Akira Ramen & Izakaya — Restaurant in Hyattsville

Visited on 6/9 for dinner with my aunt. I chose this spot because of the high ratings and I know the Akira Ramen name as i have visited other locations before, plus they had 5 stars with 400 reviews.

We walked in a little after 8 pm and asked for a table. There were several other tables already seated, but plenty of open tables. We requested a booth and I think that set the mood/tone for how the rest of our visit went...

My aunt had to flag down the server/waiter after we sat for a while. He walked by us and threw up a hand telling us it would be a moment. Cool. The way it was done was a little short/rude, but whatever. He was handling the door too, so maybe he was busy.

We both ordered ramen. Soup. We ordered soup. Her vegetable ramen came out almost 30 minutes before mine. I sat and watched the chicken sit on the counter while it waited for the ramen to be poured. In that time, everyone, and thats not an exaggeration, everyone who came in after us received their food. My ramen broth was thankfully hot when it arrived. The chicken was good, but a few pieces fell apart from the grease and sitting in the paper for so long. Flavor for my ramen was fine, and my aunt didn't directly complain about her meal, so I think she enjoyed it.

We didn't get to order dessert either (5 stars = free dessert). My food came and we were left alone until the check was dropped.

My biggest complaint is with the service. The guy who sat us and ultimately "served" us would disappear enough that another server would come to our table to check in. He dropped the check off and someone else took payment.

Takeaway: food is good, service is mediocre. I probably wouldn't return to...

My wife and I love trying new food spots around the DMV, and after driving by this place a few times, we decided to check it out once it began its soft opening. Aesthetically, the restaurant looks great—stylish interior with music playing and videos on the TVs. That said, we were a bit confused by the K-pop playing throughout the space, especially since it’s marketed as a Japanese-style restaurant. It would be a nice touch to incorporate more Japanese cultural elements—maybe some J-pop, traditional music, or even anime episodes to enhance the vibe.

Service was excellent—friendly and attentive—so we’re hoping that stays consistent over time.

Now for the food. We're both passionate about ramen and are always on the hunt for that rich, flavorful broth that really hits the mark. Unfortunately, the ramen here was a bit of a letdown. We ordered the Volcano ramen expecting bold spice and flavor, but it ended up being quite bland. We had to add extra chili to try and give it a kick, but something was just missing overall.

We also tried a few sushi rolls, but honestly, we were disappointed before even taking a bite. Some rolls were poorly rolled and fell apart easily, and the rice was unevenly spread—too thin in places. The flavor wasn’t bad, just nothing memorable or exciting.

It was cool to see Ramune on the drink menu, but offering only one flavor felt like a missed opportunity.

All in all, we’ll probably stop by again to try more items off the menu, but it won’t be our go-to spot for ramen. For the price, we’ve definitely had better...

Soft Opening.

Good Food, Friendly staff, and great atmosphere (until the garage entrance lights turn on)

We started off with the okonomiyaki and takoyaki. They tasted great but personally I would like a bit more sauce, maybe I'll ask for it next time 🤔.

The meal I picked was the katsu don curry, very nicely plated, Will order again. The Miso soup it came with was honestly bland but still good as side dish to drink with the food.

The Sushi tasted good too we only had 3 of the hand rolls this time (I promise to do better😓) had the salmon avacodo, tuna avacodo and the spicy crunchy shrimp. The Maki were 6 big pieces of each order and had a very nice amount of fish In it almost 50/50 ratio of salmon/Tuna to avacodo (Yummy) the rice was a bit bland but was still good.

The servers were very nice and accommodating but there was alot of confusion going around. The first server we had was not our only server, which confused me a bit and seemed to confuse them also. Other than that there were no mistakes on my order so nothing to complain about.

The ambiance is very accommodating has soft lighting and very nice decorations. What killed it was when the garage lights for parking turned on beside the store, almost like a flash bang 🙈. Need some tinted windows or curtains.

Overall a nice restaurant, needs a bit of work that I'm excited to see...