Super spicy ramen

LA-based ramen restaurant heats up the Heights with numbing noodles

Killer Noodle serves ramen with seven levels of heat.

Courtesy of Killer Noodle

From Indian curries to fiery salsas and Cajun favorites, Houstonians have consistently showed affection for restaurants that aren't afraid to spice things up. A ramen restaurant opening soon in the Heights is counting on that enthusiasm extending to Japanese noodles.

Killer Noodle has claimed the former Cane Rosso space at 1835 N. Shepherd Dr. for its first Houston location. Scheduled to open October 15, the Los Angeles-based restaurant is known for its tantanmen noodles, a style that comes from China's Sichuan province. Served with or without broth, they're available in seven spices levels (zero to six) and seven levels of numbing, its take on the signature mala tingle of Sichuan cuisine.

"In Japan, there is such a wide spectrum for ramen. There are many different styles, flavors, and quality," director of marketing Yuino Kumamoto tells CultureMap in an email. "At Killer Noodle, all these factors are taken into consideration to provide our guests with a unique style of spicy ramen called 'Dan Dan Men.' The rich peanut flavor, fresh ingredients, irresistible spice quality, or mouth numbing experience (if you so choose) are just a few reasons Killer stands out amongst the rest."

Diners can add toppings such as a poached egg, chashu (rolled pork belly), and vegetables. In addition to its noodles, the restaurant offers appetizers such gyoza, takoyaki, and karaage.

The restaurant grew out of the Tsujita restaurant group that started in Tokyo in 2003. Founder Takehiro Tsujita has grown the company to 18 locations in Japan, along with two more in America and two Killer Noodles in Los Angeles. Jonathan Gold, the late, award-winning food critic for the Los Angeles Times, praised Killer Noodle in a 2018 review.

You try the Tokyo-style noodles with soup, level three (sansho level four), and you like them a lot. The soup is thick with ground nuts, the top is sprinkled with sesame seeds and what taste like chopped cashews, and there is an almost imperceptible funk of dried shrimp.

It is spicy but not too spicy. The downtown-style ramen you swipe from the bowl next to you is good too — a little sweeter, a little more vinegar-forward, with broth a bit thinner . . . Your lips do not vibrate quite so vividly with the particular numbing effect of the pepper.

The restaurant has big plans for Houston. A second location is scheduled to open on Westheimer next year, and the company is looking for a third that would open by 2025.

"Houston is one of the best places on earth to enjoy fine cuisine from all over the world, and at Killer Noodle we want to continue that trend by offering Houstonians a unique, authentic, and innovative style of enjoying a Japanese classic," Kumamoto adds. "Houston is very diverse with foodies who are not afraid to turn up the spice!"

Killer Noodle joins an area that's home to several ramen options. It will be located just down the street from one of Jinya Ramen Bar's eight Houston-area locations. Rakken Ramen, another Los Angeles-based restaurant, is located in the M-K-T mixed-use development, while Las Vegas's Shokku Ramen is open 24-7 on Studewood.

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an offer he couldn't refuse

Exclusive: Killen's Barbecue will soon shutter in The Woodlands

Killen's barbecue meat platter with sides

Photo by Robert Jacob Lerma

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Fans of Killen’s Barbecue’s location in The Woodlands have a days to make one last visit. The restaurant will close this Sunday, December 7, chef-owner Ronnie Killen tells CultureMap.

Open since 2021, Killen says that he’s in final negotiations to sell the location at 8800 Six Pines Dr. to Whataburger for a new location of the iconic Texas fast food restaurant. Neither the original location of Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland nor its Cypress location are affected by the closure of The Woodlands and will remain open.

“Whataburger made me a deal I couldn’t pass up. It would take 10 years to do that kind of revenue,” Killen writes in a text, adding that the company recently made a significant payment to keep the deal’s window open through the end of the year.

He added that the costs to operate the restaurant have gone up significantly. As one example, a cord of wood cost $175 when he opened the first Killen’s Barbecue in 2013. It costs $475 now, he writes.

If the deal falls through, Killen states that he could look for a new buyer or convert the restaurant into a second location of Killen’s Burger, the retro-styled burger joint he operates in Pearland.

The restaurant’s closure had been expected since February, when Killen sold The Woodlands’ location of Killen's Steakhouse. At the time, Killen said he also planned to find a buyer for his barbecue joint in the bustling suburb. He cited the driving distance from Pearland to The Woodlands as one reason he chose to divest both locations. He still operates Killen's Steakhouse in Pearland, comfort food restaurant Killen's near the Heights, Killen's Burger, and three other locations of Killen's Barbecue.

As it approaches its 13th anniversary in the spring, Killen’s Barbecue remains a vital part of Houston’s barbecue scene. The restaurant recently earned an honorable mention from Texas Monthly and holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide. In July, it opened a new location at Hobby Airport.

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