrugated iron sheets line the walls and ceiling, festooned farming equipment and lanterns.
But there are also more subtle design choices, like raising the bottom of a dish so that poured sauce would run to the edges of the plate, that bring Bikkuri Donkey to the next level.
Compared to the usual self-service style of business that most family restaurants operate under, Bikkuri Donkey also runs under a “full-service” business. All you have to do is sit down and the rest is taken care of; no drink or salad bars required.
The main points of appeal seem to be in the restaurant's more unique aspects. The most obvious is the interior design, which looks like something out of a spaghetti western. Click To TweetBecause the restaurant specializes in hamburger steaks, it’s able to streamline and improve its cost-efficiency in a way most family restaurants wouldn’t be able to. The meat, according to the official website, comes from “all-natural” free-range cattle ranches across New Zealand and Australia. The steaks are also seasoned with a soy sauce base, in order to “appeal to the Japanese palette”.
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The company is also passionate about environmental causes. In 2007, it began using its recycled fryer oil to produce biodiesel in its Hokkaido factory, as well as turned it into hand soap in the Kansai region. The biodiesel is used by local farms and community events as generator fuel, and the hand soap is now used in 75 store locations across Japan.
On the subject of social issues, the company has been working since 1994 to normalize disabilities, providing braille menus and wheelchair-friendly ramps at select stores. You can even search for stores that provide these services, as well as filter stores based on whether they recycle used oil or have disabled toilets using the search function on the official website.
