After location change, Rockford ramen restaurant to open inside former Five Guys

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The walls inside a former Five Guys Restaurant on the city’s east side are blank for now. Soon, both the decor on the walls and the food prepared in the kitchen will reflect the taste of Scott Souvannasane.

Souvannasane is a 35-year-old restaurateur preparing the space at 611 Highgrove Place, which is along Perryville Road south of East State Street, to house Ryusei Ramen and Izakaya.

It’s the Rockford native’s first solo restaurant after working with his family in the industry for years, and it will specialize in ramen and Korean fried chicken made from scratch in-house.

“You’re going to see a lot of my personality here, whether it’s the food or the decorations, I’m a part of the store,” Souvannasane said. “You’re going to see me cooking your food. If I’m not directly cooking your food, I’m there in the process of it being made. I want the food to be good.”

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Souvannasane had originally planned to open his restaurant in the former KFC and Long John Silver’s at 5949 E. State St. in front of U-Haul, but those plans fell through after months of working on the property.

He has now signed a lease with First Midwest Group to take over the 2,600-square-foot former Five Guys space, and he plans to open before the end of October.

“We had a deal fall through with the landlord, and it ended up being a situation that we couldn’t work with,” he said of change of location. “This location turned out to be the best option that we had.”

The decor will be a mix of artwork Souvannasane has commissioned and a reflection of his personal taste with plushies and anime.

“It might be weird to people, but it doesn’t matter. That’s stuff I like,” he said.

Food is the real passion for Souvannasane, a 2006 graduate of Auburn High School’s gifted academy. Case in point, one of things he’s excited about with the location change is that it’s closer to his home, giving him easier access to a commercial kitchen whenever he wants to pop over and tinker with a recipe that he may one day offer customers.

He’s recently worked on recipes for duck ramen, which he hopes to incorporate into Ryusei, and an orange marmalade ramen.

“The way I designed it is that you don’t mix the marmalade into the soup: You let it slowly dissolve as you eat the bowl, and it actually changes the flavor as you eat,” he said. “You start off with a really nice salty, garlicy lamb ramen, and as you eat the marmalade dissolves and you get a sweet citrusy flavor that takes over the bowl little by little.”

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

Ryusei Ramen and Izakaya will be self-service, in which 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.

Souvannasane is a chef, cook and foodie who will center his business around elevating the city’s ramen scene.

“One of the big things for me is I want to have fun with my food, and I want to make good food for other people,” he said.

At a glance | Ryusei Ramen and Izakaya

Location: 611 Highgrove Place, Rockford

On the web: ryuseiramen.com

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

Compiled by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas