Aldo it's legal for restaurants in Illinois to refuse payment in cash personally I don't understand why and I don't like it My complaint is more about other things...horrible sticky table (bar next to kitchen) and servers lack of interest in doing anything about that- "that's how it is" I had way better soups in other ramen places..disappointing (miso soup was way to thick/heavy) Some people may like it I didn't Will not eat that place again read more

Service was good and ramen hit the spot on a cold day. The place is small but clean. When you walk in, it only looks like they have counter seats, but they have at least 2 long tables in the back to fit a larger parties. There was only one server the Sunday we stopped in, and one person working the kitchen. I've been to 2 other locations and the menu differed slightly from other locations. Ordered my go to- Tsukemen w/egg aka dipping ramen. 2 pieces of char shu are included but if you want more, you can order extra pieces. At this location, the Tsukemen is served Bento style a first for me. At the other locations, the noodles are usually served in another bowl. The broth was savory and tasty as always and noodles had the right amount of chewiness. My only complaint would be that I did have to pick out pieces of fat from my broth. I love the fact that we have a legit ramen place in Crystal Lake and I'm hopeful it sticks around for a while! read more

Chicago Ramen - Tsukemen w/egg - Japanese Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

Finally got a chance to check this place out and I was pleasantly satisfied. I appreciate not only the photos of the ramen options they offer, but they tell you all the ingredients that are in each one. I opted for the shrimp wonton ramen- hold the bamboo shoots and bean sprouts! For an appetizer, you can't go wrong with gyoza. Six piece fried pork gyoza was very flavorful. However, I didn't try the orange "thousand island" looking sauce it came with. When I order gyoza anywhere else, it comes with a soy-teriyaki style dip which would have made their gyoza spectacular. Nonetheless, we enjoyed it. The ramen is made with fresh ingredients and the serving side did not disappoint, after all you are spending about $15 a bowl. Great presentation, more importantly, the taste. Full of flavor and not soggy ! I will definitely return and try the chicken ramen next. read more

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I've been to other Chicago ramen locations and this one is very consistent with others. Casual dining vibe, decent food (a bit salty) and reasonably priced. The chef is also the server so he's very busy. If you want a quick ramen bowl, this is a good place. read more

Chicago Ramen - Japanese Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

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Greeted by staff and helpful with questions. Located near Petco and Savers and next to Krystal Thai made for easy in, order and out. Food was prepared as ordered and ready for pickup. Cool decor and bar like seating. It did not disappoint! Thank you!! read more

Chicago Ramen - Japanese Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

I left a 3-star review for the CR in Algonquin. I'll leave it to you to look that one up. We still have a gift card to Chicago Ramen and thought we'd try another location. From a service standpoint, it was better, with more warmth and patience. One fascinating note is that there is a possibility of different menu items in different locations. Good to know. Regarding the food, once again, the Spicy Vegetable Ramen is the best thing on the menu. We also tried the Spicy Tsukemen, which was awesome in flavor, but was really thick and chunky. Because of this, I went to the CR website and found out that of all the ramen options offered, the two I have complained about in my reviews are both listed as the two thickest broths available (Spicy Miso, Spicy Tsukemen). Furthermore, the most clean and fluid is the Vegetable Ramen broth. I realize now that my preference should not impact the rating as significantly, because I just don't like that type of thickness. We will be back to other CR locations, and I will try other broths that align with my preferences and give an updated review based on those experiences. I would say for those reading, give it a shot, note the broth consistencies and enjoy! read more

My first visit to Chicago Ramen left me with an unfortunate mixed experience overall, but let's start with the positives: The environment was fun, inviting, clean, and had you feeling like you were in a small ramen shop in Japan. Also, contrary to a few reviews, the staff were very welcoming and pleasant to communicate with (they even cracked a few jokes with us). Even though the restaurant was very busy, the staff let us know it would be a a bit until our orders were started, which we had no issue with due to their swift transparent communication. The food menus had nice infographics to understand what went into each ramen bowl, which is very helpful for customers who don't frequent ramen restaurants often. The ramen noodles and wonton dough were fantastic - nice bouncy noodles and great texturally chewy wonton wrappers. I also greatly enjoyed the crispy onion that was on the top of the ramen bowl I ordered (The spicy shrimp wonton bowl)! However, it should be noted that the ramen noodles came out of a package, and are not made in-house. Unfortunately, that is where the positives end and are overshadowed by the negatives of my experience: The Japanese friend chicken (Karaage) that was ordered as an appetizer tasted as if it had been sitting in the bottom of a freezer for months, with an odd clumpy texture and a very off-putting taste. The breading had an odd chemical taste, and it was simply inedible. Also, the sauce that was served with the chicken was so fake tasting, and was obviously just squeezed out of a bottle that was ordered from somewhere else. I thankfully was not charged for this item, upon handing it back to a member of staff (they also apologized for the quality of the chicken). Beyond the Karaage, the ramen had some concerns. The spicy shrimp wonton bowl had no spice in it whatsoever, the broth had a decent flavor (albeit a bit lacking and fatty), and the shrimp inside the wonton wrappers were the smallest, hardest, and most disgusting tasting shrimp I have ever had. In addition, some of the shrimp still had the shell on it (inedible)! Therefore, I ended up picking out all the shrimp pieces and just eating the wonton wrappers with my bowl of ramen. Also, the egg that was ordered was not placed in the ramen and was semi hard-boiled (super odd for a ramen dish, as they should always be soft boiled in the broth). All-in-all, the experience cost was $28 for a soda and the bowl of ramen. Not bad in price, but there is much to improve on the overall food quality for this establishment. 2/5 stars, and I would look elsewhere for quality ramen. read more

Chicago Ramen - Old gross shrimp (Shrimp shell in the wonton wrapper!) - Japanese Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

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I've wanted to get some authentic ramen for a while. I happen across this place and figured it'd be something fun to do so I took my wife. We got there just after eleven on a weekday during christmas break. We walked in, there was no one inside. After looking around, we decided to just sit down and this guy comes walking out no real greeting, just assumed that we knew what we were supposed to do and how we were going to order. He looked aggravated, or even agitated.That we were there, or that we are trying to communicate with him to find out what we needed to do. He didn't speak english very clearly.It's very hard to understand him. So we ordered, and then we were trying to figure out what drinks to have, and we didn't know where the selection was, and he just kept on pointing to the end of the bar, they've got a row of aluminum cans. We made a selection, he said they didn't have that. Made another selection.He said they had it only in diet. Then I decided I will just go up to the. Refrigerator in the back area of the building and just go see what they had. It is very hard to communicate with this guy. My wife had beef sukiyaki curry rice. I ordered the shrimp wanton ramen. He said they didn't have that, so then I ordered the beef curry ramen.Both of our dishes were fifteen.Dollars and ninety five cents. The food tasted good. When it came time to pay the bill, he's using one of those little electronic deals and the prices were wrong. I could barely understand what he was trying to tell me, and he gets kept on putting his hands up in the air. Like, I don't know what to tell you. There's nothing I can do about it is what he said.That's just how it comes up when I put it in. While he was just charging me for the wrong thing.Instead of fifteen ninety five, he was trying to charge me seventeen ninety five. Then to fix the whole problem, he just put in some random other things and ended up being like twenty four dollars instead of the thirty eight dollars, it should have been. So I had to tell him how to do it, just enter two of the same thing my wife had, which is the same price for both her and my meal, and I'll pay that amount. The guy was aggravated the whole entire time from the time he walked in to the time we left.I still tip them five bucks, but he deserves zero. On their menu, there's a Japanese chef and restaurateur Kenta. Akihada well, this guy that's running this one in Crystal Lake is giving this guy a bad name and a bad name to the whole chicago ramen brand. I wouldn't go back to that place if I was starving. Ambiance looked like a lot of the Mexican restaurants you go to with some homemade countertops shoddly put together some poor paintwork, and the bathroom was filthy with garbage overflowing the garbage can .... remember we were the first customers of the day. So that means it didn't get cleaned from the day before. read more

Chicago Ramen - Over flow from the day before. - Japanese Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

Cleanliness, 1 star. Service, 1 star. Food, no stars. Eating at Chicago Ramen was one of the worst dining experiences we've had in a while. From the thinnest napkins to dry your hands in the bathroom (zero paper towel, no air dryers) to the floors so sticky you can't properly walk or scoot your chair out from the table, it was an awful experience. Our sushi rolls were disgusting. The rice was so dense it felt like last week's rice was still being served. The Philadelphia roll was nothing but a massive glob of cream cheese, wet and somehow hard rice, with a tiny piece of fish. The Beef Curry Ramen and Karaage were no better. The bowl was set on the table and the congealed curry wiggled at me. Terrible flavors. Terrible quality. Maybe it would've been okay if it wasn't so overpriced. Over $15 for a single sushi roll with inedible rice and the same sweet sauce on all of them that you can bounce off the floor is wild. The tap water smelled too. The only good parts were the canned drinks, thanks Coca Cola. I don't like to give service workers a hard time but the whole experience was made even more disappointing by their lack of attention. Zero charm or anything redeeming in the people on staff. read more

This Chicago ramen is comparable in quality to the one in Algonquin. The elevated seating arrangement is aesthetically pleasing and I appreciate the visibility into the chef's preparations. All ingredients are remarkably fresh and the ramen was exceptionally flavorful. The prices are reasonable and the staff were consistently courteous. I will certainly return and highly recommend this restaurant 10/10. read more

Chicago Ramen - Red Miso Ramen - Japanese Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

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Let's see....they've gotten my order right 1/2 the times I've been there so 2 stars it is. The staff doesn't seem to care if you're there or not, most of the time you aren't greeted. Halfway through the meal at one visit they needed to be reminded we hadn't gotten our waters. They weren't busy at all, just too involved with their phones. I would highly recommend the Algonquin location over Crystal lake read more

Delicious food! Shrimp wonton was the best! Great service, our waitress was real attentive. Friendly! 5/5 read more

Chicago Ramen - Shrimp wonton - Japanese Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

I have ordered white miso ramen. Taste was perfect for me! Soup is soooooo tasty and noodle also excellent. I usually picky with ramen however this restaurant is one of my most favorite places read more

Terrible, save your money. Maybe because was carry out, understand, not hot or anywhere fresh, but a joke for over 50$ for 2 bowls.

Excellent place nice ramen great attention from the personal. This is a great location to come a night date totally recomended. read more

Ordered take out at the restaurant. Order taker did not understand what we wanted or we got someone else's order. We wanted white miso Ramen (pork) with additional vegetables. Instead we realized when we got home we got the vegetable ramen with no meat at all. Still tasty but not what we ordered. If we did get someone else's order, hopefully the people that got ours weren't vegetarian. Better off going to the one in Algonquin and eating there. read more

The spicy vegetable ramen was excellent. Good portion size, flavorful broth, and fresh tasting vegetables. The chicken karaage was the best I've had. Lightly breaded and great crisp. The chicken was perfectly cooked and juicy. Affordable and nice ambiance. Will definitely be coming back. read more

Chicago Ramen - Chicken Karaage - Japanese Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

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We had the opportunity to visit Chicago Ramen's newest location in Crystal Lake for their soft open. I'm really glad to see the mall they're in getting new businesses. For some context we have been to 4 other Chicago Ramen/Sushi locations. When we walked in we were seated right away and brought water and menus, the space has counter seating, as well as a few tables in the back enough to sit probably 16 at the tables. Despite the space being relatively small they decorated it well and have enough windows to make it seem open and airy. Onto the food, we ordered the sukiyaki appetizer, takoyaki appetizer, and the shrimp wonton ramen with an egg added. All of the food was delicious and we would definitely order it again. The sukiyaki was ordered with the intention for it to be a smaller entree for one of us and it didn't disappoint, it came with thin sliced beef with onions in a brothy sauce that was savory and slightly sweet, it also came with a ramen egg, spinach, and some pickled ginger, and to our happy surprise came on top of a small square of tofu! The takoyaki was some of the best I've had, crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked on the inside without being too loose, even better than another Chicago Ramen location! The shrimp wonton ramen was light and refreshing and perfect for a summer day ramen. It came with a clear broth (I believe a sort of seafood/veggie broth, as it wasn't creamy like a bone broth or hazy like a miso broth), traditional ramen noodles, fresh onion, what im assuming was fried garlic, spinach, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and shrimp wontons. The star of the show however was the staff, we were served by both Jonathon and Terumi, Jonathan was quick and always on his toes as far as making sure we had whatever we needed. Terumi chatted with us and let us know she helped open a lot of the other locations so she is at this location temporarily to help them get settled in. I really hope to meet her again in the future as she was a delight to chat with. TLDR; We love this Chicago Ramen location and will absolutely be back! The atmosphere, staff, and food all exceed my expectations. read more

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Not super flavorful, under seasoned. The noodles were good. But the broth was very fatty and we didn't drink it read more

Chicago Ramen - Tried the Chicken Ramen and it was very under seasoned and super fatty. Not sure we'll be back - Japanese Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

RAMEN DONE RIGHT! This was delicious - we'll definitely be back! The service was excellent. read more

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We've eaten here before, but my experience on October 12 was beyond disappointing. I ordered online using Toast Local (preferred by the business). We ordered over $100 worth of food (total bill was $129.86 with tax and tip) that included $53.80 in sushi. When I went to the Crystal Lake location a half hour after ordering (which is when they said it would be done), I was told they didn't have any sushi and it would be a 30-45 minute wait to prepare. It was already 7pm and I didn't want to wait that long. I ended up waiting another 20 minutes for them to make the 2 apps, karaage curry rice, and tsukemen ramen. I asked about a refund and the man behind the counter said he couldn't, but would leave a message for the manager who would be in tomorrow. After a couple weeks, I went back to ask about the refund and talked with the same man. He said there was nothing he could do. I've sent a message online through the Chicago Ramen website, still no response. Now I'm working with my credit card to get the refund. I refuse to go there again. read more

Overall, I love Chicago Ramen, but so disappointed in the Crystal Lake location. They were dead, but still got my order wrong when I brought it home. I ordered spicy vegetables ramen with egg and when I opened it at home, no spice and no egg. They charged me for the egg though. I would be inclined to excuse a mistake like that if it was busy. Staff was sitting down on their phones when I walked in, so no rush in the place. To get two points wrong on one dish when you're not busy is unacceptable. I recommend Algonquin location as never an issue whether they're busy or not. read more

Food was good better than I thought. But I didn't care for the chicken. I prefer my chicken breaded. We did takeout so I am not sure of service or ambiance read more

Absolutely delicious! Authentic Japanese dishes. We ordered a variety of appetizers and noodles and were so happy with the taste and presentation. The place was busy and the staff super nice. This might be our new favorite place. read more

we went to visit our friend RJ since it was his first day working there. The food was amazing & the workers were so accommodating, they made sure we would sit all together, and they gave us a mochi treat at the end of our meals! I had takoyaki and fried tofu. It was very delectable and full of flavor. We also had the pork katsu curry, and the pork was very crispy on the outside which paired well with the curry! 10/10 experience! Would come back again! read more

Loved it! Clean, fresh. Fun to watch the chefs work. Fast and most important, delicious. Wide variety for the menu. Staff was super helpful and attentive. First time at a Chicago Ramen, won't be my last! read more

Had the spicy pork tsukemen!! Was hot and tasty. Different from other styles ive had and not complaining

Food was way too salty...mazesoba was not made correctly. They did fix it (still didn't taste like mazesoba though). The service was really slow I had to keep asking the chef if we could talk to our waiter when it was just my friend and I in the entire place. Please don't waste your money here! read more