Ramen Ichiraku

The Ichiraku Ramen Bar (一楽 ラメン, Ichiraku Ramen, literally First Comfort's Ramen) is Naruto Uzumaki's and Iruka Umino's favorite place to eat. The Ichiraku Ramen Bar　is run by Teuchi and his daughter Ayame. The two seem to be some of the few civilian villagers of Konoha to not see Naruto in a hostile light, and consider him their favorite regular. Ayame, however, is currently on a trip to an unknown location, and is temporarily being replaced by two less-than-competent male cooks, Nishi and Matsu. Ichiraku Ramen is a common setting for various scenes throughout the series, particularly in the early story.

Background
Ichiraku Ramen was modeled after a real-life ramen restaurant, also called Ichiraku Ramen, near the waterfront in the city of Fukuoka, Japan, where the author of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto, apparently went to university (Kyushu Sangyo Daigaku) for a period of time according to local sources. It is next to a Yakiniku (Japanese Barbecue) restaurant (a possible reference that Kishimoto used as Choji's favorite restaurant), a Chinese Food place, and a video game shop. Tonkotsu ramen (noodles in a pork broth) is served there. There are two Ichiraku Ramen locations in Fukuoka, one near JR's Kyu-dai Mae station very close to the university, and another in the downtown Hakata area. As part of the merchandise for Naruto, handkerchiefs are sold emblazoned with various Naruto characters in instant noodle cups labeled Ichiraku Ramen. Later, once Naruto takes a food break from his Nature Manipulation Training, at Ichiraku Ramen, they stopped selling ramen and sold tsukemen, but Ayame refused to let Naruto mix the entree he received into a ramen bowl.

Workers
The Ichiraku Ramen Bar is run by Teuchi (whom Naruto exclusively refers to as 'old man') and his daughter Ayame. The two seem to be some of the few civilian villagers of Konoha to not see Naruto in a hostile light and consider him their favorite regular. Also, in a filler episode of the anime (episode 101), they manage to catch a glimpse of Kakashi Hatake unmasked while he is eating ramen.
 * Teuchi: Eisuke Asakura (Japanese); Lex Lang (English)
 * Ayame: Masayo Hosono (Japanese); Danielle Judovits (English)

In episode 168, the ramen shop is temporarily closed after Ayame is kidnapped by ryu-nin (cooking ninja) led by Hakaku, a Ryo-nin from Kumogakure. Teuchi re-opens at the end of the episode with a new menu that includes a diet ramen that becomes very popular with the ladies. His daughter had become fat after eating too much of the excellent cooking of the ryo-nin, thus the creation of the diet ramen. Their fattening food was also part of the reason for the original kidnapping. Every notable, living female in the series, excluding Tsunade and Shizune, makes an appearance for the ramen, even one that's supposed to be an enemy.

In Part II, after Naruto returns from his nature manipulation training session, Ayame has been replaced by two less-than-competent male cooks, Nishi and Matsu. Ayame had left for a trip sometime earlier, thus the need for the new workers. The two are rather clumsy, seen when Matsu puts his finger in the ramen and when Nishi accidentally spills hot ramen on his co-worker. Both Matsu and Nishi bear resemblance to two characters from the third Naruto movie (in the manga). In the anime, Ayame convinced Teuchi to turn the ramen shop into a tsukemen shop. Teuchi made some mistakes preparing the soup and noodles, delaying the order. When the order finally came, Naruto ate it the wrong way, leading to an argument between him and Ayame.