GONZO! — Restaurant in Carlsbad

Should I check this place out? If I were to use one word to describe Gonzo! that word would be 'Intentional'.

I may have said in another review that I've been on a search for some GOOD ramen. And a yelp reviewer, who's name I will not mention. Rated my favorite place a 3 star. And this place a 5!!! So I had to try it and prove that reviewer wrong! LOL

So that's how I ended up at Gonzo! Ramen in Carlsbad. I was passing through town on my way to a funeral. Not exactly the best occasion to have ramen, but I figured I still just had to try it.

And boy, I'll tell you, parking wasn't friendly. I had to park my car a few blocks away and trekked through Carlsbad Village. By the time I hit the plaza, there was a live band outside, people milling around, the kind of street buzz that makes you feel like you accidentally walked into a festival. That set the mood before I even sat down.

Ambience & Service Inside, it calm, easy, warm lighting, not hushed fancy, but not noisy chaos either. You could have a date here without shouting, or just slurp solo and people-watch. Service hit a nice rhythm: attentive enough to notice if your glass is empty, but not hovering every five minutes asking "Do you need anything?" (nothing kills a conversation faster).

The Food Gonzo leans into miso ramen, and it works. The broth is deep, savory, and comforting without the grease bomb aftertaste you sometimes get. Presentation was legit! The server placed my bowl carefully, methodically, like they were setting it up for a photo shoot. He did it 'Intentionally'. Bright pops of color, toppings arranged like someone actually cared. Again, intentionally. That detail alone scored points with me.

Good for Dates? Yeah, actually. Between the mellow dining room and the energy outside, you get options: sit and connect, then step out into live music and village bustle. Built-in "keep the night going" factor. Dinner + music outside = built-in after-meal stroll.

Good for Groups? Depends. Small group of friends? Sure, it's casual and friendly. But if you roll deep, you might wait. This place isn't sprawling, and it's popular (Yelp even ranked it one of the top ramen shops in the U.S. last year).

Parking Bring patience. Village parking is tight, especially at prime time. Consider it part of the ritual: ramen tastes better after you've earned it with a walk.

Bottom Line Gonzo! feels like ramen done with intention. Not a gimmick, not an assembly line. A little Tokyo, a little SoCal, and a lot of heart in a bowl,...

🍜 Food (the most important part!) and drinks:

BEST RAMEN we’ve ever had! 😋 We luckily have the opportunity to try ramen in every city we travel to and Gonzo by far has the most authentic and delicious ramen with very tender pork that melts in your mouth.

Their broth is rich and felt like a nice warm hug in the stomach too. Ramen was fresh and had great texture. We couldn’t believe how good it was honestly because a lot of other ramen restaurants taste similar to each other but you can tell the Gonzo chefs really care about their craft and want you to enjoy every single bite. We felt transported to Japan while also enjoying the San Diego weather!

We got the Gonzo Black (wow!) and the Miso Ramen (comforting). I could eat the Gonzo Black every week!

The garlic chili crisp oil on the side was sooooooo tasty. I’m sensitive to spicy stuff like salsa but WOW this was delicious af. Complex, smoky, right amount of garlic with chili. I dream of that sauce randomly haha. Definitely get this when you go there!

Their kimchi was also SO DELICIOUS. We had to order more to eat at home. 😋

Their variety of drinks blew us away! Ended up getting 3 drinks for 2 people lol. And got some treats to take home!

👥 People:

It’s a family run place, which is wonderful! Mika and Justin were so kind and personable – they are joy in human form. Friendly and warm customer service.

🏮Environment:

Chill vibes and warm atmosphere that reminds me of a Japanese izakaya. Great music and the Japanese decor is wonderful. Seating was comfortable and we sat outside beside the patio heaters. You order at the counter then get a table. They brought out our food pretty quickly! We saw a few families with young kiddos sitting inside so it seems kid-friendly too.

🚙 Parking:

Lots of shared parking with other establishments at this shopping center.

⭐️ TL;DR:

HIGHLY recommend Gonzo for all of your Japanese food cravings. If you love food, then add Gonzo to your must visit list! If we lived closer, we...

Just ate at Gonzo! for the first time. After seeing them list out near the top of Yelp's Top 100 list and their top ramen places in California, I really wanted to check them out. So we thought: let's check them out for happy hour.

Upon arriving after 4pm on a Friday, I expected them to be packed already. Most other happy hour joints are already packed at this time but when we began to order, they told us there is no happy hour anymore 😟 Bummer!

This might explain why it was empty when we arrived. Still, I ordered a pint of their Gonzo! Mania beer draft beer for $7.00. We also ordered a Gonzo Black, Red and Miso ramen.

Overall, we loved the ramen. I added the Black Garlic Oil to my Red, which was an additional $1.50. The broth had a velvety, almost silky like consistency which we really enjoyed. Flavor was on-point.

Note: they also charge a $1.65 "CC Convenience Fee". Not sure what this is...maybe for using a credit card? Anyway, just an FYI.

As we left, a few more people showed up. Some sat outside with the multiple outdoor patio heaters, but the cold wind was just picking up so I'm sure they moved inside as soon as possible. Seating inside is somewhat limited so it must be tough to find a seat when its busy. I noticed the staff was on top of removing empty bowls as we finished so turning over tables is pretty quick I imagine.

In the end, we liked our food. $78 with tip, but for that amount we could get two draft Asahi or Sapporo beers, a carafe of hot sake, an appetizer and three bowls of ramen at Wu Lan Ramen Tap House in Oceanside - with a 10% discount if paying by cash (!), so for us we'll stick to that.

Note: Gonzo has a separate sister store next door with fun trinkets and claw-style crane machines, Japanese snacks and drinks. You get one token for $1. We went through $5 trying to get one toy and gave up...hopefully some kid gets it as we literally left it hanging...