Good food great service Ordered the tonkatsu ramen and it…read moreabsolutely delicious, the broth was perfect my ordered the lio wein with the teriyaki chicken and it was fantastic, we ate out food and it delicious. The host paisley was very nice with great .customer service the ambience is right on it.we definitely come back for some good food. 5 star all over

To be honest, this place probably deserves closer to three stars, but I didn't quite have the heart…read moreto rate it that low. I know firsthand how challenging it can be for small business owners--especially immigrant-owned businesses. That said, there were several shortcomings that affected our experience. The issues started when ordering. There were two vegetarians in our group, and while many of the ramen dishes listed an option to add vegetables, I wanted to confirm whether the broth itself was vegetarian. Unfortunately, our server repeatedly said she didn't know and didn't offer to check with the kitchen. One ramen listed a miso broth, which is typically vegetarian, but when I asked about that specifically, I received the same response. To be safe, we ordered the clearly labeled vegetarian ramen, while my husband ordered the miso ramen. His dish arrived almost immediately, while the rest of us waited at least 15 minutes longer. When his ramen was delivered, there was no explanation or indication that ours was coming shortly. He tried to eat slowly so we could eat together, but he was nearly finished by the time our bowls arrived. One other small but noticeable issue: it was around Christmas, and the holiday music playlist was extremely limited. We heard the same songs rotate four times, which became a bit distracting. My advice would be to invest more in server training, especially around menu knowledge, and perhaps update the music playlist. With some improvements in service and attention to detail, this place could be much better.

Five Stars -- A Must‑Try in Downtown Salem!…read more My wife and I stopped by Akai Ramen yesterday, and this spot absolutely delivered. We ordered the shrimp fried rice, hot gemai tea, cucumbers, fresh salad, and the seafood ramen -- every single dish came out flavorful, balanced, and clearly made with care. The portions were generous, and the prices were surprisingly reasonable for the quality. The service was immaculate from start to finish. Friendly, attentive, and genuinely welcoming -- the kind of hospitality that makes you want to come back before you've even left. The decor is clean and modern with plenty of seating, creating a relaxed atmosphere perfect for a date, a family meal, or a quick bite. Yes, you do have to pay for parking in downtown Salem, but once you're inside, the food, the vibe, and the service make it more than worth it. If you're anywhere near Salem, I highly recommend stopping by. Akai Ramen is doing everything right -- great food, great people, great experience. Five stars all day.

Yummy! Good Ramen, good service and lots of seating!…read more Service was very friendly and food came out quick! Nice soft music playing restaurant was cute lots of seating options. Ramen was tasty! The kaarage was kinda like chicken nuggets, different than we normally have but still yummy. Will be back when in the area!

Crispy egg rolls appetizer, orange chicken, massaman chicken curry were all tastefully prepared and…read moreserved piping hot. Ingredients were fresh, vegetables perfectly steamed al dente. 5:00 pm on a Sunday saw several more takeout orders than in-house dining. Service was quick and attentive with server checking in frequently. Restaurant was warm, bright and clean. Be advised, parking is out of sight from River Road, off street behind the building so don't assume their closed. Great meal - we'll be back!

I drove up to Salem not long ago to have lunch with my Mom…read more We decided on Thai, as it's one of our favorites. I only know of a place in South Salem that I like, besides my go to's in Eugene. We looked on Yelp, and decided on this place because they had decent reviews, and were pretty close to Mom. I ordered the drunken noodles, she ordered phad Thai, both with chicken, and we had an appetizer of chicken sate. The chicken sate was good, I thought the drunken noodles were just alright. Mom liked hers, and she liked mine even better. She isn't used to really good Thai food like I am, I am spoiled in that way. The place was pretty busy, there was only one table open, we were seated right away. Our orders taken fast, Food given at a decent speed, but once the food came, not once were we checked on, and no one came for quite a while. In fact I had to go get our to go boxes, and go up to get our check to pay. Our waitress was no where! It was a man. My Mom was a waitress for most of her working life, in fact retired from it not long ago. Even she was disappointed, and she hates complaining, knowing the service industry. I truly hope it was a fluke on this particular day, because leaving is like the waitress did was rude. I can't see wanting to come back, I would rather drive the extra distance to South Salem to the better place.

Over priced. The vegetable in my tempura roll was really over cooked. The restaurant smells really…read morestrongly of cleaner which hits you when you walk in and gave me a mild headache. Seat yourself, bus yourself type service.

We learned on this trip each location has a slightly different menu. This location has soups -…read moreramen, udon etc The lunch of choice this trip - ramen with chicken teriyaki! Very tasty! There are small pieces of zucchini and carrot, personally I would like some other veggies. The broth was miso but once you add the teriyaki chicken the teriyaki takes over which is not a bad thing Service was good- you wait and pickup at the counter - we had three orders of soup so the nice guy working offered to carry the tray for me

Talk about a local place and the only reason I stopped is because I got really good ratings and I…read morewas craving some wings. I come out here once in a while and I think I found my go to spot. The wings were made spot on, and we're very good. The lo mein could've used some extra seasoning. Keep in mind this is a taco truck park so the ambiance is laid back and has tables you can sit outside and enjoy the weather. Mannys has a variety of foods that are available there ( think cheese cake factor menu lol) . The taco truck next-door wasn't bad either. The food was made hot and the service was great. The next time I'm in the area. I will definitely be back to try something else. The menu is very large, so there are a lot of choices.

Such an underdog - this place isn't appreciated as much as it should be! The noodles are so…read moredelicious and it's a huge portion, the crispy vegetable tempura is one of my favorite $7 spends. The guy is always so happy and smiley taking orders. Can't wait to try his namesake wings.

I went to lunch with my stepmom to Pho Keizer and had a very lovely lunch. The restaurant is in a…read morenew location in a meticulously renovated Sherri's restaurant building. Everything is immaculate and very nicely decorated. Once we were seated we were provided with an extensive menu of dining options. Everything on the menu looked incredible! I had difficulty choosing one thing, so I chose TWO! I chose the Banh Mi sandwich and the Wonton Noodle Soup. I love the type of rolls the sandwich was served on. The outside is crisp and flaky while the inside is soft and chewy. I asked for chicken as the meat choice. I enjoy how the carrots and cucumbers are sliced in a square straw. I think that provides a nice texture in every bite. The wonton noodle soup was delicious. I've never had soft wontons before. They've always been crispy nibbles on a side plate. I like that in this dish they were part of the soup. I was a little disappointed in the vermicelli noodles though. They were nicely done and very tasty, but there were so many that they clumped together and were difficult to get a bite of without getting a whole mouthful. Also of note were the drinks. I chose the pineapple tea and it was MARVELOUS! All in all, lunch was an amazing experience and I will always remember that meal with my stepmom.

When we want to eat pho, this is where we go since it recent;y opened in what used to be the Spires…read morerestaurant on Portland Road. Both the older restaurant "Pho Keizer" (just South of here on River Road) have the same owners, their offerings and quality are similar. My wife loves their soup bases. Since she is quite sensitive to hot spices, we are careful to order the lowest level of chiles offered in dishes we order. I, then, increase the heat level by using the chiles available at the table. In that way we are able to share different dishes served "family style." My own favorite dishes are the egg rolls (Chả Giò) and the vermicceli salad (with grilled pork and egg roll). We also dislike the fresh coriander so ask them not to use it in dishes we order.

The service was excellent! I ordered way too much fried rice, shrimp and pork salad and rare beef…read moreslices. Loved it all the lady wasn't so nice while we waited she gave us some hot tea. The place was clean and cozy. Not fancy but good food doesnt need a fancy package.

I had a lot of recommendations from friends and family about this place! Overall, my time here…read morewasn't anything special! The pork meat in the rolls was very tough, peanut sauce was for more runny then I've had before. Pho bro was salty with lots of flavor!

super amazing spot. i'm a genius and forgot to take pictures of the food before we finished it but…read moreall i can say is that it definitely overdid my expectations. the guy is so sweet and methodical about how he packs everything, and the food was so so good, pricing is amazing aswell. packed the udon noodles separately from the broth/curry separate from the rice like cmon! nobody does that anymore!! it's cute outside, there's a small seating area as well but we just grabbed our food and went back to our hotel. just passing through Salem but was so glad to find this hidden gem. if i was ever in the area again, this would be my first stop. 31 bucks for two amazing meals and an appetizer in this economy? worth it! definitely check this place out, it's just one person running it but he's got it down. some of the best japanese food i've had in a long time!

This place is an absolute gem!! We are traveling through Salem and were hungry, daughter was…read morecraving udon so we searched and found this little roadside trailer on Yelp, decided to give it and try and we are so impressed! The food is delicious and packaged very thoughtfully. We got katsu curry, Gomoku Udon, and chicken karage. All are fantastic. Curry has rich flavor and the katsu is perfectly breaded and fried. Dashi broth is seasoned well with an intense fish flavor. Noodles were cooked just right. Chicken karage was a little on the dark side, but still had great flavor. Service was prompt and he was the nicest gentleman! Blink and you might miss it, the location is pretty hidden in a parking lot. Definitely support this small business if you like Japanese cuisine, you will not be disappointed!

After moving east from 97302 to 97317, we needed to find a new favorite Chinese food restaurant…read more We had loved Hong Kong House, then they were taken over by Chen's. We loved the food, and decided to try the original. We had some trouble trying to figure out how to get to their parking lot, but we were sure glad we did! We were greeted warmly and seated in a cozy booth. The minimalist decor and soothing music was wonderful. We had a generous and delicious cup of soup first. Egg Flower for my husband, and Hot and Sour for me. They were both flavorful and hot. Next we had pot stickers, pan-fried, of course. The texture was perfect. Brown and crisp on the sides, and soft and chewy everywhere else. The filling was tasty, too. Our main dish was Sesame Beef, one of our favorites. They typically stir fry it here, but we asked for the traditional deep-fried version. We weren't disappointed. The dish was absolutely delicious! We had enough leftover for another meal for the two of us. We will definitely be back!

Wonderful food service couldn't wait to go back took my husband there. He loved it as well…read more There was plenty of seafood in the dishes that we ordered I was blown away. Can't wait to go back again.

This place is a no nonsense kind of place and I feel like you have to go in with that attitude. You…read moredon't go to taco bell and rate it 3 stars because its not very good mexican food, you go to taco bell and give it 5 stars because its good tacobell. Same thing here, this place is not going to blow you away and make you feel like you're sitting at a cafe in Rome. But it will fill you up and it is a perfect I don't want to cook today or tomorrow curl up with a blanket and watch a movie couch food. I I got the spaghetti with meat sauce and a crap ton of toppings and was very pleased with the portion size, it did indeed make me 2 meals and if I was feeling like it it could've lasted 3. The value is there and I really enjoyed it. The guy who owns it is a really nice and he clearly is working hard to make a good local business. This is the kind of place I'm happy to go to and happy to support. The building decor is a little lacking but we were served quickly, with very friendly service, and took it to go. Overall, I would absolutely come here again. Thank you!

Closed for several weeks. Just a sign in the door that says closed "today"…read more Had enjoyed the pasta dishes.