Japan's most wallet-friendly family restaurants as judged by customers

When I was looking at press releases for work recently, I noticed one about Japan's most budget-friendly family restaurant chains as voted for by customers. With two young children, we tend to eat at family restaurants quite a bit when we're out and about, and we definitely appreciate their variety and value for money – and the latter has been even more important as the cost of living here has been rising over the last year.

Pic Credit: 阪神強いな/CC By SA 3.0

The full list covered a number of family restaurant chains, but the press release focused on the top three, which were Saizeriya, Gusto, and Joyfull in that order.

Pic Credit: PR Times

I have to agree with the list that Saizeriya tends to provide the best value for money for our household when dining out. It's also a pretty solid choice for our family's tastebuds – our kids tend to enjoy things like pizza and pasta. Price-wise, the kids meal sets are around 500 yen, and contain a pasta of choice, a serving of either popcorn shrimp or potatoes, and corn soup. That's quite a lot for many children, so you can also order a la carte which is a bit cheaper (i.e. the meat sauce pasta on its own is only 300 yen).

When it comes to variety, though, our favorite chain is Gusto – and they came in second place on the list. They have a good mix of both Japanese and Western style dishes for the adults, and the kids menu is pretty comprehensive as well. The main kids meal options here include a hamburger plate set, an udon plate set, or a pancake plate set, and they're priced from 399 yen to 499 yen depending on which you choose. They come with a range of side dishes like edamame and rice, and we like the fact that it's not just fried stuff!

Admittedly, I haven't visited Joyfull on many occasions during my time here, but the menu does look pretty robust. Similar to Gusto, there are various Japanese and Western offerings on the menu, and I particularly liked the range of kids meals they offer. They have kids curry, salmon bowls, hamburger plates, and udon plates, with some items available a la carte. A kids portion of udon is only 99 yen plus tax, for instance!

If you frequent family restaurants, what do you think about the ranking scale here? Would you agree with Saizeriya representing the best value for money?