New ramen restaurant opens in downtown SLO. Take a look at the menu
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- Nomo Domo opened in downtown San Luis Obispo, offering ramen and comfort food.
- Co-owners bring experience from Thai eateries and years studying ramen in Japan.
- Menu features house-made broths, small plates, desserts, and curated drink options.
A new ramen restaurant in downtown San Luis Obispo has opened its doors.
Nomo Domo at 848 Monterey St. had its soft opening on Aug. 9, serving traditional and “new world” ramen bowls and Japanese comfort food.
“We have a lot of locals to support us and are happy that there’s some new Asian restaurant got to open up here,” owner Charles Pokpoonpipat told The Tribune. “I think that’s missing that little bit.”
Pokpoonpipat, his wife Thanya Pokpoonpipat and Amphida Nishimira co-own Nomo Domo, and wanted to open a ramen restaurant downtown, where a limited number of Japanese restaurants are housed.
The Pokpoonpipats also own Thai restaurant Baht in the SLO Public Market, which opened in December 2021, and one other Thai restaurant with two locations in New York City.
Their newest venture, Nomo Domo, is loosely translated as “Let’s get together and celebrate,” according to the three co-owners.
What’s on the menu at new ramen restaurant in downtown SLO?
Thanya Pokpoonpipat and Nishimira have visited Japan and tried numerous ramen restaurants over the course of eight years, studying the best recipes and ingredients. Nomo Domo’s ramen recipes include making the pork bone broth in-house for 24 hours.
“If you go to a different restaurant, maybe a typical one, you find something similar to other ramen restaurants, but if you come here, it’s kind of different,” Nishimira told The Tribune. “We have our own way of making things.”
Nomo Domo’s menu includes double-fried Karaage chicken, Agedashi Tofu Nasi or roasted eggplant, a summer special of a cold ramen, salads, rice and four ramen bowls. The menu is in its soft opening phase, Pokpoonipat said, with more ramen bowls and starters incoming.
“Especially at night, it’s getting chilly,” Pokpoonipat said. “I think a warm bowl of ramen would be really great.”
The restaurant’s drink menu includes white and red wines by the glass and sake and beer by the bottle.
On the back of the menu are desserts — a yuzu cheesecake, matcha mont blanc, lychee sherbet, matcha, black sesame and red bean ice creams.
“We serve ramen to serve memories,” Pokpoonpipat said. “Every bowl of ramen tells a story.”
For more information
Nomo Domo at 848 Monterey St. is open Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m.
For more information about the new ramen restaurant, visit its website at nomodomo.com or call 805-242-1462.
This story was originally published September 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM.