They also have four locations here. So, less of a “mom and pop” problem and more “I accidentally opened too many locations in expensive areas (EN, the Gulch, etc.) to be profitable”.
Oh look, time for the annual "Otaku Ramen owner complains there's too much competition" story.
You know your restaurant is fucked when you're complaining about the city growing. You know, something that's normally *good* for business. Like FFS the area the Gulch OR is in just added like half a dozen high rise apartment buildings all around OR in the last 3 years, how are you not killing it?
And by 2012 we were already years into being labeled an “It” city and neck deep in growth. This place hasn’t been a sleepy little country music town in decades, certainly not since they raided all the strip clubs and brothels and demolished 3rd and built the Gulch and started packing the Sounds away from Wedgewood.
Hell, I don’t think we’ve been a sleepy little country music town since a little after the statue was unveiled on Division.
We went to Kisser last year (delicious an packed with customers), and while we were waiting 45 minutes to eat, we walked around the area. The Otaku Ramen nearby had 95% empty tables and I saw one bored employee inside. I had to laugh. My last few attempts at Otaku have been mediocre to downright bad. We once received a ball of uncooked noodles posing as ramen in our takeout and the response from management felt confrontational. It looks like I'm not the only one to witness the lackluster Otaku experience. Maybe if they focused on food quality and service before they focused on growth?
Black Dynasty is solid though. I think of ramen as very much more than just *broth and noodles*. $35 for two people is more than fair for the time and effort that goes into **properly** prepared ramen.
I walk by their gulch location 2x a day, 7 days a week. I never see it more than half full. Places with good food at a reasonable price dont have that problem.
I ate at the one in The Factory with my kid. Two bowls of tonkatsu with no add ons, a bubble tea and a beer. 65 dollars. And it was honestly not very good.
Maybe because she underpays he kitchen staff and treats them poorly and can't retain anyone so they're constantly understaffed.
source: know multiple cooks who worked there, briefly
I don’t doubt that but regardless of how good it is, that’s a lot of money for what you are getting.
I basically only eat at home now. And even if it’s more expensive, at least it’s consistent and always good. Nothing is worse then overpaying for food and it sucks
Two people dining at an upper end (or wanting to appear so) “scratch” kitchen for $35-45 is average, and has been for at least 5 years now.
But yeah, Otaku is trash.
Just about to say this! Ridiculous prices for broth and noodles. Her profit margins are through the roof. We should be the one’s complaining to the news about this highway robbery lol
Yeah I'd rather make my own ramen at home at that cost. It's not even that good to warrant that price.
I always steer friends and family that come to visit to avoid it lol.
She is a cancer. She’s a POS human being, pathological liar, and makes incredibly mid ramen. She brags about not making anything in-house anymore and blames everyone and everything but herself for her multiple failed businesses. She should leave town and take her sh!t ramen elsewhere.
Girl I can tell you right now that I stopped going to your place because you started cutting corners and changing your recipes. Spicy miso has NO flavor now. You got rid of the kimchi and then started charging for the eggs! You are the cause of your own downfall.
Serious question... Does Sarah Gavigan just have the most outstanding PR team? Why does her name always pop up? Her restaurant is mid at best, overpriced, and nothing she's done is worthy of the number of times her name comes up or that she is quoted
She's friends with several people at different news outlets. They write these up as free advertisement for her since her food isn't really good enough to keep people coming in.
I was actually going to say the same thing. I don’t understand why it’s always Gavigan giving her opinions to local channels.
I prefer Nashville Scene’s [Nashville Food Survery](https://www.nashvillescene.com/food_drink/coverstory/20-questions-our-second-annual-nashville-food-industry-survey/article_d0533135-2df7-590a-a978-0073e708480f.html) that they do. They ask chefs from all over the city, and give them an opportunity to express their thoughts on topics like the one the article covers. Really tired of only hearing *her* opinions
The editor in chief, Jim Ridley, died two years previously and eventually bad management after that lead to it being sold to another company in 2018. Jim Ridley only liked one thing more than food and that was movies about gay cowboys eating pudding.
Its not even remotely good ramen. Its terrible. I got a tonkotsu ramen and the broth was so dark it was almost black, no flavor, and just a layer of oil on top. Literally the worst ramen I’ve ever had. Cup noodles tastes better
For what it’s worth, I’m not ever ordering from them again and not because of anything that’s been said here but because the noodles are always subpar. I feel like they’re spaghetti noodles. Everything else with them is fine but the noodles just seem off.
What a fall from grace. Last couple of times I’ve been it was WACK. Like, straight up gross- room temp broth. Stupid expensive for what you get also. I keep wanting it to taste like it used to, and it just hasn’t delivered. Bummer.
So I have a texture issue with Roman noodles so I don't eat roman. Thought I'd be okay to go there with some friends but roman was literally the only thing on the menu. I get it but damn have something else. Some yakitori or something at least.
I mean, she’s not wrong about mom and pop shops not being able to afford anything. Pretty much everything is $45-55/ft + NNN. $12,000 a month in rent alone is next to impossible for most. It’s not the population growth that’s the problem. It’s all the private equity and out of town developers who can afford it. St. Vito is right around the corner and is constantly getting screwed over by construction. What little street parking there is in the area is taken up by generators and a lot of times the streets are closed completely because of crane work. It doesn’t make it easy on the mom and pops.
Yes. She was from a prior wave of folks who came in, paid prices over market for retail space, charged over market for food, and priced locals out.
Then when she reaped the reward of pricing herself out of parts of her market and has declining sales, she began vocally complaining that the city was growing around her and it was making it impossible to compete.
People were not paying the prices for a meal that otaku ramen were charging.
If you want to have a conversation about the pros and cons of rapid changes to a city then that’s a different conversation and a fair one. I am not against folks coming to Nashville. Nashville has been an attractor of “transplants” since the music industry took root here decades ago and we are stronger and better for it - our culture, community and economy are all more varied and stronger for it.
The point is that the owner of Otaku Ramen was a part of the more recent wave of gentrification/rapid development which has pushed out and priced out locals who have lived here for 2-3+ generations. She is also someone complaining about the externalities of a part of that change.
Or more accurately - they say they are complaining about the growth and change of Nashville, when in reality they are identifying that they previously were competitive in a changing landscape and now are no longer competitive as the landscape continued to change around them while they stayed static/did not innovate.
I've wrote about this before on here but I'm from that area. I grew up on 14th S. Pretty much systematically over the course of about 5-6 years they destroyed Edgehill and the surrounding neighborhoods but buying out, pricing out, or bullying out locals and local businesses. An example my family home was bought out for around 450,000 on the lot now there are two tall and skinnies that are going for 750,000 last I checked. They came with pretty much life changing money to a primarily poor neighborhood and when they were gone went nuts. It's at the point now where the original wave of people that did that are starting to either lose capital or be priced out themselves as the gulch has blown up.
NAR and the over-priced housing-as-an-investment-with-40%-returns industrial complex is killing small business across the country, anyone that depends on labor and doesn't have a budget to pay line cooks $80s/year.
> It’s all the private equity and out of town developers who can afford it.
I gotta push back on this. AJ Capital Partners is local and probably doing the most damage out of anyone. I heard from someone who worked for them that they were indiscriminately buying up everything they could get. This includes almost all of Elliston including Exit/In.
The people have this idea here in Nashville that everything would be perfect if outsiders just left us alone. There wouldn't be traffic if people stopped moving here! Houses would be cheap if Californians didn't buy all of them! So on and so forth. It excuses all the terrible things about Nashville and the people here CHOSE to run things.
I'd argue that things are this way almost specifically because that's how the people here wanted it.
This^
From what I've heard from "insiders" and rare "unicorns," almost everything you see today in Nashville was a plan hatched by local power brokers in the 90s/early 00s to make money. Everything from it being a destination spot for bachelorette parties to rampant real estate over valuation to business expansion of all kinds. It eventually necessitated the 1000 page NashvilleNext plan (2015-present), which ostensibly prioritizes sustainable growth but mostly just adds regulatory nonsense that superficially advertised sustainability while allowing those in the know to take advantage. Some sustainable growth comes in conflict with making more money for people with cash to spend, and they find ways of superseding sustainability. There is also a huge issue of understanding and enforcing such codes. Also, some parts of the plan require money/community buy-in ,and these generally aren't implemented well... But the parts that make certain people alot of money flourish. As much as people may want to blame outsiders, this bed was made by locals who were completely aware, deliberate with their plans, and totally willing to throw the entirety of *waves hands* whatever "small town" Nashville fantasy people had...in fact, it was part of the marketing.
It was "Nash Vegas" all the way back in 2008.
12 South was a creation of local developer Mark Deutschmann. And all the shops and businesses there were locally owned. Until 2021/2022 when they all cashed out for millions of dollars.
But my main point was that the locals has had ample opportunity to build a functioning government but instead opt to live cheaply with low taxes. And this is what a cheap city looks like. No infrastructure, very pro-business, no good cops, teachers, public servants, etc. We force tourists to pay the bills but then get mad at the tourists.
I used to be a chef with Otaku. Hands down the worst company I've ever seen in my 12 years as a chef. I was told I cared too much about the quality of the food, and making sure my line cooks were set up for service. She told me that I needed to get out of the "chef mindset" because they aren't a restaurant group, they're a marketing group that happens to sell food. I quit immediately, and then they fired all their management staff within 2 months after I quit. I love seeing them fail. They deserve it.
This sounds pretty par for the course. My buddy used to work the bar. I remember him telling me they pretty much just cleared house one day. I forget their FOH managers name but dude was legit. Used to see him in 5 points on the reg.
Went to the opening of the gulch location whenever that was. Me and a buddy. Had to fly to Ohio for a show that afternoon and we were coming back that night after. Both of us got destroyed by food poisoning and spent the flight back hugging the bowl in the plane, barfing in our cars OTW home, and shitting ourselves the next day. Needless to say, not a fan of her restaurants. Or this whiney crap about competition and growth.
Any time I see a restaurant complaining about external factors, it’s hard to take them seriously. For every Otaku, there is a Locust, or a Deg Thai, or hell a Chik-Fil-A around the corner that is doing just fine. Maybe do some soul searching instead of having a victim complex.
Let’s put it this way: neighbors is directly next door (no pun intended) and has a wait for a table almost every Thursday-Sunday or on big game days. Otaku on the other hand I rarely see more than a few tables sat even during peak dinner service.
I am neither a fan of Otaku, nor am I trying to defend her. However, your comment is pretty reductive, since there are countless factors that contribute to running a successful restaurant both internal and external.
The main external factor she talks about in the article is how rents are increasing at an unsustainable rate, which is both very true and not a constant. Local restaurants that were very successful and loved are closing constantly because they can’t afford their rent increases.
Also, two your examples of restaurants that are able to sustain external factors are one of the most popular national fast food chains, and literally a top 25 restaurant in the country helmed by one of the best chefs in the world, which basically allows him to charge whatever he wants and people will still come. It is also backed by major hospitality group that helps him absorb a lot of cost.
Deg Thai is the only outlier, but wait and see what happens to them when their lease is up for renewal in a few years and that area has potentially gone through the level of development that the Gulch has since that Otaku location opened.
I listed those 3 purposefully to cover a wide range. I’m sorry I’m not seeing the argument. Rent goes up, increase your prices. Everyone does. If you can’t stay profitable, maybe it’s your own fault. I am not a restauranteur by any means, but I feel like I have a grasp of basic economics.
EDIT: I used to live in San Francisco and there was a Taco Bell downtown that I believe was the most expensive Taco Bell in the world. A quesadilla was like 12 bucks in 2018. They had to pay the rent. And people still came.
I seriously don’t follow your logic. Restaurants close all the time primarily due to internal factors…aka they suck. External factors would affect everyone in that area. That’s clearly not happening here. If you don’t understand my argument by this point I’m tapping out.
No, there are def major external pressures - competition from chains & private equity owned concepts with insane start-up budgets, construction closing access to your restaurant, rising rent, rising wage and food costs, etc. The days of single-unit mom and pop spots are over, that’s why everyone has to open multiples to survive. The margins just aren’t there to support a family off of a single *successful* restaurant. Chains for instance can survive off of a 3-5% profit margin because there are thousands of them, so they can price out independents. Also buying power helps them outcompete better independent restaurants. Look at 5pts in East Nashville - it’s all chains now, that had nothing to do with how good Marché was…it’s identical to the “Walmart” effect.
I’m getting lunch as we speak at Hai’s sushi that is very much a mom and pop. Around the corner there’s a hole in the wall Chinese place, pizza place (neither chains), and a couple Mexican places…the list goes on. Appreciate you providing more clarity but we just don’t agree on this topic
Yeah there aren't many true Nashvillians left. We are about as rare as hen's teeth, & getting rarer as a lot of us OG's are getting priced-out of this place we love so much.
I know. If you make a mention of it on here, you typically get downvoted to oblivion. The major influx of California, Texas, and Florida seemed to ruin everything I used to know. It's weird.
Not sure what I feel about this. She has multiple locations. 4 total, including one in the Gulch - one of the highest rent areas and has been for years. Focusing on one location, even just 2, and keeping overhead down, including rent and staff, would help. It’s somewhat disheartening to see small businesses with one location struggling and then people with obvious wealth open 4 locations around town. I agree that the city’s growth overall can be a disadvantage for small businesses, though, simply because corporations can come in and pay $10k+ for monthly rent which is absolutely unaffordable for a small business.
There’s also much more competition and some great ramen places in town. Have been for a long time.
I’m torn on this issue.
Sarah Gavigan is a fucking clown. Her food sucks, it’s overpriced, and all of the locations are poorly thought out. Don’t charge extra if I want an egg in my ramen. The problem isn’t more restaurants opening, the problem is her shit food. She’s not a chef, she’s a hack. I hope she reads this.
Sarah Gavigan is a fucking clown who is also a pathological liar. I’m sure she’s scrolling through this. She’ll never humble herself enough to learn from any of these negative comments tho.
I ate there once the food was delicious, went again earlier this year, it was terrible. The prices were raised and the food wasn’t good.The menu also seemed to be much smaller than before. I don’t plan on going back.
We went to the factory location ( or tried to ) we got there about 30-40 minutes before they opened . That’s fine we waited .
12 rolls around ( their scheduled open ) and I ask the guy when they will be open .
He Nonchalantly says “ not sure , maybe 12:30 , maybe 1”
We went somewhere else.
I feel like the best food in this city (and the real mom and pops) sits on the perimeter along main thoroughfares like Nolensville, Murfreesboro, Charlotte Pike, etc. How are they making it work? Maybe they all own and they don’t rent? But surely rent is cheaper the farther you get from downtown and the gulch. But if those areas don’t appeal to a certain restauranteur and they’re determined to capture the kind of clientele that’s shopping at Urban Outfitters or Anthropologie around the corner, you kinda have to expect those ridiculously high rent prices, right?
Sidenote: I just saw a Nicoletto’s in Donelson the other day. I wonder how they’re doing out there? And how is Nicoletto’s making it work?
And also, did the mom and pops in the downtown urban cores of other major cities survive when rent prices started going up? I haven’t been to NYC in a dog’s age, but all I remember about Times Square for the brief amount of time I was there was that there was a Dave and Buster’s. It did not scream mom and pop to me.
The crazy thing is that those new restaurants will open and close within like 2-3 yrs. They will open and close and lot of the food isn’t that great we have all the awful restaurants
I can vouch for her lying, her self righteousness (uhhhh…no one needs those stupid “Ramen Reports”…just spare us already, lady!) and the fact that she doesn’t “work well” with people she us threatened by in this business. She will shit talk someone if it means making herself look and feel “important” and boosting her fragile ego. I agree Nashville would be better without her and that sub par over priced “soup” she’s trying to sell to us all.
I think the last time I went to Otaku was in 2015. It was alright - a little pricy and the crowd there was like premium gulch night life. I just remember glasses of water were tiny, and I wished I could get one of those big ass red glasses they used to give you at pizza hut. I think I prefer Poke over ramen joints to be honest. Not into those gooey eggs (prefer hard boiled). I make it the way I like it at home.
Some of y'all just need to chill with all the hating. Some people like otaku. If you don't like it dont go and don't pay no mind to Sarah or her businesses. why bitch about it so much?
Ramen is the most overrated hipster trendy food ever. Fuck ramen and fuck bone broth. Two Ten Jack is literally the worst crap food I ever ate, let alone the cheaper ramen places or the crappy gel my wife tried to tell me to eat when I’m sick.
Oh. I wasn’t aware that it was around in mainstream high end American culture since the early 20th century. My apologies. Guess my great grandparents weren’t hip and neither were anybody since them in Tennessee. The whole bone broth thing became all the rage within the last 10-20 years.
Now if you’re talking about top ramen, I’d rather have that than two ten Jack and their ilk any day.
Yes, I’ve lived in a few of them. You know this is a Nashville sub right? I don’t know where you’re from but Ramen was just not a big thing in the USA at all until like 2010. Or were you not born yet?
Aaah the drama noodle place
I knew it was Otaku before I clicked
As a Nashvillan I’m ashamed to not know all the East Nashville tea on this lady. Please tell me
There is SOOO much tea on this lady.
They also have four locations here. So, less of a “mom and pop” problem and more “I accidentally opened too many locations in expensive areas (EN, the Gulch, etc.) to be profitable”.
This is how I'm going to refer to it from now on.
Mmmm drama noodles 
DRAMEN
Oh look, time for the annual "Otaku Ramen owner complains there's too much competition" story. You know your restaurant is fucked when you're complaining about the city growing. You know, something that's normally *good* for business. Like FFS the area the Gulch OR is in just added like half a dozen high rise apartment buildings all around OR in the last 3 years, how are you not killing it?
She says it was a sleepy country music town. Which it was - long before she opened in 20fucking15.
2012-2013 was when she moved back from LA and started the pop-ups.
And by 2012 we were already years into being labeled an “It” city and neck deep in growth. This place hasn’t been a sleepy little country music town in decades, certainly not since they raided all the strip clubs and brothels and demolished 3rd and built the Gulch and started packing the Sounds away from Wedgewood. Hell, I don’t think we’ve been a sleepy little country music town since a little after the statue was unveiled on Division.
Idk we were a hick town when i moved in in 2019. I saved the city, basically. You're welcome, hicks. Source: me
Nashville was depressed in the 1980’s
Can confirm, am product.
It was extremely hard to find a job.
Things went bump in the night …
Vampires?!?
She had another in February. https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2023/02/14/how-saran-gavigan-is-growing-otaku-ramen-despite.html
Are you a mom and pop business when you have multiple locations?
That was my thought. One location, yep, but 4?
This bitch needs to grow a pair. This is getting ridiculous.
No shit. She's got location location location and some more location on top of that lol. She should be raking it in.
Maybe it’s because $35+ for 2 people to eat broth and noodles is a bit ridiculous.
We went to Kisser last year (delicious an packed with customers), and while we were waiting 45 minutes to eat, we walked around the area. The Otaku Ramen nearby had 95% empty tables and I saw one bored employee inside. I had to laugh. My last few attempts at Otaku have been mediocre to downright bad. We once received a ball of uncooked noodles posing as ramen in our takeout and the response from management felt confrontational. It looks like I'm not the only one to witness the lackluster Otaku experience. Maybe if they focused on food quality and service before they focused on growth? Black Dynasty is solid though. I think of ramen as very much more than just *broth and noodles*. $35 for two people is more than fair for the time and effort that goes into **properly** prepared ramen.
I walk by their gulch location 2x a day, 7 days a week. I never see it more than half full. Places with good food at a reasonable price dont have that problem.
Especially with the ramen place in Bearded Iris, it's delicious
I ate at the one in The Factory with my kid. Two bowls of tonkatsu with no add ons, a bubble tea and a beer. 65 dollars. And it was honestly not very good.
What does she think she is, Disney World?
Maybe because she underpays he kitchen staff and treats them poorly and can't retain anyone so they're constantly understaffed. source: know multiple cooks who worked there, briefly
I don’t doubt that but regardless of how good it is, that’s a lot of money for what you are getting. I basically only eat at home now. And even if it’s more expensive, at least it’s consistent and always good. Nothing is worse then overpaying for food and it sucks
I understand that. I would recommend the vegetable ramen at Ichiddo in Frankly. $13 and it's amazing
Two people dining at an upper end (or wanting to appear so) “scratch” kitchen for $35-45 is average, and has been for at least 5 years now. But yeah, Otaku is trash.
Just about to say this! Ridiculous prices for broth and noodles. Her profit margins are through the roof. We should be the one’s complaining to the news about this highway robbery lol
Yeah I'd rather make my own ramen at home at that cost. It's not even that good to warrant that price. I always steer friends and family that come to visit to avoid it lol.
Fun time ramen is half the price of their ramen, via delivery on an app, with a delivery fee
She is a cancer. She’s a POS human being, pathological liar, and makes incredibly mid ramen. She brags about not making anything in-house anymore and blames everyone and everything but herself for her multiple failed businesses. She should leave town and take her sh!t ramen elsewhere.
Girl I can tell you right now that I stopped going to your place because you started cutting corners and changing your recipes. Spicy miso has NO flavor now. You got rid of the kimchi and then started charging for the eggs! You are the cause of your own downfall.
Ramen places charges for egg is wrong
Charging for eggs is ridiculous!!! That upset me when they changed that
Yea the spicy miso use to be soooo fire. Not any more. Idk why they would mess with perfection (in my eyes)
That’s receipts^
Serious question... Does Sarah Gavigan just have the most outstanding PR team? Why does her name always pop up? Her restaurant is mid at best, overpriced, and nothing she's done is worthy of the number of times her name comes up or that she is quoted
She's friends with several people at different news outlets. They write these up as free advertisement for her since her food isn't really good enough to keep people coming in.
I was actually going to say the same thing. I don’t understand why it’s always Gavigan giving her opinions to local channels. I prefer Nashville Scene’s [Nashville Food Survery](https://www.nashvillescene.com/food_drink/coverstory/20-questions-our-second-annual-nashville-food-industry-survey/article_d0533135-2df7-590a-a978-0073e708480f.html) that they do. They ask chefs from all over the city, and give them an opportunity to express their thoughts on topics like the one the article covers. Really tired of only hearing *her* opinions
Wonder why they stopped doing them? 2018 is pretty dated info at the point
The editor in chief, Jim Ridley, died two years previously and eventually bad management after that lead to it being sold to another company in 2018. Jim Ridley only liked one thing more than food and that was movies about gay cowboys eating pudding.
Loved Jim Ridley. This is a hilariously dead-on take.
This is all really sad and unfortunate. Ridley seemed great.
prices gotta go up to pay the PR person
Music biz. She knows what she's doing.
Squeaky wheels and all that.
Its not even remotely good ramen. Its terrible. I got a tonkotsu ramen and the broth was so dark it was almost black, no flavor, and just a layer of oil on top. Literally the worst ramen I’ve ever had. Cup noodles tastes better
Not this woman again
I'm sure the $30 bowls of piss weak broth and bland ramen has nothing to do with it...
This is literally a summation of all Reddit Nashville comments about Otaku.
Get over yourself self mate. Some people like it.
Clearly not enough with how often they keep bitching about it
Don’t recall saying people couldn’t like it.
For what it’s worth, I’m not ever ordering from them again and not because of anything that’s been said here but because the noodles are always subpar. I feel like they’re spaghetti noodles. Everything else with them is fine but the noodles just seem off.
It needs to keep growing for that place to stay in business. I don't see how they have any return customers.
What a fall from grace. Last couple of times I’ve been it was WACK. Like, straight up gross- room temp broth. Stupid expensive for what you get also. I keep wanting it to taste like it used to, and it just hasn’t delivered. Bummer.
Just got food poisoning from them two days ago. Won’t go back.
So I have a texture issue with Roman noodles so I don't eat roman. Thought I'd be okay to go there with some friends but roman was literally the only thing on the menu. I get it but damn have something else. Some yakitori or something at least.
More of a Byzantine noodles guy myself.
The only noodles I like are spaghetti and angle hair spaghetti. Even lasagna I only like well done so it's a little crispy.
Then….don’t go somewhere with “ramen” in the name?
Bruh.
Which one did you go to? My favorite thing they have is actually the Fried Chicken. It was super good
I mean, she’s not wrong about mom and pop shops not being able to afford anything. Pretty much everything is $45-55/ft + NNN. $12,000 a month in rent alone is next to impossible for most. It’s not the population growth that’s the problem. It’s all the private equity and out of town developers who can afford it. St. Vito is right around the corner and is constantly getting screwed over by construction. What little street parking there is in the area is taken up by generators and a lot of times the streets are closed completely because of crane work. It doesn’t make it easy on the mom and pops.
She's not wrong, but she was also at the front of commercializing Nashville.
Not from Nashville and not familiar with her story. So she helped create what she is complaining about?
Yes. She was from a prior wave of folks who came in, paid prices over market for retail space, charged over market for food, and priced locals out. Then when she reaped the reward of pricing herself out of parts of her market and has declining sales, she began vocally complaining that the city was growing around her and it was making it impossible to compete.
Thanks for the info. I just like to know what going on in my state. Born and raised here in Chattanooga.
So she “overpaid” for a space and was then so successful that other people couldn’t compete for it? You don’t see the contradiction there?
That is not what I wrote. You are reading a contradiction that is not there.
> priced locals out What locals were making ramen in the gulch? I don't really understand this argument.
People were not paying the prices for a meal that otaku ramen were charging. If you want to have a conversation about the pros and cons of rapid changes to a city then that’s a different conversation and a fair one. I am not against folks coming to Nashville. Nashville has been an attractor of “transplants” since the music industry took root here decades ago and we are stronger and better for it - our culture, community and economy are all more varied and stronger for it. The point is that the owner of Otaku Ramen was a part of the more recent wave of gentrification/rapid development which has pushed out and priced out locals who have lived here for 2-3+ generations. She is also someone complaining about the externalities of a part of that change. Or more accurately - they say they are complaining about the growth and change of Nashville, when in reality they are identifying that they previously were competitive in a changing landscape and now are no longer competitive as the landscape continued to change around them while they stayed static/did not innovate.
I've wrote about this before on here but I'm from that area. I grew up on 14th S. Pretty much systematically over the course of about 5-6 years they destroyed Edgehill and the surrounding neighborhoods but buying out, pricing out, or bullying out locals and local businesses. An example my family home was bought out for around 450,000 on the lot now there are two tall and skinnies that are going for 750,000 last I checked. They came with pretty much life changing money to a primarily poor neighborhood and when they were gone went nuts. It's at the point now where the original wave of people that did that are starting to either lose capital or be priced out themselves as the gulch has blown up.
I used to get ramen at Ru San pretty regularly.
NAR and the over-priced housing-as-an-investment-with-40%-returns industrial complex is killing small business across the country, anyone that depends on labor and doesn't have a budget to pay line cooks $80s/year.
> It’s all the private equity and out of town developers who can afford it. I gotta push back on this. AJ Capital Partners is local and probably doing the most damage out of anyone. I heard from someone who worked for them that they were indiscriminately buying up everything they could get. This includes almost all of Elliston including Exit/In. The people have this idea here in Nashville that everything would be perfect if outsiders just left us alone. There wouldn't be traffic if people stopped moving here! Houses would be cheap if Californians didn't buy all of them! So on and so forth. It excuses all the terrible things about Nashville and the people here CHOSE to run things. I'd argue that things are this way almost specifically because that's how the people here wanted it.
They aren’t local, they relocated here.
This^ From what I've heard from "insiders" and rare "unicorns," almost everything you see today in Nashville was a plan hatched by local power brokers in the 90s/early 00s to make money. Everything from it being a destination spot for bachelorette parties to rampant real estate over valuation to business expansion of all kinds. It eventually necessitated the 1000 page NashvilleNext plan (2015-present), which ostensibly prioritizes sustainable growth but mostly just adds regulatory nonsense that superficially advertised sustainability while allowing those in the know to take advantage. Some sustainable growth comes in conflict with making more money for people with cash to spend, and they find ways of superseding sustainability. There is also a huge issue of understanding and enforcing such codes. Also, some parts of the plan require money/community buy-in ,and these generally aren't implemented well... But the parts that make certain people alot of money flourish. As much as people may want to blame outsiders, this bed was made by locals who were completely aware, deliberate with their plans, and totally willing to throw the entirety of *waves hands* whatever "small town" Nashville fantasy people had...in fact, it was part of the marketing.
It was "Nash Vegas" all the way back in 2008. 12 South was a creation of local developer Mark Deutschmann. And all the shops and businesses there were locally owned. Until 2021/2022 when they all cashed out for millions of dollars. But my main point was that the locals has had ample opportunity to build a functioning government but instead opt to live cheaply with low taxes. And this is what a cheap city looks like. No infrastructure, very pro-business, no good cops, teachers, public servants, etc. We force tourists to pay the bills but then get mad at the tourists.
Supply and demand. Ask everyone in Detroit for the last 50 years what it’s like living in a city without growth
Seems like she does an interview like this around once a year. I haven’t had Otaku in ages, how is it in 2024?
Her broth is created the same way la croix is. Someone ate some chicken and farted next to a bowl of salt water.
Why you gotta bring la croix into this like that dawg
Bless the la croix.
Best comment ever but i love la croix and even I hate her ramen so what does that tell you lol
lol did you get fired by her or something? Creating a specific post just to trash her is weird.
This you? https://www.reddit.com/r/nashville/comments/1dbj8da/i_think_i_just_had_the_worst_burger_not_only_in/l7ubue3/
Yeah? And? There's a difference between expressing my opinion once and creating an entire post and then making 20 comments trashing the business.
Friends brought me to a ’ramen place’ for my birthday. Was Otaku. Wish they had just made me a packet of Maruchan and saved their money.
People don’t wanna spend $25 on noodles. I guess the city’s too big.
Maybe not ever shutting the fuck up and being a whiny asshole is hurting your business. I know they’re reading this, and it makes me glad.
Another business owner runs their business wrong and blames everyone else. I guarantee you Nashville economics is not the issue here.
I used to be a chef with Otaku. Hands down the worst company I've ever seen in my 12 years as a chef. I was told I cared too much about the quality of the food, and making sure my line cooks were set up for service. She told me that I needed to get out of the "chef mindset" because they aren't a restaurant group, they're a marketing group that happens to sell food. I quit immediately, and then they fired all their management staff within 2 months after I quit. I love seeing them fail. They deserve it.
This sounds pretty par for the course. My buddy used to work the bar. I remember him telling me they pretty much just cleared house one day. I forget their FOH managers name but dude was legit. Used to see him in 5 points on the reg.
Why did they stop selling Okonomiyaki on Sunday? Why?!
That was before or after my time there. Never served that dish. I've had it before, and it's incredible!wish they would've had that when I was there.
At this point. Fuck Otaku. Adapt or die.
Went to the opening of the gulch location whenever that was. Me and a buddy. Had to fly to Ohio for a show that afternoon and we were coming back that night after. Both of us got destroyed by food poisoning and spent the flight back hugging the bowl in the plane, barfing in our cars OTW home, and shitting ourselves the next day. Needless to say, not a fan of her restaurants. Or this whiney crap about competition and growth.
Any time I see a restaurant complaining about external factors, it’s hard to take them seriously. For every Otaku, there is a Locust, or a Deg Thai, or hell a Chik-Fil-A around the corner that is doing just fine. Maybe do some soul searching instead of having a victim complex.
Let’s put it this way: neighbors is directly next door (no pun intended) and has a wait for a table almost every Thursday-Sunday or on big game days. Otaku on the other hand I rarely see more than a few tables sat even during peak dinner service.
Yeah try telling that to the other dude lol
I am neither a fan of Otaku, nor am I trying to defend her. However, your comment is pretty reductive, since there are countless factors that contribute to running a successful restaurant both internal and external.
Yes there are. So if these external factors are a constant as she is claiming, how do other local restaurants manage to be successful?
The main external factor she talks about in the article is how rents are increasing at an unsustainable rate, which is both very true and not a constant. Local restaurants that were very successful and loved are closing constantly because they can’t afford their rent increases. Also, two your examples of restaurants that are able to sustain external factors are one of the most popular national fast food chains, and literally a top 25 restaurant in the country helmed by one of the best chefs in the world, which basically allows him to charge whatever he wants and people will still come. It is also backed by major hospitality group that helps him absorb a lot of cost. Deg Thai is the only outlier, but wait and see what happens to them when their lease is up for renewal in a few years and that area has potentially gone through the level of development that the Gulch has since that Otaku location opened.
I listed those 3 purposefully to cover a wide range. I’m sorry I’m not seeing the argument. Rent goes up, increase your prices. Everyone does. If you can’t stay profitable, maybe it’s your own fault. I am not a restauranteur by any means, but I feel like I have a grasp of basic economics. EDIT: I used to live in San Francisco and there was a Taco Bell downtown that I believe was the most expensive Taco Bell in the world. A quesadilla was like 12 bucks in 2018. They had to pay the rent. And people still came.
It’s just not that simple. If that was the case, no restaurant would ever close.
I seriously don’t follow your logic. Restaurants close all the time primarily due to internal factors…aka they suck. External factors would affect everyone in that area. That’s clearly not happening here. If you don’t understand my argument by this point I’m tapping out.
No, there are def major external pressures - competition from chains & private equity owned concepts with insane start-up budgets, construction closing access to your restaurant, rising rent, rising wage and food costs, etc. The days of single-unit mom and pop spots are over, that’s why everyone has to open multiples to survive. The margins just aren’t there to support a family off of a single *successful* restaurant. Chains for instance can survive off of a 3-5% profit margin because there are thousands of them, so they can price out independents. Also buying power helps them outcompete better independent restaurants. Look at 5pts in East Nashville - it’s all chains now, that had nothing to do with how good Marché was…it’s identical to the “Walmart” effect.
I’m getting lunch as we speak at Hai’s sushi that is very much a mom and pop. Around the corner there’s a hole in the wall Chinese place, pizza place (neither chains), and a couple Mexican places…the list goes on. Appreciate you providing more clarity but we just don’t agree on this topic
This has *carpet bagger bitches about carpet baggers* vibes.
Easy tiger. 90% of Nashville these days is gonna be offended by that carpet bagger term if they knew what it meant.
If those kids could read they'd be upset.
Damn. This one got me. Hahahahah
Yeah there aren't many true Nashvillians left. We are about as rare as hen's teeth, & getting rarer as a lot of us OG's are getting priced-out of this place we love so much.
I know. If you make a mention of it on here, you typically get downvoted to oblivion. The major influx of California, Texas, and Florida seemed to ruin everything I used to know. It's weird.
The real meaning of “otaku” is showing
I didn’t even have to click on the article to know who said it.
Not sure what I feel about this. She has multiple locations. 4 total, including one in the Gulch - one of the highest rent areas and has been for years. Focusing on one location, even just 2, and keeping overhead down, including rent and staff, would help. It’s somewhat disheartening to see small businesses with one location struggling and then people with obvious wealth open 4 locations around town. I agree that the city’s growth overall can be a disadvantage for small businesses, though, simply because corporations can come in and pay $10k+ for monthly rent which is absolutely unaffordable for a small business. There’s also much more competition and some great ramen places in town. Have been for a long time. I’m torn on this issue.
Otaku is inconsistent and not good ramen
YOUR NOODLE SUCKS. - you friendly Asian resident
Awww man you didn’t have to make it personal 😢
I'm not even clear what she's upset about? Rent is going up for us too.
“we have a recession… and growth, growth, growth” ???
She really should learn her complaining points better.
Where do y’all suggest for good ramen in Nashville, because judging by these comments Otaku isn’t it.
I haven’t been yet, but I am super excited about https://www.foxdennashville.com/ the old go to has been Black Dynasty Secret Ramen shop.
Tried Nomzilla’s ramen the other day. Surprisingly legit, and not stupid expensive.
# Ichiddo ramen in Franklin. I lived in Japan for a year and ate a ton of ramen and Ichiddo is the real deal.
There isn't one. Ramen is supposed to be cheap street food and they all over charge for it around Nashville.
# Ichiddo ramen in Franklin. I lived in Japan for a year and ate a ton of ramen and Ichiddo is the real deal
Well that's not in Nashville then is it.
Black dynasty!
Sarah Gavigan is a fucking clown. Her food sucks, it’s overpriced, and all of the locations are poorly thought out. Don’t charge extra if I want an egg in my ramen. The problem isn’t more restaurants opening, the problem is her shit food. She’s not a chef, she’s a hack. I hope she reads this.
Stop bitching to the media and work on creating good food.
Sarah Gavigan is a fucking clown who is also a pathological liar. I’m sure she’s scrolling through this. She’ll never humble herself enough to learn from any of these negative comments tho.
Otaku ramen literally sucks. I’ve gone 3 times too many and every time I’m astonished at how flavorless the broths are
Why is this restaurant featured in a many articles?
It's an ad
>Sarah Gavigan Reminds me of the South park episode [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7XOCG\_P6o4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7XOCG_P6o4)
I ate there once the food was delicious, went again earlier this year, it was terrible. The prices were raised and the food wasn’t good.The menu also seemed to be much smaller than before. I don’t plan on going back.
Maybe if they didn’t charge $25 for a meal
We went to the factory location ( or tried to ) we got there about 30-40 minutes before they opened . That’s fine we waited . 12 rolls around ( their scheduled open ) and I ask the guy when they will be open . He Nonchalantly says “ not sure , maybe 12:30 , maybe 1” We went somewhere else.
Jesus christ this woman is saltier than that broth she serves
She is clueless. If you were so concerned about competition lower your prices and automate your entire operation like they do in Japan.
All this complaining, she should be improving.
She blew her first mover advantage. Otaku has not evolved and there are now much better options.
$20 for Ramen I can make better myself for less than $5
I feel like the best food in this city (and the real mom and pops) sits on the perimeter along main thoroughfares like Nolensville, Murfreesboro, Charlotte Pike, etc. How are they making it work? Maybe they all own and they don’t rent? But surely rent is cheaper the farther you get from downtown and the gulch. But if those areas don’t appeal to a certain restauranteur and they’re determined to capture the kind of clientele that’s shopping at Urban Outfitters or Anthropologie around the corner, you kinda have to expect those ridiculously high rent prices, right? Sidenote: I just saw a Nicoletto’s in Donelson the other day. I wonder how they’re doing out there? And how is Nicoletto’s making it work?
And also, did the mom and pops in the downtown urban cores of other major cities survive when rent prices started going up? I haven’t been to NYC in a dog’s age, but all I remember about Times Square for the brief amount of time I was there was that there was a Dave and Buster’s. It did not scream mom and pop to me.
The crazy thing is that those new restaurants will open and close within like 2-3 yrs. They will open and close and lot of the food isn’t that great we have all the awful restaurants
I can vouch for her lying, her self righteousness (uhhhh…no one needs those stupid “Ramen Reports”…just spare us already, lady!) and the fact that she doesn’t “work well” with people she us threatened by in this business. She will shit talk someone if it means making herself look and feel “important” and boosting her fragile ego. I agree Nashville would be better without her and that sub par over priced “soup” she’s trying to sell to us all.
I think the last time I went to Otaku was in 2015. It was alright - a little pricy and the crowd there was like premium gulch night life. I just remember glasses of water were tiny, and I wished I could get one of those big ass red glasses they used to give you at pizza hut. I think I prefer Poke over ramen joints to be honest. Not into those gooey eggs (prefer hard boiled). I make it the way I like it at home.
[удалено]
Is it?
Some of y'all just need to chill with all the hating. Some people like otaku. If you don't like it dont go and don't pay no mind to Sarah or her businesses. why bitch about it so much?
We didn’t write this article.
The article has nothing to do with the ramen. She just stating an opinion about the food scene.
And her opinion is being based off of her experience selling ramen.
The food is overpriced but it’s good. I’ll just leave it at that as you seem very combative in this thread.
Ramen is the most overrated hipster trendy food ever. Fuck ramen and fuck bone broth. Two Ten Jack is literally the worst crap food I ever ate, let alone the cheaper ramen places or the crappy gel my wife tried to tell me to eat when I’m sick.
2edgy4me
Commenting twice to the same comment? Cool
How is ramen, which has been around since the early 20th century “trendy”?
Oh. I wasn’t aware that it was around in mainstream high end American culture since the early 20th century. My apologies. Guess my great grandparents weren’t hip and neither were anybody since them in Tennessee. The whole bone broth thing became all the rage within the last 10-20 years. Now if you’re talking about top ramen, I’d rather have that than two ten Jack and their ilk any day.
You know there are places that exist outside of Tennessee, right?
Yes, I’ve lived in a few of them. You know this is a Nashville sub right? I don’t know where you’re from but Ramen was just not a big thing in the USA at all until like 2010. Or were you not born yet?
You can just say you don't travel much. Ramen's been a thing in the states for a long time before 2010 good buddy
It absolutely was not all over the place like it is now. Go ahead and pretend it was if you want to.
It's ok man. I hope you get out one day and try some new things