Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai - San Diego (Kearny Mesa)

This Japanese restaurant, conveniently located next to Costco Business Center and Target in the area, is a great spot for a meal during a shopping trip. While the flavors may not be the most authentic, the portions are generous and the prices are very reasonable.

I highly recommend their kids’ ramen meal, which is under $10 and surprisingly comes with a larger portion than the adult meals. The staff was incredibly thoughtful, proactively suggesting this option, which saved us quite a bit.
For adult meals, the teriyaki rice and curry rice are also very filling, with decent flavors. The service is solid, and the staff is friendly, making it a good choice for a quick and satisfying meal between shopping.

If you’re shopping near Costco Business Center or Target and want a convenient, budget-friendly dining option, this restaurant is worth a visit. The kids’ ramen meal, in particular, is an incredible value.

Disappointing Experience Compared to Other Locations

I’ve always enjoyed Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai, especially the Costa Mesa location, but the San Diego (Kearny Mesa) branch was a real letdown. The quality of the food here is noticeably worse compared to other stores in the chain. The chashu ramen’s pork wasn’t seared at all, giving it a bland, boiled texture rather than that savory, caramelized flavor I expected. The chashu rice bowl was also disappointing—there was no sauce on the rice, making it dry and underwhelming.

On top of that, one male server (Asian, in his 30s) had a really bad attitude for no apparent reason. He seemed annoyed the entire time, which made the dining experience uncomfortable and unwelcoming.

Compared to the Costa Mesa location—which consistently gets everything right—this one falls at least 2 points short on quality, and another 2 points down for customer service. I won’t be coming back to this location anytime soon.

Cute little place in convoy to eat . Parking is super easy to find which is rare for the area . The food comes out fast and tasty . The portions are huge definitely will have left overs . The gyozas were my favorite part !

The food was really good, I love the pork with the pork broth 👌🏻 so good. We also ordered the dipping ramen, which my husband loved. I also had their pork gyoza and loved it. I could have a whole platter of the pork gyoza, it's so good. Especially with the dipping sauce! Honestly, for san diego, this place is very reasonably priced. We spent $48 and walked away with so much food, it was great.

This is by far the best ramen I have had in San Diego.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Mapo Tofu Ramen Limited Time Only, Large Pan Fried Gyoza 10pc, Large Kitakata Ramen, Chicken Karaage

In 2018 I was fortunate enough to travel to Japan, and fortunate to have eaten at a Kitakata location in Tokyo! Despite having been a few years since, I do believe the ramen tastes identical. The anniversary special with dumplings and pork slices was great in their traditional savory pork broth brought me straight back to Japan. On my 2nd visit I got the Tonkatsu broth and just stock with pork and ramen...so good! The extra richness and density intensified the broth to perfection. Note that there are a lot of noodles in these bowls, so you can probably skip the $4 extra noodles, or just order them later if you're still hungry. The hot crunchy fried chicken is tasty too, and with a good portion!

Service is efficient, prompt and friendly once you get seated. Ambience has enough Japanese vibes to make you feel like you're in Japan.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

I strongly don’t recommend this fake Japanese Ramen Restaurant.
Their ramen is Not Japanese style ramen. It’s Not authentic. Ramen noodle is different and doesn’t taste good. The restaurant is using Japanese name for their restaurant but it’s not Japanese ramen! I think it’s Vietnamese or South East Asian restaurant that is copying to make Japanese food. I also ordered Gyoza but it didn’t taste like Japanese Gyoza. Ban Ni is not Japanese word.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 3

One of my Japanese friends recommended this place, and I never experienced kitakata-style ramen before. It reminds me of 칼국수 in Korea for some reason and I really liked it!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The people were nice but unfortunately the food wasn't amazing. Tasted very bland, we had to add a ton of chili oil and powder to make it taste somewhat good and noodles were kind of flat and a little bit mushier than they traditionally are. Having traveled to Japan and knowing actual Japanese ramen, this was disappointing.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 3

Great service! Noodle, broth and draft beer are all good!!

Kid-friendliness: We didn’t use, but I think they have high chair.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Green Chili Shio Ramen, Cold Kitakata Ramen

Delicate brith with good noodles

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Juicy Fried Chicken

soo yummy i love the wonton ramen and the pork is delicious

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Maybe the most unique ramen in town?!
Came in on a Sunday afternoon, 2ish but still gotta wait for a bit. Line wasn’t too long but food took at least 15 mins to get to ur mouth.

Here’s what we ordered:
?Wonton + Kitakata Ramen <anniversary-limited edition> : do not expect it as Hong Kong style wonton w/ shrimp~ it’s more like a dumpling. Love the chewiness bought by the hand-crumpled noodles!!!
?Hiyashi ❄️ramen: noodles are more tender than the soup ramen but it’s expected! Highly recommend in this hot summer!!
?MATCHA LATTE! Calling out all Matcha lovers!!! ? the balance of the matcha flavor & milk is just ??! Nothing to complain with a $5 deal ALL DAY!

I’ll definitely try the miso ramen next time (staff’s fav)! Was making hard decisions to choose from which ramen to go with but pretty sure none of them will let me down~

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Cold Kitakata Ramen, Noodles

The best Ramen I've had in San Diego so far. My kids really love it too!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The noodle were good, the broth, not so much.

The broth could use a hint of mushroom or fish/bonito flavor, maybe roasted garlic flavor and definitely better pork flavor. I don’t know if they grill the pork bones before boiling, but that would be better because it was pretty weak/tasteless and not a good flavor overall ramen.

Another option is to use charsu pork and grind it to add more flavor to the broth. Better to have better flavor and less broth in a bowl than less flavor with more broth for ramen.

Potstickers were cooked good, but they didn’t taste like ones made in-house, but rather store bought.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 4