A Hakata Tonkotsu Brand Skipped the Coasts. Its First U.S. Shop Is Plano.

Kouchan Ramen is opening its first American restaurant in Plano in November, at 4709 West Parker Road, Suite 440, next to Tokyo Shokudo. Exact hours are still to come. The company was still finishing construction and exterior signs in September.

Kouchan is a Hakata tonkotsu shop from Fukuoka. The bowl is creamy pork-bone broth, thin straight noodles, and chashu, with kaedama available if you want a second serving of noodles for the leftover soup. Plano will also run a spicy God Fire tonkotsu, a black-garlic version, and a brothless mazemen, plus gyoza and karaage.

Kouchan belongs to Hakata Ikkousha, the Fukuoka group chef Kousuke Yoshimura started in 2004. Ikkousha is known in Japan for frothy “bubble” tonkotsu. Kouchan is the everyday version. Yoshimura launched it in 2020 for simpler bowls people could eat often. Japanese company materials put the domestic count in the teens by 2024. Bangkok and Seoul already have shops. Plano is the first in the United States.

The parent group already serves tonkotsu in Southern California. Hakata Ikkousha has a Torrance room, and earlier branches opened around Los Angeles. Plano is where the Kouchan format gets its American flagship.

Japanese ramen brands still often start in Los Angeles or New York. Kouchan is starting in Collin County, on a suburban strip, after Seoul and Bangkok. North Texas already has Japanese comfort food next door at Tokyo Shokudo. A Hakata tonkotsu counter in the same center means Plano and Frisco can get the bowl without driving into Dallas.

For a firm November day, watch Kouchan Plano on Instagram. The address is 4709 West Parker Road, Suite 440.