Japanese style ramen is becoming increasingly more popular in Los Angeles Koreatown. Ramen restaurants were far from common only three to four years ago, but there are now at least eight of them across the neighborhood, including Kashira, Osaka and Slurpin’ Ramen Bar. Most of those restaurants opened within the last one or two years. Over the last three to four months, Saiya and Ten have opened.
Ramen’s popularity in Koreatown seems starker when the number of restaurants in the area is compared to Little Tokyo, the home of ramen is Southern California. In Little Tokyo, there are 11 ramen restaurants, which is not much more than Koreatown.
Koreatown is becoming home to ramen restaurants mainly due to the convenience and location. L.A. Koreatown plays the role of a hub in the center of the city, which makes it easier for businesses to attract varying types of customers. Also, running a ramen restaurant is apparently more convenient than other businesses.
“I’ve always had a lot of interest in ramen,” said Saiya president Joseph Choi, who opened the restaurant last May. “I opened the restaurant in L.A. as the location also attracts many non-Koreans these days. Ramen is one of the most popular international foods. It is not polarizing. The turnover is pretty high too, so the profitability has been solid.”
Sung-rok Kang, who is running Wasabi Japanese Noodle House, said: “Ramen is not even our main menu, but it sells the most. We get about 250 customers per day and about 40 percent of them order ramen. Korean food is costly as it requires a lot of ingredients and the manpower. You also have to secure a large space for Korean food. On the other hand, ramen is a simple food to prepare, so operating a kitchen is relatively easier. As long as you catch up on the trend, it’s the type of business that ensures high success rate at a low cost.”
There are reportedly even more business owners who are looking to start a ramen restaurant in Koreatown. Many of them are Korean-Americans in their 30s.
However, critics point out that Koreatown is already overloaded with ramen restaurants as too many of them have opened in a short amount of time.
“Ramen restaurants may be easier to run than other businesses, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to be successful,” said a ramen restaurant owner. “The competition is fierce, so the recipe has to be outstanding. It also requires attractive side dishes as a menu at a ramen restaurant is obviously limited. That’s how you can attract customers.”
By Hyunwook Chung
