Chicago Ramen Annex — Restaurant in Palatine Township

I went here in sometime in the summer of 2023 and loved it. I also love that this place is open late for night owls like me.

But when I came back during a cold winter weekend, I was extremely disappointed in the service. My partner and I were seated right away as there were two open tables left when we arrived. I understand it was cold outside and really busy. I have a lot of patience especially with people who work in customer service roles.

But I draw the line when two other couples, both of which arrived after my partner and I got seated, receive their food before we do. I admit we had a different waitress who took our order, but when we're sitting around for an unexaggerated 40 minutes with no food, my patience grows thin.

The waitress that took our order did so without writing it down, which is fine if she actually remembered to send it to the kitchen to be prepared. She also seemed to be helping out in the kitchen too, so I really tried to be patient. The waitress that helped those other couples also just walked past us without acknowledging us. I understand she didn't take our order, but we were clearly and visibly just sitting there so long without food, the least she could have done is come to ask if we have ordered/been helped.

I did not bother to ask anyone for help because I was giving them the benefit of the doubt that they are just busy and our food should be at our table soon. But by the time I saw a second couple, who ended up waiting to be seated for a table AFTER my partner and I were already seated, receive their food before we did, I really had no patience to complain. I came to the restaurant after a 12 hour shift at the hospital and I just really had no energy to complain and remind them that we never received our order (that was probably never sent to the kitchen) and wait even longer to eat. My partner and I ended up leaving with empty stomachs.

It's such a shame, because the food is really good here, but it's not worth a 40...

After being a loyal patrons of the original Chicago ramen in des plaines for years we were terribly disappointed with how the quality and the food went down in flames, one of the things I would always brag about Chicago ramen with people I recommended they try it was the consistency....for years everything tasted and was presented exactly the same, flavors were spot on every time and service was prompt and courteous.

Once they started growing and chef Kenda wasn't there anymore and I'm NOT bashing growing businesses, I was in the industry ( I was a Chef) for 24 years so I know how it goes , I'm very happy for chef's Kenda success, and I wish him more, but unfortunately our favorite spot suffered and with heavy hearts we never went back because of our bad experiences

Then yesterday my wife was in the mood for ramen and we decided to give CHICAGO RAMEN ANNEX a fair share, and we are glad we did!!

Service: amazing, prompt and friendly

Ambiance: perfect

Food: the first spoonful of my red miso was like a Ratatuie moment, I closed my eyes and there it was!! It tasted just like the first time I tried it at the desplaines location all those years back, the flavor that made me fall in love with their red miso!

Needless to say, we will become regulars again, it's a longer drive but we'll worth it!

Chef Kenda....your employees at Chicago ramen annex are nailing your recipes and your vision, I know how hard is to get good kitchen staff nowadays, you are lucky with your...

**UPDATED REVIEW 2/19/23: SO SO SO GOOD, came today! So glad to see that they are very busy now and have fixed all their first opening hiccups! A taste like home now, thank you Ty- you whipped this place in shape!!!! :)

OG Review: Big fan of Chicago Ramen. Native of LA so I am acquainted to their sister stores: Tsujita and Tsujita Annex, love those too. But I’m not sure why I didn’t love this location. Not sure if it was because they JUST opened. I called to order takeout and the lady that answered was very very nice but took a little while to order because there was some confusion, but no fault to her own. However, we ordered the Beef Bowl, Jiro Ramen, and Spicy Tsukemen but the best thing was the beef bowl :(.

The broths for both tsukemen and jiro ramen were SO salty. Although the overall flavor tsukemen was super savory, and had a lot of heat to it - that I love; the noodles are really really thick, but this is the style they have! The Chashu was very chewy and THICK! I know thick chashu sounds like heaven, but when it’s chewy it’s not :