Butao Ramen

I finally ate at Butao Ramen for the first time this weekend. I’ve been dying to try it for the longest time because of all the hype. I’ve been putting it off, thinking the ramen cray would die down in hopes for a shorter wait time. Its difficult to find time to go during the week since there’s always a mad line up and because of Butao’s limited supply of ramen, its somewhat unpredictable as to when they’ll run out! Butao only serves 300 bowls of ramen a day so they say. As soon as they’ve sold out, they close up shop.

I was determined to see what all this talk was about so I woke up early on a Saturday morning arriving at Butao. Time on the iPhone said about 10:55 am (they open at 11 am). As we pulled up, they started serving their first round of customers and a line of about 15 people had formed. We waited for approximately 45 minutes under the scorching sun. Butao provides water and small plastic fans to try and accommodate their patient customers. The line quickly grew and soon after, a second line of about 20 people formed on the other side of the sidewalk.

While waiting in line, we killed some time by examining the menu and filling out our order forms. The order form allows you to customize your ramen exactly to your liking including: choosing the flavor potency of your ramen, the oil content of your broth, the amount of garlic and onions added, the level of spiciness, and the texture of the noodles. For additional costs, you can add extra items to your ramen such as char siu or BBQ pork slices, a soft boiled egg, seaweed, onions, tree mushrooms, and extra noodles.