Kajiken, the brothless ramen chain known for its springy, saucy noodles, opened its first South Bay restaurant at Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara on Friday morning. The new spot launched at 11 a.m., giving South Bay noodle fans a local outpost of a brand that has already built a cult following elsewhere in the Bay Area.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, owner Timothy Lu opened Kajiken's first California location in San Mateo in 2023, and that restaurant went on to earn Michelin recognition and a spot on the Chronicle's 2025 Top 100 list. Lu, who now operates both the San Mateo and Valley Fair locations, told the Chronicle he wanted to reach a larger South Bay audience after his first restaurant took off. He said the Valley Fair spot feels like a fun fit because it places Japanese noodles alongside other specialty food vendors in the mall.
Kajiken specializes in abura soba, a brothless style of ramen built on springy, house-made noodles tossed in oil and sauce rather than swimming in soup. The chain was launched in Nagoya, Japan, in 2010 by Kaji Kenichi, and it has since grown to more than 100 locations worldwide, including outposts in Singapore and China, per the Chronicle's reporting.
What's on the Menu at the New Santa Clara Spot
The Valley Fair restaurant serves the same menu as the San Mateo location, the Chronicle reports, with eight signature abura soba options priced between $16.50 and $26.95 a bowl. Toppings include chashu, spicy minced pork, ground chicken, wagyu roast beef, fried tofu, plant-based pork and barbecue eel, giving diners plenty of ways to customize their bowl.
Beyond the noodles, Kajiken also serves rice bowls topped with chashu, spicy fish roe and wagyu roast beef, along with a lineup of Japanese sides. The menu includes pan-fried gyoza, karaage, takoyaki and sauteed vegetables finished with yuzu kosho sauce. The new Santa Clara restaurant seats about 40 people, according to the same Chronicle report.
A Years-Long Path to the South Bay
The road to Valley Fair wasn't a straight line. As Palo Alto Online reported in September, Kajiken's Valley Fair debut was originally planned for spring 2026 but had been pushed back with no opening month set at the time. A separate report from What Now had earlier described the opening only as planned for autumn, without a firm date, underscoring how long South Bay fans waited for the chain to actually open its doors.
Lu tried abura soba for the first time on a study abroad trip to Japan in 2011, a personal connection that eventually led him to bring the format to California. The Chronicle's earlier coverage has described Kajiken's San Mateo restaurant as one of the Bay Area's most in-demand ramen shops, known for drawing long lines, and that reputation appears to be part of why Lu wanted a second Bay Area home for the concept.
Address Discrepancy and Expansion Questions
Reports on the new restaurant's exact address differ. The Chronicle and What Now both list the Valley Fair location at 2855 Stevens Creek Boulevard in Santa Clara, while delivery listings on Uber Eats identify Kajiken's Santa Clara storefront at 370 Laurelwood Road, Suite 113 — a discrepancy that remains unresolved. Kajiken currently operates other Bay Area locations in San Mateo and Dublin, per the Chronicle, as the chain continues a broader push that has already brought it to Elk Grove, where it opened in August 2024 as the Sacramento region's first restaurant dedicated to abura soba, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Kajiken has said in the past that it hopes to eventually expand into Southern California as part of a broader plan to grow throughout the state. On Reddit's r/SanJose forum, local commenters reacted to the Valley Fair news with a mix of anticipation and clarification, with one user noting that abura soba isn't technically ramen since it skips the broth, while another recalled waiting about 15 minutes for a bowl at the San Mateo location and praised its roast beef bowl.
