(well, not really) because I am a stickler for grammar and word usage. I get annoyed with the plethora of restaurants claiming to serve “Kobe Burgers”, when they are not. It’s tantamount to selling “California Champagne”, which doesn’t exist. Champagne comes from the region of the same name in France. Kobe is a method of raising beef (and a registered trademark) in a specific prefecture in Japan. “Real” Kobe beef sells for, on the order, of $300 per pound. So how can a restaurant sell an $11 half pound Kobe burger? They can’t.
What you are being served is “Kobe-style” beef, (hopefully!) which is generally, a cut from Wagyu (prounced wah gyu) cattle (the kind from Japan) that has been cross bred with American Angus, but raised here, and not subject to the rigid standards the Japanese set for “Kobe beef”, nor are they fed the same diet as in Japan (which is considerably more expensive than the feed used here).
It’s a superior product, for sure, but it’s not “Kobe Beef” and never will be. You can buy the real thing online. (A single 10 oz filet will set you back a couple hundred bucks). Or you can get the Americanized version of Wagyu from Allen Brothers , two six ounce filets, $115. (pictured).