Originally Posted by slawecki

there are 2 kobe(waygu) beef grading systems that i am familiar with. one runs from 3 to 12. the other from 3 to 5. the price moves up according to fat marble content. on the 12 scale, 2-3 is prime, 5-7 is about $20-30/lb. 8-10 runs $50 or so. higher grades do not usually come into this country. lower grades come from waygu crossed cows from usa. mid grades come form usually 75% crossed cows and from australia or NZ., and the real thing (which i have never had) comes from japan. somewhere around 2005, usa banned all beef from japan because of a hoof and mouth outbreak. i do not know the current status of that ban, but it was in effect in 2010, so anyone serving 100% kobe in usa smuggled it in(which i doubt).