Ramen 101 + Hawaiian BBQ — Restaurant in Sacramento

Short version: Great food, poor service.

Long version: First of all I extremely dislike having to order food before sitting down. It forces you to have to decide right there and then and you feel rushed especially if there's people behind you. Also, tipping fairly has been ingrained in me and this way of ordering forces you to either tip based on service you haven't received or wait until the end and if I received good service, hopefully I have the cash. I opted for the latter and I'm glad I did because the service was poor. I think this whole idea is supposed to save money so they don't have to hire people to wait on you but it ends up being a terrible experience. The woman at the front wasn't that helpful and it's really hard to ask for anything during the meal because no one is around. As for the food, we ordered the mild(least amount of spice) Tonkatsu and it wasn't spicy at all so next time I'd probably get a step up, and the teriyaki chicken bowl. Both were awesome. Especially the ramen was exceptional. We couldn't get enough. I would definitely go back but I would get it to go or go somewhere else if I was looking to eat there. I'll also add that the restaurant itself looks really nice so...

So I came in said me and my son were going to be dining in and she said I had to order first. I don’t mind that but then the screen asks for a tip. It’s super annoying . I always tip especially when dining with a kid ( if you know you know ) but how much you tip should be based of the service you receive. She told us we can sit anywhere on the right side. . Everyone else dining is on the left. My son got a kids Ramen which came out too hot to eat ( 100% understandable, it’s ramen!) I waited for someone to come by so I can ask for ice but no one ever came. Our seats are facing the other side so I see the servers introducing themselves and checking on the other patrons so it was like we were forgotten about. My poor kid was starving at this point so I literally had to put my hand in my cup or water to get the ice out. When my food is gone they finally come and ask if we are still doing okay. . I suppose I could’ve waved someone down but idk it was just frustrating seeing the other side get waited on and us forgotten especially since we needed something . Food was good but after spending $33 (tip included) for a beef rice bowl and a kids ramen I’m still hungry...

IT USED TO BE. It was once good but now it is not worth it. Ramen broth is SUPER bland (and watery). It used to have more flavor. Cashu pork pieces used to be bigger but now they are way too small. They’re not even complete pieces. Black garlic oil ramen doesn’t have a lot of actual black garlic oil (not like it used to). Spicy level is not spicy at all. It used to be. More often than not the kitchen cooks always get something wrong with the order. But I think the workers are very nice. Perhaps not attentive as they should but nice nevertheless. I don’t know what happened but over the last 1-2 yrs the quality of the ramen has plummeted. It used to be my favorite go to ramen spot. Now I go just to get chashu rice bowl…even though they are now putting less meat in it.

Ramen 101 Midtown: Please add more flavor to your broth, go back to larger chashu portions and add more garlic oil to your black garlic oil ramen. Oh and actually make the ramen spicy when it’s ordered spicy. Stop cutting back on portions sizes and quality of your ramen while increasing prices. Go back to the way it used...