15 Best Ramen in Los Angeles: Ramen Shops You Need to Try

Los Angeles has one of the deepest ramen scenes in America.

The city is particularly strong because there isn't one dominant style.

You can find Hakata-style tonkotsu, Sapporo miso, tsukemen, spicy tantanmen, chicken paitan, shoyu and modern Japanese ramen across neighbourhoods including Little Tokyo, Sawtelle and the wider Los Angeles area.

Some restaurants are branches of Japanese ramen specialists. Others have become LA institutions in their own right.

And if you're particularly interested in tsukemen, Los Angeles is one of the best places in America to start.

Here are 15 ramen restaurants in Los Angeles worth trying.

1. Tsujita LA Artisan Noodle – Sawtelle

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📍 2057 Sawtelle Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA

Address: 2057 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025, United States

Opening Hours: Sunday - Thursday, 11 am–10 pm | Friday - Saturday, 11 am–10:30 pm

Tsujita LA Artisan Noodle is one of the essential stops for anyone exploring ramen in Los Angeles.

The restaurant is particularly famous for tsukemen, where thick noodles arrive separately from an intensely concentrated dipping broth.

Tsujita's version combines pork and seafood flavours, producing a rich sauce designed to cling to the noodles.

A squeeze of lime partway through the meal helps cut through the richness.

What to try: Tsukemen
Style: Pork and seafood tsukemen
Best for: Japanese dipping noodles

2. Daikokuya – Little Tokyo

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📍 327 E 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA

Address: 327 1st St, Los Angeles, CA 90012, United States

Opening Hours: Sunday - Thursday, 11 am–10 pm | Friday - Saturday, 11 am–12 am

Few ramen restaurants are as closely associated with Little Tokyo as Daikokuya.

Its signature Daikoku Ramen combines rich pork-based broth with noodles, chashu, boiled egg, bamboo shoots and green onions.

The compact restaurant and frequently busy dining room have become part of the experience.

This is classic LA ramen rather than the city's newest trend.

What to try: Daikoku Ramen
Style: Rich pork ramen
Best for: A Little Tokyo institution

3. Ramen Nagi – Century City

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📍 Westfield Century City, Los Angeles, CA

Address: 10250 Santa Monica Blvd Ste. #2850, Los Angeles, CA 90067, United States

Opening Hours: Sunday - Friday, 11:30 am–2:30 pm, 5–9 pm | Saturday, 11:30 am–9 pm

Japanese ramen specialist Ramen Nagi is built around customisation.

Its signature Original King starts with tonkotsu broth, but diners can adjust elements such as richness, garlic, spice and noodle firmness.

The menu also extends into Nagi's more unconventional “Kings”, allowing the same pork-broth foundation to move in dramatically different directions.

What to try: Original King
Style: Tonkotsu
Best for: Customisable ramen

4. Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen – Little Tokyo

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📍 132 S Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

Address: 132 S Central Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012, United States

Opening Hours: Sunday - Thursday, 11 am–11 pm | Friday - Saturday, 11 am–12 am

Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen brings Fukuoka-style ramen to Little Tokyo.

The focus is on Hakata tonkotsu: creamy pork broth with thin noodles and familiar toppings such as chashu, green onion, pickled ginger and sesame.

Noodle firmness can be customised, and extra noodles make it possible to keep going when the first serving disappears before the broth.

What to try: Hakata Ramen
Style: Hakata tonkotsu
Best for: Fukuoka-style ramen

5. Killer Noodle – Sawtelle

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📍 2030 Sawtelle Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA

Address: 2030 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025, United States

Opening Hours: Sunday - Thursday, 11 am–10 pm | Friday - Saturday, 11 am–10:30 pm

Killer Noodle is for diners who want chilli to play a leading role.

Created by the Tsujita group, the restaurant specialises in tantanmen-inspired spicy noodles rather than conventional tonkotsu.

Its bowls combine sesame, chilli and savoury flavours with adjustable spice levels.

This is one of Sawtelle's most distinctive noodle stops, particularly if your idea of “mild” differs significantly from everyone else's.

What to try: Tokyo-style spicy noodles
Style: Tantanmen-inspired
Best for: Spicy ramen

6. Men Oh Tokushima Ramen – Little Tokyo

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📍 456 E 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA

Address: 456 E 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012, United States

Opening Hours: Monday - Friday, 11:30 am–2:30 pm, 5:30–10 pm | Saturday - Sunday, 11:30 am–11 pm

Men Oh Tokushima Ramen introduces LA diners to a regional Japanese style that receives considerably less attention than Hakata tonkotsu.

Tokushima ramen originates on Shikoku and is known for a rich soy-seasoned pork broth accompanied by toppings such as pork and egg.

It's an excellent stop if you've already eaten several standard tonkotsu bowls and want to explore another regional Japanese tradition.

What to try: Tokushima Ramen
Style: Tokushima-style ramen
Best for: Regional Japanese ramen

7. Hachioji Craft Ramen – Little Tokyo

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📍 313 E 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA

Address: 313 1st St, Los Angeles, CA 90012, United States

Opening Hours: Monday - Sunday, 11:30 am–10 pm

Hachioji Craft Ramen takes inspiration from Hachioji in western Tokyo.

Hachioji-style ramen is associated with soy-seasoned broth and chopped onion, giving the bowl a noticeably different aromatic profile from creamy pork ramen.

It's one of the more interesting LA options for anyone exploring regional shoyu styles.

What to try: Hachioji-style ramen
Style: Shoyu
Best for: Tokyo regional ramen

8. Afuri Ramen + Dumpling – Los Angeles

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📍 Arts District, Los Angeles, CA

Address: 688 Mateo St, Los Angeles, CA 90021, United States

Opening Hours: Monday - Saturday, 11:30 am–10 pm | Sunday, 11 am–9:30 pm

AFURI is a useful counterpoint to LA's many rich pork-broth restaurants.

The Japanese brand is best known for Yuzu Shio Ramen, combining a lighter broth with citrusy yuzu.

The result is bright, aromatic and considerably cleaner on the palate than tonkotsu.

If you've spent several days working through rich LA ramen, this is the reset button.

What to try: Yuzu Shio Ramen
Style: Yuzu shio
Best for: Light, citrusy ramen

9. Silverlake Ramen – Los Angeles

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📍 Silver Lake and multiple locations

Silverlake Ramen began in Los Angeles and has grown well beyond its original neighbourhood.

Its menu takes a contemporary approach to Japanese ramen, including creamy pork-based bowls alongside other broth styles.

This is less about recreating one highly specific regional Japanese ramen tradition and more about the modern LA ramen experience.

Style: Contemporary ramen
Best for: Accessible LA ramen

10. Iki Ramen – Koreatown

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📍 Los Angeles, CA

Address: 6565 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028, United States

Opening Hours: Monday - Thursday, 12–10 pm | Friday, 12 pm–12 am | Saturday, 12–3 pm, 5 pm–12 am | Sunday, 12–3 pm, 5–10 pm

IKI Ramen takes a more chef-driven approach.

Its ramen menu has included Shoyu Ramen built around organic chicken broth, shoyu and house dashi, topped with slow-braised pork belly, hanjuku egg, menma, nori and scallions.

That combination gives you another route away from heavy tonkotsu while retaining plenty of umami.

What to try: Shoyu Ramen
Style: Chicken and dashi shoyu
Best for: Dashi-forward ramen

11. Ramen Tatsunoya – Pasadena

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📍 16 N Fair Oaks Avenue, Pasadena, CA

Address: 16 N Fair Oaks Ave, Pasadena, CA 91103, United States

Opening Hours: Monday - Friday, 11 am–3 pm, 5–10 pm | Saturday - Sunday, 11 am–10 pm

Fukuoka-born Ramen Tatsunoya specialises in tonkotsu.

Its approach reflects the ramen culture of Kyushu, pairing pork-bone broth with thin noodles and allowing the broth itself to remain the focus.

For diners interested in comparing Japanese tonkotsu brands in Southern California, Tatsunoya provides another interpretation alongside Ramen Nagi and Shin-Sen-Gumi.

Style: Tonkotsu
Best for: Japanese tonkotsu

12. Santouka – Los Angeles Area

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📍 Multiple Southern California locations

Hokkaido-born Ramen Santouka is particularly famous for Tonkotsu Shio Ramen.

Rather than seasoning its creamy pork broth with the more familiar shoyu or miso, the signature bowl uses salt-based tare.

Santouka also serves Tonkotsu Shoyu, Tonkotsu Miso and spicy Kara Miso variations.

What to try: Tonkotsu Shio
Style: Tonkotsu shio
Best for: Hokkaido ramen

13. JINYA Ramen Bar – Los Angeles

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📍 Multiple Los Angeles locations

JINYA Ramen Bar offers one of the broader ramen menus in the city.

Its selection spans different broths, spice levels and toppings, making it particularly accessible for groups whose ramen preferences don't line up neatly.

Rather than visiting for one narrowly defined regional style, come here when variety is the priority.

Style: Contemporary Japanese ramen
Best for: Groups and menu variety

14. Ramen Hood – Grand Central Market

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📍 317 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA

Address: 317 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013, United States

Opening Hours: Monday - Wednesday, 11 am–3:30 pm | Thursday - Sunday, 11 am–3:30 pm, 5–9 pm

Ramen Hood takes ramen in a completely different direction.

Located inside Grand Central Market, the restaurant specialises in vegan ramen.

Instead of treating plant-based ramen as an afterthought, the concept is built around creating richness and umami without conventional pork or chicken broth.

It makes this one of the most distinctive entries on the list.

Style: Vegan ramen
Best for: Plant-based ramen

15. Venice Ramen – Marina del Rey

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📍 515 Washington Boulevard, Marina del Rey, CA

Address: 515 Washington Blvd, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292, United States

Opening Hours: Monday - Saturday, 11 am–3 pm, 5–9 pm | Sunday, 11:30 am–3 pm, 5–9 pm

Venice Ramen brings Japanese ramen to LA's Westside with a menu spanning multiple noodle and broth styles.

It's particularly convenient if you're exploring Venice or Marina del Rey and don't want to travel across the city for a bowl.

In Los Angeles, where getting from one ramen shop to another can occasionally feel like an interstate journey, location matters.

Style: Japanese ramen
Best for: Venice and Marina del Rey

Best Ramen in Sawtelle

If you're planning a ramen crawl, Sawtelle Boulevard is one of the easiest places to do it.

Two restaurants stand out for completely different reasons.

Tsujita LA Artisan Noodle is the destination for thick noodles and concentrated tsukemen broth.

Across the neighbourhood, Killer Noodle takes the Tsujita group's noodle expertise into spicy tantanmen territory.

Sawtelle also contains enough Japanese restaurants, cafés and dessert shops to turn a bowl of ramen into an entire afternoon of eating.

We'll explore the neighbourhood much more deeply in Article #14: Best Ramen in Sawtelle.

Best Ramen in Little Tokyo

Little Tokyo gives you another concentrated ramen cluster.

Daikokuya is the long-standing LA favourite.

Shin-Sen-Gumi brings Hakata-style tonkotsu.

Men Oh represents Tokushima ramen.

Hachioji Craft Ramen introduces a regional Tokyo shoyu style.

That's exactly why Little Tokyo is more interesting than simply choosing whichever ramen shop has the longest queue.

Several different Japanese regional traditions exist within walking distance.

Best Tonkotsu Ramen in Los Angeles

Tonkotsu fans have plenty to work with.

For Hakata-style tonkotsu, start with Shin-Sen-Gumi.

For customisation, try Ramen Nagi.

Ramen Tatsunoya provides another Fukuoka-born interpretation.

And Santouka combines pork-bone broth with its signature shio seasoning.

Eating these bowls side by side—or preferably on different days unless you're unusually ambitious—shows how much variation exists within pork-bone ramen.

Best Tsukemen in Los Angeles

For many visitors, this comes down to one essential name:

Tsujita LA Artisan Noodle.

Tsukemen is one of the styles that helped put Sawtelle's ramen scene on the map.

The thick noodles and concentrated pork-and-seafood dipping broth create a completely different experience from conventional ramen.

Instead of noodles continuously sitting in soup, you control each bite by dipping them yourself.

If you've never tried tsukemen before, Los Angeles is an excellent place to fix that.

Best Ramen in LA If You Don't Want Tonkotsu

Not everyone wants creamy pork broth.

For something lighter, AFURI's Yuzu Shio uses citrus to brighten the soup.

IKI Ramen moves towards chicken, dashi and shoyu.

Hachioji Craft Ramen provides a regional soy-seasoned alternative.

For heat rather than richness, Killer Noodle heads into tantanmen territory.

And if you avoid animal-based broth entirely, Ramen Hood is the obvious outlier.

Regional Japanese Ramen Styles in Los Angeles

One of LA's strengths is access to styles associated with different parts of Japan.

Hakata: Shin-Sen-Gumi
Fukuoka/Kyushu: Ramen Tatsunoya
Hokkaido: Santouka
Tokushima: Men Oh
Hachioji/Tokyo: Hachioji Craft Ramen

Then you have restaurants such as Tsujita specialising in tsukemen and AFURI bringing its yuzu-accented approach.

You could spend an entire trip exploring Japanese ramen styles without ordering the same kind of bowl twice.

Where Should First-Time Visitors Eat Ramen in LA?

If you only have time for three restaurants, make them deliberately different.

Start with Tsujita LA Artisan Noodle for tsukemen.

Try Daikokuya for the classic Little Tokyo experience.

Then choose either Shin-Sen-Gumi for Hakata tonkotsu or AFURI for something lighter and citrusy.

That gives you a much better introduction to LA ramen than eating three similar pork-broth bowls.

Sawtelle vs Little Tokyo for Ramen

If you're deciding where to concentrate your ramen exploration, the two neighbourhoods offer different advantages.

Sawtelle is particularly compelling for Tsujita and the surrounding Japanese food scene.

Little Tokyo offers greater variety within a compact area, including Daikokuya, Hakata ramen, Tokushima ramen and Hachioji-style ramen.

There's no need to choose one for an entire trip.

Visit both.

Los Angeles traffic may have other opinions, but that's between you and the freeway.

Final Thoughts: Best Ramen in Los Angeles

Los Angeles deserves its reputation as one of America's great ramen cities because its scene isn't built around a single style.

There's Tsujita's tsukemen, Daikokuya's Little Tokyo institution, Shin-Sen-Gumi's Hakata tonkotsu, Santouka's Hokkaido roots, Men Oh's Tokushima ramen, AFURI's yuzu shio and Killer Noodle's spicy tantanmen-inspired bowls.

And that's before getting into the city's contemporary and vegan interpretations.

For a first visit, don't chase fifteen versions of the same bowl.

Use LA to explore how dramatically Japanese noodles can change from one restaurant to the next.

Start with Tsujita, Daikokuya and Shin-Sen-Gumi, then work outward from there according to whether you want richer broth, lighter shio, spicy noodles or regional Japanese styles.

Next in the series: Article #12 — Daikokuya Review: Is This One of the Best Ramen Shops in Los Angeles?

Article #12 can now zoom right in on Daikokuya's signature bowl, broth, toppings, Little Tokyo location, queues and what else to order, without repeating this city-wide material.