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    Strings Ramen - Lakeview

    4.2 (523 reviews)
    ModerateRamen
    Closed 11:00 am - 10:00 pm
    Updated over 3 months ago

    Order Strings Ramen - Lakeview Takeout or Delivery

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    STRINGS RAMEN - LAKEVIEW ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Trendy
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Good for groups

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    Gyosa
    Araceli C.

    Whend here for dinner i order the apetizer gyosa and the $19 ramen Ramen wasent hot service kind slow

    no such thing as too much garlic
    Giovanni D.

    We'd heard a lot of good things about Strings and it didn't disappoint. The house-made noodles are the star of the ramen. I had the Gyukotsu with creamy beef broth -- rich and bursting with umami. The chili oil on the side is super flavorful, and I'm definitely trying the hell sauce next time. Toasted garlic is also a must, plus the gyoza. It's BYOB, and parking's free if you can snag a spot. It's tucked in a small strip mall, but totally worth the hunt.

    Tonkotsu Ramen with Kuro Buta
    David J.

    I think Strings is the best ramen in the city. We always come back here (even though they moved farther away). The tonkatsu ramen brings me right back to Tokyo. The staff here are super nice. I just love this place

    Chicken Miso Ramen with Chicken Chashu and level 3 spice - A bowl of ramen contains noodles, corn, chopped green onions, bean sprouts, and slices of vegetables in a broth. The broth appears to be spicy, with visible chili oil and sesame seeds on the surface. The bowl is placed on a wooden table, and a black spoon rests inside the bowl. The ingredients are arranged with some vegetables on top and others submerged in the broth.
    Aaliyah L.

    Stopped in on a early Thursday evening and had no issue with getting seated. The waiters were very prompt and kind. This location is a bit smaller, but tables were rotating at a decent pace. I've been to Strings before and was underwhelmed by the depth in flavors and topping options. This is good for beginners that are unsure about what they like in their ramen. I got the chicken ramen with level 3 spice on the side and I think the spice is what really brought it together. Without it, I would've still been underwhelmed. Overall, it was better than it was the first time I tried it, but I'm still super disappointed with the lack of toppings offered. But I did enjoy my bowl and I would still return!

    Miso Premium - A bowl of ramen contains sliced beef, a soft-boiled egg with a sprinkle of red seasoning, chopped green onions, bamboo shoots, and a sheet of seaweed. The broth appears rich with oil droplets on the surface, and the ingredients are arranged to showcase their colors and textures.
    Jessica Y.

    Visited their new location off of Fullerton Ave. They just moved into this new spot so their set up wasn't quite ready yet since they only had a few tables for dine in and you can tell they had furniture and the back area to remodel. I am just glad I was able to try their food before the their official opening. The server explained that they are mostly take out right now but since they had some booths they are offering dine in. Right now, nothing special as far as ambiance because it's not done. I wanted to dine in because ramen take out is never the same! I ordered truffle fries as starter and it's as tasty! I would order again. I would pass on the veggie gyoza. I doesn't seem homemade. I give their ramen a 7/10. The broth tasted a little oily than I would like. I prefer more options to add toppings like other ramen spots. The menu HAS to be redone, you can't read it. I hope they take my advice, but whoever made their menu screwed up with the black background and the font color being soooo faint. Literally cannot read. I even went to their website to view their menu, and it's better, but same thing! I recommend making their ramen choices a bit more clear and customizable with descriptions. I will revisit once they are more settled in their new location.

    * Yuzu Miso Salmon Don
    Trip Archer R.

    This was seriously such a disappointing visit. We came here on recommendation of a friend, and I was really excited to try it after living in the area for a while. The restaurant itself is small, which would be fine if they didn't have such loud music on (and if the music wasn't interrupted by ads every other song). The servers were certainly very nice and attentive, but the food was another thing entirely. My yuzu salmon don was so packed with nori that it was nearly overwhelming. There's even more nori in that picture, believe it or not. The pickled ginger was okay, but I could tell it wasn't house made. The yuzu sauce was okay. The salmon was so thickly marinated in it that I couldn't really taste the salmon, which is kind of the point of eating salmon. My fiance's gyu don was tough and overseasoned with what tasted like black pepper (a notably uncommon ingredient in Japanese cuisine but I digress). It was pleasing to look at but felt like gnawing on leather. The food was not good, the atmosphere was lacking--we didn't even want to sit and enjoy our meal. We left quickly, not even there for half an hour. All in all, if the food was better, we'd be back, but this felt like being robbed for $55.

    * Edamame
    Maggie A.

    Will start by saying that we will 100% be ordering again! We got it delivered on DoorDash, so can't speak to restaurant ambiance, but the delivered food was packaged to travel and showed up hot - love! We ordered steamed pork gyoza, edamame and two of the Tonkostu Ramen with Kuro Buta.. SO good! We also ordered 3 sides of #2 Hell Sauce - this sauce is basically chili crunch. Based on other review we went #2 and think we hit the spot with our spice level... think #3 would have knocked us both out. The gyoza was my favorite - perfectly steamed, perfect size and amazing flavor. We also ordered some of the #2 Hell sauce and omg... (more to come). Edamame was also perfectly cooked. Ramen was so good - meat was flavorful, broth amazing, noodles cooked perfectly. The only thing I'd change here is amount of Hell Sauce, which is total user error. We got more #2 sauces and each dumped in a full container. Flavor is insane, but we underestimated the spice level. Would still get #2 again but maybe would add a bit less to ramen :) So glad we found this gem!!

    * Takoyaki * Miso Ramen with Chicken Chashu * Edamame - A bowl of ramen contains sliced chicken, corn, chopped green onions, and a piece of seaweed in a broth. Two side dishes are present: a bowl of cooked edamame and a small bowl of takoyaki topped with bonito flakes. The meal is served on a wooden table.
    Lauren M.

    I'll start with the good- it's genuine ramen. And the prices aren't terrible. Great atmosphere, attentive staff. I feel like there wasn't as much flavor as I would have liked in most of the things I ordered. I got takoyaki- super chewy and honestly not good IMO. Edamame was good, but that was basic. For my ramen I got Miso Chicken Chashu. Not the best not the worst. I wouldn't go back though.

    Menú - A restaurant menu is affixed to a glass window, featuring sections for ramen varieties, appetizers, gyoza, donburi, sides, desserts, and beverages. The menu includes detailed descriptions and prices, with a map of Japan indicating ramen history. Reflections of buildings, trees, and parked cars are visible on the glass surface, indicating an urban street setting.
    Xavier H.

    Strings Ramen Shop is definitely a spot worth checking out if you love ramen or a good rice bowl. The atmosphere is super welcoming, with comfy seating, a great Spotify playlist, and really friendly service. I tried the cat rice, which had spicy tuna sashimi, rice, spicy mayo, iwanori, scallions, and a hint of truffle oil--it was packed with flavor. My partner went for the vegetable ramen (mikkusu yasai), and she basically inhaled it! Also, if you post your food on social media, they'll give you free edamame. The menu has a ton of options, and next time, I might even take on the Hell Ramen, which is made with some of the spiciest peppers in the world. Overall, it's a great spot with amazing food, a chill vibe, and a menu that makes you want to come back for more!

    Free pin
    Molly A.

    This is the third time in a row they've gotten my order wrong (2 times delivery and 1 time in person) and I feel like the prices are too high for this to keep happening. I'm not ordering anything special, I'm straight ordering from the menu. This is my favorite ramen spot, but today I ordered delivery and when I opened it, the ingredients weren't fresh, it had missing ingredients, and they gave me the wrong noodle type. This has been my favorite ramen restaurant for years, but I just can't justify it anymore:(

    Jazmine P.

    I'm a lover of Ramen, so I stopped in to try this location for a check in and chat with a friend. I got the fried chicken gyoza and chicken chaschu miso ramen, both were good. I would've liked a little more flavor in the ramen but with some extra spice, it was fine. I liked the ambiance, it's a smaller location so I suggest calling ahead to ensure a table. It's street parking, but it's near Belmont train station so it was hard to find something close. Service was quick.

    Yining D.

    My bf and I came here for dinner before a show in the area and were looking forward to a warm bowl of ramen. He ordered the pork and clam ramen and I got the Hell Ramen Level One with a side of the egg. The egg was perfectly cooked and so flavorful. The ramen had a generous amount of noodles and the soup had a nice numbing spice to it. The unfortunate part of the meal was that my bf got food poisoning from the seafood in his ramen and ended up throwing up in the middle of the night. Please make sure your seafood is fresh. This is the main reason for the low rating. In terms of service, they were very prompt and efficient. The cups for water were tiny and required refilling a few times during the meal. The inside of the restaurant was pretty warm as well. The restaurant felt tight but cozy. We came around 5:30 pm and were seated right away. It did get busier later in the night and people had to wait 20-30 minutes for their tables so I would recommend making a reservati

    Chiqui A.

    It was raining all day here in Chicago today so it was a perfect day to have ramen! This place is so small but it is very busy. You scan the QR code to get yourself on the waiting list and they alert you when the table is ready. We waited about 30 mins The parking is horrible so just take Uber/Lyft. All the ramen we ordered were good and the portions were good. The service was ok

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    Service and vibe are always on point! I love the balance of flavors and textures in the Cat Rice. Strings is now in my regular rotation.

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    RAMEN-SAN - Lunch combination with 10-hour tonkotsu ramen and vegetarian fried rice.

    RAMEN-SAN

    (3.3k reviews)

    $$

    Near North Side

    Ramen-San delivers where it matters most. The Tantan-San veggie ramen is deeply spiced with a rich,…read morelayered broth--crimini, bok choy, and tofu all working in balance. Szechuan chicken wings arrive perfectly fried with a restrained heat that complements rather than dominates. Dessert is mixed: the Cinnamon Toast Crunch sundae is nostalgic and well-balanced, while the ube tiramisu falls short--overly sweet with a texture that strays from tradition.

    ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS PLACE! My wife was craving ramen one night for dinner and this place was…read morerecommended to us. I'm super glad we stopped in, because it was just what we were after. The place was rather dimly lit, which actually made for a nice dinner-time ambiance. It's relatively small inside, so the fact that it was busy led us to just take two seats at the bar. The service at the bar was fantastic and, while the bartenders were quite busy, they were very good about repeatedly checking in on us. I ordered the chicken shio ramen, and my wife ordered the kimchi and fried chicken ramen, which the waitress/bartender told us was the most popular. Both of these dishes were absolutely incredible, and both were large, but not overly filling portion sizes. It was $17-$18 per ramen bowl, which isn't cheap, but it's also not too expensive for being right in the middle of the city. This is my new favorite ramen place in Chicago, and it comes highly recommended by me for anyone who is wanting to try it!

    Ramen Wasabi

    Ramen Wasabi

    (2.3k reviews)

    $$

    Logan Square

    A great spot to grab a bowl of steaming ramen on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Chicago. Note they…read moreclose sharply @3pm probably for a lunch break for the staff. The Alaskan cod sandwich was served on a bed of cabbage covered in a sweet teriyaki & brown mustard sauce with maybe a squeeze of kewpie sprinkled in between. The Berkshire pork eggrolls had microgreens & shaved radish on top of a crema type of sauce that balanced the heat of the kimchi nicely!! For the main attraction I ordered the spicy garlic ramen that was such a delightful mouth experience it really hit all the taste buds! The noodles were perfectly bouncy with the right amount of chew. The jellied egg was perfect and rounded the soup very well! The red chili threads enhanced the spicy miso broth just enough to slurp all the delicious goodness down! My husband ordered the Sapporo miso soup which had more of a creamy type of broth vs the spicy garlic. The noodles were also thinner than regular ramen & had a bouncy springy texture that just hit the spot! Since it was kinda chilly outside we also ordered hot green tea to accompany our spectacular ramen dishes. This place also offers delicious seasonal cocktails on the menu or hot sake if that's what you are hankering for. Definitely try this ramen joint if you are in the Logan square area your tummy will be so happy that you did!!

    Surprsing no one, I love Ramen Wasabi, which is why I keep coming back! Before heading to Wrigley…read moreto see a friend's band play, stopped into RW for dinner, and although the wait was an hour just due to the sheer volume of people who wanted something warm on a very cold and snowy night, the wait was worth it. I always go basic tonkotsu with warm sake, and it always hits. HOWEVER, this time I also did the espresso cheesecake, which is this tiny, little, bite-sized thing, which I loved. Ol' reliable

    Gyuro Ramen - Steamed Bun w. Crispy Soft Shell Crab

    Gyuro Ramen

    (273 reviews)

    $$

    West Loop, Near West Side

    Update after my last meal 7 months ago: Gyuro Ramen has done it AGAIN! My sister and I (who live…read moreout-of-state) have been talking about the last ramen experience we had here and couldn't wait to have it again! Well folks, the opportunity arose again with us both being in Chicago and we hopped right on it! We popped in on a Saturday evening, right after the dinner rush, and were promptly seated. We grazed over the menu lightly, since we already knew what we wanted to order: the chicken karaage and tuna poke as appetizers, the premium signature gyukotsu for myself, and the prime shoyu for my sister. Everything was brought out quite quicky and it was all SMASHINGLY delicious! The chicken kaarage was fried to perfection and paired beautifully with the spicy mayo, the tuna poke was fresh and a perfect palate cleanser, and both of the bowls of ramen we ordered were beautifully composed with the most harmonious of flavors. I was WOW'd by the premiere bowl! While a bit pricier than the rest of the ramen options, it was loaded with a variety of proteins, the noodles were just the right amount of chewy, and the marinated egg was *chef's kiss*. A HUGE shout out to the waitstaff, who were incredibly kind, and checked in on us throughout our meal experience. The overall ambience and vibe of Gyuro Ramen is always so enjoyable! It's a spot great for a date - whether with a friend or love interest - where you can have great conversation over a great meal. My recommendation remains the same as last time: HIGHLY RECOMMEND and will certainly be returning again soon!

    I would've given it a four star if it wasn't a staff giving us attitude for being surprised that…read moresteamed dumplings come with spicy powders as a default (who does that?). We ordered steamed dumplings for the kids, but they couldn't eat those cuz of the spicy powders. The staff came over and told us they can't remove the spicy powder from the dumplings. But, like, they could've just not sprinkle the powder on top, it's not like it's part of the filling?! She left for a while and eventually came back and said they could give us another one without the spicy powder. But seriously, who sprinkles spicy powder on steamed dumpling? I don't think any Asian cuisine does that as a default. We had a large party and two household ordered extra noodles, they only brought out one initially. When we asked for the second one, they got all confused, and they had to check all our bills to make sure they didn't give us extra noodles and that we were billed properly. Seems a bit disorganized if they can't handle a party of 10. We correctly guessed that it was non-Japanese people running the shop based on the dialect they spoke... but alas, it's expected that Asians from that region would give us that type of attitude lol so we forgive them for it. Now onto the actual food, it was just OK. My husband ordered a yasai and my oldest ordered a kinoko. I ordered a rosu for the kids. The flavors are not bad but nothing really stood out. The duck meat wasn't as tender as it could be. The kids didn't really like the dumpling/gyoza fillings either. For the price, I really expected better. I got the wakame seaweed salad and the hiyatakko. The wakame salad is just your store bought wakame mixed with some leafs, and the hiyatakko is nothing like the Japanese flavor, it's more Chinese and the tofu they selected isn't even the silky one, so it's actually bland and chalky with very weak chili oil flavor. The presentation is all pretty good tho. Looks good, but tastes are all just mediocre. We probably won't try this place again, at least not this location.

    Monster Ramen - The Monster

    Monster Ramen

    (187 reviews)

    $$

    Logan Square

    I'm sitting here in my living room, mired by an early, uninvited awakening. It was not a thud. No…read morealarm. Just a gentle frazzle of sunlight stealing me from night. In no way had my body rested. Donned in dawn, my underwear-pajamas slightly slid down revealed a sad vision of man, sloppily tangled in ruffled sheets. Exposed. There is nothing pretty about me, I thought, as I pondered if the sunlight were judging what it saw. Before reaching my current perch on the living room couch, I sat in bed flicking through news in search of something good, but simultaneously only pausing on the bad. Glorifying in the doom, really. It was the pinch I needed to prove I was indeed awake. All day I seek the pinch of pain to prove I am not dreaming. Coffee, cats, clothes, splashof water, and 20 steps later I find myself in the planning pose, here in the living room. The planning pose is very much like the wake-startle, sans the sheets and exposed crack. It involves me laying here on the couch actually reading the articles I perused earlier. I like to rationalize that the information gleaned is to set me up for a day of human interaction. Perhaps it is a study session to get up to human-social-speed. Right now it is dawning on me -- my second uninvited dawn of the day -- that perhaps behavior isn't responsible humanity, it is prolonged self torment. The tighter pinch. The proverbial purple nurple of challenging my awakened state. Cats gather around me. One at my feet and the other curled beside my thigh. Am I king to them? They are fed. Surely they are not here in need of something. Have I done something to warrant this attention? My affection toward them is inconsistent. It ebbs in startling fits of overly attentive playing or petting followed by long droughts of disregard. My ambivalence as their king gives me this luxury, and supports my theory that they may think I am indeed king. This is the type of cyclical example loop I am using as evidence to propel me from the underwear'ed fat man the sun observed moments ago. Evidence that says: "See, Sun, I am more than the larva you spotlighted. I am a god! The cats are evidence! And they sleep in your sun-puddles in undisputed, recognizable perfection, not the ugly crack-exposed heap you found me in. You love them. They love me. So, pinch yourself, and stop judging me!" Obviously the coffee is working, or maybe the cats are doing their trick: making me feel accepted in the universe. Whatever the case may be, I pet my cat. Dander floats into the sun's beams and crystallizes in the air. If you've ever seen dust in a thinly sliced light beam at dawn you know: Hope is the accidental luck of shadows bouncing off of the chaos but always cutting through. Always meeting a surface. Penetrating the thickest of atmospheres and colliding on flowers and alleys, on well planned solar panels, on potholes, through any crack, on my crack, projecting obtuse triangles, acute bi-angles, and isosceles quad-tangles, even while penetrating deep into the sea, revealing all the magnificent details of art, and occasionally falling on me. Trees bend to it. I give the cat closest a good scratch behind the ear and look out the window at the trees greening in spring. A dog walker pauses to pick up excrement. A squirrel cowers behind a branch. The ramen restaurant on the corner is cut through by light warming empty tables; tables preparing to slurp up hungry, hopeful lunchers into the belly of contentment. Dark, seemingly an antagonist to light's hero demeanor, sheepishly slinks away, humbly realizing it is not the opposite of light, but the absence. "Beautiful," I think as I see the spicy broth of life warming in the sun glow beyond the glass. Yes. It is beautiful. It really is. I couldn't see how much in the dark but the rhythm out the window is now clear. I turn to my cat, who is winding down a purr. We share a slow-blink gaze at one another as the last sliver of dawn is replaced with shadow in my house. He moves to the window sill to soak in every second as it departs. "Welp, buddy. Nothing left now. Time to bend to the light"

    Beef based ramen was perfect for our friend who cant eat pork! We came wednesday night and it was…read morepacked! We had no reservation but when i checked the latest was 7, so Im guessing this is a popular late night bite. We waited about 40 minutes for a table of 5. Was slightly disappointed that two party that came after us got seated first at the bar. There were a lot of seats open as the dinner rush died so I wished we were asked if bar over table was fine because our 5th seat at the table ended up being a stool anyways. Miso Ramen: I could taste the difference between pork base and beef base for sure. I prefer pork, but if you like beef flavor this will be great. The beef was tender, but not too flavorful. The egg was PERFECT. Noodles are thin and while thicker noodles are my preference they were cooked just right. 7.3/10 the chili oil is made with ghost pepper FYI! I know they try to warn us with 3 spice sign but my friends were not ready and wish we were told this before and not when it hit our table. Overall not my taste profile and a bit more expensive than I like, I can see myself coming back for friends who cant eat pork.

    Strings Ramen - Lakeview - ramen - Updated May 2026

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