Newly opened Ramen 101 in the Crossroads Shopping Center is a combination of authentic Ramen and Hawaiian BBQ. The restaurant opened earlier this month and Ramen 101 Manager Fiona Lo is extremely excited to be in the Riverbank complex.
This franchise began in the Bay Area in 2018 and has been growing ever since with locations throughout Northern California including Riverbank and Modesto. Although they are a franchise and offer a diverse menu, some of the items at the different restaurants can vary. For example, the Riverbank location does not have the macaroni salad at this time.
The Modesto location opened in June of 2021 and that is where Lo was working before managing the location in Riverbank. While in Modesto, Lo had several regulars from the Riverbank area that are pleased to have one a bit closer now in Crossroads.
“I feel really happy about that and they come here more often and I am really happy I get to see them,” added Lo. “The main part is that we still have a lot of things like the Chicken Katsu and the Hawaiian BBQ chicken and Japanese street snacks from our starters and that is really good.”
They already have some regulars at the newly opened Ramen 101 that have some favorites like the Tonkotsu Ramen that is more traditional Ramen with roasted pork, boiled egg, Kikurage Mushroom, bamboo shoots, fresh green onions, sprouts, and fish cake. The bowl is big enough to share and the presentation is very eye pleasing. The Black Garlic and Chicken Ramen are also a few guest favorites.
They offer different bases like the creamy pork base that comes in the Tonkotsu, or the soybean base, and soy sauce base Ramens. For the most part all the Ramen’s are made with pork broth but they do have a vegetarian option.
The Ramen’s can be customized specifically for your dietary restrictions or taste including the level of spiciness or no spice at all. They can remove the noodles and add more bean sprouts or whatever the guest would like.
On the BBQ side the most popular dish so far is the BBQ mix which has chicken, beef and short ribs on a bed of rice and vegetables. They have the Chicken Katsu and the Teriyaki Chicken that are also some guest favorites.
“Customers tell us that our food is really diverse,” said Lo. “People come out for both lunch and dinner. People get a lot of the Ramen here. This is just another level of the cup of noodles; something that is filling but still good at the same time.”
There are many options at Ramen 101 including a starter menu with some diverse option like the Grill Whole Squid, the Spam Musubi, Lumpia, Crab Rangoons, and the Edamame.
They are open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
