Red Light Ramen by Ardent

3 out of the 4 people in my group got sick after the meal.
Interesting place but I wasn’t a fan of the dish.

Always good. Not too bad of a wait tonight either. About 30 minutes total, and we didn’t get there until about 11:45

Yummy yummy ramen! The line wasn’t bad and everyone was laughing and trying to stay warm. I was so full after and had a nice buzz from the bandy old fashioned shushy! It is dark but I think it set the mood perfectly! It was a great way to escape my normal subrban soccer mom life and have a great night out!

Ok this is a funny story. I’ve been there 4 times and I loved every freaking minute of it. Chef Ardent is a mastermind of putting the Asian flavors together with his own twist. If you had a looong day at work with no lunch or dinner. head here. If you had a crappy dinner at 7 – 8:00pm and just not satisfied… come here. If you just wanna hang with the girls or guys in a hip happening area with some hiphop, hipster, cool down-​to earth people… Come here.
The Ramen noodles are soo good, everything is fresh and homemade right there in the kitchen, and if you’re lucky you get to eat in the kitchen with the chefs and cooks. I got freakin food poisoning from a batch of Ramen from there one night, threw it all up at 2AM, but ya know what??? It was that good, I STILL went back the next week and had more. That’s great it is!

This place is well worth the wait. Best ramen I have tasted since moving out to the Midwest. Thank you for serving this deliciousness. Cheap beers. I would recommend to everybody getting in line at about 10:45 PM, even though the doors open at 11:30 because the line builds up quickl. They have great customer service here as well. our group had a great time meeting others in-​line while we are waiting to be seated.

Tried tonight for our first time. Concept and atmosphere was neat! Would have liked lights a little brighter as it was hard to see the drink menu and what you are eating. Service was quick!
Ordered the brandy ol’ fashion slushy since it was raved about from Previous reviews and it was good but not worth $ 10.
Ramen was ok. Very very salty and thick broth. Ramen was served at the perfect temperature, which warmed us up quickly after waiting outside prior to the restaurant opening the doors.
Glad they have a rotating menu because I would
Like to try the ramen again in order to make my final review. Maybe tonight wasn’t their best…

Definitely worth the wait! My friends and I waited in line for about 45 minutes, but we were in the first wave of people (20 people) to enter. I have heard that the wait can be a lot longer during nice weather, but going in the winter seems to be a good way to reduce this!
This ramen was one of the best I’ve ever had… The noodles were chewy, the broth wasn’t overly salty, and the additions were great (the egg and pork especially). Don’t expect a super large portion, but for $ 10 you will definitely be full and satisfied.
We also got a slushy drink and let me tell you… they don’t skimp on the alcohol!

Such Amazing Ramen
We went on Saturday after Christmas so there wasn’t a long line, but it was still pretty chilly out. They have a small alcove outside and you get the most delicious smells every time the door opens.
Once inside we waited a few minutes to get seated. We were then were asked only one thing by our waiter, «Ramen?» Answer: yes. The ramen is served piping hot and with all the flavor you could want, but without too much salt. Plenty of meat and noodles are served in each bowl.
You’ll want to make sure you come hungry because you won’t finish all of your ramen otherwise!

Ramen has been getting a lot of media attention recently, and quite a few places in the Milwaukee area are touting everything from traditional to fusion styles of ramen.
Ardent has taken traditional, and brought it all the way back to authentic, with slowly stewed broths, and flavors that can only come from days of prep.
Ardent’s Red Light Ramen is an experience. The doors open at 11:30, but a line starts forming before hand, and there’s a sense of camaraderie with everyone else that’s forfeiting a night out for some goddamn noodles.
Once you get in, it’s a fast paced in and out meal, where you basically have your choice of either ramen, or ramen thats ruined because you’re a picky eater and don’t want some of the ingredients.
Don’t do that. Don’t be that guy.
Also, don’t be those guys that hang around for half an hour after you’re done. There are people waiting outside, and I don’t care that you want to sit and stew. Get up and get out, this is dine and dash, not dine and dilly-​dally.
There are also alcoholic slushies, like the Brandy Old Fashioned. It’s great. The Mimosa one? Not so much, but they replaced it with no hassle.
All in all, it’s a great East Side gem, and worth the wait outside. Besides, at around $ 25 for a bowl and a slushie, it’s the cheapest opportunity for a filthy peasant like me to dine at Ardent, and I am completely okay with that.

3 Month update (inspired by Joanna T.!):
As a preface: When I wrote my first review for RLR, I was still a newbie to the whole «ramen-​not-​in-​a-​Styrofoam-​cup» craze. I was never a ramen fan growing up, but only because all I ever knew was Maruchan in a microwave — not the various styles that can be made. I became a ramen addict after my first visit. I kid you not, I’ve been here just about every weekend since my first visit, minus the one time I left the city to go try ramen in San Francisco. The ramen served at RLR is THAT good.
1. Food. There is still only one food item on the menu, and this is the only place I’ve ever been okay with that: the special Tonkotsu style ramen. It’s $ 10, and includes nori (seaweed), pork, pickled wasabi greens, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and probably my favorite part: the soy egg. You can absolutely choose to omit whatever you want, and add whatever you want (upcharge, depending on the item) — but I say take it as it comes. I truly believe the folks in the kitchen knew what they were doing when they picked the items they would include in this bowl of goodness, and because I believe in chef intentionality, I try not to alter the food from the way a chef has presented it to me. The broth varies from week to week, sometimes they add more of «x», sometimes they cook it longer, sometimes they cook it slower. Regardless, I have yet to meet a broth I haven’t liked there. The noodles are, I believe, from Japan, which are then sent to Chicago, which then come to the restaurant. They are amazing, and absorbed the broth extremely well. It’s almost like they are coated in egg, I don’t know. Just go and try it all, I promise you won’t regret it.
2. Drinks. They have alcoholic slushies (usually an old fashioned + a random one that changes every week) + $ 2 PBR + assortment of beers.
3. Atmosphere. The lights are out, old school hip hop is on and everyone is obviously having a good time. I love see all of the seats filled, folks in the kitchen having a good time, and watching the reaction of people trying the broth for the first time. It does get a little crowded at the bar, but I don’t mind it.
4. Service. Amazing. Chef Carlisle and his team do amazing work and it is very obvious that they love what they do here. Everything is fast, clean and efficient. I don’t know that I’ve ever waited more than 5 minutes for a bowl, and if you sit at the bar you can see them just pouring it out. Amazingggg.
5. Yes there is a line. Show up early, then experience the Ramen and you realize it’s worth it. Sit at the bar if you can, or eat in the kitchen. I love being in the hustle and bustle of it all, it adds to experience.

As always, I’m late to the party. It’s taken me a long time to get to Red Light because I’m old and fall asleep early, or if by some miracle I’m awake at 11pm I\m usually in no state to be eating ramen anyway. Anyway, after hearing so many good things we decided to make the effort and I’m glad we did.
We were told by RLR experts that we needed to be in line by 10:45pm or risk not making the first seating. By 11pm the line was stretching down the block, so heed that advice or risk a long wait in the cold. We were also told to «get everything» in the bowl — again, good advice.
The ramen was absolutely amazing — the broth was rich, silky and not too salty. You can tell that it takes days to make and that a lot of care goes into serving up the perfect bowl. I even loved the mushrooms, and I’m not normally a fan of those.
I’ll be dreaming about this ramen for some time to come, mostly because I’m old and can’t stay awake late enough to eat here often.
On the drinks front, there is PBR for $ 3 or booze slushes (2 flavors, brandy old fashioned and a special) for $ 10. The slushes are good but I’d probably stick with beer the next time. The atmosphere is loud, a little chaotic and very fun. I can see why there’s a huge line and why some people (Rick and Daniela!) come every week.

We waited in line a bit but it did move pretty quickly. It’s a bit small so we decided to stand and eat in the kitchen. Seemed a bit odd but was ok. The ramen was actually pretty tasty and I loved the egg!
I guess if I had any issue it was that they had another group standing and eating in the kitchen right in the food prep area. Just seemed odd to me and made me nervous about people who may have health issues standing around the food being served to others.
That being said check it out!

Go Milwaukee! It’s hard to find a great ramen place in the city but have no fear, Ardent is here!
err…sorry for that
First of all I just wanted to tell you how welcoming the staff made us feel. We got there at 12:50 am, ten minutes before they stopped making ramen. We walk in and our server was happy to see us, patted us on the arm and directed us to our table. And on top of that, we asked for a chicken broth instead of a pork broth. He said no problem and gave us our drinks, 2 sodas and 2 waters. No charge.
When our food came out it was delivered by the chef to whom I said thank you and he put his hand on my shoulder and said «of course!» I cannot tell you how nice they were. And you really felt like they cared about the food. The egg in all of our ramens were perfectly velvety and umami. So so good. The noodles had a great bite to them and the nori was a great touch. It was actually quite authentic. All at $ 10 a piece.
Don’t even get me started on the music! They played the best stuff, from 90’s hip hop to Rage Against the Machine to pop. Just fantastic.
So I solute you, Ardent. Every place should have your philosophy on the guest and the food. Well done. We will be back. With friends. Lots of friends. (matrix reference if you’re cool)

Move out of the way, Taco Bell: I found a better place to eat my 4^th meal.
Just like in any fairy tale, big changes occur at Ardent when the clock strikes twelve (actually I lied: it’s 11:30). The windows are covered in burlap and the dinner menu and wine list are put away in order to create a new restaurant. A restaurant where one finds frozen cocktail slushies churning and pork bone broth simmering, a broth that takes over 30 hours to prepare. With the flick of the single red light, Ardent transforms into Red Light Ramen.
Pull up a chair at the bar or stand in the kitchen and watch Ardent’s cooks prepare you a heaping bowl of their labor of love, tonkotsu ramen. Although you’re most likely going to wait outside for some time (there’s usually about 50 people in line by 11:30, seeing that Red Light Ramen is in service until 1 AM on only Friday and Saturday nights), your ramen comes to you fairly quickly once you’ve ordered. Take my advice and order everything on your ramen – pork, noodles, bamboo shoots, seaweed, egg, and narutomaki. You need all of the components to create the most authentic, mind-​blowing taste possible.
I can’t tell you which I loved most: the intense, fatty broth, the fresh, bouncy noodles, or the melt-​on-​your-​tongue tender chunks of pork. Each brought me equal amounts of ear-​to-​ear smiles from start to finish, which only made me question if I was dreaming, because from everyone’s packaged experiences ramen can’t possibly taste this lovely… but when it’s prepared by a ramen-​making veteran like Justin Carlisle, I’m a firmer believer in that my noodle-​slurping dreams can become a reality.
In short, make it to Red Light Ramen before the noodle bowl turns back into a dinner plate.

Okay, let’s add one more rave review to the stack. I love Red Light Ramen! I will stand for 45 minutes in the freezing cold just to be one of the first in the door. There is something about walking down those stairs into the transformed darkened restaurant and snagging a stool at the bar that I just can’t get enough of.
I can still remember the first time I walked in and was overwhelmed by the aroma of porky goodness. Since then, we’ve been back… a lot. I now have dreams of ramen and have become totally obsessed to the point that I have spent two days trying to make my own version (which was good, but not quite at the pro-​level yet).
The atmosphere is fun and it’s great to meet other ramen and food enthusiasts. Every time we go, we end up talking to someone new either while waiting in line or in between slurps.
The ramen is awesome. It’s creamy and over the top flavorful. They have all the usual toppings — soy eggs, negi (green onions), mushrooms, greens, menma (bamboo shoots), nori (they actually use Korean seaweed which is seasoned and my personal favorite). I believe they use fresh Sun Noodles, which are the best available in the US. It comes out fast, and I always order it with the works — sometimes with an extra soy egg.
They offer a few condiments for your use — Nanami Togarash (a red pepper seasoning), chili oil and soy sauce. I do have a couple of other condiment suggestions for Chef Justin if your listening — Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp Sauce is totally addictive in ramen even if it’s Chinese or some chopped garlic would be a nice touch.
Others have complained that the bowl is small for the price, but I feel that the size is just perfect for a late night bite.
Our last visit this past Saturday was the most fun yet. We had a couple of the «purple drank» slushies and two bowls with the works.
We can’t wait to go back again and again and again and again.

Amazing. Seriously. The broth is flavorful– I had to stop myself from slurping it straight out of the bowl– yes, it’s that dang good. Everything this bowl of ramen comes with (mushrooms, pork, soft boiled egg, scallions, nori– I think there’s more…) pairs beautifully with the noodles and broth. It’s a hearty bowl that will fill you up.
People rave about the slushies, but I have yet to try one. Honestly though I would save all the room you have for the noodles and broth– you’ll want to eat it all! I want to come back and try the other ramen bowls people have been reviewing!
Sure, the place is dark and you will definitely need to shine your phone light to see the menu. Yes, it gets pretty crowded and if you wait by the door you backside might get smacked, but it’s most definitely worth the wait.

I love Ardent and have been looking forward to checking out Red Light Ramen for some time. Last night, we made the block-​long trek a bit early, and got there at 11:15 — there were already four people in line ahead of us, and more people kept showing up. Definitely glad we made it there early, though, because we were able to get in and snag prime spots at the bar.
We ordered two of their slushy old fashioneds, which were fantastic. Super strong, very delicious. In hindsight, we should have gotten one of their special slushies of the day — which was made with coke, kahlua, and vodka — so that we could have sampled both kinds (next time we will).
I got the tontaksu ramen and the husb got the special ramen, which was basically a ramen chili. I loved my ramen. Other Unilocalers are much better at articulating good descriptions of food, but let me just say that the broth is what made it for me – it was unbelievably good. The husb also really enjoyed his ramen as well — he loves ramen, he loves chili, therefore he couldn’t be happier.
Other reviewers have been put off by how dark it is, and how busy it is, and how the people waiting for tables are constantly eyeing you up, hoping that you’ll leave. But seriously — the atmosphere at RLR is fun, chill, and very laid back. Were people eyeing up our bar spots? Yes. Did that bother me? No – if you read the reviews, you’ll know Ardent is a small venue and that you usually have to wait for a table. I actually thought it was cool that people were standing up by tables, hanging out with their friends. RLR has a really chill vibe, and that’s one of the things I liked most about it (aside from the food, of course).
Additionally, Justin Carlisle himself actually served us at the bar, which was awesome. Ardent had such good service, and it was great to see it in action at RLR. Their host also seemed like a cool guy and handled the crowd of people very well.
To sum it up — RLR is fantastic in pretty much every way. If I can force myself to stay up until 11:00 or so, we’ll definitely be back.

Pretty good ramen… I have nothing to compare it to though except for the 10 cent packets from the grocery store as this was my first REAL ramen experience.
I got there like right at 11:30…waited in line for 10 seconds and they opened the door. Unfortunately I missed a seat by 1 party. However, after 11:30, the crowds started to pile in, so I would definitely get here before opening time (at least in the winter). It gets really crowded, and be prepared to wait if you are one of the late stragglers.
Do not opt to eat in the kitchen if they ask you… unless you just feel like standing around and eating your ramen. It’s super hot, and not really any space to enjoy your meal.
They do have spotted cow on top of pbr… in case you’re in the mood for better beer.

If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen!
We got here just before 11:30 and hopped in the line that had already formed out the door. Doors opened promptly at 11:30 and we were unfortunately the first people without seats. Our names were put on a list, but then about 5 minutes later the guy came back up to us and asked if we wanted to wait for a seat or just eat in the kitchen. Unsure of what eating in the kitchen meant, we skeptically agreed to do that. Well, eating in the kitchen meant standing in the sweltering kitchen, throwing my coat and purse on the floor under the sink and setting my bowl of ramen on a plywood board that covered the sinks. Not exactly what I had envisioned for a late night dining experience, but at least I got my ramen quick!
The ramen itself was delicious and came with all the fixings. At $ 10 you get a decent sized bowl of ramen topped with green onions, mushrooms, seaweed, some other veggies, soft boiled egg and pork belly. At most places, all these toppings are an extra cost and will put you over $ 10, so I thought this was a pretty good deal. The broth is super flavorful, but I just wish there was a spicy option.
By the end of this meal, I was literally sweating. Between the hot food and the steaming kitchen, I needed to get out! I’ll be back, but next time I’m waiting for a table!

Had a great time hangin’ with chef Justin last night. The place was a buzz with happy customers & a camera crew from Milwaukee Foodie filming the action of the kitchen. The Ardent staff put on an awesome performance in the intimate setting. Can’t wait to see the program on PBS
Who was that hottie photo bombing the film crew in the kitchen? Looked like she was having a blast too!
The ramen was spot on last night, a culinary rendezvous. I really dug the pickled egg & the overall presentation was masterful. Every bite of this delicious fare should be savored & cherished.
The discreet & isolated Ardent is the place to be on Friday & Saturday nights.
Ardent & chef Justin were James Beard nominees for best new restaurant in 2014.