Ramen Del Barrio

Christopher Krinsky grills lengua on a robata skewer and serves it on a corn tortilla with the stick still in it, and Texas Monthly put that taco on its list of the fifty best in the state.1 2

Why go

Krinsky cleared out his parents' garage in December 2021 and started cooking twice-weekly ramen tastings there under the name Ramen Garage.1 The bowl that set the direction came out of a hangover cure: he built a tare from guajillo, ancho and arbol chiles into tonkotsu broth and dropped in tripe and hominy, and menudo ramen was the result.4 He was born in Maine, moved to Isla Mujeres as a toddler when his family went to run restaurants there and in Cancún, went to school in Mexico and calls it home, and he cooked at Neighborhood Sushi before this.1 4 He states the method himself: We're using Japanese techniques in our kitchen to produce high-quality ramen, but all of the flavors to me ideally come out tasting pretty Mexican.1 The James Beard Foundation made it a Best New Restaurant semifinalist in 2024.13

The stall inside Hana World Market served its last bowl on 21 December 2025, when the grocery shut.9 Ramen Del Barrio reopened on 25 July 2026 at 2007 Kramer Lane as a full restaurant, with a bar pouring Japanese whisky and Mexican mezcal and a menu that now runs to aguachiles, tostadas and cocktails alongside the noodles.16 6 Nicolai McCrary describes the room as the little metal tables you find at taquerias all over Texas set against a backdrop of Japanese masks and retro TVs playing old Dragon Ball Z episodes.3

Order this / avoid

Lengua yaki-taco. José R. Ralat on what the charcoal does to beef tongue: the charred exterior transformed the usually subtle grassy flavor.1
Tripas yaki-taco. Ribboned crispy beef intestine glazed in piloncillo tare, with black beans, salsa roja and chicharron furikake over the top.3
Bluefin tuna tostada. A thin crisp tortilla under sushi-grade fish, chicharron furikake, eel sauce, salsa macha, negi and guacamole. The kitchen also runs snow crab, poached shrimp and scallop versions.10 3
Carnitas tonkotsu. A boiled-pork-bone broth seasoned with shoyu tare, topped with carnitas that mix shoulder, stomach and skin, plus grilled peppers and onions, radish, cilantro, a lime wedge and tortilla strips. Order a side of salsa macha with it.11 3
Chilaquiles-men. Brothless tsukemen noodles tossed in guajillo or tomatillo salsa with carnitas, cotija, egg and crema. Take the tomatillo.3
Mole tsukemen. In Mexico mole usually goes over braised chicken; Krinsky makes his fresh and uses it in place of the dipping broth, so the thick noodles get dunked in mole, with karaage in the original build and mixed carnitas in the one he reopened with.4 11
Ebi aguachile, shrimp in a hot salsa verde under cucumber, avocado and ikura, which is the starter to put in the middle of the table.3
On skipping something: I have not found a dish anybody here recommends against. Ralat's mole broth ran hot enough on his first visit to raise sweat and came back more evenly layered on his second, so treat the heat as something that moves.1

What locals & experts say

José R. Ralat, Texas Monthly's taco editor, naming the lengua on his 50 Best Tacos in Texas: the stall naturally serves magnificent ramen—and also offers up the best lengua taco I've ever had.2
McCrary rates it 9.3 for The Infatuation Austin, writing on 27 August 2026: Ramen Del Barrio isn't the first place in Austin to test out how well Japanese and Mexican flavors blend together, but it is the most seamless and unexpected.3
McCrary on the tripas: it makes a convincing argument for putting beef intestine on the same pedestal as ribeyes and filets.3
Matthew Odam, the Statesman's critic, ranking it eighth among Austin's tacos: Ramen may be in the name of this Mexican-Japanese hybrid found inside the Hana World Market, but the tacos are just as good as, if not better than, the soup.7 He wrote that at the old address; his instruction was to start with the charred Spanish octopus and its salsa macha.7
Odam on the carnitas ramen, from the Statesman's 2023 Best New Restaurants list: a creamy, fatty pork broth packed with voluptuous noodles and a mass of braised pork shoulder, belly, stomach and skins and draped with grilled onions and jalapeño.6
Krinsky on the tacos: Other than the ramen itself, [they are] the backbone to the fusion structure that we have here.1
Krinsky on his own appetite: I'm a glutton for heavy foods.4
Ali Khan put the lengua taco on Austin Monthly's 25 Best Tacos in 2024.5
MICHELIN Bib Gourmand, awarded in the inaugural Texas selection in November 2024 and filed under Fusion. CultureMap reported in July 2026 that it has held the Bib in both Texas selections so far.12 8
Chronicle readers made it a finalist for Noodles and Ramen in the 2026 Best of Austin poll, which Ramen Tatsu-ya won.14
Guy Fieri filmed an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives at the old grocery-store stall.10

Good to know

Walk-ins only, and there is no takeout.16 You order at a counter near the entrance, and the kitchen still courses the meal out to you.3
The wait, in McCrary's words: there's usually a wait to get in, but once you're inside, things move fast.3
It is shut on Tuesdays and runs both a lunch and a dinner service the rest of the week.8
Hygiene: I have not found an inspection of this kitchen at its new address. Austin Public Health's only record for 2007 Kramer Lane belongs to the bakery that stood there before it. At the grocery-store stall the kitchen scored 96 in February 2024, then 77, 84 and 90 through November 2025, with nothing near Austin's failing line.15

Jeff's take (his words)

Note: "Exciting mecian-japanese fusion ramen. Been on my bucket list cool places. This is their new brick and mortar."
Later, in conversation on 11 September 2026: "the place I most want to eat but haven't had a chance to yet; their tostada and food is so creative and fun; right up my style"

Verdict

must-visit — Order the lengua yaki-taco and the bluefin tostada first, then the carnitas tonkotsu, and you have eaten the whole argument: Japanese technique, Mexican flavor, and a cook who will tell you exactly which is doing what. The tripas taco is the one to put in front of somebody who says they do not eat offal. It is walk-ins only with no takeout, so come at the edges of a service rather than the middle.

Ramen Del Barrio.