Great pork belly and appetizer buns! I will say their service is below par -- it took us three tries to get chopsticks and had to ask twice for menus since they thought we had already ordered. It gets pretty busy during peak dinner times and they don't do reservations! There is some street parking available on the side streets and is a great place to take friends to.

Definitely my go to ramen restaurant in the neighborhood. Always consistently good! They also pack everything nice to go for order to pick up too! Great option to order extra side of broth for two meals. Great in house sake! Usually easy to get a table when dining in also. Best one I've tried and continue to return to over the many options locally. Great pork buns also!

Oiistar was my first Ramen experience in Chicago. The atmosphere seemed very fast paced on this night and it was quite poppin. Luckily we scored a table vs having to sit at the bar and we were on our way. I ordered the Pollo and Goki (BBQ beef) Bao Buns to start. I truly enjoyed the texture of the bao and the filling was very flavorful and a great mix of textures between the meat and veggies etc. But the Goki was extremely hard to eat as I did not realize it was going to be that spicy...I opted only for a small bite of that one and devoured the Pollo. Make sure to note the spice of the Goki if ever going in future, certainly caught me off guard. For my ramen I ordered the Black Garlic Ramen, overall it had a great flavor and hit the spot. Was not a fan of how fatty the pork belly was though (could be my personal preference). Def a cool little spot in Wicker if craving Ramen.

Recently came into Oiistar for dinner with friends and was pleasantly surprised. I'm something of a ramen officianado and there are so many places in the city that like truly have subpar ramen. Oiistar however is not one of these places. It is worth noting that if you're looking for something truly authentic, Oiistar does take some liberties with their ramens, but in my opinion, these liberties pay off. Nothing ventured, nothing gained! I ordered the Paitan Shio w/ Fukuoka Roasted Garlic Ramen and the Poached Pear for dessert. Super flavorful broth, the garlic really ties the dish together. Plus I love me a thick pork belly! Staff was nice, quick, and the whole process of dinner was streamlined in a way that was really easy and enhanced the process. We sat outside, so was able to watch foot traffic on busy Milwaukee Ave. Great vibes

We came in at Wednesday at 6 pm and managed to snag the last table for a group of 5. I got the pozolman. I normally don't enjoy thicker broths, but this one was delicious. Just thick enough with good flavor from the herbs. I was curious how they would fuse pozole and ramen together. Most of the pozole ingredients were floating in the broth similarly to pozole. There were large, thick pieces and so juicy. I enjoyed it a lot. We must've came during a rush because it took a long time for our food to come out. My friend who came late got here's in about a third of the time. I am still coming back to try the other ramens available.

Oiistar is a solid ramen spot in the Wicker Park area. Ramen bowls of generous portions, plenty of ingredients, robust choices and flavors as well. You can choose among hakata style noodles which is made to order, their thick and wavy noodles, and gluten free. Service was great. The kitchen staff seems to run efficiently with everyone communicating and helping each other out when it gets busy. The restaurant is basically one long corridor with dimmed lights for a more intimate ambiance. I got the Oiimen, which is their signature tonkotsu ramen. They give you a whole egg which is nice. Their chashu pork belly is rich and full of flavor. My only nitpick is that I wish the broth had a tad bit more flavor and richness, otherwise it was a solid ramen bowl. If you're in Chicago and you're not sure which ramen spot to go to, give Oiistar a try!

Oiistar is one of my favorite ramen bars in wicker park! The ambiance feels moody but not too dark. The kitchen is open so you can see the cooks preparing all of the dishes if you sit at the bar. The highlight, of course, is their ramen. I got the #2 Shio Ramen with what-da-hac spicy sauce. The broth is so rich and the two pieces of pork belly are super thick and tender with a perfect sear. I like the wavy noodles since they're thicker and have a satisfying bite. The soft boiled egg is flavored really nicely with a touch of sweetness and perfectly jammy yolk. I like that the what-da-hac sauce is served on the side, it's actually pretty spicy but has such a nice flavor I was dipping every bite in it. If you're craving ramen this will definitely hit the spot! A note on their drink menu, they have a large selection of sake (which can be served hot or cold). I personally like that they offer Chang, a Thai beer which reminds me of my own travels to Thailand. It's similar to Heineken. I also like that they have a large coat rack up front, where you can hang your winter coats up when it gets real cold. Parking can be a bit difficult. There are lots of street parking spots available on Milwaukee and Ashland but it gets filled up during peak times. You may have to mentally prepare to circle around a few times on adjacent streets but it's worth it.

Catching up on Yelp reviews in 2024. I visited Oiistar back in February on a Thursday around 7pm after I hit the gym. Oiistar is rated as one of the best ramen spots in Chicago so I'd figured I would give it a try. Ambiance was contemporary and small, similar to any ramen spot. As a single, I was able to get seated immediately and there were a good amount of people there already. I ordered the Shrimp Bao/Bun and the Veggie Ramen. Shrimp Bao/Bun came out extremely fast. Bao was soft and the mayo was awesome. Decent size and it was about $6-$7. I thought it was slightly overpriced and should have been at about $5. But hey inflation. The veggie ramen was good as it was loaded with veggies. Noodles were pretty soft and cooked well. Broth was ok. I thought Oiistar was slightly better than Kizuki down the street, but it was nowhere near the top ramen I've had in the city, but it was cool spot. Ramen prices were fair, but I thought the Bao/Buns was small and overpriced (pretty typical for Baos/Buns in my opinion). I thought service was adequate and the food came out extremely fast so that is a positive. Service is much better than Kizuki up the street. Oiistar is worth a try if you like ramen, but I definitely think there are better options in the city such as Ramen Wasabi, High Five, Strings, and Ramen-San.

Really solid ramen place. I ordered the spicy garlic ramen and it was so good! The pork belly is thick and juicy! The soup was perfectly creamy and slightly spicy. The egg was a perfect soft boil. Wait was about 30 minutes but we went across the street to emporium arcade bar while we waited. They are packed and busy, so plan to wait. This was the first time I had a server politely ask us to leave after finishing because they needed the table. Totally understandable, but was definitely a first. They were also kind of rushing us about to go boxes and the check when we weren't even done eating. Efficient, I suppose. The chairs are like wooden boxes, so not very comfortable. Luckily they had a coat hanger to hang our jackets. Overall, I would come back and eat here again.