CO-OP — Restaurant in Bentonville

Rainy day? Ramen.

This is the type of meal you “save up” for - skip or go light on the other meals because portions are generous (which is fairly typical these days). Would recommend splitting a bowl with a friend, especially if you also want to get apps.

My bowl was perfect and even though you order at a kiosk, the staff popped over to say hello and answer a myriad of questions. Which is apparently how you get a next-level bowl of noods.

I went with spicy tonkastu, long time favorite, comes with pork belly, green onions, and bean sprouts. I swapped in wavy noodles, which was the smartest thing I did all day. The wavy noods pair great with such a thick broth. It was almost soup and I have zero complaints. Wowza. So delicious. Just the right spice level.

I added the egg, bok choy, and burnt black garlic oil. If there’s not a line, definitely take your time to a cruise the options on the kiosk screen! You can get very creative and customize your bowl exactly how you want it.

What’s more, this is another great spot to study or remote work! I can jump into a booth, plug in my laptop, and get stuff done. Even if the restaurant were packed, the booths help minimize distraction. Bless. And parking is not a concern, ample and close parking. Will be here so much more with the cooler weather coming in.

Update from Nov 2021: brought out of town friends here, they loved it! The appetizers are great to share! I can order 1-2 and that’s a nice lunch for me, I am a lighter eater. I am also now obsessed with the Japanese friend chicken. OB-sessed. Love. The Brussels sprouts are great too. But THE CHICKEN. I add a little extra spice to a few pieces. YUM 🤤 These ladies know good food so I’m glad they were so happy with their ramen. They too were obsessed with the chicken and got extra just to be able to take it home the next day.

Update from Jan 2022: Hope and team continue to be amazing. Decided to try some sake this time and I really appreciated her knowledge of all her products. This little Bushido can was the perfect amount and...

It was my husband’s birthday and the food, service, atmosphere, cleanliness were all sub par.

After looking at the menu on the wall, we made our choice and were directed to a screen to place the order. Non of our dishes were available. So we made different choices, and were given our drinks. I wanted hot sake so they took it back to heat it.

There were two other tables with people at the time. Not crowded at all. The booths were dirty, and there were food crumbs on the cushions.

When the food came out, it was terrible. The egg rolls looked like they had been, fried in old oil a couple of times, greasy, and dark brown. I didn’t eat them but hubs was starving and ate them anyway. The edamame was barely warm, and unseasoned.

The soup was inedible absolutely terrible. With a tiny sip of broth, my husband choked on the spiciness, unable to catch his breath. He raises and eats Carolina Reaper’s, so he is comfortable with a Scoville level most cannot tolerate.

Mine was a different recipe but equally inedible because of the spiciness. I tried eating the raw cabbage in it, and just the juice made it too spicy.

By the time they got the sake heated up (15-20 mins), and brought it to us, we were ready to leave.

I informed the young man behind the counter that the food was inedible. He said he was so sorry.

We left and went to a differently restaurant, had fabulous food, excellent service, and free dessert for hubs, because it was his birthday. All for the same price as the inedible food, with zero service, that we had to tip before we ate.

Never again. The audacity, the very nerve of a restaurant to offer ZERO service, below sub par food, and a dirty space, and want a tip before any of it, is unfathomable.

I give this restaurant a...

Have been here several times, and have always had great experiences. The staff is always friendly and quick, and the food is always awesome. The soft boiled eggs are delicious and the pork belly is very flavorful. I always argue with my friends that CO-OP is a better ramen spot than Ramen Nara. I brought some co-workers on a Wednesday night after work to show them the place I had kept talking about. It was a terrible experience. We waited over an hour for our food. When our food did come out, my dish wasn't ready. I waited an additional 15 minutes before asking the wait staff the status of my order. Her response made it clear that the order had been totally forgotten about or given to another table. A steaming hot bowl came to our table 5 minutes later, which made me wonder why it took 1+ hour in the first place. I got mostly through my bowl before finding a hair in my dish. It was all around a poor experience, and I likely won't be back.

update; they responded to my review asking me to follow up on their website to make up for this poor experience. I messaged them and never got a reply. Clearly those responses are just so it appears that they’re tending to their...