While the name Keizo Shimamoto may not ring a bell, his most famous creation likely does — the ramen burger. In 2013, while slinging bowls at Smorgasburg in Brooklyn, Shimamoto swapped a bun for two ramen cakes, added a beef patty — and, almost overnight, became a viral sensation.
Now, more than a decade later, shaped by hard lessons from a shuttered Queens restaurant, a failed Orange County shop and a stint in the fintech industry, Shimamoto is back, quietly running a ramen operation out of a shared ghost kitchen in Irvine. It’s deliberately low-key: there’s barely a sign to let you know he’s there, just the occasional social media post directing customers to an online order form.
A quiet return
“I definitely wanted to do it at my own pace,” said Shimamoto, who grew up in Orange County. “I knew eventually I would be found.”
The menu
His offerings are compact by design: five bowls of ramen and two versions of his famous burger, ranging from $16 to $20. You can choose from the Signature Shoyu, the spiced Negi Shoyu, the Quiet Storm (a 13-ingredient gyokai-tonkotsu broth), Ganja-style tsukemen and a Taishoken-style dipping ramen called Shoyu Tsukesoba.
“I’m not so obsessed with making the best ramen in the world,” Shimamoto said. “I’m just obsessed with being able to eat a great bowl every single day.”…