Fine Dining - Jinya Ramen History with "Obsession" Crew

Episode Date: August 19, 2026

🍜✈️ JINYA Ramen Bar: The Allure of Hollywood, First-Class Collaboration, and Keanu Reeves ✈️🍜 This week, Obsession first AD Grayson Alamango Shapiro (@grayson.a.shapiro) joins me to dig into the history of JINYA Ramen Bar, a chain that helped take ramen from a regional specialty to a major national restaurant concept. We talk about the appeal of bringing JINYA to "Hollywood," some unexpected celebrity clientele, and how the brand grew into one of the biggest names in American ramen. And somehow, as all good restaurant history podcasts do, we eventually find ourselves having a serious conversation about an app that maps human poop. 🍜 How JINYA Became the First Major National Ramen Chain 🌴 The Irresistible Allure of Opening a Restaurant in "Hollywood" 🎬 Keanu Reeves Has Eaten at this JINYA, So We're Basically Best Friends Now ✈️ JINYA Ramen Takes to the Skies with a First-Class Collaboration 💩 The Poop Map App Sends Us Down a MUCH Deeper Rabbit Hole Than Expected 🍴 Grayson Has VERY Specific Rules for Silverware Placement at Catering ⏱️ Yelp from Strangers Sparks a Debate About Hostile Customer Turnover Tactics ☎️ ANSWER YOUR PHONES, BUSINESSES! 💬 COMMENT BELOW: What's the longest you're willing to wait for a table before giving up? 📢 SUPPORT THE SHOW & JOIN THE COMMUNITY: 🎉 Patreon (Bonus episodes, extended Yelp segments & more): patreon.com/finediningpodcast 💬 Discord (Food talk, memes, cursed Yelp): discord.gg/6a2YqrtWV4 🎥 Watch full episodes: youtube.com/channel/UCLbraNhL6KhDPkdSWt2yiuw 🔗 All links: linktree.com/finediningpodcast 🎤 Guest: Grayson Alamango Shapiro | IG: @grayson.a.shapiro Patreon Producers:Sue Ornelas, Joyce Van, & Robert McLaughlin Patreon Subscribers:David Ornelas, Kellie Baldwin, Jeremy Horwitz, Herbert Amaya, Simone Davalos, Scott Bennett, Amy Reinhart, Josef Castaneda-Liles, Travis Langley, & Michelle Elmer Free Patreon Followers:Joe Warszalek, Lauren Cummings, Grace Krainak, Keri Estes, Robert Duran, Patrick Elliott, Dave Plummer, Nicholas Volney, Michael Gerard, Tracy Molino, Phuong Duong, Tyler Robinson, Brandon Gully, Mason Cruz, Michael Milito, Mez, Aaron Hubbard, Steff, Renae Michael, Crystal C., NiZ, Science Broe, Jahid Ahmed, Jewell Hermann, & Macky Markar 👉 NEXT WEEK: Grayson and I actually eat at JINYA Ramen Bar and put one of America's biggest ramen chains to the Chili's Test! 🍜🌶️

Is Jinya Ramen Bar changing the way Americans look at ramen? The days of Maruchan's 65-cent packs of delicious chicken-flavored sawdust being the first thing I think of when I hear the word ramen are long gone. Los Angeles specifically has a vibrant Japanese food scene, but Jinya Ramen Bar is the one that set its sights on expansion, leading to it gaining a foothold in more than 20 states. A restaurant that got off to a hot start when it first opened 16 years ago, Jinya has really made itself at home here, having opened several other spin-off restaurants in the greater L.A. area. But if you're doubting the authenticity, Jinja had seven locations in Japan before expanding to the United States, with Hollywood being the end goal for the founder.

Hey, buddy, get in line. Do you even have a headshot? Talk to me when you have an agent. This week on the show, I'll drown your noodles of curiosity and my broth of knowledge so that you two may know everything I've learned about Jinyar ramen. Then we'll direct our attention to the people of Yelp to see what they're saying about the very Jinyur Raman bar we dined at. This is the fine dining podcast. Your table is ready. Take your seat. The flavor of the day is mediated to try a bar.

Cup noodle really was the thing I thought of for a long time. When you hear ramen. When I hear ramen. And now it truly is dining experiences. It's warped throughout the years. So ramen has done a really good job of upgrading its reputation stateside. Do you think that's our age or do you think that's more of the culture? Because there is also the, you know, when we're younger.

When you're in college, you're like, what's cheap? Yeah. Yeah. I think it might be a mix of both. Yeah. Hello. And welcome to the fine dining podcast, the quest to compare all restaurants to Chili's. I am your host, Michael Ornellis.

And this is the podcast where we dive deep into the history of your favorite restaurants and then thoroughly review them one week later by comparing them to Chili's. This week, we are covering the first ramen chain in the podcast's history, Jinya Raman. And joining me is a friend who had a major behind the scenes role and a minor on-screen one in the biggest horror movie in the country, now the highest grossing horror film made for under a million dollars obsession. It's Grayson Alamango Shapiro. Hey there, buddy. How's it going?

It's, you know, it's going, it's going full and tired and meat sweaty, but it's going good. Do you have a history with Jinya specifically? Yeah, I mean, I went to Santa Monica High School. And after events and stuff, sometimes we'd go to Sawtel and there was, man, I don't know, we didn't really go to Ginia that much. But just going to Sawtel and hanging out, I've gone to Ginia a few times. And it never, it never made me want to come back. But I think this experience is different. And maybe it's because this is a different genia.

It overseed my low expectations that I had going in. Okay. This was the original genia. Oh. The very first one in Los Angeles, the one that we went to today. Okay. And Sawtel is an area. That's where I ate the first ramen I was ever exposed to at Tatsu. Whoa, yeah.

And I love Tatsu, but I was kind of broth averse at first. And so I did their naked ramen, which is basically, basically a brothless ramen, but I would get like the ground red beef and like corn and like lots of weird stuff. But I'm not exaggerating when I say it is still one of the best dishes I've ever had. I love the naked ramen at Tatsu. Jinya I'd been to once and I think I only got it for takeout. And it's just the only one that's like a national chain now. Yeah, I guess while we're talking about other ramen places.

So in high school, the place that we would go and afterwards and still sometimes was Shinner, send gumi and what we would do there back in the day is if you check it on facebook remember facebook um you get for a dollar free whole refill of noodles to put so you eat all the noodles so it's not free it's a dollar okay you get dollar noodles there you go uh yeah thanks you pay a dollar and then it's free yeah yeah exactly like all things um it was that a lot yeah and then in college and like my go our go to order my partner and I, for a long time, we've been Silver Lake Ramen people. I like Silver Lake Ramen. I've never been super impressed by it. I think I felt about Silver Lake Ramen the way that you feel about Jinya pre today. Yeah. It's not like it's amazing.

But I think they had a good buy one, get one free thing on Uber Eats. Well, that's your history with Jinya and ramen in general. That's my history. Do you want to hear the history of Jinya Ramen? I want it so badly. All right, we're going to jump into this week's Eat Deets. Eatery Details. Jinya ramen was started by an actual Japanese restaurateur. Official company materials, Saitomo Takahashi, opened the first Jinya in Tokyo in 2000 to revive his father's dream of delicious food at a reasonable price accessible to all,

and later brought the brand to California. Takahashi's vision was always to bring ramen to Hollywood specifically. I wonder what his favorite movie was. I think so many people want to come to Hollywood for things that are not movie related, but it's the romantic thing of Hollywood. Do you know about Mr. Chow? I don't think I do. There's a location in Beverly Hills, and the guy who goes by Mr. Chow, who opened the place, is an artist, and he was like, he had small roles in early movies in like the 60s and 70s and stuff. and his whole thing was like, I want to be in with like the pool of Hollywood celebrities.

And so it's an okay restaurant where like the thing about them is that they are expensive. It's like Arawan in that way where it's like our price tag is our selling point. And they attract big names even though the food is just, it's fine. You know, that's a perfect metaphor for what Hollywood is. You know, you have relatives from out of town and people in general like Mr. Chow, I'm sure, who come to Hollywood and like, Hollywood from the movies, Hollywood, the pictures. And then if you go to actual Hollywood in the Walk of Fame, it's like, it's a bathroom. It's a bathroom with a expensive sidewalk that is also not well taken care of. Yeah.

It's so sad. But the expensive sidewalk has stars and names in it. That's right. And that's, you know, where else would be a better place to shit? That's right. Yeah. Yeah, there is something about like the romanticization of Hollywood that's just like for some reason. And it's usually people from other countries where they're like, this is my idea of what America is.

But also his reason for targeting Hollywood had to do with, I think right now is the perfect time due to the. due to the void in authentic ramen restaurants. Oh, sure. So that's good business attitude. Yeah. Yeah. The first U.S. Jinnia opened in Studio City in 2010,

and Takahashi has been unusually candid about the mission. He wanted to make ramen feel cool and hip in Los Angeles instead of cheap instant food, and he deliberately chose a neighborhood with Japanese food familiarity, but no dedicated ramen shop on the street. Sounds like pretty much every single ramen place. and most places in LA. Cool and hip.

Yeah, try and just, they revolve around being cool and hip. I feel like every time a new ramen restaurant opens, an angel gets its wings, but also like a hipster writes a yelp.

Right. Yeah. And it's a weird calling card, but like you always hear about like every new ramen place for like a little bit and then it moves on to the next one. Yeah. I don't know what it is.

The company's, authentic ramen claim is not just a marketing stunt. Genia says it builds six signature broths simmered for more than 20 hours, and they quickly got recognition for it. Jonathan Gold called the ramen among the best bowls in Southern California and labeled Jinja one of the essential 99 restaurants in Los Angeles, while Eater Vancouver highlighted its Yokohama style approach plus in-house noodles and oil. Essential 99?

This was written a while ago, 16 years ago. that's that's a lot on an essential list i agree it's not doesn't seem like a tough cut to make 99 you think 99 is not a few restaurants because you're talking of all categories of food yeah all cuisines i just mean it doesn't need to be like a 10 out of 10 to make the top 99 well i agree with you on that i'm sure there's a lot of eight out of tens and because it's not an objective list. I'm sure there's seven out of tens. Yeah. I'm sure there's places on there I'd flat out dislike. Yeah. That's what I mean. I mean, it's too big of a number to do your respectable, oh, you made it on this list, you must be good. I don't agree. If it was 10, then it's like,

oh, would these have to be all incredible? If I told you obsession was in my 99 best movies I've ever seen. Think about how many good movies there are. That's good company. It's actually an insane amount of people who have been saying this is my favorite movie ever, which is. That's recency bias. It is. It is a great movie. It's also, of course, like, Gen Z and younger people who are like who have seen 10 movies. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. It is a great movie. Top 100. That's a thing that time will will tell in terms of, you know, but there have been. There have already been 90-something best picture winners. Yeah.

So it's like, that's 90 right there. Yeah, I guess. I forget that L.A. is like such a big thing because it is also my hometown. Yeah. So I'm like, oh, well, there's not 99 places I give a fuck about restaurant-wise. I think there might be for me. Yeah. Yeah.

The other interesting thing as well is like people are, I can't comment to how good it is in a movie because one, I have the bias of it. I'm too close to it. All I really look at is the thing we pulled off and how incredible it is we pulled it off. But also it's just so not my genre or a kind of movie. Like I don't know what makes that kind of movie good. The performances are also really solid. I could turn this into a horror movie podcast, but you would feel out of your depth because you're not a horror guy. That's right. But like, I mean, I love a horror movie that feels like there's a deeper meaning or like a, you know, a greater social commentary. Sometimes the directors, like, I just want to have a monster kill people, you know?

And then there will be some sort of thematic through line and viewers will be like, oh, but what it says about the state of capitalism or whatever. Right. Well, if someone asked me my favorite horror movie, like I would never think to say get out. If get out came up, I'd be like, oh, it's like one of my favorite movies. I mean, maybe not like top 10, but it's a great movie and I love the movie. For sure, top 99. For sure, top 99. For sure, top 99.

Yeah. Shit. Real ramen heads have a more nuanced take than what the company boasts. Reddit and other forums often describe Jinya as a good chain, a useful starter spot, or a strong option in ramen thin markets, while also knocking some locations as pricey, westernized, or a step below elite independence. Okay, so some locations is a thing there. I mean, that's kind of the case with all chains.

There's like good Wendy's and bad Wendy's. There's, I mean, tell me. You're right, you're right, but how? Like, explain to me how that is the case, because I know it's a true statement. Oh, it's a mystery to me. To me, it's quality control is so location to location, and that's going to fall into the hands of management in a lot of ways. You know, you leave a box of beef patties in the sun that, have been delivered to you for a bit in one place while others are like, no, get it inside.

That's our priority. You're going to taste a difference. Yeah. Yeah. And obviously that's a speculative example, but it's a surprising statement that we all know is true. We all know it's true. Yeah. I mean, it's like how I didn't love my memory of the sawtell ginia.

Sure. Yeah. And then this one. This one I like. It's pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. Mainstream and casual diners have made Jinya very popular.

Eater DC reported three-hour waits and heavy early review volume just a week after one opening, and Eater Houston placed Jinnia on its best ramen map, a pretty good sign the brand crossed over into broader market appeal. The thing that stuck out to me there is ramen map. Another thing that's not surprising, but a very interesting and fun thing. Well, because I do like that Eater tends to be regional. Like the LA eater I've gone and found like these are the 28 essential barbecue spots in the greater Los Angeles area. And I've tried a few, and I'm a Texan, I love barbecue. Very few of them are comparable to what I would get at home.

But there are some places that I still quite enjoy. You know what the ROM map made me think about is you ever hear an app called poop maps? Is it best rated bathrooms or cleanest bathrooms? No, it's like your own bathroom tracker. Like, you're just like, okay, I like, I dropped a deuce here. And I've met some actors who you definitely would know who I will not throw under the bus. As much as I think it's a badge of honor, but I don't have their consent to tell the world that they're on poop maps. That you've pooped in the same bathroom as them?

No, no, no, that they just also have shown me their poop maps. That's crazy. Mm-hmm. And the fact that you're on it. is weirder than your letting on. I forgot it existed for a while, and I got back on it when it came up with one of my friends on obsession. You know what would be a wild thing to track?

Poot maps, but also all the ramen places you've eaten, also all the fast food places you've eaten, and see what the overlap is of which type of food makes you shit the most immediately. But something we talked about a bit earlier is I'm really particular about where I poo. I am too. Really particular. I will hold that thing for home field advantage.

Yeah. Like, I got to be here. Yeah, well, this is something we talked about at Genia specifically. I went to just check out the bathroom and it was occupied. It was single use.

And also a singular single use. That's like a pretty non-starter for me. Yeah. Other than a quick 10-1, which in the biz is to take a piss. Yeah. There's really two scenarios coming up. out of there. I mean, one, the whole time, there's the idea that somebody is waiting for you.

And boobing is not like a quick and easy thing. And by the way, it's, it's Schrodinger's weight. Yeah. Because like, there may not actually be someone. That's exactly the point. Yeah. I mean, it's precious time for me and an ideal. And really the standard is like, I don't want to think about that I'm doing it. I want to like be hanging out and like when it's done it done. I want to be, you know, catching shinies on my phone, playing Pokemon Go. 100%. Catching up on my battles. Right.

So there's really two scenarios. One, you come out and you've done something, maybe unspeakable in that bathroom, and you have to avoid looking at the person who's about to go in there after you and was waiting for you from an indeterminate amount of time. Yeah. The second scenario is you put yourself through that stress so that you can be considerate and let the other person use the bathroom, only to open the door and see nothing but a ghost,

a nothing, a no one outside that door, right? And a gust of wind. Nobody has waiting for you. You put yourself through that stress for nothing. You got to be more selfish. When I use a public restroom, I'm like, I'm only doing this because it was an emergency. I'm going to do me.

And I'm sorry to anyone else. It's such a rarity. I poop in public twice a year. Maybe. Maybe. I can't go on set. I mean, for two reasons. One, because you're too busy.

Yeah. I mean, that's the main reason. I'm going to say, like, it can be a little embarrassing. But, you know, if there's a lot of bathrooms or if there's, sometimes there'll be kind of a more exclusive, separated bathroom. Yeah. And I make sure that I get access to it. But yeah, I'm also just way too busy.

And again, I need to take my time. Even if there's no one waiting for me outside the bathroom, the kind of world is waiting on me most of the time. Yeah. in the world of production. So I just, yeah, I can't, I can't relax. I want to get into poop theory. Okay.

If I'm in a public restroom and I have a shirt that's even a little bit long, I might go shirtless. I might be hanging up my shirt if there's a hook. Is that relatable to you? Not on a bottom level, but you've expanded my mind a little bit, is the thing. Like there's definitely a level of respect, earned, and. ingenuity scene. I don't want the back of my shirt to touch a toilet seat that is open to anybody.

That's one. Please. Two, how we wiping. How we wiping. Sounds like a fake name, by the way. Hey, it's how we wipe it. Nice to meet you. How we wiping.

Do your cheeks stay connected to the seat and you just do a lean and wipe? Absolutely the fuck not. I stand. Yeah. I'm like doing like a ski. I'm like skiing. I'm like leaned forward a little bit and I'm like, but I'm on my feet. Ski is good.

I so in that in the sit down wipe, absolutely diabolical. Like maybe once a year I try it and I'm like, who does this? Why is it the thing? Yeah. I think it's because my father does it. And. And maybe when I was, that you know that is great.

Don't know why I know that. there's no boundaries when you're young, especially with boomer Jewish fathers. Sure. But, uh, yeah, no,

just door open, deuces. Yeah, ironically, his main thing in life is skiing, but he's a sitter. I don't even do the ski. I do a full stand.

Yeah, I can too. Yeah. It's fucked up to be, do a sit down. I'm sorry. I'm sorry to anyone who does it. I think people who do the sit down have,

they don't get in there as much. Therefore, I don't trust the cleanliness. Right. I think, yeah. It also just, It's putting the back of my hand in the dangerous place.

Yes, completely at risk. Yeah. Completely at risk. The second thing on that is I don't think I've, I've never used like a single square. Well, of course not. There are people. You got a layer. I do like a four layer minimum.

Oh, I do a puppet. I do like, whoa. I grip and then like I have like protective and then I go in like that. So that way there's no chance. of anything touching my hand. That's a crazy image. I'm not like biting. I'm not like opening the puppet.

You're like you're you're like. It's like a be mining. Yeah. It's a beak. I don't think I ever really use seat protectors. Yeah. I don't know. To me there's just we.

It feels better unprotected. It does feel better unprotected for sure. There is a lot of in a lot of places in our culture and society like an imbalance of like these things are conceptually gross. therefore we have to like really protect them and things are actually more gross that we like aren't in concept or socially and like fuck it it doesn't matter like i think there's way grosser things we do that we don't care about things i think touching a toilet seat with touching anything in a bathroom with your hand is way more fuck than just my cheeks touching i'm flushing with my foot i'm flushing

with my shoe sure i respect that yeah i do occasionally but yeah i mean it's it's a it's a similar thing where it's like, I don't know. Like, I feel like it's, if anything, it's more important. Just say it. To wash your hands before you touch your wiener, okay? I'm just going to say it. I often am like trying to avoid fully touching when I'm like taking a piss because I'm like, you know, especially like getting to the bathroom.

Like I don't know, like there's the bacteria on my hands that's going on there where I think what's already there is way less dangerous. Yeah, sure. If it's a handle door, sleeve. Yeah. Like, I'm not touching handles. But in either case, it's like, yeah, you don't know what's on your hands. Like, it's way, and, you know, we touch our hands on our face all the time.

I don't know. I think, I think what's, I touch my dick on my face all the time. Yeah, of course. But what's, what's, I've showered and I've been wearing pants all day. Like, what's that bad? What's it going to hurt the world? Yeah. Coming from, coming from the skin of my shaft, okay?

Yeah. More so than what's going to hurt it coming from the rest of the world. You know what I mean? It's a Southpart quote, too. It's butter stotch. If anything, it's more important to touch your hands before you touch your wiener or watch your hands or whatever. You know what I mean? Yeah.

You know what I mean? This has been illuminating. Yeah. I, look, I think this is one of those things that should be normalized. These kinds of conversations should be normalized. Because no one teaches you. Yeah. It's like sex for Europeans versus sex for America, you know?

And that's what I think that we should be. And we're moving, at least in where I'm from in Los Angeles, I mean, in society, we're moving to more comfortability. is talking about and just that kind of thing existing like they do in Europe and where my family's from. But no, I think I think it's important for bathroom happenings to be more okay and to talk about. Yeah. All right. Back to Jinya's history. Growth has been fast and heavily North America centric. Takahashi said the brand moved from L.A. to Vancouver, then Bellevue, Washington, in Las Vegas. Public milestones show they had 31 stores in 2018, 52 in 2023, the 70th in Pearland in January 2025, and the 80th location milestone in 26 with Canada as the main

international market in the current Jinnya Raman Bar Directory. Good for them. Yeah. That's a good pace. If they're getting like 10-ish a year now, What do you think is the most surprising state that there is a genia in? Do you think Oklahoma's got a genia? They might. They're in 24 states. So it's a coin flip. I would say I'm going to if I, okay, let's pick a state that doesn't have it.

I'm thinking of mine. Yeah, okay. All right. Three, two, one, North Dakota. And same part of our Midwest. I'll look it up and just put a confirmation one way or another. Yeah, okay. Yeah.

But statistically one of us. This might be wrong. Well, statistically, we're probably both right. Yeah, no, you're right. Because those are staged with 10 people each. Yeah. Jinya has multiple spin-off restaurants in the greater Los Angeles area, including the higher-end Robata Jinya in downtown L.A., Saijo hand roll in Kushiaki in Culver City. Bushi by Jinya in Rancho Kukumanga, which focuses on ramen hand rolls and chicken

karagi, a Jinya Express featuring Build Your Own ramen at Hollywood and Highland, Mekon Bakery Bakery in Encino and Jinja West Hollywood, which features live-fired steaks, and they genuinely look incredible. This is shocking. It's kind of like their own little empire. That's cool. What did you say the one in Culvercidias? Saijo, hand roll, and kushiyaki.

The sushi didn't blow me away at this, Jinnia. Not that we had too much of it. I won't come back to that. But a place that focuses on it, maybe you could expect a little more. The one in West Hollywood is the one that interests me because the stakes all looked like really solid. But obviously I'm looking at their website where it's like, you know, 8K cameras slicing off the bone over fire is going to look good. Sure. A lot of these. Yeah, that's cool. That's cool. And then a lot of them sound like,

you could just call that a normal genia. Like the Genia Express one at Hollywood and Highland, where it's like make your own. It's like, we already kind of can make our own. Yeah, exactly. Well, you know, or you can do like one of the special side things like they were doing with Dragon Ball Z at this, Junya. Yeah. Well, we'll, We'll get into that next. Yeah, sure. Yeah. Marketing-wise,

Jinya has mostly sold ramen through critical buzz and sleek design rather than a mascot or celebrity pitchman, but it has gotten a bit more promotional lately. Notable recent pushes include first 100 guest freebies at openings, a 2025 collab with social media creator Gianluca Conte, QCP for Chow Ramen, a 2026, Japan Airlines Nikuman partnership, and a Demon Slayer. collectible spoon tie in. No major long-term celebrity endorsements have been found, but apparently Keanu Reeves has eaten there before, and I find that neat. We've also eaten there. We have eaten there. Just like Keanu.

Notably less famous. Yeah. But I love the idea of eating some ginia on a plane. So specifically, the Nikuman that we got is what is served in Japan Airlines first class. Whoa. Yeah. Yukumans, that was the bunny guy. That was the, like, fluffy pork bun that we got.

And it was really good. That was so good. Yeah, that's a W. That's an airplane W. That would make me feel like I'm in first class. Yeah. I just flew KLM for the first time, and I loved it, except the food. It was my main flight into Amsterdam all my way to Malta and back.

Do you prefer milkshakes with or without Malta? That's a new one. It's a new one. It's a new one. And I pride myself on giving new ones for those kinds of things. especially for people's names. I'm tired of hearing about the poodle and I'm tired of hearing about the falcon.

Yeah. Does Maltese, is that like the conjugation of From Malta? Mm-hmm. Well, Maltese, I mean, I am half Maltese. Maltese is also the language. I feel like I cut you off in the middle of something to make my milkshake joke.

You would 100% did it and it's completely gone now. And that'll do it for this week. Eat Deets. Grayson, it wasn't just your clout that I was chasing when I invited you on this podcast, but your magnetism for controversy. It's time for you to risk your public image in this next segment, the heat lamp.

Grayson, put your reputation on the line. At the end of the catering line. It is normalized and almost like all the time they're at the freaking beginning of the line. And you haven't even picked out what you're eating yet. Not only have I not picked out what I'm eating yet. So, like, most of the time, I forget to get them because I'm like, okay, plate food. That's what I want.

Yeah. That happens to a lot of people. You get to the end of the line. Where are the utensils? And you're looking for them. Oh, of course, at the beginning. Then you have to go back around. You go, oh, excuse me, pardon of me.

You grab a utensil or pass me and whatever. And it's stupid. Or you do get it. And then you're just like. I'm moving it around. You're like, can I stick a different utensil between each of my fingers to hold it steady while I hold a plate? And then I'm using other utensils to put stuff like tongs onto the plate. It's absolutely diabolical.

And it shocks me that I'm the only person I know who's talking about this. I am, I think, 100% with you on this. And actually, I think there is no logical counter argument. There's only an emotional one. What's the emotional one? It's just like the, but that's how we've always done it. Right, right. Well, this, we've been really good.

We've been eating very well in the future I'm doing right now. It's the first time I've had like a company catering set that has put it at the end. Yeah. And like, I think them. I actually think them. I want to make sure that this becomes your standardized process. So I want to make a point to acknowledge it. And my KVA, who comes with me on a lot of projects, like looked at me.

And he's like, it was like, doctor. strange like looking at Tony Stark before he's I know. This is it. I know this is important to you. Yeah. And you know what also gets me mad about it when people don't share the anger or people.

They're just whatever about it. Yeah. Most people are not even player characters in their own lives. Most people are just there. And take control of your destiny. Have preferences. It's one of those things too. Like, if you didn't notice it, it's like, you know, we're blind to inconveniences all the time,

but I woke you up. Yeah. You know, and you should feel like I woke you up. Like, you have. What's terrible is now there's a new thing that I will occasionally get mad about. Good. And this is how we start change. That's true.

That's true. Well, thank you so much for risking cancellation by telling me your hot take. Yeah, if I get canceled, it's on society for sucking. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Catch up. Catch up to where I'm at. All right. Well, it's time to turn to other opinions and see what they're saying about the very junior ramen we ate at in this week's Yelp from strangers. We need a little yelp, a little yelp from strangers.

One star, two star, three star, four or five y. So get a little yelp. A little yelp. A little yelp. A little yelp. All right, this is Yelp from Strangers, our segment where we turn to Yelp and read out our favorite. One, two, three, four, and five. Star Yelp reviews of the very Jinyarama we went to. Do you mind if I start with the first one? Yeah, I really enjoyed that counting, by the way.

It made me feel like I was watching Blues Clues again. All right. No, it was genuine. That was very fun. Three star review. This one is from Erica. R from North Hollywood, California, November 21st, 2022. It's a three-star review.

I love this restaurant and the ramen is incredible. However, ordering takeout is really difficult. I was given a gift card and went to redeem it online. While the gift card registered as active slash with a balance, it would not complete the transaction. It happens. Oh, well, that wasn't going to hinder my takeout plans. However, when I tried to call for my order instead,

no one would pick up. It would keep me on hold for 10 to 20 seconds, then tell me to call back and hang up on me. I'm a persistent person, so I kept calling and calling and calling. I called 20 times. Nothing. I felt like an insane person.

Yeah, you are. No, I'm on this person's side so much in this. Well, I mostly am. There's a couple, go on. It drives me crazy that you can't speak to business. No, it's terrible. It's fucked up. It is a modern problem. But, like, you crazy and not a way that, like, she should feel bad about, but crazy and, yes, you're crazy for trying 20 times. I mean, that is objectively, like, a crazy amount of determination, which is not a bad thing to have, but it's still crazy.

You know what I mean? But it's like, the thing itself says call again. No, it's fucked up. that's gaslighting. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I hate it with a passion. And then recently I was trying to do one of these for like Verizon or something. That's like operator.

And then it's like, okay, I understand you want to speak to an operator. If you can tell me this and that, I'm like operator, it's like, okay, connecting you. And then I got a different robot asking me questions. And I kid you not, I went down a line of four different robots, all with slightly different voices. Yeah. Like, just it was terrible. I had a very recent call with health insurance that I am convinced, you know how there's a lot of call centers in India, right?

Yeah. I am convinced that there was an AI filter on her voice to soften the accent. She knew English, and it made her easier to understand, but it felt like I could hear like the artifacting of live AI. I recently spoke to a to a robot operator and it actually like was the most helpful one had been and still annoying. But it made me realize, oh, soon we'll be in a world where like it's fine. It actually, yeah, where it's like, oh, it doesn't feel like I'm talking to a robot. Like I mean, obviously it did.

But in like it was able to do the job. Right. And like it was. It was understanding nuance in the questions that it was asking me and in my responses. Interesting. Yeah, I was shocking. The other thing I have to say on this, and this is maybe me being a dick, but who uses gift cards on a website?

Look, a gift card's a gift card. No, it is. Your money's good there. It is. I don't know why that also gave me a reaction. It's tougher. It's tougher for sure. Yeah.

Somebody gave me a couple years ago a cheesecake factory gift card for my birthday. It just also feels like a prank. I'm making you go to a cheesecake factory. I still haven't used it. Yeah. I grew up near one. Anyways, the review goes on. I called 20 times, nothing.

I felt like an insane person. It's not like it was peak hours. It was 4.30 p.m. That's funny to me. I thought, hey, maybe it's me and my phone. So I called the Burbank location after they opened at 5 p.m. and they answered the first time. Ended up placing my order with them, so everything's fine.

But this happened to me at this location before, and I just gave up. I figure this problem is worth communicating. Attached proof of my 20 calls because maybe I am insane. Yeah. And it was literally just a screenshot of like your call list and it had the ginia number, parentheses 20. So look, she acknowledged the thing that I was acknowledging, which is yes, you are insane for calling 20 times. But she's got that dog in her.

She's got that dog in her. She's not the bad guy in the story, obviously. Also, it makes me wonder about, I guess, is that it is a review on the restaurant, but it's not really a review on the restaurant. You know what I mean? Yeah. It's a takeout review. It's a review on management and how they, like, yeah, sure.

If I was a manager for a restaurant, I would tell my hosts and hostesses be like, hey, if the phone rings, answer it and tend to them. No, I agree. I'm just thinking in the context of, like, if I'm looking up the reviews to go to place or not, it almost like is a completely moot thing. Sure. I agree with that. But I think on the ownership side, you're losing money. No, it's worth communicating. If you're not answering your calls, people are calling in orders. Right. You know? Yeah, people who's not picking up the calls. I, they're wrong. That's true. That's true. Two star review. Joyce W. from Gardena, California. Two stars. November 21st,

2019. What a poll. Pre-pandy. Yeah. Love this place. But the last two months, they have been playing their music awful loud. I asked the waiter if it could be possibly be turned down. But her reply was the owner does not allow anyone to touch the volume. That's infuriating because here's the thing. It's either a lie by a server that wants to do nothing about it or true. and their next point is, I think, accurate. Yeah, the owner getting that much of shit about it, but you know what's really funny is from multiple people I know who have worked like retail or service jobs,

music is very controversial, not only controversial, but micromanaged by people who shouldn't be micromanaging it and don't have to deal with it. We managers and owners, like controlling the playlist and the volume and it being like a thing. My theory is that the owner wants a faster, turnover because people can't talk over the music to get a faster turnover in sales.

I went to eat at a casual place with delicious food, not a dance club in my sweats. Yeah. Wow. I'm so, like, I subscribe to that theory so much. It feels like a conspiracy theory is the thing. No, I've been in a Buffalo Wild Wings where I wanted to scream. Shut the music down. Like, just let us talk.

Yeah, but if it's, okay, the result that they want is more money. So they're saying the idea is faster turnover to get people out so they can get people in. But A, I don't think it's going to rush me out of there. It's just going to, like, lower my experience. And the result of that is going to make me not come back. My thing is, I have left before ordering restaurants. They turned me away before they even got my money. I was like, I don't want to spend an hour in this.

It's too loud. Wow. But so yeah. So that's why I don't subscribe to the theory. Can I give my hot take? Yeah. All music and restaurants should be instrumental. If you're in a restaurant, I don't want anyone to be distracted because they're singing a song. I want them to listen to me. You're in conversation with me. I'm in conversation with you. I want to hear what you have to say. I don't want to be like Bermuda, Jamaica, come. Like, I don't want to hear music that I'm tempted to sing along to. and I don't want it to be too loud. I just want to be able to communicate and enjoy conversation with the people that I went there for. And I did not go there for John Bon Jovi.

Okay, that's fair. I don't think I completely agree, like, flat out, but it's very important to be handled carefully. I did actually have the active thought as we were relieved from like, oh, the music has been good here. I think they had some lyrics in it, but it was the volume was perfect,

as in it was very low, but not, like, non-existent. And yeah, it was that whatever kind of music it was was pretty chilled in a good way. The volume of the music should be completely unheard the moment you start talking. When I'm talking to you, neither of us are hearing music. When we're quiet, we hear music. Well, it should be like, you know, sound design and film, wherein if you're noticing it, then it's a problem. It's got to be mixed well. Yeah, it's got to be mixed well.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Hey. Hey. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Wait, hang on. I'm just going to move this. Yeah, yeah, there we go. That's good. Yeah. Hey there, it's me, Michael.

And now that we're in season four, I'm adding more content to my Patreon. Not only can you hear the extended Yelp from Stranger's segment with three more reviews, and not only can you get an exclusive full episode covering an extra chain restaurant on the last day of each month, but I've added an extra chat with my guests where we discussed their go-to fast food and chain restaurants and talk about why they love them so much. I hope you'll come check it out and you can get your first week completely free of charge.

That's patreon.com slash fine dining podcast. I appreciate and love you all. Back to the episode. And that's part one. Tune in next week as we tell you what we thought about our meal at Jinnia Raman Bar. Grayson, thanks so much for being here. Tell people where they can follow you on socials.

You could find me in Palms, Los Angeles, on the street. If you're looking out for me, you can follow me on Instagram. at grason.a.a. Shapiro. And I think that's, I think that's it. Great. You can follow me on Instagram and TikTok at Fine Dining Podcast.

Keep up with clips of the show. You can go to my Discord and have a conversation with me. I'm very active there. And I have a Patreon where I do the full extended Yelp from Strangers segments, interviews with my guests covering their preferred restaurant rotations, the places they go all the time, and an exclusive episode that drops on the last day

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Really nice, really cool spot. Did that one with my dad. So head on over to Patreon to check that out. Every dollar supports the show, and I appreciate every one of you. In the meantime, we're just going to be sitting here

one week waiting on our table. Thanks so much for listening. We'll see you next. week with our review of jenia ramen have a fine day waiting for this step is done and we had some fun now we'll ask next time we're stuck in line waiting on a day long waiting on a day oh we're so hard you i serve for mediocrity oh sleeping