One of my favorite things to eat is ramen and I enjoy going out trying different ramen restaurants or restaurants that serve ramen. I chose this subject not only because I love ramen, but because I am a regular patron of going to places with ramen. The three establishments I will be discussing are 1) Santouka Ramen 2) Under Belly and 3) Ramen Yamadaya and I’ll be covering their layout, customer service, and the quality of their product which is my bowl of ramen. A layout of any type of business establishment is very important because when you have that first initial walk in; the layout sets the tone and culture of the business as well as the tone of your experience. Customer Service is a very big part when it comes to your own personal experience because not only will it make or break your perception of a specific establishment, but it will make or break the establishment. An example would be sharing your perceptions by writing reviews or word of mouth of your experience. And the biggest factor that plays into any type of food establishment is the quality of their product. Whether the quality is terrible or amazing, this will be the largest part of your decision when you’ve decided what type of culture the establishment within your own perception. Santouka Ramen is located in Mitsuwa, which is a Japanese supermarket, and it’s not necessarily in a restaurant but more of part of a “food court”. With Santouka’s location and layout, it seems to me more of an afterthought if you’ve decided to dine here because it is part of a “food court” in a supermarket. But this small establishment does pull you in because first of all, you’re curious and when you’re curious you’ll take a look. When you take a look, you can actually see their display case of what kind of food they are serving and they look delicious; this is what pulls you in. Seating at Santouka is shared by a neighboring food establishment; let’s not forget that this is in a food court, so seating can be difficult and you’ll just have to have a lot of patience once a table is free or you can go during non-foot traffic time. As far as their customer service, their customer service is neither bad nor good because since it is in a food court there is already an expectation that they are just there to take your order is a civilized manner. I don’t expect a waiter to come bring my food and ask how my day was because the culture of this establishment is more of an afterthought and the fact that it is in a food court, I don’t have a big expectation for amazing customer service. The quality of their product, the ramen, is very good. Although it comes in a smaller bowl than most ramen establishments, it is still very filling. The presentation of the bowl of ramen is pretty much standard and I know this just because I’ve been to a lot of places that have ramen on their menu.
Under Belly is a ramen establishment in downtown San Diego, located in Little Italy. My first thought was “a ramen place in Little Italy? Weird” but as I suspected when the first time I had visit- it was more aiming towards a younger and “hipper” type of crowed. The way they laid out this establishment gave it a bar like feel and since it is located in a very popular spot in San Diego, it screamed that this place is “hip”. Also, Under Belly is a fairly small restaurant and can only fit about 25 patrons and so it is not ideal to come here during your busy foot-traffic time and because it is located in Little Italy, Parking can be an issue. The customer service at Under Belly is pretty good, but because it is more for a younger type of crowd their ordering system is not your traditional sit-down restaurant. The way it works here is that before you are even seated, you order and pay first and then you are seated. It’s almost as if it is a way of a food court establishment, but in a restaurant. Also, when they bring your ramen to you it is your job to pick up the bowl and place it on your table because they do