Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai - Hoffman Estates — Restaurant in Schaumburg Township

I've passed by this tiny Japanese restaurant so many times but today I went online and discovered that Ban Nai is one of THE BEST Japanese Ramen restaurants in the Greater Chicago area and since I currently live in Schaumburg I'll be trying all their ramen before I leave. First of all this restaurant was packed but since I came here alone I was seated immediately at the ramen bar but the seat was comfortable and I had time to peruse all my choices carefully while my server politely opened my Ramune for me which is my favorite Japanese soda containing a glass marble within the bottle. It was priced fairly and after some careful consideration I picked my vegetarian ramen which is made from a vegetarian broth and miso base rather than the traditional pork base . The other ramen looks tempting but they are made from a pork broth so you need to read your menu carefully if you wish to keep kosher or halal. I am not kosher so next time here I'll try a few other ramen. The ramen noodles are homemade and have curly patterns and the soup I chose had carrots, cabbage, green vegetables, onion crisp flakes and giant pieces of flavorful tofu. The ramen soup here is artfully prepared and not heavily salty but the broth is extremely rich tasting. You can choose sides and extra toppings to go with your ramen so I picked an egg and spicy chilli scallions. My waitress was kind enough to warn me that the eggs are basted in the pork broth but I'm not kosher so I truly enjoyed the richness and the depth of all these intermingling and varied flavors. Texture and flavor is so important for traditional Japanese ramen and being here today among all the friendly customers and staff was the pinnacle of my Sunday afternoon. Free green tea either served hot or iced comes with your meal so don't be afraid to ask. All the food and ramen dishes are priced low and fairly and the food comes to you promptly and beautiful to the eye. I feel so satisfied after my late lunch that I don't feel the need for more food. Good ramen should make you feel satiate and I could definitely taste the LOVE within each spoonful of broth and every noodle and morsel I savored here today. Ban Nai will surely not disappoint you if you are seeking a genuine and generous ramen soup. I'll be returning soon to try other creative dishes on their menu. Today's experience was...

I’d like to start by saying I’ve always loved their Ramen. They have the best textured ramen and healthiest-feeling broth among the ramen shops around town. By that I mean it’s not greasy nor too salty.

However, this 3 star review is a gentle notice of concern to the punctuality and management of the business given our recent experience with them.

We live around 30 minutes from this Ban Nai. Last night, to quench our ramen crave, we decided to do an hour-long trip pick-up order from them. We had only a two hour opening around dinner time between meetings for our work online so we placed an order an hour ahead to be picked up at 7:10. We know it’s Friday night but given the COVID-19 situation they only have 7-8 tables at the restaurant at most and we thought 1 hour would be a sufficient amount of notice ahead of time.

Turns out, it’s not — when we arrived, they were scrambling around and no one tended to us for a while. One server ended up telling us that everything is backed up and our order needs another 30 minutes. We couldn’t afford to wait any longer so I had to tell him that we need to cancel. They were so busy that the guys refused to cancel the order at the moment and said he’ll put a tab on it and remember to cancel by the end of the day. Now, I had not doubt that this will all work out in the end. We just won’t have ramen for dinner. However, it’s undeniably disappointing to have traveled for an hour to get nothing also have no time left to get something else that’s fresh and warm to eat. We ended up with cold bento from Mitsuwa and had to consume them in the car while rushing back home for the next meeting.

We will continue to support the business and will always rave about their ramen. That being said, I believe more attention needs to be paid to delivering the right information to the customer as well as balancing the capacity of the kitchen and staff to keep things as on track...

I have been a regular customer at this restaurant for a long time and have always enjoyed the food and atmosphere. I am writing this review out of deep concern for an incident I witnessed during my visit on the evening of September 11th, 2025, around 6:30 PM.

While being served by our server, Maryluz, I observed a cook in the kitchen speaking to her in a consistently loud, demeaning, and disrespectful tone. His mannerisms were hostile and unprofessional, and it was clearly causing her significant distress. It's important to note that Maryluz was incredibly attentive, hard-working, and maintained her professionalism throughout this treatment, which was very admirable.

As a customer, this was extremely uncomfortable to witness and significantly detracted from our meal. I also noted that another couple seated near us immediately took notice and appeared equally disturbed by the cook's aggressive behavior. What was the most disappointing was witnessing the other 3 male cooks stand and watch this happen, but say nothing.

What is most concerning is that this appears to be a repeated pattern. I recall witnessing very similar treatment of another new employee approximately a year ago. This suggests a deeper cultural issue in the kitchen that needs to be addressed.

I am sharing this feedback because I believe every employee deserves a respectful work environment, and because this behavior also negatively impacts the dining experience for customers. I value your restaurant and am sharing this in the hope that management will address this internally. I want to continue dining here and enjoying the great food, but not at the expense of an...