NEWPORT — Yagi Noodles, which started as a popup ramen restaurant on Thames Street, has now moved across town, expanding its footprint by taking over two spaces at the Shops at Long Wharf.
“Being in this location itself is so unique to Newport,” said Basil Yu, the chef and co-owner. “It’s a little underutilized. It’s this walking path with shops where you have outdoor life. In the summer there’s live music just for free out here. I don’t know where else in Newport has that … I think we’re in this really cool space in the city.”
When Yagi Noodles launched as a popup in 2019, it offered ramen, Bao buns and various small plates inspired by cuisines from countries across east Asia. Just a few months later, Yu and fellow owner Kodi Keith moved the restaurant into their first brick-and-mortar space on lower Thames Street, where it operated for less than a year.
The space was a bit too small for the growing establishment, so Yu and Keith were able to take over the former Liberty Donuts and neighboring clothing boutique and begin setting up Yagi Noodle’s new home.
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In addition to the extra square footage, the new location boasts a boba tea menu. Although boba tea, also referred to as bubble tea, has gained popularity in the United States over the past 10 years, it can be hard to find in Newport County.
Only a couple establishments, such as Empire Tea and Coffee and Umi Asian Cuisine on Broadway, offer boba tea on their menu.
“That’s what we noticed when we first opened,” Keith said. “We did a friends and family night and had a bunch of people in, but not many people knew what boba was, so I think it’s going to be fun getting this out into the community.”
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The new shop also offers other iced beverages, non-caffeinated versions of their milk teas, sodas and iced coffee. The restaurant has expanded its menu since the move, now offering three different kinds of yakitori, Japanese grilled meat skewers.
The space itself has its own unique features. Patrons can watch Yu handmake the noodles used in the ramen through a little window in a room across from the kitchen and boba counter. There’s also a mural painted by a local artist, Mosquiat Hernandez, who was a regular at the former location.
The restaurant amassed a significant following over the past two years, Yu said, so when they first opened on Long Wharf two weeks ago, the restaurant was filled to capacity.
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“There’s been a lot of familiar faces (coming to the new location),” Keith said. “People who have been waiting for us to open our doors, and also a lot of new faces because this location has so much more walking traffic.”
And you don’t always have to be at the restaurant to enjoy the good. Yagi Noodles has launched a food truck that made its debut at an event at Ragged Island Brewing Company in Portsmouth.
