Strings Ramen shutters on 2nd Avenue

Photos by Steven 

Strings Ramen has closed at 188 Second Ave. on the SE corner of 12th Street.

Last night was the grand finale for the Chicago-based ramen chainlet.

The sign for patrons states, in part: "Due to COVID, we have experienced extremely tough time for running the business... We are truly sorry and sad to see this happen." 

Strings, a regular on the best-of ramen lists in its home turf of Chicago, never had much of a chance here... opening in early February 2020, with about six weeks of business before the pandemic-era PAUSE of March 2020. (And it also doesn't help that the neighborhood has a lot of ramen options.)

As previously noted, the restaurants at 188 Second Ave. haven't fared well in recent years (at least since old-timer Shima got rent-hiked out of here in January 2014). Lumos Kitchen lasted three months in 2018. Others to make quick departures in the past five years were Hot Pot Central, DumplingGuo and Dumpling Go.

Openings: Strings Ramen on 2nd Avenue

Strings Ramen is up and running at 188 Second Ave. at 12th Street.

This is the fifth outpost for Strings Ramen, a regular on the best-of ramen lists in its home turf of Chicago and the United States. (There's also a location in Madison, Wisconsin.)

Among other dining options, Strings features the Monster Hell Ramen Challenge, an extreme dare in which participants have to sign a waiver before attempting. Here's one write-up of it:

[The challenege] involves eating an entire bowl of level five spicy ramen in 20 minutes or less without leaving the table or guzzling more than the measly single allotted glass of water. It’s not hard to understand why: The level five Hell Ramen is fueled by no fewer than five different kinds of peppers, including ghost (which you’ve heard of) and scorpion (which you probably haven’t – it’s from Trinidad, and has been listed among the world’s hottest). The fact that the peppers infuse the broth, which soaks deeply into the bowl’s other ingredients, makes the heat completely impossible to dodge. And after your second or third bite, your tongue is essentially immersed in a spice-spiked lake of fire.

"Winners" receive a $50 gift certificate and a Monster Hell t-shirt... oh and the bowl is free.

Their hours are listed as 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to Yelp.

Perhaps Strings Ramen will be able to make this space work. As previously noted, the restaurants at 188 Second Ave. haven't fared well in recent years (at least since old-timer Shima got rent-hiked out of here in January 2014). Lumos Kitchen lasted three months in 2018. Others to make quick departures in the past five years were Hot Pot Central, DumplingGuo and Dumpling Go.

Strings Ramen signage arrives at 188 2nd Ave.

As noted last month, Strings Ramen was prepping to be the next tenant for 188 Second Ave.

And yesterday, the Strings signage arrived on the scene here at 12th Street.

According to materials at the CB3 website, the proprietors were previously involved with the now-closed Lotus Blue Dongtian Kitchen and Bar on Union Square West. The liquor license application didn't mention any connection to Strings Ramen, a regular on the best-of ramen lists in its home turf of Chicago and the United States.

The logo that arrived at No. 188 is the same as the logo of the expanding Chicago-based shop

The restaurants at 188 Second Ave. haven't fared well in recent years. Lumos Kitchen lasted three months in 2018. Others to make quick departures in the past four years were Hot Pot Central, DumplingGuo and Dumpling Go.

H/T to the Bagel Guy!

Strings Ramen vying for 188 2nd Ave.

There looks to be another ramen choice on the horizon.

The applicants behind Strings Ramen will appear before CB3's SLA committee meeting tonight for a liquor license for 188 Second Ave.

According to the questionnaire on file at the CB3 website, the proprietors were previously involved with the now-closed Lotus Blue Dongtian Kitchen and Bar on Union Square West. This location was part of an international chain with spots in Beijing, Shanghai and Sydney, per Eater. (There's no mention if this is part of Strings Ramen, a popular destination with two locations in Chicago and one in Madison, Wis. Only mention this since popular ramen shops in other cities have expanded here in the past year.)

Per the questionnaire, the 45-seat restaurant here at 12th Street will have daily hours of noon to 10 p.m.

No one has had much luck with restaurants at 188 Second Ave. in recent years. Lumos Kitchen lasted a whole three months in 2018. Others to make quick departures in the past four years were Hot Pot Central, DumplingGuo and Dumpling Go.

Shima had a good go of it here until January 2014...


[EVG file photo]

Tonight's CB3 meeting starts at 6:30 in the Perseverance House Community Room, 535 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.