Hiroyuki Miyasako: Yakiniku “Gyugujou” doing well, but “free takoyaki” franchise restaurant “Miyatako” closes again after 10 months.

Notice of Closure] Thank you for visiting us at Mojiya Sapporo Minami Sanjo! Thank you for visiting Mojiya Sapporo Minami Sanjo! We will be closing our restaurant on Sunday, January 22, 2023.

The takoyaki izakaya “It’s Miyatako” run by Hiroyuki Miyasako, formerly of Ameagari Kesshitai, will close on January 22, 2023. franchise owned by former “Ameagari Kesshitai” member Hiroyuki Miyasako, will close its doors after less than 10 months of operation.

Miyatako Desu” was a franchise restaurant owned by Miyasako’s family. is a takoyaki restaurant run by Miyasako’s family in Osaka. It opened a branch in Gotanda, Tokyo in 2003.

The representative of the company at the time said that he would expand Miyatako nationwide by recruiting owners in each of the 47 prefectures and signing a license agreement with them. He also said that he would make his signature takoyaki free of charge. Mr. Miyasako was skeptical and asked, “Is this going to be all right? But it seems he was wrong.

Last year, the first franchise store opened in Niigata, but it closed after four months. And this time it didn’t last a year either. When you open a new restaurant, it costs a lot of money for signage, interior design, kitchen equipment, etc., but they didn’t even take a wait-and-see approach.

(Gourmet writer) A Google review of the Sapporo restaurant that is closing shows the following

“The “0 yen takoyaki” is conditional and not cheap.

The restaurant claims to offer free all-you-can-eat takoyaki, but it is a service that comes with at least two dishes per person. I was full after one refill of the main okonomiyaki.

I was full after one second helping of okonomiyaki.

The restaurant’s information on the Internet is as follows

90-minute all-you-can-eat meal with a minimum order of two items per person. No matter how many takoyaki and akashiyaki you eat, it’s 0 yen!

There seems to be a condition for the free takoyaki.

If there are four of you, you will have to order eight items separately. This alone should be enough to fill one’s stomach.

And if you are not used to grilling your own takoyaki, it takes a long time, so how many takoyaki can you eat in 90 minutes? If the restaurant has been closing so many times, it may be a tough business model.

(The same gourmet writer) Furthermore, not only franchises, but also “Miyatako Desu,” a restaurant in Gotanda, Tokyo, owned by Miyasako, is also closed. Miyatako has confessed on TV and in other media that even the restaurant Miyatako owns in Gotanda, Tokyo, “has been in the red for a long time. Perhaps it is too much to ask.

On the other hand, Gyugujou’s yakiniku restaurant “Gyugujou,” which opened in March of this year, is reportedly full to capacity, thanks in part to its location in Shibuya’s Center Gai. Gyugujou” might be a better choice for a nationwide franchise…