Doesn't look like much and is a little ominous walking down dark steps into a dark room. But not let me tell you I will never fully enjoy ramen from anywhere else in my life. My cousin told me when she went she did not speak for 30 minutes because she was so immersed into the food and she was right. I was in a whole different universe while eating my bowl of ramen. If I am ever in Chicago again this will be my first stop. The speakeasy exclusive vibes and friendly staff is another perk of the place. read more

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Great find! I've always wanted to try High Five but never able to find it. The signage is not great and the only way I found this place is that I saw some people walk out of a somewhat hidden door off the side of Gas Alley (door was painted black, the same color of the brick building). I've always looked for a restaurant space similar to others on Gas Alley! Anyway, I go in and walk down a flight of stairs to the basement. There were three people ahead of me and I heard the host tell the first person about 45 min to an hour... but fortunately for me they were one party! I was able to be seated for a party of one From the host stand, I could only tell there was a bar (but no people eating ramen). So I thought the dining roll was maybe around the wall behind the host. Wrong! That bar plus another set of counter seating behind the host was all the seating there was. The entire place maybe seats at most 20 people so I can see why a wait is that long. The place overall has a dark, voodoo vibe. The menu was limited to 4 ramen bowls, drinks and cocktails. Being my first time, I got the signature tonkatsu bowl. Once can add different levels of spice. As a I love everything spicy, I opted for half spice (which the server described as medium high heat). Overall the broth was good--made it a point to try it before mixing up the bowl. Noodles were the wavy kind. The cha-shiu was good (I think they are somehow connected to the BBQ place above them (they recommend checking it out if you're waiting and also they share a bathroom). I got the cherry blossom slushy, which is vodka based. It was basically served in a glass that was a tad larger than a shot glass. It was good, but maybe not $9 good. Anyway, it was worth the try. I definitely would be back. However come during the early dining hours or as a small party. read more

High Five Ramen - Cherry blossom vodka slushy - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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High five is very average in my opinion, but an enjoyable bowl of ramen nonetheless. I wish the music was just a little less loud and it wasn't so dim and I would have added another star. It's like you're yelling just to have conversation and you definitely need extra light if you're trying to get to something specific in your soup, like part of an egg, for example. All in all, like I said, an enjoyable bowl of ramen but still very average in taste and ambiance. The service was great but I'm not dying to go back. read more

High Five Ramen - Tonkatsu ramen - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Very authentic Ramen. It's a hidden gem (actually very famous but difficult to find) that offers a very different experience. Their maitake ramen was next level. read more

Sadly, I found the ramen here to be really underwhelming. My rating is based mostly on the food: My partner and I finally got a table here after trying to come three previous times (the wait has always been 2+ hours). With so much hype around this place I was really excited to try the ramen. As other reviews say, this place is really small (hence the long wait) and the inside does have a really cool vibe going. The staff were all nice and attentive. However, the ramen itself was disappointing to me. The pork belly is definitely the star of the bowl, it was quite good. The broth was good, but nothing special compared to other ramen places in Chicago. The egg was flavorless and the noodles were not cooked well as they were unusually hard. I've definitely had better ramen elsewhere in Chicago. I think this place is worth a short if you just want to experience the vibe, but the ramen doesn't live up to the hype/long wait in my opinion. read more

Delicious ramen with rich broth, tender noodles, and great service in a cozy atmosphere. read more

High Five Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I've heard about High Five Ramen, but didn't get the chance to visit till know because there is typically a long line on the weekends since it does not take reservation. It feels like the Prohibition version of ramen. The entrance is almost non-descript aside from faded small Japanese writing on a dark door. Be careful of the dark stairs. For ladies in heels, hold the railing. You are welcomed with loud Techno music and a friendly hostess at the bottom of the stairs. It is a fairly no-frills ramen place. Don't expect coat handles or hooks under the bar area to hang your purse. We both ordered the Signature bowl. I got the half spicy which is equal to a Korean medium spicy, almost Sichuan level 1 spicy, but very spicy for Japanese ramen. The chasu is smoked which is interesting. I heard that the owner also owns the Smoke Meat place next door. The broth is flavorful with a lot of garlic and spice, but too salty. The noodle is thicker than the standard ramen noodle which gives it good texture. Interesting concept, but so so ramen and ok experience. read more

High Five Ramen - Menu - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I've only had the Maitake Ramen here but why fix it if it isn't broke?? I absolutely love it. I was happy to learn that you can do 1/4 spice if the half spice is too much for you. The half spice actually isn't bad but it's nice to know it can be reduced if one requires. Service here is pretty quick but the wait time is not. I've never had a wait time less than an hour an a half to two hours. Even if you arrive at or before opening, you'll likely be greeted by a line. The good part is there are several bars in the area to help kill time. The painkiller is a great addition to the meal. The place is small and only has barstool seating. You don't go here to talk or be heard. You go to chow down! read more

The ramen was flavorful, good portion size, and the pork belly was perfectly cooked. The only reason I gave it four stars is I don't believe it's worth the 2.5 hour wait to eat here. Yes, the space is super small (probably max of 15 people can fit), but the quality is not considerably better than some of my other favorite ramen places in the city! I would be happy to come if there is a reservation system available, but I know you would need to be sharp on getting one, but still beats waiting around for hours! Bottom line, happy to come here and try it once! Was delicious but not worth coming again and dealing with the wait time. read more

High Five Ramen - Signature ramen (tonkotsu) - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place has a cute intimate vibe, due to not many seating. The service is great and the ramen is soooo good!

Personally my favorite ramen in the city but that's because I love the spicy level you can ask for and the flavors of the smoked meat from Green St. Markets. Such a cute intimate basement spot within the West Loop with other quaint bars, coffee shops and restaurants near by. Friendly service and refreshing cold slushies to cool down your mouth if you order the high spicy level! read more

My favorite ramen in the city! Be careful when you pick the spice level, it is not for the faint of heart so err on the side of caution. The traditional bowl did not disappoint. Amazing ingredients packed with flavor. The seating is tight but that is to be expected and adds to the intimate vibes. Definitely worth checking out if you have the chance! read more

High Five Ramen - High five bowl - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I was so excited to try this place and I have no idea what all the hype was about. Definitely some of the worst ramen I have ever had, way way way too salty, hardly consumable. read more

Servers were so kind and talkative. Great recommendations for food it was absolutely incredible. It was pretty loud inside but it reminded me of hole in the wall places in Japan so it worked out read more

High Five Ramen - Tonkotsu - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

THE best ramen we have had. Great ambiance, little seating so the wait is long but worth the wait. Their broth is unreal. Small restaurant so service is easily attentive to your needs. We have been here twice and will keep going again. The eggs in their ramen are cooked to perfection with lots of flavor. This is one of the few ramen spots that has great options for chicken broth for us Muslims who cannot eat pork, rather than being subjected to solely vegetarian options. read more

Three and a half-hour wait. I'll start there. Usually when a restaurant tells you the wait, it doesn't take as long as they say because they overestimate it. In this case, they were unfortunately spot on. There was no surprise of getting in early here. Now for the food. I got the High Five Signature Bowl, which was a tonkotsu ramen with half spice. As soon as I took the first bite (and tried some of my friend's shoyu ramen), I knew I'd made the right choice -- it was so flavorful, every bite packed with spices and an umami taste. The egg was soft-boiled to perfection, with a solid exterior and a runny yolk. My one complaint is that for the price, the bowl only came with meat, bean sprouts, garlic oil, green onions, and an egg, whereas I've seen less expensive bowls have nori and bamboo shoots as well, and those would have been a welcome addition. I will also say the half spice was very spicy and halfway through finishing my bowl, my nose was running like a river and my eyes were watering -- good thing it was dark in there! Don't get the half spice if you can't take a lot of spice. I thought I could take a lot and I was STILL dying. Don't be a hero. While this ramen was very tasty, I have to say that I've had better, and without the eons of wait time, so I can only give four stars here. read more

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Ramen is good and would try again on a slower week day, but the process to get a table is not worth it on weekends. We showed up 5 min after our 10 minute allotment time and the hostess made us wait another 1.5 hours in line. read more

I love exclusive places like this. 16 booths only, no reservations, enter through the backdoor and go into a dark pit. I feel like a secret agent. A secret agent with a very satisfied belly. The atmosphere is like a dark club during Halloween in the Prohibition Era. Very mysterious but calming. Now onto the food. I ordered the original with shoyu and Chashu pork. This ramen was amazing but it did not taste like ramen. It tasted more like Chinese Dan Dan noodles. It literally had mala spice in it that numbs your tongue. But honestly no complaints here it was absolutely delicious. I love the presentation of the little teepee of sprouts. I also recommend some of their slushies, especially the coconut one as it's nice for cooling down your mouth. Personally I felt the broth could have been thinner, but the spice blend tenderized the meat really nicely and it was very soft and delicious. Overall cool vibe. Get here EARLY! We got lucky because it was raining and there's no line. So I suggest getting here at 4 when they open and do it soon before the delta/lolla variant takes over! read more

High Five Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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To be shamefully honest, I really didn't want to like High Five Ramen. It was the first restaurant recommended to me two years ago when I moved to Chicago, and I was always so set on trying it until I found another ramen place that because my obsession. We arrived here right at 5pm on a Friday night and waited 2.5 hours. I was thinking, my favorite ramen place is down the street, this ramen better be magic if I'm waiting over two hours for it instead of bailing and going to Ramen San. And you know what....it was pretty magic. I'm a picky eater (don't eat pork or pork broth) and I was skeptical of the limited menu. Not really wanting to get the vegetarian bowl, I opted for the Shio Ramen, half spice, with no pork, substitute bok choy. It was really nice that they let me sub for free. Hooooooly yum, that broth is amazing. It's definitely not as salty/flavorful as pork broth, but holy moly it was the best chicken broth I've ever had in ramen. Everything went so well together in the bowl that I didn't even miss the meat. But let me tell you the best part: the marinated mushrooms! I don't love mushrooms but don't hate them enough to order without - and these ones I LOVED. I don't know what they are marinated in but I'm pretty sure it's actually just heaven. Oh, and be careful of the half spice. I love spice, and the half spice level realllllly crept up on me. It didn't taste spicy at first, but about a third of the way into the bowl I was blowing my nose. Excellent flavors, but I can't see why anyone would need something spicier. Overall, I'm really glad I finally stood out the wait and tried High Five. The ramen is as good as everyone says. I'm not sure it takes the title of my favorite ramen in Chicago (I have an unhealthy obsession with the fried chicken bowl at ramen san), but I highly recommend it. I will definitely be back here - as long as the wait is an hour or less next time. read more

High Five Ramen - Shio Bowl - Half Spice. Amazing chicken broth, very spicy. - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Really great ramen! I had the shio ramen with 1/4 spice. Although I love spicy food, I was warned that their spice levels are serious (meaning full spice was dangerous). I thought the frozen drinks were so small for the price (on par for the expensive Fulton Market neighborhood), but delicious. The pork pieces were divine... I couldn't get enough! Service was laid back in a good way. Keep in mind this is a TINY intimate restaurant. It's not a good idea to come in big groups because you probably can't sit together or you'll wait super long. read more

High Five Ramen - Shio Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Vibe of this restaurant is AMAZING! But the ramen is even better! We both got the tonkatsu but my husband added half spice. I recommend hitting this spot first to add your name on the list as the wait can be long, but totally worth it! read more

High Five Ramen - Tonkatsu ramen - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Ooh, the hype here is so real. With a small 16-seater restaurant that is "reminiscent" of tiny shops in Tokyo and a consumer base that is convinced this is the best ramen of their life, you'd expect this to be the best in all of Chicago. I must digress and say that I was fairly unimpressed with my experience at High Five. It was definitely a tasty experience but nowhere near where the hype lends itself. The concept of the space is that it's a fairly tiny restaurant located on the bottom floor of Green Street Smoked Meats, which is about 20x larger than the ramen shop. This works in Japan because there are hundreds of other similarly good ramen shops in the same area with the same size. For this spot to be small for the sake of being small (and generating a long wait of sometimes over an hour), I wasn't feeling it. Nonetheless, my friend and I finally sat down for a bowl of their ramen after trying five times to come here and turning away because we hated the wait. We sat at the bar and was given a menu with 5-6 ramen options. We opted for their High Five Special ($14) with a warning that it's spicy levels are more extreme than we'd think. The special is their take on the hearty tonkotsu ramen so we heeded their warning and went for the half-spice. Overall, our ramen was good and definitely spicy, but it was nowhere near the fabled amazing tastes that many people make this place out to be. The noodles were cooked well and had great texture and the spice unfortunately masked a lot of the tonkotsu flavor. The thinly sliced pork belly was nothing to write home about although I fell in love with their eff. This was the best part of the ramen's makeup honestly. I did appreciate the post-meal oshibori which would typically be served prior to eating. High Five Ramen is good if you want to try a spicy bowl of ramen but nowhere worth the wait. When the clientele is predominantly Westerners, you may want to consider another ramen shop. read more

High Five Ramen - High Five Special ($14) - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I went in solo on the busiest night in Chicago for my first visit, but the wait was only 35 minutes, so I happily brought my beer down from the smokehouse above. The dark, candle lit room was awash with some lo-fi beats, it was perfect. I was sat at the bar and placed my order right away -- Shoyu, 1/4 spice on the side, saving it to add to the broth at the end of the bowl. The soup was delicious -- so smoky from the dashi, the shoyu was so dark and rich, not too many toppings, it was perfect. I ate my ramen in 7 minutes, asked to order another bowl, and was asked to leave. read more

We visited the High Five Ramen per our friend's recommendation, and this place certainly did not disappoint! It's a tiny, underground restaurant that only serves ramen and no other appetizers nor side dishes, but they do a thorough job of making endless possibilities of different ramen bowls by allowing you to customize spice levels and extra toppings. I got their signature tonkotsu ramen with medium spice, and my husband ordered their shoyu with no spice and extra shiitake mushrooms. Both of us really liked what we ordered --even though I'm not a huge fan of Japanese ramen, my bowl was full of flavor and had just the right amount of spice. I must say, that it was a bit too salty for me, so I had to add about half cup of water to dilute the broth out, but it tasted perfect for my liking once I did that. read more

High Five Ramen - Signature bowl with half spice - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Interesting flavors. No tofu dish which was not vegan friendly. overly salty broth for maitake ramen bowl. service was average. forgot water and spoons. 2/5 stars overall. read more

High Five Ramen - Special Ramen Maiitake bowl. extra egg. - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Inside is cozy, dark, and loud (in a cool way). The underground music creates a unique atmosphere. The 1/4 spice option is enough spice for me. The ramen is great (a bit salty though) and the workers are nice. read more

Very small space, excellent food and drinks, try the ramen....haha.. and the frozen drinks. The service was very good as well.

Meh not into the hype, but I'll give it another shot when we can eat indoors again. It might also be because I got it without spice - seems like lots of people are into the spiciness of this so maybe it loses its pizzazz for people that don't like spicy read more

High Five Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Saltiest ramen we have ever had. It's as if they put 50 plus seasoning packets in the bowl. Not for people with high blood pressure. Noodles were phenomenal. Staff was very friendly. The main attraction were the $10 tiny painkillers in the skull glasses. We would come back and pay for those cocktails. read more

Medium spice is the perfect amount to get your sinuses moving. Get there 10-15 minutes before they open and you're sure to snag a seat or 2. read more

High Five Ramen - Bar area - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Had not been here since 2017! They are consistently still the best ramen I've had. Flavorful and will set your mouth on fire (if you ask for that spicy heat)! read more

High Five Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I would give this place 6 stars if I could. Excellent ramen. Perfect spice. The hostess (black glasses) went out of her way to be kind to my kids (6 & 9) and she made sure my 9 year old could see the kitchen doing their magic. He's a big fan of ramen and her kindness was really appreciated. ** entry is inside Green Street Meats** read more

High Five Ramen - Their signature ramen - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

When they say spicy, they mean SPICY. Super flavorful. Dark and brooding vibe. Drinks are supposed to be good but I didn't try it

11/17/18 Pork belly was good but broth was such a disappointment. All spicy and no tonkotsu flavor. You're just drinking a red pepper soup. Surprising for a hogsalt restaurant. Very limited seating, evening hours only, long wait even if you come at/before opening. I'll stick to Wasabi, Takeya, and Strings read more

High Five Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

As predicted, High Five Ramen is overrated, but still a fun experience. The wait was 3 hours on a Saturday/February evening. We finished up around 8:30 and there were a few empty seats available. As a short person, the high seating was uncomfortable and there wasn't a place to put my feet. The tonkutso bowl, I really enjoyed the egg and pork, and I'm curious to know if the noodles were homemade. However, the broth was too salty, there were too many bean sprouts, and the spice is not integrated into the broth, but laid on top and doesn't compliment the dish as a whole. The service was amazing though - everyone we spoke with was overly friendly and matched the hype of this restaurant. I'm happy I tried it, but I still have yet to find something that beats wasabi. read more

High Five Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We came within the first hour of opening and was lucky there were three open seats and sat right away. The vibe is definitely cool! A speakeasy ramen bar! I feel like the atmosphere really gave it all the stars. I won't say it was the best ramen I've had, it was good, but not great. It was really missing that that umami flavor in the broth. I ordered a side of maitake mushrooms to add to my ramen but it came on a separate plate. It was really good that I ate it separately because I didn't want to ruin the flavor by dousing it in ramen lol. read more

One of my favorite bowls of vegetarian ramen in the city! Service was quick and efficient. Ambiance is as expected for the size and location. Would definitely recommend! read more

High Five Ramen - Maitake Ramen with Half Spice and bok choy. Not too spicy and the broth was delicious! - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

what a cool setting... But hey thats where the magic ends. Beyond the dramatic walk down to the dark and secretive style basement bar setting...there is much left to be desired. And boy was it hard to find too lol. Anyways, the ramen flavor / taste just lacked a signature punch to the palette. It had a simple yet deep savory flavor to it, if that makes sense. Not my style but to each his/her own. The ramen texture is al dente just how I like it but again, it just didn't hit the spot. The spicy ramen wasn't spicy and the soup broth wasn't as flavorful as I was expecting. All in all, a safe pick but a regrettable one imho. *shrug*....On to the next... read more

High Five Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I hate to leave this review but I was kind of disappointed about this place because many locals hyped it up for me... but the ramen was so so salty, I couldn't finish it cause it was not good at all for me..I drank 6 cups of water that night. But the pork and egg were delicious though and the ambience was super dope. But yeah unfortunately I probably wouldn't go back there. read more

High Five Ramen - Signature bowl-- Tonkotsu ramen - Ramen Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Food was okay at best. Was not worth the wait or the price. The hipster joint vibe which also worked against my preference but the service was good and the people were kind. read more