New Ramen and Sushi Restaurant to Occupy Former Evansville IHOP Location

Since relocating to the former Old Chicago building in front of Walmart on Burkhardt Road in Evansville, the former IHOP location just down the street at the corner of Virginia Street has sat vacant waiting for someone to take it over. According to Evansville 411 News on Facebook, that wait is over.

New Ramen and Sushi Restaurant Reportedly Taking Over Former IHOP Location

On Tuesday, the local Facebook page which reports on new commercial businesses coming to the area, reported the location was pending lease since being put on the market back in March of this year (2023).

On Thursday, the page's administrators updated that report saying "sources" had told them the location would be home to a new ramen and sushi restaurant.

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While Evansville 411 News did not provide the name of the business that had leased the space, A man named Joshua Givens left a comment saying it was Hokkaido Ramen and Izakaya, and that the location was already listed on its website.

I took a look for myself to verify and Joshua is correct. It lists two locations in Indiana, one in Greenwood and the other in Evansville. Clicking on Evansville opens up Google Maps marking the location as the former IHOP building.

What is Hokkaido Ramen and Izakaya?

The restaurant chain has locations in states all across the country including, Montana, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Currently, the closest location to the Tri-State would be the Greencastle location. However, they are also planning to open one in Louisville as well.

According to Flathead Living, the first location was opened by owner Hongyan Cai in Helena, Montana in 2018 after discovering a "centuries-old recipe during a trip to Japan" 10 years prior. By 2021, he had opened multiple locations in Montana and expanded into Iowa.

Named after the northernmost island of Japan’s main islands, Hokkaido describes itself as a "casual Japanese ramen restaurant" whose food is "prepared fresh to order every time with only the finest and freshest ingredients" including broths made from scratch.

While this video is from one of the Idaho locations, it gives you a pretty good idea of what we can expect when the Evansville location opens.

No opening date has been announced yet, and I imagine the building will require an extensive remodel for its new tenant before that happens. I know my family and I will be excited to try it once it does.

[Sources: Evansville 411 News on Facebook / Flathead Living / Hokkaidora / East Idaho News on YouTube]