Ton-Ichi Ramen — Restaurant in St. Charles

First time trying a ramen resturant and we decided on here. Entering its a cool joint with appropriate expected decor. We were greated and seated right away but a nice lady. I did have to google alot of what was on the menu, which is no fault of the resturant. We ordered an appetizer (pork gyoza) which was amazing and reasonably priced. I did have high expectations of the ramen after the fabulous appetizer, while the presentation was great it just didn't quite hit the mark. I ordered the spicy ramen and it was pretty bland as well as the other items in the soup. Noodles were comparable to the make at home ones and I was expecting more of what the menu stated of a thick noodle. I'd say the egg was probably the best part of the ramen with the most flavor. It was a large portion for the money though and did fill us up. I do have a few qualms with this place. They only have chopsticks on the table and I am definately not the greatest at these so eating was a task. Yes, I get I could have asked for silverware but I don't believe I should have to. It was not offered or provided beforehand. Service was just OK, and interaction was very very minimal. You get absolutely no extra effort from the workers and it makes it uninviting. It made it a bit awkward because there was not really a personality with anyone we encountered. I get it's a job but it was cut and dried here is your food, OK bye. I had even mentioned to the lady it was our first time and nothing.... I was not a fan of the fact they do not notify you or have it posted that drinks do not have free refills like most resturants. Once we got our ramen we did not see the Waitress lady until she dropped the check on our table and it was just assumed we were finished and we were not asked if we wanted anything else prior. We did have intentions of trying the desert but decided to not even bother at that point. On the check this resturant suggests tips based on the after tax amount which I just find as a shady practice that just doesn't sit well with me. I am usually a 25% to 30% tipper but found myself even questioning to leave even 15% for lack of service and the overall just lackluster vibe . I decided to take the higher road and leave 20%. As we were leaving the man (not our server) grabbed the check and looked unhappy before we even walked out the door. We encountered the man a few times during our visit and he just gave the less than thrilled to be there persona. I'm glad I tried it, but for a birthday dinner it was very disappointing and killed the mood all the way around. We would not revisit this establishment and overall it was just very...

So I came in around noon for my lunch break. I wanted to try this spot out because I’ve heard pretty good things about them. 6 hours into my shift I thought, “why not?”. The place had 3 tables seated so I was happy to see that it wouldn’t be a long wait. We get our table and we’re presented with the menu. A couple minutes later, the waitress takes our order. We get the chicken buns, seaweed salad, and the takoyaki. I enjoyed all of the appetizers, so I was excited for the ramen. My girlfriend orders the spicy chicken, and I the spicy tonkotsu. Nothing out of the ordinary. It was just a matter of waiting for the ramen and that was it… My girlfriend received hers first. I thought to myself, that’s odd. Typically dishes all come out together so you can eat together. I thought to myself, “Well, this does look like a family gig. I can’t expect it to be in point.” I waited a few minutes and nothing. My girlfriends waiting politely for me to get my ramen before she starts digging in. At around the 8 minute mark, I insist that she eat. It wasn’t a big deal. It definitely looked good so I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait. I thought I might have ordered something complicated so maybe it takes a bit longer. So I waited…and waited…waited so long that I hadn’t noticed that a little over 20 minutes passed and my lunch break was almost over. My girlfriends dish had gone cold from waiting with me. I waited long enough. I went up to see what the status was and saw that nothing was set on the counter…they had forgotten to put my order in. At this point I was not only starving but I was also upset that I had waited so long for nothing. Not even the courtesy of the waitress coming by and saying, “your food will be out shortly”, of course not, because they hadn’t even put my order in. At the end I asked to cancel the order, obviously, and just provide us with the check. The host at the front says, “ if you see an issue on your check, please let us know”, and I’m looking at it like, wow, $59 for those three appetizers and a single ramen? Oof, pretty steep I guess but after reviewing the items I saw that he was STILL trying to charge me for the ramen I didn’t even receive… I let the host know like, “Why are you charging me for something I didn’t even get?”. He responds with, “Oh, you didn’t get it”?… and he was the guy I told to cancel the order to because I was waiting so long for it. Did you not understand or are you trying to finesse me right now? Overall a pretty bad experience, which is upsetting considering that what I actually had was...

We went here to eat lunch and it wasn’t super busy. The food was great! We ordered the chicken karaage and fried oyster and it was pretty crispy. Eat these with white rice and it makes it even better. We also had Tonkotsu Rich Garlic Ramen. We enjoyed it very much. Lots of flavor!

The place is very clean and parking wasn’t a problem. They might want to reprint their menu because it’s not properly maintained. It was pretty crumpled up and looked worn out. This place has great food but it would be nice to have a presentable menu to reflect that.

The older guy, who I think might be one of the owners (I don’t know), didn’t feel welcoming. He took our order and brought our food. He didn’t smile and say much. He just had a straight face without any expression. Not sure if there was a language barrier or maybe he was just having a bad day but the older woman who greeted us was much friendlier and welcoming. Overall, I liked the food and we didn’t wait too long. We will...