Marugame Udon

Even though we always understood the persistent lines at South Coast Plaza’s Din Tai Fung, we were surprised to witness similar scenes at Marugame Udon immediately downstairs. People queue up every day for Din Tai Fung’s hard to duplicate soup dumplings, but why would anyone line up for Marugame Udon’s far more common Japanese udon noodles and tempura?

The answer turns out to be pretty simple: The first Orange County location of Marugame Udon – part of a chain named Marugame Seimin in its home country of Japan – has a very small dining room. Unlike Din Tai Fung, where people line up just to get tables, Marugame’s line actually dispenses food and drink items like a cafeteria, and staff keeps people eating and turning over tables at a brisk pace. At Marugame, you may be able to finish a meal of freshly made udon and recently made tempura within 20 minutes of arriving; that won’t happen at Din Tai Fung. They’re two types of lines for two very different types of dining experiences.

In January 2025, a second Marugame Udon location opened at Irvine’s Diamond Jamboree plaza, replacing jack-of-all-trades noodle shop Ajisen Ramen. Before our first visit, we wondered whether aggressive line management would even be necessary given Ajisen’s large dining room – with plenty of room for guests, what incentive would Marugame have to keep people waiting in line or spilling out onto the sidewalk?

Marugame somehow found a way to make things confusing in Irvine. Unless you notice a sign outside referencing three possible line directions – a “to-go order kiosk” at left, “to-go pick up” straight ahead, and “dine-in” to the right – you might assume that you’re supposed to order on the touchscreen right inside the front door. Nope: If you’re dining in, you’re supposed to wait in line and order from a human. Additional signs tell you not to sit at their outdoor tables unless you’re a dine-in customer. All of this adds up to unnecessary confusion and friction for what should be a straightforward “order food, pay money, get food, eat food” experience; restaurants shouldn’t need signs like these.