A brand new ramen restaurant called Akahoshi Ramen will make its debut later this year in Logan Square, located at 2340 N. California Ave.
Mike Satinover, otherwise known online as The Ramen Lord, has announced he is finally opening a brick-and-mortar, according to the Chicago Tribune. He made a name for himself with delicious-looking homemade miso ramen, posting it on his social media. Occasionally he would host small parties in his apartment but never wanted to open a restaurant. Then, after several offers, the amateur ramen chef began hosting pop-ups and eventually realized not all kitchens operated the same.
“I worked in restaurant kitchens in high school and didn’t feel comfortable. I felt like, fundamentally, the culture wasn’t good for me,” Satinover tells the Chicago Tribune, realizing he can make his restaurant’s kitchen his way. “You don’t have to make it brutal or messed up. I can decide the kitchen culture I want.”
Satinover confirms with What Now Chicago that he hopes to open this restaurant by Fall 2023. He has enlisted several well-established firms to design the space, including The California Clipper, Nine Bar, and Giant. When it opens, customers can expect about 50 seats with a six-seat counter facing an open kitchen. Satinover plans to keep the menu simple, featuring only four or five bowls of ramen and two or three rice dishes, such as chashu don, featuring fatty pork and ikura don, topped with salmon roe.
“I see these Yelp reviews of ramen spots, and people write that they like the pork belly buns,” Satinover tells the publication. “I want to make sure the ramen is the star. I want to focus on quality. I won’t serve the cheapest ramen because we are going to make everything from scratch — the noodles, soup, tare, toppings, and everything in between. The goal is to increase the appreciation of ramen. I think ramen has so much more potential in Chicago.”
