TOMO Noodles & Dumplings

I found this place through Instagram--as I assume many others have. My boyfriend and I were running an errand in the area and saw we were nearby, so decided to try this place for a late lunch. It wasn't too busy on an early Sunday afternoon. Parking was easy, as this place is located in a shopping center.PROS- Fun concept and a cute experience! Definitely what makes it worth trying this place out. Pick out a wide range of instant noodles and toppings, and cook it right at one of their noodle stations.- A diverse menu of drinks and snacks. I only tried the ramen, though, so I can't speak to any other food items.- Friendly staff. At the time I am writing this review, I think they have only been open for a few weeks. Keep this in mind when you visit, as in my experience, new establishments need *at least* a month to work out the kinks in their service.CONS- Price. This is, unfortunately, the biggest con and the reason why I think this is a "one-and-done" spot. Between our ramen, toppings, and tip, we ended up paying $25-30, which seems like a lot for instant noodles. Some may argue that you pay for the convenience and the chance to try new ramen flavors. However, this isn't some fancy, complicated dish; it is something you can easily cook at home. A packet of noodles is not that much of a financial commitment, so even if you wanted to try a new flavor, bought one at a grocery store, and end up not liking it, you're probably only set back a couple of dollars. The toppings offered here aren't all that expensive to buy yourself, either (except for, at this current moment, eggs. lol). - Depending on the toppings (like the spam), your dish could end up extra salty. I'd stick with things like corn and egg instead.- Small interior, with only a few tables inside. Outside seating is an option, though.- I believe there are only three noodle cooking stations, and it takes a few minutes to prepare the noodles, so I could imagine a bit of a wait if there were a handful of people ahead of you in line.SUGGESTIONS- Since (in my opinion) the main draw is the experience rather than the food itself, it might help to offer some kind of combo deal or loyalty program to encourage repeat visits (a small discount on a second bowl, a "try three, get one free" deal, a unique flavor or topping option exclusive to repeat customers, etc.).- Lucky Me! brand Pancit Canton - specifically the chilimansi!!!!

This is the in Bel Air shopping center in Natomas. They took over the Edible Arrangements location right next to UPS. There are plenty of parking. Minimal dine-in area (only 2 tables with 2 chairs each, which means, 4 chairs total). There are plenty of outdoor seating though, so definitely only ideal in better weather. They're still in their soft opening phase, so there were some items that were unavailable. We especially enjoyed the lion dance for lunar new year today. Love the culture they're bringing to the Natomas area. The owners were extremely nice and welcoming. They even handed out li xi for the kids as well. The concept is great, but the noodles were okay only (water not hot enough). Love that there were lots of noodle variety and toppings available. The Hmong Naam Vaam was more like a drink as oppose to a dessert. This was our first time here and won't be our last as we are excited to return to try their sugar cane drinks and their dumplings next time.

When I saw that Sacramento got a build your own ramen bowl shop, I was super excited to try them out, since I've always seen them in the big cities. We arrived at lunchtime, and it was empty, but took a while for the person to be ready to ring us up. She didn't really explain how it worked until we asked questions about it. Basically you pick your noodles first, then go to the register to check out where you can pick your other toppings to add on. You can get two free toppings from a list of jalapeños, green onions, onions, or cilantro. Then the remainder of the add-ons range from $1-3. I added on corn and Chinese sausage, and my husband added a boiled egg. Each pack of ramen is about $6, varying if it's a Buldak brand or not. For our two bowls, our total was $20. So yes, it's pretty pricey considering you can probably pay the same to make several bowls at home, but it's pretty much just the novelty of the whole experience.They give you the add-ons all packaged separately so you can put them in your bowl yourself. After you pay there are self serve hot water machine machines that you will use to add water to your noodles. There are instructions on which buttons to pick based on your ramen pack but it may not be super clear which one applies to yours, so we ended up asking again. I just think when you have a new business or new concept, you should just assume that you may need to explain everything upfront. Instead it seemed like she assumed we had been there already. Overall the water process was a few minutes and it didn't leave you with boiling hot soup either so you can enjoy it right away! I really liked the ramen that I picked, and I had never tried it before. If anything, this is a great place to try something new before buying a whole pack at the store.The actual location is really small, they only had two tables with two chairs each. There are seats outside, which is doable in this cold weather I guess since you are eating hot noodles, but again not super ideal. They also had some dumplings available, but once we ordered the shumai, she said it wasn't available. They also have a small variety of boba drinks and desserts, similar to their bigger sister location in Natomas. They also have a couple of cute displays with lots of Asian food theme toys, books, and gifts, and I just wanted to buy everything for my kids! Overall, this is a fun place to come once. I would like to see a wider option of add-ons, and maybe at a more reasonable price for each add-on. If they start bringing in more exclusive ramen, that may entice people to come in more often.

Absolutely amazing staff, love that we made it in for the soft opening. Even with the little bumps in the road they made sure to accommodate everyone and even made additional seating. We had such a selection to choose from. Kumquat sugarcane and strawberries and cream drink were high on our list. Fun experience for our 4 year old to pick his toppings right there

Sheesh. I really wanted to like this place. Two stars because first of all the lady with long black hair that served us today did not want to be there and acted like it was an inconvenience that we were there. Second, we asked for a dessert in which she said "we don't have that" and so we asked for a different one and she goes "we don't have that either, so we say okay what do you have, she goes "nothing on the dessert list". Yikes! She doesn't help us work the water machine, so a couple of us messed up our noodles. Just had an awful experience because customer service is so important and that lady sucked. I do think the concept for the ramen bar is cool.

I seen this place going viral so I wanted to try it out ! They have a huge variation of noodles but I honestly was a bit disappointed at the toppings selection . Also staff needs to know their menu as we had multiple errors in our order. The place only has 2 indoor tables but there's plenty of seating outside . They did just opened so it feels a bit unorganized. I recommend the chapagetti noodles & the buldak carbonara/kimchi. The taro milk tea was also very refreshing.

This was our first time at a make-your-own-ramen place, and it was super easy! The owner and cashier were very helpful and the ramen turned out perfectly! There is limited seating inside but it was fine and wasn't crowded. They are in a soft opening phase but I am certain once word of mouth gets out - they will be busy! Check them out - so yummy!

This was my first time at TOMO and Ana was so kind and helpful with the entire experience. From the very beginning recommending noodles to the instructions and being very attentive to our service! :) It's such a calm and peaceful environment to enjoy with friends and family. I'm from out of town and definitely will be coming back just for this again and the sweet treats they offer

Amazing ramen spot ! So fun and unique and definitely coming here again , Ana was also really sweet and very helpful and made the whole process such a good experience!!

I really liked the idea, and get that you're paying more for the experience and idea however the pricing was ridiculous and for a newer business is was extremely dirty (having a ripped up old office chair in the restroom for a example) the toppings and "dumplings" are not worth the extra cost and all in all was below subpar experience. It's also extremely uncomfortable inside, feels claustrophobic and with numerous employees seemingly irritated or lacking of knowledge to help (asked a few questions and was always met with a idk) just standing around chatting. Sadly will not be returning.