Ishi Ishi Ramen (instagram) is scheduled to open for business on Friday, 11 am to 9 pm. The 9-seat ramen bar is located on Washington Ave in The Black Box space that became available when The Cheese Shop moved to larger quarters. Ishi Ishi is looking to fill the gap in the East End line-up of restaurants left when Ramen Suzukiya closed in 2018.
Owners Matthew De Fio and Andrew Doolittle are planning for the shop to be a cellphone-free zone.
De Fio spent 3 years working at Ramen Tatsu-ya in Austin Texas, and has worked in Maine at Enoteca Athena and Vessel and Vine in Brunswick as well as operated his own fresh pasta enterprise Il Dono. Doolittle is the owner of Pot and Pan Kitchen.
I am very intrigued on how well this “cell phone free zone” will work in this era of Instagram, texting, etc. Get the idea and how it would improve the ambiance. Just wonder how it will go over from a customer service standpoint.