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By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO - The U.S. ambassador was among customers thronging a major Japanese fast-food chain Monday to savor the return of a popular rice dish topped with American beef that was off the menu for more than two years because of mad cow disease fears. "It was great. It was well worth the wait," U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer said after eating Yoshinoya D&C Co.'s "beef bowl" with chopsticks. Japan and nearby South Korea banned American beef in December 2003 because of fears about mad cow disease. Japan eased the ban in July, and South Korea earlier this month. But in both nations, the reception to American beef has been mixed, with the comeback being welcomed only by serious meat-lovers, such as those who lined up before Yoshinoya restaurants for hours before they opened. "It was delicious because I hadn't had it in a while," said 32-year-old construction worker Hiroaki Kaneko, who was among the first to eat a beef bowl, and bought four more for his co-workers. "I'm not a bit worried," he added about the mad cow fears. Yoshinoya, which runs 1,000 restaurants nationwide, couldn't bring the beef bowl back before the day billed as "Resurrection Festival for the Beef Bowl" because of difficulties in getting a sufficient beef supply. The company will serve beef bowls Monday until they sell out. It will offer beef bowls again for the first five days in October, and similarly for Nov. 1-5. Tokyo is now allowing only cattle 20 months or younger, although the U.S. has said that beef up to 30 months old is safe.