A ramen restaurant will open in Evanston early this month, providing a new noodle-centric option close to the Northwestern campus.

Table To Stix Ramen, 1007 Davis St., will offer three types of ramen, a variety of Asian-themed appetizers and both Japanese and Korean toppings. Located across the street from Bennison’s Bakery, the restaurant is set to open the location by the second week of October, said co-owner Wannaporn Chou.

“We opened in Evanston because over here, we have Northwestern University, offices, residential areas and even a train station,” Chou said. “Right now, a ramen shop is a good idea.”

Chou co-owns the restaurant with her husband, Kenny Chou, and operates the business side of the restaurant. Her husband, who immigrated to the United States from Korea when he was 5 years old, serves as the restaurant’s chef.

“We basically grew up in a (noodle) restaurant,” Kenny Chou said.

Table To Stix will classify its ramen dishes by type of broth: tonkotsu, which is made from pork bones; miso, or soybean paste; and shoyu, or soy sauce. Customers can further customize their order by the various extra toppings the restaurant will offer, including soft-boiled eggs, seaweed and braised pork belly.

The Chous, who are Chicago residents, initially came to Evanston seven months ago to begin work on opening the establishment. Although construction is nearing completion, the restaurant has not yet announced a final opening date.

“The only pain with opening was the waiting game.” Kenny Chou said. “Paperwork takes a long time to process. Otherwise, everything else went pretty well.”

Mark Muenzer, the city’s community development director, said Table to Stix serves as another indicator of the great interest Evanston receives from a wide variety of restaurants.

“They’re feeding off the success of other restaurants in the area,” he said. “We’re always happy to see another restaurant open.”

Muenzer also noted the larger role restaurants in Evanston like Table to Stix play in diversifying the cuisine in the area.

“(Ramen) is not a particular niche — we certainly have a similar restaurant in the area — but we’re seeing these niches being filled, whereas before a general American cuisine … was more common,” he said.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @jaewookjerrylee