Matsunoki Ramen, currently located in the Pine Street Market food hall downtown, is expanding. They’ll be opening in North Portland into the old XO Bar space on North Fremont Street. They’ll continue offer a variety of ramen dishes, including vegetarian and vegan options, rice bowls, and more.
Back in March, I noticed their liquor license application, and this month I was happily reminded on Instagram of their expansion to North Portland. The stall in the Pine Street Market will remain open, and the new North Fremont Street spot will be their first standalone location.
Who Is Behind Matsunoki Ramen?
That would be the trio of Grant Macdonald, Jeff Extine, and Joey Freedman. Macdonald is the COO of Matsunoki and has also worked with Kotsu Ramen and Afuri. Extine is Matsunoki’s Director of Operations, and was my contact there. He, too, has been involved with Kotsu Ramen, and well as Bollywood Theater, Marukin & Co, and 24th and Meatballs.
Fun fact regarding 24th and Meatballs: Jeff helped put together this commercial, including narrating it.
What’s in a Name?
As I mentioned earlier, Matsunoki Ramen first opened in the Pine Street Market food hall in spring of 2023. Fun fact: “Matsunoki” means “pine tree” in Japanese, so this is a nice match between the two elements (the name of the ramen shop and the name of the hall).
They’ve been there almost two years and have made it onto a number of “bests” lists during that time. Their ramen also shows up in various Reddit discussions about who makes favorite bowls of ramen in Portland.
The New Location and What To Expect
New additions at the new location include outdoor seating and a craft cocktail program. As I mentioned earlier, the previous tenant was XO Bar, so I expect the bar area is in pretty good shape. More on what to expect on the food side:
“The menu will continue to feature customer favorites,” they said. This includes their Tonkotsu Shoyu ramen with pork belly chashu and their Vegan Spicy Garlic ramen with marinated tofu and collard greens. Jumbo Tenders with dipping sauce (original, fire, or curry), one of the most popular items on the menu, will also remain. I imagine they will offer specials throughout the year, as is the case at Pine Street Market, too.
On Vegan and Vegetarian Options
While I was messaging with Jeff, he said he could talk about ramen all day, so I asked him about his thoughts on vegetarian/vegan ramen.
He says that, in his experience, a lot of places treat vegetarian/vegan ramen as an afterthought. This brings up memories of my early vegetarian days when “Pasta Primavera” was likely to be the one vegetarian item on a menu, and it was often bland with badly cooked vegetables. It sounds like whoever has developed the menu for Matsunoki put some thought into their veg options.
“At Matsunoki we definitely put a lot of effort into including our vegan customers in the ramen experience as much as possible,” said Jeff. “We put a lot of effort into our double soup chintan broth and our normal menu has as many vegan varieties as it does for bone broth. We put dollop of mapo tofu on all our spicy ramens regardless of broth, but we make it with imitation meat so our vegan customers can enjoy the same product.”
He added that while their fried chicken isn’t vegan (obvs), their popcorn tofu and fried shishito peppers are served with vegan sauces.
Their North Fremont location looks to open their doors on Thursday, April 24. They plan to be open open daily from 11:30am to 9pm. And to celebrate their grand opening, they’ve arranged a “Grand Opening Giveaway: The first 50 guests in that day will be offered a free bowl of ramen.
Wishing everyone on the Matsunoki Ramen team all the best as they prepare to open in North Portland later this month.
Matsunoki Ramen [opening April 24, 2025]
906 N Fremont Street, Portland
Matsunoki Ramen website | Instagram
Meg Cotner
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