Samurai Noodle Expanding to U District

Just spotted this sign this weekend on 4138 University Way and called up the original Samurai Noodle in the ID to confirm. It's true!

The Uwajimaya Village ramen shop, already infamous for the porkiness of its tonkotsu ramen broth and the fall-apartiness of the roasted pork that sits on top of the noodles, is doing so well that owner Phil Sanken (who is one of the cofounders of Caffe Appassionato) is opening a second location. Students + ramen = $$$$$.

UPDATE: Just spoke to Sanken, and he says they're currently going through the permitting process, so he doesn't have a firm start date for the new location yet, though he hopes to open "before the students go home for the summer." Samurai II will probably add gyoza to the menu, but not much more. More locations are in the cards, but Sanken says he doesn't have any specific sites picked out yet. "We're making sure we can walk before we run," he says.