Noodles by Takashi Yagihashi

My boyfriend and I were wandering around Macy’s and decided to head up to the 7^th floor for a snack. We quickly ordered a bowl of ramen before closing (3PM). I was disappointed that they do not serve the typical tonkotsu ramen but settled for miso ramen instead. The toppings were alright (pork, corn, bean sprouts, naruto, and seaweed) but the broth was seriously lacking flavor and the noodles were soggy.
FYI: Noodles by Takashi is located in the food court of Macy’s

Came here after being recommended for lunch while doing a brief online search for spots in the loop.
Got the mushroom tofu noodle and was very satisfied. Flavored were balanced and the portion left me full. Good for a cold day. Price was 10.50(?) which I felt was respectable.
Also got the spring rolls which came with a chipotle mayo sauce. Not bad but not great. Only 3 bucks for 3 but gave ur meal some variety.

I did order Miso Ramen, Such a nice place to have your favorite ramen, affordable and healthy

A co-​worker and I came here for lunch and had a very enjoyable meal.
Décor: It’s in the Macy’s food court (7^th floor) so of course it is pretty nice. Everything about the actual stand is very clean and you can see everything laid out right in front of you. There are plenty of tables everywhere so finding a seat is not an issue. Additionally, the ambiance and atmosphere is very casual and relaxed — you actually don’t feel like you’re eating with a bunch of shoppers or tourists.
Bathroom: unknown (I’m sure Macy’s has bathrooms though)
Staff: The cashier was very friendly and the cooks made the food rather quickly.
Food: We both had the Noodles Combo (pork w/​pot stickers) and it was delicious! It came out hot and the ramen was perfect. The pot stickers too… wonderful! On the side they gave Sriracha and some kind of chili sauce and, for the first time ever, I liked the chili sauce rather than the Sriracha! The combo was pretty good sized as well. I left «not hungry» but I wasn’t «stuffed» — in fact, we swung over to McDonald’s for an additional snack after…
Value: The combo is a solid deal but you’re still walking out paying around $ 15 for lunch. I’d like to see the prices a bit lower.
This was a nice change from the normal spots and I will certainly keep it in mind for future meals.

It was a oddly cold and windy day in Chicago for June. Thus leading me to a craving for something with soup. Dont ask how i ended up in Macys but i found a nice noodle shop on the 7^th floor. Noodles. I ordered the miso ramen with pot stickers. I have had miso ramen before and their presentation wasnt impressive. but what lacked in beauty, sorta made up with the pork in the ramen. Yes, the pork. Its was soooooo soft and tender it literally melted in my mouth. I wish my favorite ramen shop would make their pork like this. But all in all, the pot stickers were average, the ramen was average and roughly presented… but the pork killed it. There for i gave 4 stars instead of 3.

I was really disappointed even though this is the mall food court, because I loved Slurping Turtle and expected something similar. The miso ramen I had was just underwhelming. It wasn’t piping hot, the broth had deep flavors but a bit too salty, the corn and veggies seemed out of place. It felt like an assembled dish where all the ingredients weren’t in harmony.

I always thought you were supposed to get your food quickly in a food court — until I went to Noodles by Takashi. Took 30 minutes from the time I got in line (there were only a couple of people ahead of us waiting to place their order) til when I actually got my food. Course I would have gotten my food quicker had the woman working their not given my meal away to people in line behind me. She decided looking at numbers was too much work so she just started saying «shoyu noodles» and gave them all to the people standing right in front of her — even though they were not the ones waiting the longest. The noodles themselves are decent but expensive, not a good choice for a workday lunch break.

Decent quality food for a food court! I ordered the fried chicken from the small plate menu. First of all, it’s a lot of food for the money! I was surprised. It comes with a cabbage salad, very lightly dressed. Possibly the first time in my history of Unilocal reviews that I would have liked more dressing; a tasty ginger concoction (I stole the pickled ginger from my nephew’s fried rice and added that; he wasn’t going to eat it anyway).
The chicken itself was copious and juicy. I found that it was overly salted, and that the breading could have been crispier, but overall it was a nice meal. I was actually irritated at being forced to eat fast food in a mall food court when there were probably literally 400 better restaurants within walking distance, but it worked out decently as far as getting something that filled me up, tasted all right, and settled well inside me.

I came back to this place a few weeks ago w/​co-​workers & received quality customer service. It appears management is on point and the level of professionalism couldn’t have been better — very thankful to the kind folks working hard here (along w/​the best soup you can get in the loop on a cold, stormy day).

It’s better than instant ramen but really won’t do it for me. I’ve ordered the miso ramen, generous bowl but it looks like it’s put together on a cafeteria assembly line. Not enough depth of flavor.
It’s prime location in the loop makes it a great spot to meet up friends on their lunch breaks but there’s better choices out there. Waiting’s never been an issue for me, because I’ve shown up right as they open but I could see the lunch crowd filling this place up.

Strange things happen during the holiday season on the 7^th floor of Marshall Fields – I mean Macy’s. People line up for hours to visit the Walnut Room, endure mediocre department store food and terrible service, and then complain about it on Unilocal.Why? To see a tree? Tradition?
Or you can cross the building and encounter half a dozen celebrity chefs in an atrium food court they call Seven on State. They all serve pared down, fast food versions of the dishes they are known for at reasonable prices. There are lines here too, but that’s because your selections are made to order in open kitchens and handed to you on a tray.
Most recently I had vegetable fried rice and shrimp rolls at Takashi’s. The fried rice was great, studded with stir fried vegetables, and very tasty. Although it was billed as a half order, for my appetite it was generous. So were the spring rolls, 6 of them, crisp and not too greasy, served with a good dipping sauce. All this came as a combo with a small cabbage salad for about $ 10. The wait was 15 minutes.
And after lunch you can go up to the 8^th floor where Marshall Fields – I mean Macy’s – has installed a viewing platform for a good view of the tree in the Walnut Room. Hence there is absolutely no reason to eat there (until they improve the food and service).

Very disappointed. The restaurant is located in the food court of Macy’s on the 7^th floor. That should have been clue 1 to not go. It is 12:30 pm on a Saturday and the place is empty, 2^nd blatantly obvious clue to turn around. Regardless I tried the miso ramen combo with potstickers. 3^rd clue, no decent ramen shop would call gyoza (potstickers). Got my combo with a beer and it came out to $ 18+. Miso ramen soup was tasty but that was it. Noodles were horrible, an evil alien hybrid of somen and pasta of sorts. Did not work with the soup. Soo bad that I did not finish and I never do that. Potstickers were measly and frozen type cooked entirely wrong. The beer was good.

This place is located at the food court atop of the Macy’s.
The ramen at this place is not bad but not great. Frankly, it exists because there aren’t better ramen options around the Chicago Loop. The broth is not that flavorful, and it’s a bit pricey for food court ramen.

$ 12 for a not-​so-​traditional bowl of ramen.
I tried the shoyu ramen with a chicken and soy sauce-​based broth, braised pork, bamboo shoots, egg, boy choy, seaweed, and naruto. The broth was pretty light but tasty. The chicken flavor was a bit weak though. The braised pork were generous slabs and tender. All of the other contents were also pretty standard. I was just a bit surprised to find a piece of boy choy in there although I didn’t mind the addition.
It’s a little pricier than the usual lunch selection and I’m not sure if I will return… If I do return, I will probably try the chicken tatsuta-​age.

According to Serious Eats, #6 in Chicago for ramen!
It’s in the food court of Macy’s. That says a lot about the ambiance — or rather the non-​ambiance. I strongly dislike lots of sounds and clutter when I eat, in particularly for lunch. That said, although the ramen was great (I had the mushroom tofu since that was the one on the list), the ambiance took away from the experience.
The soup was spicy and very flavorful. My friend ordered a chicken ramen and it took forever, so unfortunately before we both got our soups mine were cold. However, I went to ask for some more broth to heat it up and the staff was being very nice about it and didn’t hesitate for a second to serve me some. Despite the good food experience, next time I’ll go ramen-​hunting, I’ll go somewhere else.
Here is the link to the best ramen in town:

According to Unilocal,three stars = «A-​OK» so the three-​star rating reflects my sentiments about their ramen.
This place is located on the 7^th floor of Macy’s (7^th on State) and is only open during lunchtime. Be prepared to wait because the line during lunch rush can be quite long.
Their noodles are standard, but not mind-​blowing. I am no ramen conoisseur but I’ve had my fair share. This place is INDEED better than 25-​cent packs of Maruchan or the instant Chicken flavored cups that are ready in five minutes. It’s a notch above Shin Ramyun (spicy Korean instant noodles) too.
So call me preposterous for comparing Takashi Yagihashi’s noodles to the instant kind, with packets of sodium and preservatives! The two are not on the same level… worlds apart, actually. But the taste/​service/​quality at this establishment is impacted by the fact that it’s located in a food court, with people calling your number when your order is ready. You shuffle-​right, shuffle-​right until your bowl is placed on your tray at the end of the line, kind of like elementary school lunch. Hate me if you must (but I have yet to try Takashi’s stand-​alone restaurants.)
I’ve been here twice so far and have ordered their Shoyu Ramen and the Miso Ramen. The noodles are chewier since I think they’re made by hand. I preferred the Miso Ramen, with lots of sweet corn. The broth is tasty and they give you plenty of garnish to liven up your bowl… seaweed, bamboo shoots, fish cake slices etc. depending on what you order.
It’s about $ 10 per bowl which will leave you full. Nothing beats a steaming bowl of noodle soup when it’s cold out. Sometimes their ratios are off, like more noodles with less soup… or more pork with less ramen, but nothing of major concern. Tip for spicy food lovers: ask for a drizzle of spicy chili oil on your noodles.
All in all, if you asked me to meet there for a meal I’d say YES because they’re generally consistent, they’re decent and places for a hearty bowl of ramen are hard to come by in the Loop. This place offers grab-​n-​go convenience and is «A-​OK.»

Best part about the weather turning cold again is I feel like less of a freak heading over to Seven on State to pick up a big piping hot bowl of ramen. Don’t get me wrong, I still frequented this place in the summer, I will just feel less weird doing it now.
The broth is very flavorful and I slurp up every last drop. The ramen is hit or miss. When it’s on, it’s great. Off days, I’ve had clumpy under cooked noodles that break my ramen loving heart. The off days are few and far between. I’m sure a big part of that comes from the volume they turn over during the lunch rush.
Overall, it’s a filling, hearty bowl of soup. The Shoyu and Miso are delish. And the fried rice is great to change things up every so often.

Service is not the greatest, and $ 10 for a bowl of ramen is not a particularly good deal either, but we frequent this joint because the vegetarian ramen is such a treat! We especially like going to Macy’s on a Saturday and enjoying the ramen without the usual weekday craze. It’s not everyday that you find a ramen in vegetarian broth (the only other ones we are aware of are Oii Star and Yusho), and Takashi’s veggie ramen is flavorful with just the right amount of heat. The noodles are more like soba than true ramen, but they’re not bad. I wonder why he doesn’t serve vegetarian broth at his Slurping Turtle restaurant?
Remember to ask them for a frequent diner punch card! Buy 7 entrees and get 1 free

CAUTION: Service is SLOW! If you are on a lunch rush… stay away.
FOOD is great! Noodles selections are great. Shoyu’s marinated egg is a delight.
Takashi converted the Chinese friend rice by adding pickled ginger as a topping. Original indeed.
With limited hours, I try to enjoy the noodles as much as I can.

Note: If you’re going to Macy’s for the sole purpose of getting ramen (a la myself), make sure you hop on the Express elevators. They take you straight the 7^th floor and you bypass all the insane shoppers/​tourists. Look for ‘em by the Randolph street entrance, by the purses.
After waiting in line for a good 10 minutes (helllo, madhouse), I had time to research Unilocal reviews and thoroughly examine the ingredients in each of the ramen dishes. I opted for the Shoyu (egg, fish cakes, pork, bamboo shoots, bok choy) and thought it was pretty delicious! Nothing compares to that salt ramen broth I had in LA, but this broth was very flavorful! Great for a cold winter day. You can also ask for hot sauce if you’re looking for an extra kick.
I definitely want to try out the other types of ramen here! They all looked pretty good, especially the one that gets topped with corn and seaweed! And, these dishes are a little cheaper ($ 9) than the one at Takashi’s restaurant, so that’s a bonus!