More often than not, restaurants seek to promote communication and create good memories for potential customers. Although the open and intimate atmosphere some restaurants provide comes from the landscape and designs incorporated inside and outside of the building, the food usually determines whether or not a customer wishes to come back for more.

Underbelly, a Japanese restaurant located in Little Italy and more recently North Park, specializes in an unusual but distinctive combination of ramen noodles and pork. At both of the locations, the restaurant provides a social atmosphere with counter service and communal tables. General Manger Shane Gerde describes the look as “clean and industrial.”

The restaurant, designed by Paul Basile who owns Basile Design Studio in East Village of Downtown, San Diego offers a setting created “to encourage people to talk to each other and make friends,” said Shane Gerde.

Arsalun Tasazoli and Nathan Stanton, the creators of Underbelly, were inspired by their travels to Asia to create a restaurant with a unique take on Japanese food. Very untraditional, but valued greatly for its “spin” on the classic ramen noodle dish, Mr. Shane Gerde describes the ramen-broth making process at Underbelly. He said, “The broth is a combination of pork bones, pork trimmings, and spices. Before the broth is strained, it simmers for 24-36 hours and another 12 hours afterwards.”

The final product is a “Tonkotsu broth” as it is called in Japanese. Shane Gerde described it to be a pork bone broth, which makes the restaurant’s ramen noodles unique among its competitors. Although other ramen restaurants do exist in Southern California, Underbelly continues to surprise its customers with something new.

Underbelly in North Park, the bigger of the two restaurants, released a new miso ramen and a variety of yakitori, a Japanese dish of chicken pieces grilled on a skewer. “We incorporate different meats in our ramen,” said Shane, “and we compete by offering something completely different and recognizing that we are not a traditional Japanese restaurant.”

Similar to in North Park, the benefit of having such a dynamic and distinct restaurant in Little Italy is having a crowd of interested people prepared to try something new. Shane said, “Little Italy is a growing neighborhood [that has] a large population of young professionals who don’t have time to cook and don’t want Italian food all night.” For many people, eating ramen noodles sounds like a wonderful alternative.

Fortunately Underbelly serves all kinds of people. Shane specified, “We don’t try to target specific people. As a restaurant, we create a good product and give people a good experience. All new guests are intrigued, and everyone is fascinated [about our concept].”

As Underbelly continues to expand, families and individuals alike are encouraged to have a novel experience. Although the commute might be a challenge for those located in North County, maybe finding a restaurant that is not a chain is even more challenging. While a variety of other restaurants may claim to have the best lunch or evening meal, Underbelly’s ramen noodles are not to be missed!