Ramen for Introverts Comes to Manhattan

Big-city life can make it impossible to grab some alone time, particularly at lunch or dinner, and now a hit Japanese ramen chain, Ichiran, is coming to give New Yorkers a little solo-dining time in April.

The restaurant has helped introverts throughout Tokyo by offering solo dining booths where guests don’t have to see the people around them (maybe hear the slurp their tonkotsu broth) by way of dividers and allows people to order without even talking to a waiter (simply use a machine to order). 

The restaurant opened its first foreign outpost in Bushwick, NY in 2016, but it will open a 1,400-square-foot location in Midtown Manhattan (132 West 31st) with seats for 46 people.

At the Bushwick and Tokyo locations, you can dine with friends by folding dividers, but the Manhattan location will do away with these and revert back to the original introvert-centric concept.