A new drive-thru ramen concept has begun soft-opening its first Florida location at 11180 66th St N in Largo, even as exterior work continues and state regulators have flagged the site for operating without an active food service license. Ninja Ramen, a Japanese quick-service restaurant built around a compact menu and speed for dine-in, takeout and drive-thru customers, is aiming for a full grand opening before the end of September.
According to Business Debut, the restaurant is owned by David Chen, who describes Ninja Ramen as the very first quick-service Japanese restaurant in the country. Chen began working in restaurants at age 15 and moved from New York to Florida about six years before the outlet's report, bringing with him a resume that includes franchise ownership of KFC, IHOP, Subway, Nathan's Famous, Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin-Robbins and Sizzler locations. At one point he owned 37 franchise restaurants in New York, per the same account.
The menu at the new Largo shop runs about 15 items deep, including Japanese curry chicken, teriyaki chicken, braised pork over rice, sliced beef over rice in a savory sauce, Sichuan-style spicy noodles and Kobe beef. Chen has also developed a pineapple chicken teriyaki and a mango salsa pork chop for the concept, the report notes.
A Compliance Flag Before the Grand Opening
State records complicate the timeline. A Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation inspection on August 25 cited the Largo location for operating without a public food service license and for opening after ownership changes without submitting required renovation plans, according to MyFloridaLicense. State regulations require restaurants undergoing a change of ownership to submit remodel plans and secure active licensing before operating, which leaves an open question of whether Ninja Ramen resolves the paperwork before its targeted late-September debut.
The business operating the restaurant is registered with the state under the corporate name ASC Global DBA Ninja Ramen, LLC, according to filings with the Florida Division of Corporations.
Inside a Former Subway on a Busy Corridor
The 11180 66th St N address sits inside MacSub VI Commons, a 3,335-square-foot retail strip center built in 2003 that previously housed a Subway sandwich shop, per CommercialCafe. The center has seen other recent tenant activity too — commercial real estate brokerage European Equities signed a 10-year lease in December 2025 with Bro's Pizzeria for a neighboring 1,464-square-foot unit in the same plaza.
The location benefits from heavy vehicle exposure along 66th Street North, where nearby intersections see traffic counts as high as 50,000 vehicles a day, according to PropertyShark. The corridor is also served by Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority's Route 66, with a stop at 66th Street North and Bryan Dairy Road roughly a four-minute walk from the restaurant, per Moovit.
Expansion Plans Across Florida
Chen sees significant demand for Asian restaurant concepts in Florida, according to the Business Debut report, and Ninja Ramen plans to open four more Florida locations after Largo — in Bradenton, Fort Myers, the University Town Center area of Sarasota and along Orlando's International Drive. Specific site details for those planned markets have not yet been announced. The company plans to expand rapidly once those four additional locations open.
The Largo debut arrives as drive-thru and delivery-focused formats made up 34% of new quick-service restaurant setups worldwide in recent industry benchmarking, according to Research and Markets. The global fast-casual restaurant market is projected to grow from $132.88 billion in 2026 to $233.81 billion by 2035, per Business Research Insights, with fast-casual Asian concepts expanding as diners look for flavor-rich alternatives to standard fast food, according to Nation's Restaurant News.
It's worth noting this Largo shop is unrelated to other restaurants that have previously operated under the Ninja Ramen name in different states, including a shop that opened in Plano, Texas, in October 2019 and was covered at the time by Hoodline. For now, the Largo location remains in soft opening while exterior work continues, with its grand opening — and its licensing status — still pending.
