Downtown Ramen Restaurant Daruma Closes Permanently Because of Coronavirus

Daruma Ramen, the seven-year-old noodle soup restaurant from the team behind Japanese restaurants Kome, Sa-Ten, Ni-Kome, and Uroko, is now closed on 612 East Sixth Street.

“Sadly, it has come time for us to move on to greener pastures,” said co-owner Kayo Asazu. “This was a very tough decision to make, but we know it’s the right one.” The small footprint of the restaurant made it unsafe to reopen in a safe manner, too.

There are plans to reopen Daruma in the future, somewhere in a new location, a plan that had already been in the works before the pandemic, as Asazu shared with Eater.

Daruma’s specialty was its chicken broth-based ramen, as well as its vegan ramens made with miso/fruit/vegetable-based broth. The noodle soup dish will still be available to-go at Kome.

During the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, Daruma had stayed open for takeout and third-party deliveries ramen in mid-March, then moved its operations into the Airport Boulevard location of sibling spot Sa-Ten in late March, and then moved again to operate and share the kitchen space at Kome in early April.

Co-owners Kayo Asazu and Takehiro Asazu opened Daruma in 2013.

• All Coverage of Daruma Ramen [EATX]