Growing up outside of Tokyo, Chef Kenji Miyaishi’s mother used to send him off with bento boxes of onigiri rice balls, karaage fried chicken, tamago-yaki egg omelets and vegetables from her garden.

Japanese-style bento boxes may have been around for centuries, but they’ve only recently been “discovered” by parents around the world who are making these compartmentalized lunchboxes for their kids.

A bento box is an all-in-one compartmentalized Japanese lunch box containing a balanced meal. This meal typically consists of a starch (like rice or noodles) and protein, a vegetable, and fruit side.

Consider the one and done meal, as revelatory as it is rare. How often can you point to a single item on a menu and know that it will satisfy twin appetites — the animalistic compulsion to fill our ...

Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Why Trust Us? Bento boxes originated in Japan, but have become popular across the globe for the ...

After almost two years of Zoom school, it may finally be time to brush up on your bag lunch game with a bento box. To get the kids excited for school again — while also making sure they stay as safe ...

If you've heard of Bento Box (1121 Military Cutoff Road), hopefully you've heard of chef and owner Lee Grossman's tenured sushi career and over-the-top tuna sourcing. If I write about his beloved ...

Lunch just got a lot more interesting if you live or work in San Francisco. Aina, the Hawaiian farm-to-table restaurant in the Dogpatch known for killer malasadas and gourmet takes on “Spam” musubi, ...

Ambitious new Penn Quarter Spanish-Japanese restaurant Cranes is rolling out lunch service, with both a tapas menu and a constantly-changing $24 bento box. Chef Pepe Moncayo is prepping seven options ...