Irina Ovchinnikov

GONZO! Ramen absolutely nailed it! We ordered the Black Gonzo Ramen and Miso Ramen, and both were phenomenal—packed with flavor, perfectly balanced, and deeply satisfying. The broth on each was rich and comforting, the noodles had the ideal bite, and the toppings were generous and fresh. The atmosphere is fun and vibrant, with a cool mix of Japanese street-style flair and Carlsbad beach-town energy. Service was quick and friendly, and you can tell the team there really cares about what they’re serving. If you’re in Carlsbad Village and craving a top-tier bowl of ramen, this spot is a must. We’ll definitely be back!

Iryna Yaresko-Linska

found this place to have lunch with my friends. The restaurant has a high rating, so we decided to come here. I liked the interior of the place, it's stylishly decorated and has a lot of interesting details. There are many tables inside and outside. The order was brought very quickly. I liked the miso, very tasty, but a bit oily broth for me. My friends were also happy with their food. It is also interesting that there are various delicious Japanese drinks and ice cream for sale. Overall we are satisfied with this place. I recommend that you definitely come here and try the food🩷

+3

To start, food is absolutely delicious. 9/10 atmosphere is absolutely beautiful especially at night with the fires lit outside. Environment is nice and clean and well taken care of. They offer a ton of different foreign drinks. Appetizers are absolutely delicious. If you like spicy they're spicy ramen is a underwhelming unless you get the Carolina reaper sauce and add it. They do offer options without pork for those who do not eat it. The cons, bathroom located in another building that is shared with a bar. You pay before you are seated for your meal. Parking is a bit difficult, though it is free, it's shared with a lot of other businesses. Nights is more busy (best time to go due to atmosphere)

Vivian Anne

I ate at Gonzo on a Saturday around 5:45 PM. The restaurant wasn't busy - you order food first and then grab a table. We tried the tonkotsu ramen, chicken karaage, and takoyaki. The tonkotsu ramen was very good - the chashu portion was very generous compared to other ramen places. The chashu pieces were big and thick. The chicken karaage was very fresh and crispy. I thought the takoyaki was a let down - it has very little octopus and the filling was reminiscent of mashed potatoes. By the time we were done eating, the line was very long and it was clear the servers wanted us to leave our table. Overall, I thought the tonkotsu ramen was good, but I wouldn't redommend the takoyaki.

Natalia Figueroa

This was my first time here and everyone working was really sweet even though it was late. They have really cool interiors and some Japanese snacks you can buy. I got the Gonzo Red, and the only thing I will say is their ramen was yummy but once I got home my stomach started hurting so bad, I threw up :( however I’m still leaving a 4 star because like I said the customer service was great and theirs definitely other things on the menu that hopefully won’t do this!

Marianne Halloran

Great ramen place, staff is amazing and the decor is fantastic. We had the black ramen and it was really good. My only complaint is that the broth is not served super hot, so the ramen goes cold rather quickly and then you have black garlic oil greasy feeling on your lips. Overall, a great ramen place. The tonkotsu broth is rich and creamy, perfectly paired with several toppings. Recommend adding some chili oil if you'd like a kick to the black option as it doesn't have any spice to it at all.

Sean

You definitely need to try this location. I will be returning to show this location to multiple friends as an excuse to come back. I had the Spicy Gonzo Black Tonkotsu and it was almost exactly perfect. The broth was extremely well prepared and seasoned, some of the most delicious ice been able to try. The Egg, while seasoned a little differently than I'm used to was great, and cooked exactly how it should be. The meat was pull apart soft and very flavorful, the fat from it was soaked throughout the broth very well and it still held together well for eating. The greens were fresh and crunchy, adding that greatly appreciated variety of textures to the dish. My only complaint was the noodles, and the eggs were sort of cold. Not up to temperature of the broth. The noodles were too thin and not very well flavored to me. They had obviously been cooked very well and had something added for spices, but they came off as a "Top Ramen" consistency. Being kind of flavorless and bland with no slightly chewy texture that you hope to have in a bite, unfortunately just turned to mush in the mouth after a single chew and I tried to eat quickly to preserve the dish. Staff was all very friendly and the silly antics from the kitchen was very welcomed. It allows customers to feel like they "are apart of the team" and gives a better atmosphere. Which was also nice. The restaurant was decorated in old posters and Japanese decorations that would be thematic to a Ramen shop. However, the One-piece anime was playing on the TV, so they will be getting a one star review.. 🤭 joking. I'm excited to come back and try more of this food! Wish I had tried them sooner.

Hiep Huynh

The Chicken karage is good with the sauce. The Tonkotsu ramen is good but I think the portion is a little bit small. Pork katsu bowl is okay. When you check in, you order at the cashier and pay first before getting the table.

+2

SurferHawa

Ordered the standard pork ramen. It comes with half an egg and two good size pork pieces. The broth is tasty and well balanced. Ramen noodles are nicely textured and fresh. The best was the pork, salty and almost BBQ like taste. I'm very pleased with taking a chance on this ramen spot and would definitely come back.

israel gold

I have Gonzo to Gonzo and I gotta say - the decor? the style? the vibes? immaculate. HOWEVER on the visit I had (my first ever visit) I found the food… somewhat lacking. With that being said, my tried and true statement for reviews time and time again is “we all have off days” and given that we had ordered before (a delightful) happy hour, I understand the dip in quality. With that being said, I fully intend on visiting again based on the radiating positivity from the staff and glorious aesthetic Gonzo has established.

+3

Mark Liu

I'm rating this restaurant based on my experience of ramen I've had in USA and not included Japan. Chicken karage - Surprisingly good. Very crunchy on the outside. Flavor is good too. Gonzo mania - I love yuzu. So when they said they have a beer with yuzu, I gotta try it. Disappointed because I barely taste any yuzu. The lager itself was fine. Nothing special without the yuzu. Tonkotsu ramen - The soup base was disappointing. Not rich nor creamy like the Osaka style. They also added red ginger which invaded the pork bone taste of the soup which may be why it's not as richly tonkotsu flavor. The noodle is just packaged ramen. I'm spoiled with self made ramen. The pork Cha shu was done very well. Nice touch on the charred, as well the equality of the pork is very good. Not too fatty. Black garlic ramen - if you do have to choose tonkotsu soup base, must get black garlic. And the sad thing is they don't put nearly enough but it enhanced the flavor of the soup and made it more delectable.

Livinglife93

Found this place on tik tok and saw all the good reviews and wanted to try it out. We are big ramen eaters so we were excited to try it. Let me start off by saying if you plan on going for dinner time be prepared for parking to be absolutely horrible! We had to park half a mile away. Once you get there, be prepared to wait. It's a small place and very popular. Staff was friendly as they seat you as well. Now to the bad part... we got a variety of items... and the only thing we liked was the Edamame. They gave us the wrong ramen so we accidentally ate each other's ramen. The pork belly with rice was extremely salty, and the Gyoza was flavorless. Maybe we caught them on a bad day since it was soo busy! But unfortunately we won't be back, but I know they are going to do just fine. I just wanted to give my review of my experience. I know they will continue to thrive.

This felt more like bar food. It took some time for the food to be ready even though there was no customer at the time. The ramen was cold and didn’t have much flavor just very greasy like there was a lot of oil. The staff were very helpful though and the restaurant decor was cool.