IPPUDO Cupertino — Restaurant in Cupertino

Ippudo, a world famous ramen chain is something one must try if they are fans of ramen. However, this review serves only for this particular location.

The atmosphere was okay, nothing to rave about when my wife and I came in, below is a summary of our experience:

Service: 0 / 5 stars

I waved down a waiter to wipe the table due to its stickiness. He came seemingly offended and asked, where? Without taking my word, he checks the table with his hands before wiping it down with a towel. I thought it was awkward that he thought we would lie for whatever reason. I mean do people lie about stuff like this ever? Did COVID end for this restaurant?

There will be no menu given to you. After scanning the QR code on the edge of the table, you'll see the menu. However, you won't be able to order from it which was weird? After waving around without response, I spoke up before finally someone came to take our order. This took maybe 10 minutes at a restaurant with 3 active waiters, a restaurant that's not full, and no bigger then 200-300 square feet?

The servers don't really talk to you. This is unusual, granted at authentic ramen places; the servers and chefs usually enjoy conversating with their patrons. But nope, not this place. They all look as stoic as ever. Great Valentine's day service for sure! LOL.

Food: 5 / 5 stars

Miso Tonkotsu - 5 / 5. The ramen's great and firm. The broth was excellent. We loved it.

Akamaru Modern - 5 / 5. The ramen is of a thinner type. It is also on the firmer side. The broth was excellent. We loved it.

Décor - 3 / 5 stars

Typical of any ramen joint. Seemingly clean, but I thought it was odd that all of the Asians are all serving while the cooks are not. Sure they probably have a list of easy instructions for the cooks to follow, however, having the glass to display that they are not Asians cooks seems odd for a Japanese restaurant.

Final thoughts:

If you enjoy ramen, get it to go. That way you'll pass all the BS with the waiter/waitress. Enjoy your excellent ramen at the comfort of your home. I've seen a few parties that have done exactly that to which I may try it the next time I feel like ramen while in the...

If I could give this place a 0 star rating, I would. When I walked in today at around 3pm and noticed that the restaurant was near empty on a Memorial Day Weekend, that should've been my first sign. We were sat down instantly but we were not even asked or served water. When a waitress noticed I was looking for someone, she came over and was able to get us water but NO ice (on a hot day?!). They started giving our appetizer plates and we got DIRTY AND USED PLATES! Not even dirty plates you have to look closely at, these are clearly well-used plates (as pictured). All I'm thinking is, "If they're serving dirty plates as new, what else is dirty back there? How can I trust that my food is clean?" I wanted to leave, however, my cousin really wanted to try this place out for her birthday. We had to ask for new plates when the waitress came by. When the food came, it was pretty good thankfully! It was the only saving grace of this experience. However, not worth the service I was given. After we finished eating, we decided to not leave a tip. As we were getting ready to leave, we saw the waiters whispering amoungst each other. One of the waiters came up to us to ask why we didn't leave a tip. Of course, I was taken aback as I usually always leave a tip but after this lazy service experience, I definitely was not going to. It would have been different if they approached it as, "We were wondering why because we would like to know how to improve our service." But no, just straight up asked. And when we told them about our experience with the dirty plates, I forgot to bring up the water part because I was just so in shock on how they approached us as we were trying to leave. After I told them about my experience, he responded rudely with, "Is that it? Nothing else? Okay thanks." No professionalism and not even apologizing! I should have called for the manager but we needed to leave to continue more...

I came here with 2 other people on a Sunday at around 11am. Since they just opened for the day, there weren't too many people, and there were plenty of tables. However, when we got there, there wasn't anyone to greet at the door, so we added our party to the Yelp waitlist.. which we were unable to see our reservation on the waitlist after we joined it. Not sure if they even actually utilize it for seating..? We waited another 5 mins before going in and just telling them our party and getting seated.

Menus are available by scanning a QR code with your phone, which is standard these days during the pandemic. Do note that they require everyone in the party to order something as a minimum. "1 order minimum per guest" So, no sharing between two people if you don't eat that much? It looks like they also note that you cannot add people to your party once you're seated. 18% automatic gratuity for parties of 6+.

Our server took our order quickly, without utilizing anything to remember our order. The food came out quickly, but our appetizers and additional toppings for the ramen were nowhere to be seen. Turns out that our server completely forgot about those items, and only put in the orders for the ramen itself. You see... taking orders without any notepad or tablet is only impressive when you take the order correctly..

The ramen itself is just okay, nothing to be impressed about. I ordered the Karaka Spicy with soft thin noodles.. and unfortunately I tasted more of the "hot spices," which seems like chili oil of some sort, than I did of the tonkatsu broth..

I wanted to like Ippudo, but sadly I wasn't too impressed. Needless to say, I won't be returning, since there's plenty of other restaurants...