WALNUT CREEK, CALIFORNIA – Walnut Creek’s ramen moment is about to get a lot more interesting.
The signs are now up for MENSHO, the highly anticipated ramen shop coming to 1512 N. Main Street in downtown Walnut Creek, and the build-out appears to be in its final stretch.
There’s a health inspection Placard Pending sign on the door, which is often among the last steps before a restaurant formally opens its doors.
Local restaurant watchers have been tracking the storefront since last fall. MENSHO is one of the more recognizable ramen names to land in Walnut Creek in recent years — a Tokyo-born, chef-driven brand with Bay Area locations already in San Francisco and Oakland.
Its official history says the first MENSHO store opened in Tokyo in 2005, followed by its first U.S. store in San Francisco in 2016 and an Oakland store in 2023. That means Walnut Creek is getting the kind of ramen spot people have historically crossed bridges for.
Why People Are Excited
MENSHO was founded by ramen master Tomoharu Shono, and the company describes its ramen as a careful balance of five key elements: sauce, soup, noodles, oil, and toppings. The brand also emphasizes seasonal ingredients and original noodles made with selected whole wheat grains.
The broader MENSHO menu includes bowls like tori paitan, shoyu ramen, wagyu ramen, lamb tonkotsu, matcha ramen, shrimp ramen, and tantanmen, though the company notes that availability varies by store.
Until the Walnut Creek menu is posted, we do not know exactly which bowls will make it here. But based on MENSHO’s existing lineup, this is likely to be a more chef-driven ramen experience than a simple neighborhood noodle counter.
Walnut Creek Is Becoming a Ramen Town
MENSHO is not arriving in a vacuum.
Downtown Walnut Creek already has Ramen Hiroshi, one of the city’s longtime ramen favorites. Marufuku Ramen is also planned for 1630 Cypress Street, where the City of Walnut Creek has described the incoming shop as a Hakata-style tonkotsu ramen restaurant.
In other words, the city’s food scene is getting soupier in the best possible way.
So when will MENSHO open its doors? We reached out to ask directly, but no one has gotten back to us.
Based on the state of the restaurant, though, we’d expect a soft open within a week or two. Make sure to join our free 925 News newsletter and we’ll let you know when it officially opens up!
