Ramen Tatsu-Ya

North Austin restaurant nominated as one of top 50 new eateries in U.S.

In Japanese, "ya" means shack, shop or house. Ramen Tatsu-Ya, a Japanese comfort food shop in North Austin, offers diners a variety of toppings and bombs, or seasoned balls of flavors, for a personalized ramen bowl.

Ramen is a Japanese noodle dish that is served in broth. Owners Tatsu Aikawa and Takuya "Tako" Matsumoto offer diners a choice of sauce such as soy, salt, miso or vegan as well as seasoned bombs to add more flavor such as the Spicy Bomb (red peppers), Fire in a Bowl (extra-spicy peppers) and Corn on the Bomb (seasoned corn and butter). All ramen dishes are served in a pork broth, except during new lunch hours when ramen is served with chicken broth and on Sundays when the restaurant makes a vegan ramen. New lunch hours started in August and are Friday through Sunday.

Even though the restaurant opened Sept. 1, 2012, it is still common for long lines to snake out of the front door. In August, Bon Appetit Magazine nominated the ramen eatery for the Top 50 Best New Restaurants of 2012 list. Aikawa attributes their success to the quality of the food and to customer word of mouth. Matsumoto said he and Aikawa are very grateful for being so well-received.