Buta Japanese Ramen — Restaurant in San Diego

I was super excited to try this place because of the recommendations from 2 of my coworkers and the 5 star reviews, but I left this place disappointed.

I'm not so much a ramen person, so I tried the Chicken Katsu Curry since it looked fantastic in the photos. It was good but not easy to tear/bite into the chicken like at other places I've gone to. I was happy, but my boyfriend had some mixed feelings. He ordered the Pork Katsu Curry, and he loved the taste but couldn't finish it because his stomach started hurting. (For the rest of the day, afterwards, his stomach was not feeling good). Since he couldn't finish it, we got a to-go box for him since he thought he could finish it later. I wasn't done, but I started feeling a little rushed to either finish my food or also get a to-go box since the waitress kept asking if I was done within the span of 5 minutes.

Despite everything, we were in high spirits. We thought this restaurant was a pretty decent find. However, things changed once it came time to leave and pay.

My boyfriend paid by card, put no tip, and put no receipt. He told me it's better to tip in cash. Right when he said this, the waitress came back with the receipt, circling the tip area. This was weird. Let me reiterate: he clicked no receipt and didn't want to do a tip through card. The waitress came back and was pressuring us to choose an option, and my boyfriend, feeling weirded out, asked if it was possible not to tip since this has never happened before, and we thought maybe we misread something on the payment terminal. After he said this, the waitress slammed the receipt and pen on the table and haughtily walked away.

This made us extremely uncomfortable. So, whatever cash tip we thought we were gonna leave on the table before we left, we decided to keep for ourselves. I've always heard stories of aggressive waiters but never thought I'd come across one.

This behavior is uncalled for. Tipping is always optional and a way to congratulate exceptional service in America. The only time I've seen required tipping is for a party of 6+ people, which we were not. I thought it was incredibly ironic that this happened in a Japanese restaurant, considering tipping is not customary in Japan.

I was surprised to see there weren't many comments about this, unless you search "tips" in the reviews. I have come to find out people have had similar experiences from a year ago and a couple months ago, referencing a "waitress." Seems like this is a recurring problem with the same waitress.

Overall: I unfortunately do not recommend ever coming to this restaurant. The pork and chicken were a little difficult to bite into and caused my boyfriend stomach pain. Additionally, the waitress ultimately hit the nail in the coffin with her greedy actions.

RakiRaki Ramen is a better alternative if you're looking for a good Ramen bowl, Chicken Katsu Curry,...

Let me start with the food is reasonable but the service is not great. I thought the first time we went we had a weird interaction but today just showed that we are generally not welcome in this establishment. I live and work across the street so it's also a convenient spot and the ramen is great on gloomy days. We go often and I also take my students here on occasion. Today, my family and I decided to head over but since we have a toddler we decided to get him some fries across the street so that my husband and I wouldn't have to deal with his tantrums since he is 4 and ramen isn't the best for little ones. As we were about to order the waiter told us, "it's your first time here so just so you know we don't allow any outside food but that it was okay since it's your first time". It is not our first time, it's like our 6th time there in the past few months we've lived here. My husband and I just politely said, thats okay we can leave and left. It wasn't so much that he told us that we couldn't have outside food but he assumed that we had never been there before. And it didn't make sense to tell us that outside food wasn't allowed if he was just going to allow it anyway. Like, what was the point of telling us then? The first time we went, we walked inside and it was a little bit busy and we were looking for something to put our name down and the same man told us we needed to wait outside. Every other that family that walked in after us was allowed to wait inside while a table was being cleaned off. Again, the food is reasonable but we go because its convenient but if you are brown, just know that you may not be treated like a paying customer and the rules may be very strict...

How did I just discovered Buta Japanese Ramen? Wow. This place was such a solid find tonight. Out of all the ramen restaurants in San Diego, Buta definitely deserves a spot as one of the city's top ramen shops.

This place definitely has a neighborhood and relaxed vibe. Spacious and modern. You could feel that this place gets a ton of repeat patrons and/or locals. I got the Crazy Garlic Ramen and I was a big fan. It had a ton of flavor, was absolutely delicious and arrived piping hot. The trifecta. The best part of my bowl was definitely the chashu, which is probably the best in all of San Diego, and yes, that's a huge statement. It was well seasoned and smoked to perfection. There was a tad bit more fat than I'd like, but the flavor more than made up for it. The soft boiled egg, noodles and other toppings were okay - nothing to write home about, but they weren't bad.

My partner got the Tahini Old School, which he preferred more than my bowl. I begged to differ, lol, and preferred mines more.

Overall, I would definitely add Buta Japanese Ramen to your rotation, if you're in the nearby area and are looking to try out a new place. The staff was also more than helpful at all times - super attentive and thorough - constantly checking on us and keeping our drinks filled. They even allowed me to customize the firmness of my noodles, which was greatly appreciated.

We were in and out in a very reasonable time. Great job, Buta! Y'all are...