Namu Gaji Team Opening a Dogpatch Noodle Shop

Namu Gaji's Dennis Lee has had such a good experience in the Dogpatch with Smokestack, his BBQ team-up with Magnolia Brewery, that he's decided to open a spinoff of his Mission megahit down the street. As Inside Scoop reports, the forthcoming Namu Noodles was born out of Lee and co.'s monthly noodle nights at Namu, and will be structured like a traditional Japanese ramen shop: patrons will order at the door, then head to a full bar with sake, soju, and Japanese whisky to grab a drink while they wait for a server to deliver their bowl.

Ramen will definitely be on the menu (past installments of the noodle night have included pork miso ramen and duck shoyu ramen), but Namu will also offer other tasty noodle dishes, like vegetarian mushroom udon, Korean-style ramyun (complete with 4505 Meats hot dogs inside), and naengmyeon, traditional Korean noodles in a cold, tangy broth with beef, egg, Asian pear, and other accompaniments. Though it'll offer 70 seats, Namu Noodles will only comprise a third of the 3,000-square-foot space; the rest will be a commissary kitchen for the company's street-food stand and retail operation, preparing kimchi and other necessary items. Lee says he hopes to open Namu Noodles by the end of the year. With Smokestack drawing big crowds, new bars like Third Rail and Sea Star, and the forthcoming Kurt Huffman/Bi-Rite/Napa Valley Distillery restaurant going in a block away, it appears the Dogpatch is on track for a banner year.

· Namu noodle restaurant headed to the Dogpatch [Inside Scoop]
· Portland's Kurt Huffman Joining Bi-Rite and Napa Valley Distillery For Massive Dogpatch Project [~ ESF ~]
· All Namu Gaji coverage [~ ESF ~]