JINYA Ramen Bar

Fantastic ramen! I get the creamy vegan and add extra spinach, and chicken potstickers. It’s spicy, creamy and so good. I eat here to go at least 2 times a month. They make tofu at table.

The food is very good, the service is great and there is a large outdoor patio. They would get 5 stats if they were a bit generous with their soup portions. This is a ramen joint so I think the broth should at least cover the noodles. I made a suggestion to management and was told that this is the way it is and has always been. I guess it wasn’t worth making a customer happy and giving me a few oz’s of broth.

This was my new ramen place over on the WestSide. I can’t tell you how dissapointed I was this evening. They wouldn’t put me in a booth and offered me either outside or the bar — neither of which I wanted. A couple came up and where seated in the booth. The «manger» said that i could be seated at the booth and that he was doing me a favor by offering me a bar seat or outside. I was shocked that he would say that. I said that was bullshit and so lame. He said he didn’t need my business and asked me to leave… I’m sorry but WTF!!!

What can I say other than its hard not to eat here more than twice a week! Simplicity and consistency come to mind whenever I think about Jinya. The service is welcoming, friendly, and able to assist in ordering when you have questions. Fun for night time and quick for lunch! What’s not to love!

My joy at finding a Ramen House that can make Tonkotsu broth without MSG would have given this place 10 stars!
But I must temper my delight.
Not because anything was terribly wrong with the experience, but because I can’t just go running around dropping a perfect 5-​star review on any place that fits my dietary restrictions.
Sadly, MSG gives me a terrible stomach ache. It’s not some made-​up fad for me. If I could eat it, I would gobble it all up. But I can’t, and consequently, I can’t find much in the way of edible ramen, outside of what my wife and I can make at home.
Sometimes a place will have a miso broth, but it’s not the same.
Jinya had the real pork broth without MSG. It was very, very good, and I will gladly drive whatever distance is required to get this again and again.
On the dining side, though, there were a few issues:
Due to crowding, they had 3 – 4 different servers working each table. It was confusing, since none of the servers knew what conversations the previous visit had produced. Our first server, for instance, told me they could make a hard-​boiled egg, but that it would take a few minutes. Our second server said they had no such thing at hard-​boiled eggs. 10 minutes later, a sort-​of hard boiled egg came out in the adorable shape of a bear (see my picture). It’s a small thing, but slightly disorganized is a little annoying for a dine-​in guest.
The doors to the outside produce a pretty significant vacuum, and we weren’t even sitting near to them. Something to consider … maybe get some sort of ventilation to move the gradient around so it doesn’t cause that massive WHISK every time someone opens the front door.
The floor is lumpy, which means all the chairs and tables are just slightly wobbly. Not much can be done to level off a concrete floor near the ocean, but another check mark for maybe doing take-​out next time.
And the tables are too close together. I must have heard the guy next to me tell his date that she can’t, and I quote, «go out there and kill it every time.» I can only assume he was trying to tell her that she’s not the greatest in the world, which isn’t a great attitude to have, and I got a laugh out of it, but it’s still not maybe a conversation I wanted to hear.
Love the ramen, not a huge fan of the atmosphere. Our waitress was insanely friendly at least the one that we had most of the time. I would probably try eating at the outdoor fire pit next time or maybe just doing take-​out.

As a picky vegetarian (I don’t even eat tofu, chunky mushrooms or fresh spinach), I have had challenges finding a good ramen place. Even if I find one I rarely have more than one choice. So, I was pretty spoilt for options here because of the combination of broth, types of noodles and the veggie options. Their creamy broth is made of cabbage and has a nice flavor to it punctuated by their garlic oil. The poached eggs were the icing on the ramen! Happy to finally expand my list of ramen places I can go to! Nice and friendly staff and casual dining experience. I will be going back and probably trying their other locations too!

Pretty bad.
Zero flava’ on the ramen. Cheap sake for TEN doll-​hairs. And one of the waitresses was buggin’ a bit with sellin’ the desserts. Hard.
Who gets dessert at a ramen place. Girrrl, pleez.

BEST RAMEN EVER!!! We ordered the creamy, spicy shrimp tempura for an appetizer. It was delicious! Then we ordered the #3 ramen bowl and a spicy umami miso ramen bowl and added broccoli. We have eaten at 5 different ramen places in the last two weeks and Jinya is by far the tastiest and most satisfying. We will definitely be back!

I just had dinner at this place.
LOOOOVE IT!
Amazing service, our guy was Ken, super sweet, patience (lately I feel servers has no patience at all) fast, friendly.
The host was super nice too.
The place is very casual, so don’t expect anything wow.
The food was fantastic, we ordered, seaweed salad, edamame and the spicy chicken ramen bowl, pork ramen bowl. I like the chicken ramen but the pork was much better.
Prices I think are great, its affordable, cool vibe, great service.
This place for me is to go when I don’t really want to do much at night and just have a very casual dinner in the middle of the week.
I will definitely come back to this place.
Love it!!!

They’re tempura shrimp is incredible!
Chicken ramen is tasty, as well.
I have this combo at least once a week. would probably order it more frequently if sodium was not an issue.

Don’t let the flames from the patio heaters distract you – this is a pretty solid ramen place.
— Ordered the tonkatsu assari ramen. The thick noodles are very good, perfect consistency.
The broth is not overly oily and fatty – some might not like that, but I think it’s a healthy alternative. You don’t feel guilty having a spoonful or two.
TIP: make sure to ask for extra fresh garlic – they’ll serve it to you on the side as peeled cloves with a garlic press. For big eaters, consider getting a bowl of extra noodles, it’s only $ 1.50 more.
AMBIENCE: Yeah, it’s a pretty trendy cool looking place. My friends and I came on a pretty cold night for Southern California, but the patio heaters did their job keeping us warm. If you really would like indoor seating, don’t come in a group larger than 4, or during peak times.
SERVICE: Service is very good. Our server was very friendly and helpful explaining our menu. When the kitchen got busy, she apologized and explained, and got us our food as quickly as possible.
PARKING: Of course, the downside of Main Street… there’s a city lot behind the building (entrance on Hollister Ave) that’s $ 1/​hour.
I think Jinya does an excellent job creating a great ramen restaurant with a great experience. If you want a claustrophobic place, go to Daikokuya. If you want a long line, go to Tsujita. If you want a lot of shouting, go to Shinsengumi. If you want a food court, go to Santouka. If you want an experience, go to Jinya!

Prime Main St. location, cute out and indoor seating areas and a diverse menu.
If you’re like me and don’t eat meat, your options here are really limited. They only make one type of vegetable broth (which ended up being super watery). The actual noodles weren’t too tasty either.
Two of my friends ordered the regular ramen with meat broth and weren’t exactly obsessed either.
I did, however enjoy a few of their appetizers such as the shrimp toast.
I’ll be coming back to try more variations of their ramen but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.

I was looking for good Ramen, and noticed this pace on Main Street in Santa Monica. I decided to try it, since it had great curb appeal. There’s a large outdoor dining area, and at night it looks very inviting with the big flame heaters.
I thought parking was going to be an issue, until I drove around the block and saw the huge metered parking lot behind the buildings. Plenty of parking for $ 1 an hour, however I don’t understand why the self-​serve parking machines have no lighting at night.
As I approached the restaurant I saw there were people waiting out front, so this place must be good! I added my name to the list and waited about 15 minutes until we were called. I would have preferred to sit inside, but there is very limited indoor seating. The hostess pointed us to a table in the back of the patio, right next to an ugly open door that leads to the alley.
The table was slightly slanted, due to the slope of the patio (just something to keep in mind when the bowl of piping hot ramen comes). Actually, once you’re sitting in the patio seating, it doesn’t look nearly as nice as when you’re driving by. In fact, they have the most uncomfortable chairs I’ve ever sat in.
We waited a good 10 minutes before a waitress finally brought over menus. Luckily I had my iPhone, since the only lighting on the patio are those big flame heaters. Once we ordered, the food came out pretty quick. We started with the Shrimp Toast, which was nothing more than a piece of shrimp between two pieces of toasted white bread, served with some kind of mayo dipping sauce. Nothing special. We also had an order of the Sauteed Shishito Peppers, which were a bit overcooked. Again, nothing special.
I was looking forward to the Wonton Chicken Ramen that I ordered. It was OK. Not bad. But I’ve had much better at other ramen places. The broth just tasted like it was missing something, and the noodles were a bit overcooked. The wontons were OK, but the meat inside tasted like pork (which I hope it wasn’t, since this is a chicken ramen).
Once we were finished, the plates were cleared quickly, but then we sat waiting for another 15 minutes for the check to arrive. I finally asked the busboy to bring it. Once it came, I didn’t bother waiting for the waitress to come back, so I just walked it up the register myself. After all, my parking meter was almost up.
Overall, this was not a great experience. Poor service, average meal, uncomfortable chairs, and no lighting. I won’t be coming back.

Finally a Ramen restaurant in Santa Monica. I feel it’s fair a 3 out of 5 stars as I’m a fan of Daikakuya and other delicious Ramen restaurants.
No line for the restaurant… Service was quick and the place was clean. I say it was a 30 round trip from the time we came in to the time we ordered and pay the billed.
This is a good place to go if you are craving Ramen and don’t feel like going to Daikakuya.
Hubby and I ordered some appetizers and the pork ramen.

This place is okay, as a fan of Daikokuya /​Tsujita Annex and other popular ramen spots in Los Angeles I feel that a ³⁄₅ is a fair rating. You will not find people lining up out the door here looking for ramen unlike the other places I just mentioned, but its location is next to close to Santa Monica beach so it is very convenient if you don’t want to make the far drive to Sawtelle or downtown LA.
We ordered quite a few plates during our visit:
— Jinya Pork Bun (no complain here, but it didn’t jump off the page in terms of flavor)
— Spicy Creamy Shrimp Tempura (I actually really liked this one, recommended)
— Pork Gyoza (didn’t like it, felt like it was one of those store bought frozen gyozas that was just heated up and served)
THE RAMEN:
As a garlic and thick noodle lover this was the obvious pick for me. The «Cha Cha Cha» is what they call it and the ingredients: pork chashu, pork back fat, seasoned egg, bean sprouts, chopped onion, green onion, fish powder and Korean powder.
I requested to remove the bean sprouts, extra pork chashu. The broth itself was pretty good however the pork meat was not as flavorful. The ambiance of the restaurant was good, since we were the only ones there on a Thursday at 6pm. Can’t complain about the service since again, we were the only ones there so they came in constantly to ask if we wanted anything else.
I would recommend this place if you wanted ramen and didn’t want to drive away from Santa Monica /​Venice area and also didn’t want to wait in line. However, if you are looking for flavor and better ramen head a bit east to Sawtelle which is about 4 miles away: Tatsu Ramen, Tsujita Annex or Daikokuya are my recomendations if you decide to drive to Sawtelle.

I think I may have parked illegally at the complex next door, oops! But I didn’t get a ticket! Parking can be a pain, but there are meters in the back.
I think this place is a chain and I had been to the Valley location. Remember liking it but it was too long ago.
The number one customer choice ramen was the spicy Chicken and I got a medium spicy. Overall very tasty but I think like my phở (prefer beef), I prefer pork instead of chicken. Just adds to the broth and flavor, but still very good. The broth was very tasty and the noodles were thin and a good texture. Not too much in the noodles — just seaweed, green onions and bean sprouts. Very simple and delicious. Gyoza was also tasty. Came out at the same time as the ramen, but its pretty typical. Service was very good.

Finally, a good ramen place in Santa Monica! They have a beautiful outdoor patio, delicious ramen broth, and decent service. Only downside is that they have limited parking, of course. You are either gonna have to park on the street with a meter or park in a lot and just walk.
FOOD:
I love their tonkotsu ramen which has a beautiful, rich, and flavorful pork broth. The bowl comes with a silky and runny egg and thin and chewy noodles. You can add as much spiciness you would like and you can add fresh crushed up garlic as well which adds a great punch of flavor.
I seriously couldn’t get enough of the broth which wasn’t overly salty or spicy. I literally drank the entire bowl of it! (and I typically don’t do that lol). Both my boyfriend and I couldn’t stop raving about it. Trust me, you’re going to want to try it. Just be warned, the garlic flavor will linger around for a while lol.
We also shared their pork gyoza. It was tasty as well but the outside of the gyoza was still a bit mushy. I prefer my gyozas crunchy on the outside but the inside had a lot of park and veggies. It is a nice appetizer to start off with.
SERVICE:
I came in for lunch which was efficient. The food was brought out quickly and our server kept checking up on us. I have been told that the dinner crowd is a lot more busy and the staff is a little less attentive.
Overall, this is a new restaurant and I think that they are doing very well. I hope that service and food will just keep getting better and better. I am already a fan and can’t wait for my next bowl of ramen :) it is a great thing to eat after a night of drinking!

I ordered the #3 (Pork ramen with thick noodles) + corn and it was the best ramen I’ve ever had!
Be sure to press garlic into your broth (especially those of you complaining about the broth being bland). They offer a variety of seasonings too so «bland» is if you don’t cater your bowl to your liking.
I had a craving for ramen one day and I wanted to try a new place so I found this spot. It was 100+ degrees out and there was only one other person there. I got my ramen and it was fantastic. Thought it was a fluke! So I came back after thinking about it for an entire week and ordered the same thing. Still amazing.
New favorite place to go for ramen! Great service as well :-)

I knew I should have gone to Sawtelle.
When I found out about a ramen place in Santa Monica, I was glad I could get my ramen fix so close to work. Some co-​workers and I decided to check this place out, but as soon as I saw how empty it was at noon, I started getting worried. I looked at the menu and saw a smörgåsbord of items ranging from ramen to kale lollipops to chicharrones — YES. CHICHARRONES at a ramen spot, and it even comes with a poached egg right at the center. I HAD to get it just to see what this nonsense entailed.
The ramen was OKAY. The broth was so thick and oily that a film developed in the back of my throat. The noodles were soft and thin, which was the best part about the whole thing. I wouldn’t have that ramen again though. The chicharrones were absolutely ridiculous. They weren’t crispy, some red hot sauce was haphazardly splashed on top of them, and that poached egg wasn’t even poached. I poked into the open egg and a chunk of white goop fell out, leaving a watery egg that was way too sad looking to eat. But seriously. PIG EARS WHY.
The staff is young, and they look like nice kids. Even the cooks are young, which was a cause for concern too. But they forgot our additional orders twice. Service was just okay too.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a quick lunch with C-​level ramen, come here. If you’re looking for authentic Japanese ramen, go to Sawtelle.

Great Ramen Bar with young friendly staff, cool outdoor area, and really good ramen that’s very filling with great bang for your buck.
We were at Jinya a few months ago on the night they first could serve booze, and it was fun seeing how excited the staff were at this. Hope they’re still kicking along nicely next time we’re back Santa Monica way.