JINYA Ramen Bar - Union Station — Restaurant in Denver

Short version: Not sure what the food tastes like. We left after 40 minutes of waiting with no food or drinks, and terrible service from our server.

Long version: I don’t usually write reviews, especially when a restaurant has such great ratings, but last night was one of the worst service experiences I’ve ever had. My husband and I are big ramen lovers, and we were excited to finally try what’s considered the best ramen in Denver.

After waiting about 30 minutes, we were seated around 8:38 p.m. by a visibly cranky hostess. I felt bad for her because the place was packed and I assumed she was overwhelmed. When our server, Diego, came over, he also seemed rushed and unfriendly. He introduced himself while carrying a tray of water glasses, which tipped over and shattered right next to me, splashing water and shards on my legs. Thankfully, I was wearing pants and wasn’t hurt. Accidents happen, so I wasn’t upset about that. The staff quickly cleaned up, and one of the other servers apologized (Diego didn’t).

Around 8:45, Diego returned with water and took our appetizer order but not our drink order. He disappeared for 10 minutes, though we saw him walking around, then came back around 8:55 to take our drink order but still not our main order. He disappeared again, and at 9:10 finally took our ramen order. By then we were already hungry and wondering where our appetizers and drinks were, especially since nearby tables were being served regularly by other servers.

At 9:20, he finally brought my drink. As he turned to rush away again, my husband asked, “Do you think our appetizers will be ready soon?” Diego, without stopping, replied with attitude: “The kitchen is busy, I can’t make it go any faster.” We were stunned. I told my husband we should leave. As he was getting his things, Diego suddenly showed up with our appetizers. When my husband told him the service had been awful, Diego dismissed it with an excuse and walked away.

At that point, we left after 40 minutes of waiting, without touching the food or drinks that had just arrived. The whole experience was chaotic and frustrating, and we were upset we hadn’t asked to speak with a manager right away.

I did call afterward and spoke with Anderson, who was kind and apologetic. He encouraged us to give the restaurant another chance, saying the food is excellent and that we should ask for a manager next time to ensure better service. While I appreciated his response, I’m not sure we’ll return anytime soon.

As someone who works in retail, I fully understand how exhausting and overwhelming customer-facing jobs can be. I know serving at such a busy, popular spot is tough. But Diego took his frustration out on us with his attitude, body language, and dismissive comments, and that made us feel unwelcome and uncomfortable. That kind of service is unacceptable and should be addressed...

Not sure why this place has such a high rating, but my wife and I saw this place and thought we HAD to go here, but unfortunately it was not worth it. I got the blackened Tonkotsu and my wife had the normal Tonkotsu, and we had the Karrage. First things first, this place is in the middle of Denver so finding parking will be pretty difficult, I recommend the Music Garage which will be approximately a 2-3 minute walk from the restaurant, and also they don't take reservations so you're gonna have to walk in. Luckily, it was just the two of us, so we waited maybe 15 minutes to get seated, but if you bring a big group, the waiting list can take you 30+ minutes from what I saw, and this was on a late Wednesday night. Of course, I'm not going to give it a bad rating for the location though, I just thought it would help anyone who read my review if they wanted to come here.

I've lived in Japan for 7 years so that's my standard, and unfortunately this place couldn't fulfill it. The food was okay. I think maybe I got unlucky and I gotta try something else, but my go-to ramen is Miso, and they ONLY had spicy miso. Maybe I should've gotten that because my blackened Tonkotsu was so bland it was almost like drinking hot water, and my wife agreed with me, even though blackened ramen is supposed to be even more rich than normal ramen? There was maybe a HINT of actual Tonkotsu flavor in the broth. Definitely wouldn't recommend it. My wifes house original Tonkotsu was better. The egg was over easy, which is fine but it was a little TOO over easy. I love raw eggs but in ramen it's not normal for traditional Japanese ramen for it to be so gooey it spills into my ramen like that. Chashu was average, nothing super special, but the thin noodles were great. If only I had good broth to eat with my noodles for it to taste more than just plain noodles, it would be amazing, but the broth absolutely ruined the meal for me. The Karrage was okay, not the best I've had but it wasn't the worst, very average. They were super busy so I understand that the waiters were going all over the place, but I didn't get my water filled at all during my meal until I made eye contact and asked for more, my cup was empty for maybe 10 minutes. All in all, it was an average experience for us and nothing super special to write home about, which is what we expected from the ratings and reviews...

The Experience We dropped in for a weekday lunch (no wait for a party of two). Service cadence was spot-on: apps landed quickly, bowls arrived piping hot, and our server checked in just enough. The only service miss? One flimsy paper napkin each. Ramen is messy by nature--thicker napkins (or better yet, oshibori towels) would make a big difference.

Atmosphere Dim-lit, modern, and comfortably spaced for midday. Bowls steam dramatically under the pendant lights--great for food photos. It's casual enough for a quick slurp yet polished enough for a relaxed lunch date.

What we ordered

Starters

Pork Gyoza - Exactly how pan-fried dumplings should be: crisp golden bottoms, tender tops, juicy filling, and a dipping sauce that nails the soy : vinegar : chili ratio.

Hirata Buns (pork) - Cloud-soft bao with melt-in-your-mouth pork. Flavor was on point, but the buns arrived room-temperature and the mayo was a tad heavy.

Mains

JINYA Tonkotsu Black - Ultra-creamy, opaque beige broth with tons of pork depth. Springy noodles (perhaps a touch too many), buttery chashu, and a textbook ajitsuke tamago with a jammy center.

Premium Tonkotsu Red (spice level 6) - All the richness of the Black, plus a slow-building heat that never overpowered the pork flavor. I'd order this again in a heartbeat.

Drinks

Two seasonal mocktails that were downright addictive--bright, balanced, and not overly sweet. Perfect daytime sippers.

Bottom Line JINYA delivers some of Denver's most satisfying tonkotsu--rich broths, precision-cooked toppings, and mocktails that steal the show. Warm up those hirata buns and upgrade the napkins, and we're talking five stars.

Pro Tips

Spice lovers: start at level 5 on the Premium Red; level 6 brings a pleasant kick without blowing out your palate.

Add an extra egg--you won't regret it.

Snap a photo before diving in; the bowls look as good as they taste.

Would I come back? Absolutely--next time with an extra napkin in hand and a craving...