Reviews for Crane Ramen in Gainesville, FL

Crane Ramen has a great relaxed atmosphere but the food is subpar. I ordered vegetable gyoza and the spicy chicken ramen. I... ordered the vegetable gyoza but was instead given the pork gyoza. I don?t eat pork so this is why I avoided this option in thefirst place. This dish was an appetizer to be shared with my friends who were accompanying me. We all took a gyoza and soonrealized it was not the vegetable option, but instead it contained pork. I spoke to the server who brought over the manager. Sherefused to refund or bring out the correct order since we had already eaten part of the appetizer. Her attitude was apatheticand condescending. I was optimistic for the ramen but was unfortunately let down. The broth is oily and simply unflavored. I?vehad authentic ramen before and this was far from it. I was extremely disappointed in their quality and service. Read more

Never had authentic Ramen before so we had to try it. Heard about this place and several others but since this place sold Ramen... exclusively we figured it must be good and were not disappointed! We got the Gyoza (or dumplings) to start and they weredelicious! Then I ordered the Tonkotsu with a side of extra noodles thinking I might need or want more noodles but it definitelycomes with a hearty portion to begin with but the extra does soak up all the wonderous incredibly savory sweet juice in thisdish and just made me want to not stop eating. All those anime of characters going to town on a bowl of Ramen, well I completelyunderstood now because I had this bowl inches from my face doing the same thing without realizing it! My friend ordered thespicy Ramen and though he enjoyed it as well he said mine tasted better as far as the meat. The pork was so tender with thisnice crispy edge you would find at a smokehouse or off the BBQ but went so well with the dish and gave it another texture thatwas delightful! Also not to leave out how wonderful the staff was and loved seeing the chefs enjoying themselves and what theywere doing. Everyone there was friendly and inviting and the atmosphere was fantastic. Definitely on my tops to visit again andloved everything about it! Read more

First time eating out in DT Gainesville and I was very excited for a good ramen place. However, the food was quite... disappointing. I ordered tonkotsu ramen with no extras. The broth was overall under seasoned and lacked depth. It tasted likeit needed a few more hours of boiling with the bones (either that or it was from a concentrate) to obtain the correct depth.Using some of the white pepper at the table the flavor improved but the lack of salt was still an issue. The chashu seasoningwas quite good! And it was skillfully braised. However, the cut was too thick by about 25%. Also the meat was way too dry(perhaps, like the broth, needed a few more hours in the marinade before braising?) While that means they do give a generousportion of meat, I would rather have less meat but cooked correctly. The marinaded egg with cooked perfectly...but alas alsoneeded another day or two in the marinade to achieve the right flavor and set. The noodles were flavorful and cooked to a nicetexture. Overall, although the location and decor are fantastic, the food experience was overwhelmingly underwhelming. Iaccepted the stamp in their "reward but 10 get 1 free" program" knowing that I would not be coming there again for ramen. Such ashame, because they have so much potential, a fantastic location and a monopoly on ramen restaurants in the city... But, likemany of the individual ingredients in the ramen, perhaps the restaurant needs a bit more time to "marinade" their recipes. Read more

I?ve reviewed them before on other websites, but I needed to put one in for my experience tonight. My partner and daughter?s... shoyu came out spicy- it?s not, normally- and they offered to remake it. They also discounted it for the mixup. The secondbowls come out- also spicy. Now, this is where Crane differs from most anywhere else for me: at no point did any of the staffshrug it off, or have any sort of attitude, or anything like that. They were /super/ understanding, even going so far as tofind out what had happened in the back of house (just a general oversight in the kitchen that led to a hefty batch of spicyshoyu), took those meals off of the check, and apologized for the mistake. Honestly, even though half of our party was unableto eat there tonight- just seeing the process that the staff went through to rectify a situation that was probably stressful forall involved, that will make me continue to support them and rave about Crane Ramen to friends from out of town! (Plus,tonight?s special was amazing.) Read more

This was my first time here and I was very pleased. The decor of the restaurant is really nice and I like the open kitchen... concept. It was cool to see the chefs working hard to make the food so delicious. We started with the pork buns and I was reallyhappy with them. The meat was tender and I really liked the spicy sauce. Not sure what it was but I liked it. The greens gave anice little crunch and fresh flavor and the buns had a nice chewy texture with a slight sweetness to them. I loved them. Iordered the shoyu ramen and my boyfriend had the tonkotsu ramen. I got two massive pieces of pork in my bowl and I was notdisappointed at all. The meat was so tender and you definitely get your moneys worth with all of what you get in a bowl. We wereboth very pleased with our choices. There was enough for me to take home and I enjoyed it the next day. Overall would recommendand am interested in coming back to try some other stuff on the menu. Read more

Very good food but very pricey. I had a tofu bun appetizer and a small veggie miso soup. My husband and son split a chicken bun... and each had a pork ramen dish. We liked the tofu bun over the chicken bun. The soup and ramen were flavorful and satisfying.The presentation was quite nice. The staff was very friendly and helpful. We arrived at 3:30 pm on a Sunday (they close between4:00-5:00 pm to prepare for dinner), and the service was extraordinarily SLOW even though it didn?t seem very busy ? but thatseems to be the case at all restaurants between 2:00-4:00 pm. I did not like the taste of the water, which is served in clearopen bottles (not quite s carafe). Remind yourself that this is a ?craft? ramen place before the check comes! Read more

I come back every now and then and it's always the best ramen you can get in Gainesville. I've been to Japan twice and enjoyed... the ramen there and I can guarantee, this place is the closest you can get to delicious authentic Japanese ramen. I'm neverdisappointed when I go here and the cocktails are great too! The bartenders are always so sweet :) I'm often seated at the barso it's also nice to see everyone busy preparing good food while waiting for my ramen. Read more

Busy place with decent seating and interiors. We ordered two ramens, both of which had a lovely broth but the noodles were... somewhat too firm. But the price is reasonable and the waitresses are nice. Read more