PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Kyuramen’s motto is “Every Day is Ramen Day,” so I took heed and dined there on consecutive nights.

Within the past six months, one of the country’s largest ramen restaurant chains opened spots in East Liberty and Cranberry.

During my first visit, I was accompanied by friends who, despite rush-hour traffic, mazelike streets and construction zones managed to find me.

Kyuramen is tucked away in an angular, Penn Avenue plaza across from Target that no motorist will notice as they seethe with road rage at the Bermuda Triangle of Pittsburgh intersections. The eatery has an Instagram tutorial on how to reach them from the building’s parking garage if you’re unable to locate a spot elsewhere.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Slurping down an enormous bowl of ramen in a hexagonal dining nook helped soothe the angry bee in my bonnet. Both sites are still awaiting liquor license approval, so you’ll have to get buzzed elsewhere for now.

The menu offers appetizers (including a honeycomb platter featuring chili garlic edamame, lobster and chashu salad ball, tamago egg, shrimp tempura, eel unagi, scallops and seaweed salad), rice burgers, desserts, boba tea from the onsite TBaar and ramen in three styles: South Japan’s Kyushu Shio, Central Japan’s Tokyo Shouyu and the Hokkaido Miso.

Founder Gary Lin opened the first Kyuramen in Flushing, New York in 2019 to make ramen more accessible. It’s estimated that 200 locations will be operating across the country by the end of this year.

As if the unique seating wasn’t enough, each location also has a wishing tree. Guests are invited to write down their deepest desires on wooden placards and add them to the foliage of hope. I wished for a gridlock-free trip home, but I guess my writing wasn’t legible enough for the ramen gods to read.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

If navigating cityscapes sounds unappetizing to you, head to the Cranberry location. I ventured to the suburbs with my daughter, Sarah, to celebrate her last day of ninth grade. Completing that first hellish year of high school is a big deal, so we added a little razzle-dazzle to our experience by ordering the omurice, a popular comfort food in Japan that’s also worthy of an Instagram reel.

The chef delivered the dish — a fluffy omelet on a bed of chicken fried rice — to our hive, raised a gleaming knife and ceremoniously sliced into the soft, silky surface of the omelet, allowing the runny contents to spill out over the sides and meld with the demi glace he then poured over the plate.

Omurice is as satisfying to watch as it is to eat. In this digital age, that’s a surefire way to attract foodies during peak traffic times.

Kyuramen is at 6204 Penn Ave. in East Liberty and 20430 Route 19, Suite 105, in Cranberry.