After five years in Elgin, Tatsu Ramen House adds second location in Crystal Lake

Five years after opening his first restaurant in Elgin, a chef who immigrated to the suburbs from Mongolia will open another Tatsu Ramen House location, this time in Crystal Lake.

The eatery at 230 W. Virginia St., located in a strip mall anchored by Savers and La Rosita Fresh Market, will hold a soft opening on Friday, May 22.

“We’re so excited,” chef and owner Erdene Sainnyambu said. “Our time in Elgin has been awesome, and we want to share that with more people.”

He said he chose the location because it was already built out to be a restaurant, meaning he only had to make cosmetic changes.

The vibe and look will be similar to the Elgin location, but the space will feature a long bar and open kitchen where guests can watch the action. The dining room will seat about 45 people.

Sainnyambu opened the ramen restaurant in Elgin in 2021, largely out of a passion for the dish.

“I love to eat ramen, but I also love to cook it,” he said. “It’s all about the broth and building the flavors.”

Patience is key when building the broth, Sainnyambu said.

“We make everything from scratch, starting with just the bone, no meat,” he said. “We simmer that for over 24 hours to break down all the collagens and get the broth, and people can tell the difference that the amount of effort makes.”

Noodles, egg, meats and vegetables finish and flavor the dish. Menu favorites include their signature Tonkotsu ramen with pork-bone broth and chashu pork, the Spicy Miso ramen that builds on the Tonkotsu with more heat. The Nagoya ramen is made with chicken broth and a spicy stir fry of vegetables then topped with a piece of topped with a piece of chashu.

Most ramen dishes hover around the $17 to $20 price range.

First trained as a hibachi chef, Sainnyambu has expanded the offerings from the first restaurant’s launch to include hot plates like teriyaki Atlantic salmon. He also plans to draw on his years as a sushi chef to eventually add hand rolls to the Crystal Lake menu.

Unlike the Elgin location, Crystal Lake will offer beer, wine and sake.

Sainnyambu first came to the United States as a 15-year-old exchange student to Utah, an experience he described as a “culture shock, for sure.”

After returning to Mongolia, he and his family, who work with him in his restaurants, decided to emigrate, moving to Denver for a short time before settling in the Chicago area.

While Sainnyambu has been careful about growing too quickly, he is in talks for another location in DeKalb.

“We’ll see how that goes, but I just want to keep growing a little at a time,” he said. “I gotta get this one up and running and settled and become part of this community before moving on to a third.”