New Rockford restaurant aims to elevate the city’s ramen scene

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Scott Souvannasane wants to elevate the city’s ramen scene, and he’s starting with the dishes he’ll build from scratch at his new restaurant.

The 35-year-old has worked with his family in the restaurant business for years, and now he’s created his own vision for a restaurant centered around ramen and Korean fried chicken. It’s called Ryusei Ramen and Izakaya, and it’s set to fill the former KFC and Long John Silver’s at 5949 E. State St., a nearly 3,000-square-foot space in front of the old Kmart.

He said the concept was born out of the pandemic, when he started exploring different recipes and flavors for ramen. He’s been experimenting ever since.

“It evolved into me going into so many different kinds of ramen that I wanted to make a restaurant for it in Rockford,” Souvannasane said.

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He hasn’t set an opening date, yet. On Friday, he was working with KH Food Safety Consulting and Services in preparation for his health inspections and said he’s targeting an early August debut.

All the ramen and soups will be made from scratch in-house. He’ll have pork broth, using pork bones from local meat processor Eickman’s, and he renders his own chicken fat.

“I’m going to make the soups from scratch, I’m going to make the seasonings from scratch, I’m going to make the toppings from scratch,” he said. “So everything for the ramen I’m going to make completely myself.

“I want control over how the food is going to taste, and it’s going to be good.”

He plans to pursue a liquor license after opening and add a light beer, a mixed drink like a lemon sour and a Japanese beer. What type of Japanese beer will depend on availability of his distributors, but he hopes to bring in Kirin Ichiban, which he says pairs perfectly with yakitori, a type of chicken teriyaki skewer he’ll offer.

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Souvannasane, a Rockford native and 2006 graduate of Auburn High School’s gifted academy, has been passionate about cooking since he was a child watching “Yan Can Cook,” a Chinese-orientated cooking show featuring Chef Martin Yan.

“I fell in love with cooking,” he said. “I would watch Food Network channels. I spent many, many years of my life learning how to cook from things that I see.”

Eventually he realized TV shows weren’t enough for his education. He started digging deeper into culinary research, learning the delicate balance of spices, salt and sugar can alter taste.

“I went on a deep dive into flavors,” he said. “I pay a lot of attention to even the smallest details.”

His parents opened a Charley’s Cheesesteaks franchise at the CherryVale Mall in 1999, and a second location on Walton Drive in 2009. He’s worked at both for years, and he was a former cook at Kuma’s Restaurant in downtown Rockford.

Whether cooking for work or for friends, he said he always puts care into what he creates.

“I put so much thought into just making a single dish for my friends, and I want to put that forward for everybody else as well,” he said.

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The look inside the restaurant still largely resembles Long John Silver’s, with the same blue booths. He’s made some slight alterations to the lighting and decor, but keeping it close to its original casual look is intentional.

“I want it to be casual,” he said. “I don’t want any pretense. I don’t want anything fancy. I just want you to come in here, have a good time … enjoy your meal and chat with your friends.”

It will be self-service, rather than ordering from your table with a wait staff. Instead, you order from the front counter and pick up your tray when your number is called. There is also a pickup window for those who order online ahead of time and want to grab their food without leaving their car.

“It’s perfect for Door Dash and Uber,” said Karen Hobbs, founder and owner of KH Food Safety Consulting and Services.

Souvannasane has goals for the business that are humble and ambitious at the same time. He isn’t setting out to be the best ramen place in the area, but he does hope his work inspires others to step up their game.

“I actually look forward to having competitors because I want the ramen scene to grow,” he said. “I want there to be more offerings, and when I get a day off I want to go eat at their shop.”

He said he hopes his employees one day branch off with their own shops.

“Hopefully the scene grows, because I want there to be more flavors out there,” Souvannasane said. “There are so many varieties of ramen that if someone else opens a shop they can have a different kind of noodle, they can have different kinds of soups, they might have different brands of soy sauce, different brands of salt that they use, and that changes everything completely.

“I want there to be better stores than me, but I’ll be one of the best still.”

At a glance | Ryusei Ramen and Izakaya

Location: 5449 E. State St., Rockford

On the web: ryuseiramen.com

Social media: @ryuseiramen on Twitter; You can also find them on Facebook

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas