Akira Ramen Owings Mills — Restaurant in Maryland

If I could I’d give this place ZERO stars! Originally, my husband and I were excited to eat at a new restaurant we hadn’t tried before. On the evening of Saturday August 17, 2024, roughly 20 min after arriving and a few minutes after beginning our meal, my husband experienced a medical emergency in which he lost consciousness on his way to the restroom. I ran to his side and got on the floor with him to assess his injuries. The managers left the situation to a young waitress and a carryout customer to assist as he lay on the floor. I notified them that he was diabetic and the waitress threw a cup of water on him to revive him. As I began checking his vitals, he began to lose consciousness again and then began regurgitating. I yelled for them to call an ambulance, which the waitress did. My husband and I sat on the floor in his vomit waiting for emergency assistance as other workers walked over and past us. Just one other CUSTOMER came over and apologized asking if I needed anything. The kitchen never stopped, the managers never came to ask if they could do anything, no one even tried to help clean up the vomit. We sat there for almost ten minutes. As he was being loaded into the ambulance, the manager then ran behind me demanding we pay the bill for the food we never got to eat. I’ve never experienced such disrespectful and inhumane treatment. As I’m trying to make sure that my husband is remaining conscious, this lady is yelling at me about $47! In tears I paid the bill and the manager had the audacity to ask me what was wrong. My husband is barely alert outside the restaurant in an ambulance with medics as she is demanding I pay a bill for food we didn’t have the chance to eat and didn’t have time to take with us. The lack of compassion was unreal to me. I’ll never patronize this establishment again and will be sure to tell everyone I know that the people running this place care nothing about their customers’ wellbeing. I don’t care if the food is tasty… they don’t care if you live or die in their restaurant, as long as the bill is paid!...

I’ve been here more times than I can remember so a review is long overdue. For it being a chain it’s always on point. My score is not based off of a single visit. We come here almost weekly sometimes. My wife and kids love this place. I do have a favorite Ramen place that’s foodie level but Akira does check a lot of boxes especially if you’re coming with a family and they all want different stuff off the menu.

I’ve had all the different ramen choices but my favorite is the volcano and yes it is spicy! The spicy pepper heads out there might not think so but if you’re like me and watch Hot Ones wandering why people torcher themselves, this is all the spice you’ll need. Broth, noodles and veggies are always a solid 5 stars. My only gripe is the chasu which can be a little chewy at times. I prefer mine tender so I’m not fighting with it. Other than that they make a great bowl of ramen!

Appetizers are pretty good too and come in large portions so make sure you have someone to share with. My personal favorite is the Karaage, I mean who doesn’t like fried chicken? Takoyaki has good flavor but there’s barely any octopus inside. Geso Kara is good too but if I’m being honest I prefer fried calamari with marinara sauce but this is a Japanese themed restaurant so I get it. If you love tempura the shrimp and vegetable tempura scratches that itch. I’d prefer more variety when it comes to the vegetables, as they went with mostly starchy veggies but still tasty nonetheless.

My son always orders sushi. He’s 5-years-old and can’t handle a big bowl of Ramen yet so he’ll share that with his mom whenever he’s in the mood for it. I haven’t had every roll on the menu but it’s pretty good considering this is not a sushi restaurant. I’ve definitely had worse sushi from actual sushi restaurants for context.

It’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in the neighborhood. I’m glad Owing Mills has a ramen place worth going to. Locals know the struggle around here to...

I'm convinced the server is an android, very human looking, but limited programming.

I walk by this place a few times a week and decided to give it a try. I have been to ramen resteraunts before and this is generally not my cup of tea.

The food was actually very tasty. I started with a kani salad as this is one of my favorite dishes, having had it at dozens of different resteraunts. This was the best I ever had. I then had sliced beef ramen. Every bite had so much flavour. The food was an easy 5/5.

I tried an iced taro milk tea and an iced Thai tea. Both were good, though I am not a big taro fan. I was mainly trying to find things to try that I had at other ramen venues. I like comparison on my first visit and exploration on later visits.

My biggest issues were the place had a cold empty feeling to it and the server was so neutral that I jokingly thought of her as an android. She was not rude, but she had zero personality. I was the only customer there, which seemed odd too. It felt like they were closed. So 3/5 for service...