Where to Find Atlanta’s Best Ramen This Winter
Nothing's cozier.
In addition to brunch, chicken wings, and strip clubs, Atlanta is absolutely obsessed with ramen, and rightfully so. For starters, the classic Japanese dish is downright delicious, and it also works as the perfect meal during the winter—whether you’re trying to save money for all of your holiday shopping or looking for a tasty way to brave the chilly weather. If all of this talk about ramen already has your mouth watering, we’ve got you covered with a list of places to satisfy your craving.
Underwood Hills
Sakura Ramen Bar is one of the original Chattahoochee Food Works stalls, and over the past several months, the classic ramen has been building a great reputation for itself. Sakura offers everything from Tonkotsu ramen to vegan, brothless ramen with beyond meatballs, but if you need a place to start, go for the Tonkotsu Red Ramen, with spicy miso pork broth, chashu pork, kimchi collards, and wood ear mushrooms.
How to order: Dine-in, order online via ToastTab.
Decatur
Brush may boast some of the best sushi in the city, but you’d be doing yourself a disservice by overlooking the Downtown Decatur restaurant’s ramen menu. Brush is a restaurant that prides itself in retaining the simplicity of its food while elevating the flavor, and that’s especially evident with its Duck Shoyu—a dark and mouth-watering ramen with chicken and duck broth, seared miso duck chashu, bamboo shoot, scallion, and yuzu kosho.
How to order: Dine-in, order online.
Multiple locations
Whether you're at its Westside or Emory Village location, you can expect to feel right at home at Wagay because, after all, the local restaurant’s name literally means “Our Home” in Japanese. Try Wagaya’s Chicken Chintan, Truffle Veggie, or White Tonkotsu ramen, and if you’re a sushi fiend, save your money by getting the Ramen + Two special, which consists of your choice of ramen and your choice of two rolls (California, Spicy Tuna, Crunchy Yellowtail, or Avocado Salmon).
How to order: Dine-in or order online via ChowNow.
Smyrna
Head to the ’burbs to slurp on some incredibly rich, flavor-packed ramen. The tonkotsu variety is packed with treats like enoki mushrooms, sautéed cabbage, chopped spring onions, chives, toasted seaweed, bamboo shoots, soft boiled egg, and torched chashu pork. There’s also irresistible Korean fried chicken tossed in the founder’s signature sauce.
How to order: Dine-in or order online.
West Midtown
From its vibe to its impressive assortment of local brews, there’s a lot to love about Pijiu Belly, but nothing is coming remotely close to touching the Pan-Asian gastropub’s ramen. Do yourself a favor and order Pijiu Belly’s unique Spicy Bulgogi (Red chili pepper broth with bulgogi beef, kimchi, bamboo shoots, scallions, and bok choy) or Spicy Dumpling ramen (spicy pork bone broth, dumplings, spinach, zucchini, carrots, and scallions).
How to order: Dine-in, call 404-343-6828 for pickup, and order online for delivery.
Sandy Springs
Okiboru made a name for itself in LA by becoming the city’s only Michelin-rated ramen spot in 2019. The West Coast location is closed until further notice, but Atlantans can fortunately still enjoy Okiboru’s famous tsukemen, also known as dipping ramen. For the uninitiated, the noodles are rinsed cold and served with a bowl of hot broth on the side. Try the spicy tori paitan, made with spicy rich chicken and seafood broth, chicken karaage, spinach, and soft boiled egg.
How to order: Dine-in or order online.
Midtown
Located in Midtown Place, Kinnotori Ramen Bar specializes in tori paitan, creamy chicken broth. The totally slurp-worthy noodles are made in-house. The honey miso ramen is a sweet-savory combo topped with bean sprouts, green onions, sweet corn, and a seasoned egg. Treat yourself and top it with the fried chicken.
How to order: Dine-in or order online.
Midtown
After the folks behind Eight Sushi Lounge on the west side started winning the Atlanta Ramen Festival in 2016, they realized they’d better get to the money. We now have E Ramen +, which has that brand-new vibe thanks to clean interior design that includes a gorgeous marble and wood bar. Sit here and get yourself a bowl of butter-garlic lobster ramen, in lobster miso broth, because there’s literally nothing better you can do for yourself. They’ve got plenty of other options that impress (brothless, vegan, spicy chicken, and more), but seriously -- lobster ramen. Yes, $20 a bowl. You deserve it and so does Atlanta.
How to order: Dine-in or order online.
Doraville
Located in Doraville’s Peachtree Pavilion Shopping Center, Shoya is delicious whether you dine in their cozy confines or take it to go. There are several types of ramen on the menu, including soy, miso, shio, and tonkotsu broths. The miso butter corn ramen is especially delicious. While you’re at it, order a few of their kushiyaki skewers.
How to order: Dine-in or order takeout or delivery through Chowbus.
Old Fourth Ward
Guy Wong's Miso Izakaya held Atlanta down for years until its closing in 2018. But what we lost on Edgewood Ave was gained by Ton Ton, Wong’s Ponce City Market noodle bowl bar. The hanging red and white banners stealthily cloak you and whoever else is lost in the almost-sauce-rich broth of the Hakata Tonkatsu, the lighter Shoyu chicken broth with pork belly, the brothless Invincible Dan Dan Mazeman, or the vegetarian Yasai with shredded stir-fried cabbage and carrots. Add one of the “bombs” (butter garlic corn, chili paste) to step things up even richer or hotter.
How to order: Dine-in or order online for takeout or delivery.
Duluth
Do you like fried chicken? How about ramen? Well guess what... you’ve found the promised land where these two things come together. Get the Chicken Karaage ramen, whose perfectly fried nuggets come on the side. Or get the Sutamina version, which comes with a raw egg, minced garlic, crunchy tempura crisps, and spinach for just $2 more. Or just keep coming back and try every style of ramen on the menu, multiple times. You can’t miss; this is seriously some of the city’s best ramen, and the long ride out to Pleasant Hill for anybody not near Pleasant Hill will be pleasantly rewarded, though probably not by traffic later.
How to order: Dine-in or order online.
Buckhead
Not going to Jinya just because you insist on eating local may work in the case of, say, Cook Out, but not if you like really good ramen that looks too sexy to eat and tastes even better. Do the “Cha Cha Cha” (literally and figuratively), which is fish and pork broth with pork chashu and lots of garlic, or the thicker-noodled shrimp wonton ramen, which gets shrimp and chicken wontons inside a shrimp and pork broth. Then go somewhere super-local if you really feel that guilty for eating some of the best ramen in town from a chain that just happens to have originated in California.
How to order: Dine-in or order online.
Midtown
The modern cafe is best known for their dipping ramen, but the real star is the soy milk miso. It happens to be vegetarian, but is incredibly rich and satisfying (especially on a cold day). It’s topped with poached egg, corn, white cabbage, house chili sauce, and the best part, a fried shiitake mushroom. Don’t leave without grabbing a few treats from Momo Cafe located inside the restaurant.
How to order: Dine-in or order online.
Grant Park
From the same team as Salaryman, Ramen Station serves brothy delights in a funky, blue-and-yellow aesthetic. Standouts on the menu include the vegan miso with corn, mushrooms, bean sprouts, and Impossible meat—and the spicy tonkotsu with creamy pork broth and house-made spicy paste.
How to order: Dine-in, order online.
Multiple locations
What started as a stall tucked away in the back of EAV’s We Suki Suki has morphed into a mini ramen chain with locations across Metro Atlanta as well as one location in Houston. Lifting Noodles slings incredibly flavorful ramen in combinations like the seafood ramen with spicy pork broth, shrimp, mussels, squid, noodles, corn, and black mushrooms. The menu is otherwise limited, but if you want an extra snack, the crispy veggie spring rolls are a great way to go.
How to order: Order online.
Grant Park
There are 15 adventurous ramen options on the menu at restaurateur Alice Wong’s house of noodles and iron-griddled foods -- 15 if you count spicy versions of a few popular items like the broth-free Zha Jiang, which is minced chicken with a soft-boiled egg in black bean sauce. Not only do the recipes successfully push beyond familiar territory (see/eat the honey-roasted Asian BBQ Char Siu), but they’ve got Asian-style beer made by Andy Tan, brewmaster of the always-amazing Chamblee brewpub Hopstix (which also has a great miso ramen bowl on its menu).
How to order: Dine-in or order online through Toasttab.
East Lake
It’s always nice to have fewer choices when you’re just in dire need of a bowl of noodle soup. With d ramen bowls on the menu, and the trust of anyone who went to Son of a Bear and Taiyo Ramen before they closed, Michael Lo and George Yu are keeping it simple enough to be eaten as easily and enthusiastically. Named after Japanese white-collar workers who work way too much and are known for being a little too happy to be corporate types, Salaryman will have you drowning yourself in Tonkotsu broth or filling your face with the scallop and crab meat seafood ramen: for every bowl they sell, $1 goes to a monthly changing local charity.
How to order: Dine-in or order online.