Santa Japanese Restaurant

The ramen is very very good! Although the wait is way too long for a ramen place. :P One time we waited for an hour just to get in. But we really enjoyed the food so it's a nice treat every now and then.

Posted 08/09/09 | Report Abuse

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Your order is taken while you wait in line for a table. Once you're seated you still have to wait another 30 minutes for your food to arrive. Don't expect the server to ever come back to your table except to present you with the bill. The pork based ramen was tasty but the shoyu ramen was terrible. It had lumps of solidified fat floating at the top of the broth which the server said was normal.

Posted 12/28/07 | Report Abuse

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This place is tucked out of the way, but you can always tell where it is by looking for the crowd waiting outside. The place is small and "hole-in-the-wallish," but everyone's willing to wait up to an hour just to get a little of that delicious ramen. The broth is what makes it so great, and their pork is seasoned perfectly. We didn't get there in time for their most popular dishes (the stewed pork and chicken karaage), but we were more than satisfied with the roast pork in the pork-based broth (you have a choice of either soy, pork, or soybean based broth).

Posted 10/15/06 | Report Abuse

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I just went to Santa Ramen for the first time. I LOVE ramen, so I was especially excited to try out this place that I had read nothing but fantastic reviews on. I went a little after noon on a Saturday, expecting there to be long lines like everyone says. There was just one couple ahead of me, so I lucked out. It was a warm day, so that's probably why there wasn't much of a line. (There were about 5-6 parties waiting out on the sidewalk after I got seated though, so I did luck out!)
The menu was all posted on the wall, along with a little note stating that the stewed pork was sold out! I had heard a lot about this particular flavor of ramen, so I was a bit disappointed. I got the roasted pork in my favorite type of japanese ramen broth, pork broth. After the first few spoonfuls, I had forgotten about the sold out flavor. The broth was a bit salty, but overall, this has to be the best ramen I've had in a long time! I think it's better than any of the ramen houses in West LA...
$9 for a bowl is a bit pricey, but I will be coming back to try that stewed pork as well as the chicken I keep hearing about!

PROS: Street parking ok, noodles cooked well, menu options clear, delicious!
CONS: Bit pricey for ramen, place is tiny.

Posted 09/23/06 | Report Abuse

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Santa Ramen has earned its fabled reputation as THE ramen joint in the Bay Area. Its good, but only seats about 10 people, so expect to wait in line on the sidewalk for half an hour for more. But its worth it if you love good ramen, which is all they serve

PROS: Fantasic ramen with superb broth - the best I've had outside Japan.
CONS: tiny, long wait, ramen is all they serve

Posted 07/05/06 | Report Abuse

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It's very famous Japanese Ramen store with ramen only, no Gyoza, no rice. The best seller is pork stew ramen noodles ($7-9/bowl). Since it's a very tiny store, so usually packed during lunch or dinner hour. Service is a little bit slow. But the soup is great though a little bit salty.

PROS: Good noodles
CONS: slow

Posted 10/30/05 | Report Abuse

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This is the ultimate ramen heaven! If you have not tried their famous tonkatsu ramen, you ought to drive there and order one right now. Ingore the miso and shiyouu flavor ramen, you can't go wrong with any selection within the tonkatsu flavor ramen.

highly reccomend their chicken karage (fried chicken) and grilled squid, which is ONLY available during dinner.

PROS: delicious food
CONS: long wait, especially during winter season

Posted 09/20/05 | Report Abuse

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