Ferreira (left) and Shirley (Credit: TyShotIt Production, @bankrollllt on Instagram)
There’s a reason most people don’t make ramen at home – countless ingredients. And Frankie T. Ferreira, founder of Frankie Ramen, is proud to say that his signature ramen bowl contains 30 of them.
“The broth we make is a 12-hour broth. It’s whole chickens, chicken feet, then a bunch of aromatics. We get all those crazy flavors together,” he says, before quipping, “That’s why I don’t get sick.”
His introduction to ramen came from growing up in New Jersey. Raised by Brazilian immigrant parents, he grew up in the kitchen – his dad was a cook in Brazil and loved being in the kitchen with him.
In New Jersey, he notes there was a ramen shop around every corner – and he was 20 minutes from New York City, where “you could eat the best food anytime.” A trained chef, he came to Charleston during the pandemic in 2021.
“I wanted to move to Philly. I wanted to run a soup kitchen. My wife wanted to live in Ft. Myers, Florida. We decided to go halfway,” he says. “We had never even been here, never knew this place existed."
Credit: Rubios Studios (@rubios.studios on Instagram)
Once settled, he went on a hunt for ramen. He found a couple places, but they weren’t serving what he wanted flavor-wise. On a whim, he decided he wanted to make his own.
“It became an addiction. It became an obsession for 6 months straight,” he says. “I made ramen everyday.” He started watching “every YouTube video, reading every Reddit post. I started finding cookbooks. I started calling friends that are ramen chefs in New Jersey. I was really trying to learn,” he says.
His refrigerator was filled with “little experiments” – deli cup quarts with lids that were completely full with ramen.
“I would work 70 hours as a full time chef in Mount Pleasant, and then I would try to race back home so I could make ramen before I had to go to bed. It was a passion project,” he says.
He started shopping at Asian markets and learning all about ingredients, continuing to experiment. “The first broth I ever made tasted like fish and sugar. It was horrible,” he says.
After 6 months, he came to The Sexy Bowl – Frankie Ramen’s first bowl on the menu. His wife encouraged him to sell it. “She said, ‘This is really freaking good and I see the work you did’,” he shares.
While hanging at Pinky & Clyde’s Arcade Bar in North Charleston, he noticed they hosted burrito and ramen pop-ups–and got inspired to shoot his shot with the same format at Frontier Lounge. The risk paid off – they gave him Thursday nights to sell his ramen from June to November 2024. Ferreira was still working 70 hours as a full-time chef, putting in 16 hour days on Thursdays to make ramen from scratch and sell it to customers – which quickly sold out.
“The most we sold was 85 bowls in one night,” he says.
On Nov. 1, 2024, he decided to pursue FrankievRamen full-time. He started making ramen 5 days a week with his friend and now business partner Rob Shirley, who is also a chef. Eventually, with more chefs, they grew to 7 days a week.
These days, he gets into work at 8 am to get the broth going, which cooks for 12 hours.
“We’re babysitting broth,” he laughs. They strain it and mix it by hand. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s so satisfying. I love it.”
Frankie Ramen’s style is miso ramen – a mix of 4 different kinds of Japanese misos with a plethora of other seasonings. It’s a tori paitan-style broth, a cloudy Japanese broth.
“When you see it, it’s a silky color,” he says. “It’s tangy but creamy.”
Credit: Rubios Studios (@rubios.studios on Instagram)
The menu at Frankie Ramen typically has 4-5 different ramens to choose from that Ferriera created. It’s made with locally sourced chicken from Chucktown Acres and Charleston’s own Rio Bertolini Pasta, who created an alkaline wheat noodle specifically for Ferreira. Frankie Ramen offers more traditional options like the Miso Sexy Bowl and The Miso Spicy Bowl, with roasted pork belly and marinated egg, differentiated by Korean Chili Powder and Japanese 7 spice. But there’s also the standout Miso Butter Brisket, which features Coca-Cola brisket and shallot garlic ginger butter. They also offer one vegan option, the Shoyu Vegan.
“With ramen, it’s all about the harmony of flavor. In Japan they would say it’s where the mountains meet the sky. Where the land meets the ocean. You want all of that in a bowl of ramen,” he says. “Ramen is the comfort food of comfort foods. It’s my last meal–that’s what I would want. It has everything. It’s soul food–pure soul food,” he says.
The staff has grown to 7 people in just a few months. What’s next? A possible brick and mortar location.
“We want to be the Waffle House of ramen. We want to be open late, until 4 in the morning,” he says, noting Charleston’s lack of late night eateries – minus Waffle House and Cookout. “We want to be a permanent staple in the community. We want to give back.”
For now, you can find them every day 4pm to 11pm and Sat-Sun 12pm - 10pm at Frontier Lounge, Tuesdays and Saturdays 6pm - 12am at Pinky & Clyde’s Arcade Bar in Park Circle, and Fridays 3 pm - 8 pm at Crafty Draught in Mt. Pleasant.
