When there’s a chill in the air, nothing beats a bowl of flavorful soup filled with perfectly cooked noodles. And in this foggy city, ramen is the perfect year-round comfort food. Despite its overwhelming popularity, San Francisco visitors have no problem lining up at ramen shops across the city—often for an hour or more—to get in on this popular food trend.
Ramen in San Francisco ranges from classic pork-based tonkotsu to less-common dishes like dipping ramen and vegan noodle soups. From Japantown to Hayes Valley to Bernal Heights, use this guide to discover 15 top ramen restaurants in San Francisco for dine-in, takeout, or delivery.
Marufuku Ramen, Japantown
Must Try: Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen
This ramen is made from boiling pork bones and is paired with ultra-thin noodles.
Don’t let Marufuku’s mall location dissuade you; it’s arguably the most popular soup in San Francisco. There’s always a wait at this Japantown spot, but you can add your name to the list and shop until your table is up. Known best for Hakata-style ramen with creamy tonkotsu broth and thin noodles, Marufuku also specializes in paitan, a ramen made with rich chicken broth. Skip take-out and visit in person to experience its sleek, modern dining room.
Nojo Ramen Tavern, Hayes Valley
Must Try: Soy Sauce Ramen
Available for dine-in only, this signature dish comes topped with a slow-braised whole chicken leg and thick ramen noodles.
If tonkotsu (pork-based) ramen is not your jam, Nojo Ramen Tavern may be your vibe. It deliberately strays from the tonkotsu trend to focus on fowl. Its bowls feature rich chicken paitan paired with wide noodles in a recipe developed at its sister restaurant in Japan. Feeling adventurous? Try adding chicken meatballs or spicy ground chicken to your bowl.
Mensho Tokyo, Tenderloin
Must Try: Tori Paitan Ramen
This dish pairs thick, house-made noodles with a creamy, chicken-based broth.
You’ll wait in line to eat at this ramen hotspot—and it will be worth it. Mensho Tokyo is a chain with restaurants around the world, but it’s not a typical fast-food joint. Here every bowl is made to order and packed with flavor. If you like spice (and love garlic), order the Garlic Knock Out (G.K.O.) with or without meat. This potent dish features three kinds of garlic and Mensho’s spicy sauce, so you must be committed to heat to eat it.
Taishoken, Mission District
Must Try: Tsukemen Ramen
When you finish the noodles of this dippable ramen, servers pour hot broth into the dipping sauce to end the meal.
Taishoken is noteworthy because it’s one of the few San Francisco ramen spots to offer tsukemen, otherwise known as dip ramen. This trend of eating cold noodles dipped in hot broth started in Japan and has now arrived in the United States. The noodles are made fresh daily on machines brought from Japan and taste best when devoured quickly—as they contain no preservatives. Another bonus: reservations are available.
Hinodeya Ramen Bar, Japantown, Union Square, and Downtown
Must Try: House Ramen
A dashi-based broth paired with whole-wheat noodles, pork, bamboo shoots, and a soft-boiled egg.
These walk-in-only ramen shops specialize in soup with dashi broth, a stock made with bonito skipjack tuna (katsuo) and konbu seaweed. Just add your name to the iPad when you arrive and wait for a seat. Love seafood? Hinodeya offers garlicky ramen filled with naturally harvested littleneck clams. Vegetarians will find some of the best vegan ramen in San Francisco in a bowl topped with kale, acorn squash, and inari.
Ippudo, SoMa
Must Try: Shiromaru Classic
It’s an 18-hour tonkotsu pork broth paired with thin noodles, pork belly, mushrooms, pickled ginger, and scallions.
Ippudo may be a chain but it’s a respected institution for ramen in San Francisco. Unique to this restaurant, noodle firmness is customizable from soft to firm. A few iterations of ramen are offered, with styles ranging from classic to modern to spicy. If you can’t decide, simply order its pork-based tonkotsu broth with anything.
Noodle in a Haystack, Richmond District
Must Try: Tasting Menu
This curated menu is the restaurant’s only option, but it’s worth the cost if you fancy yourself a ramen connoisseur.
Originally a pop-up ramen experience, Noodle in a Haystack now has its first brick-and-mortar shop. Tsuta Ramen SF’s closure left a hole in the high-end ramen market, and this restaurant has filled it. A maximum of 10 guests can enjoy the six- to eight-course tasting menu from the indoor counter space. The menu changes often but you can expect a medley of eclectic appetizers followed by ramen and ending with dessert. Note: the menu’s from-scratch nature means dietary restrictions, such as shellfish, vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free, cannot be accommodated.
Torraku, Potrero Hill and Lombard Street
Must Try: Tonkotsu Super Paitan Ramen
Boiled in a pot for 15 hours, this pork-and-chicken soup is served with roasted pork shoulder or braised pork belly.
This former food truck has been dishing up delicious vegan ramen in San Francisco since 2016. Torraku has popular meat-based options, but the veggie and vegan editions are also standouts. Each vegetarian bowl comes filled with garlic miso broth and is topped with corn, bamboo shoots, cabbage, tofu, boiled egg, and bean sprouts. If you’re a vegan, skip the egg and add a vegan tofu patty.
Ramenwell, Mission District
Must Try: Signature Pork Ramen
It features tender pork slices paired with 20-hour pork broth and egg ramen noodles.
Ramenwell’s vibrant aesthetic and seriously good food makes it a necessary part of this list. The restaurant is best known for pork ramen, but the vegetarian mushroom-lover ramen and the vegan ramen are also popular. The vegan is extra special because it uses locally sourced wheat flour vegan noodles in a savory mushroom shoyu broth. Whatever you do, don’t miss the taro soft serve for dessert.
Coco’s Ramen, Bernal Heights
Must Try: Curry Ramen
Choose your spice with a bowl of this soup made from a curry base mixed with pork and chicken stock.
Coco’s is worth visiting for its variety of ramen options. First, choose from eight customizable types (miso, shoyu, shio, curry, tonkotsu, seafood, veggie, or chicken), then request your level of spiciness—some love adding black garlic sauce to the broth for boosted umami complexity. Finally, pair the broth with chewy noodles and meat ranging from tempura shrimp to fall-apart-in-your-mouth pork belly.
Ushi Taro, Sunset District
Must Try: Spicy Ramen
Guests rave about this beef bone broth topped with roasted beef, oyster mushrooms, egg, house red chili, and truffle.
Looking to mix up your broth style? Visit Ushi Taro, where the focus is all about beef. Traditional ramen is chicken- and pork-based broth, but this broth is made entirely with beef bone. Add roasted bone marrow to your bowl to infuse it with extra flavor. For vegetarians, a vegan ramen is also available.
Ramen Yamadaya, Japantown
Must Try: Vegan Ramen
Many consider this the best vegan ramen in San Francisco.
Ramen Yamadaya appears basic from the outside, but the food is quite special. It’s the type of place guests return to again and again because the cuisine is just that good. Ramen lovers crave the house Yamada-Ya ramen with pork belly and the flavorful spicy miso made with roasted garlic and pork bone broth. Beyond ramen, the space also offers a selection of sushi, bento bowls, and appetizers.
Waraku, Japantown
Must Try: Black Garlic Tonkotsu
People love this signature ramen topped with homemade blackened garlic sesame oil and slow-braised pork belly.
Find creative, flavorful ramen that stands out from the crowd at Waraku’s Japantown location. Each broth is paired with the right thick, savory noodles, and come in inventive flavors like black garlic—or as a vegetarian dish topped with “impossible meat.” The noodles here are firm and chewy, making the tsukemen served with dipping sauce on the side a tasty option. Waraku also offers twice-daily happy hour every day but Sunday.
Iza Ramen, Haight-Ashbury
Must Try: Spicy Iza Ramen
A flavorful dish made with slow-cooked BBQ pork belly, fatty triple-stock broth, chewy noodles, soft-boiled egg, and fresh toppings.
Iza Ramen dates back to 2013, when it operated as a pop-up shop at Blowfish Sushi. It has since made a permanent home in the Lower Haight, but Iza Ramen is still churning out broth using its complex, original recipe. Most come for its classic ramen dishes made with tender pork belly and hearty broth, but a delicious vegan miso variety is also available. If you prefer dipping your noodles in broth instead of soaking them, tsukemen is also on Iza’s menu.
Nute’s, Bernal Heights
Must Try: Tonkatsu Ramen with Crispy Pork Belly
Thanks to its smoky black garlic flavors and pork bone broth, this bowl is a crowd pleaser.
Nute’s cute space is cozy for a reason. It’s small, so there’s guaranteed to be a wait for a seat. But one bite of the food will make the time spent worthwhile. Just four ramen types are offered (shoyu, spicy miso, vegetarian, tonkotsu), but the spicy miso is a favorite for its fiery flavors. Add on appetizers or weekend lunch specials if you want to fill up beyond these hearty bowls.
No matter which San Francisco neighborhood you find yourself in, there’s sure to be a great bowl of ramen when you get there. If you love following food trends, use our guide to other California food trails to discover your next adventure.
