MENSHO, an award-winning ramen concept based out of Japan, is getting ready to open its third U.S. location, this time in Mesa at 805 N Dobson Rd., Suite #115.
The Tokyo-based ramen restaurant first opened in 2005 and has expanded to several locations throughout Asia and Southeast Asia. Then creator Tomoharu Shono expanded overseas into America, opening his first location in San Francisco. MENSHO quickly became household names in the Bay Area, eventually receiving recognition from Michelin and local publications. Now, the highly-rated restaurant is getting ready to expand beyond the Bay Area.
The new MENSHO will move into the Mesa Riverview Shopping Center later this year. A MENSHO corporate representative tells What Now Phoenix this location is expected to open for the third or fourth quarter of 2023. When it opens, customers can expect some of the most authentic ramen ever tasted.
“MENSHO is directly connected with farm and Kura (Japanese traditional storehouses),” according to the company’s website. “We use fresh seasonal ingredients which come from the fields and seas. We also produce new menu items for each season. For our original noodles, particular whole wheat grains are selected from farms and ground into flour at our factories, creating noodles that contain the actual taste of wheat. Our goal is to make a pipeline from farms to customers, essentially allowing the customer to feel a farmer’s philosophy, personality, and the blessing he or she instills in the products.”
If the passion behind this project wasn’t enough, Shono has accumulated a handful of awards from his restaurant since its first opening in 2005. Shono-san, for example, has won many awards, including 1st place in the TRY Ramen Awards category, 1st place in Ramen Walker nationwide, and 1st place in Shinjuku JG Ramen GP. MENSHO has been recognized as the best ramen in Japan by Ramen Walker Magazine and won first place in Try Ramen Magazine.