LOGAN SQUARE — Furious Spoon, the ramen shop that is taking the place of El Charro in Logan Square, needs help buying a noodle maker.
The owners are turning to Kickstarter to help cover part of the costs of the $60,000 machine, which they plan to import from Japan.
"It's crazy expensive," said Anshul Mangal, a Furious Spoon co-owner.
The restaurant, which opened its first location in Wicker Park about a year ago, hopes to open the Logan Square location, 2410 N. Milwaukee Ave., in March.
Furious Spoon gutted the interior of El Charro, and while the interior will have roughly the same amount of the seating as the Wicker Park location, the Logan Square restaurant will have an 80-seat patio.
The windows of the restaurant will all be bi-fold and open wide to create an open-air environment when weather permits.
The outdoor seating will wrap around Milwaukee and Fullerton, and the restaurant plans to grill yakitori on the patio.
"I think the outdoor seating will be awesome," Mangal said.
There were media reports of a rooftop bar, but as of now those plans are on hold.
Another major difference from the Wicker Park location will be the addition of a liquor license and a large central, triangular bar in the center of the new Furious Spoon.
Because the new restaurant has a basement, all of the prep and cooking will be done downstairs allowing for much more seating than El Charro previously had.
The bar will feature 8-10 cocktails in the $8-per-drink range, Japanese beers and more, according to Mangal. The restaurant will also feature an expanded late-night menu.
"The look and feel will be the same. The one major difference will be the big bar program," Mangal said.
The ability to sell booze will allow the restaurant to continue serving ramen at reasonably cheap prices, he said.
Bowls will start at $7.25.
Furious Spoon ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to launch the original location in Wicker Park, which like the current Kickstarter offered up some unique rewards including ramen for a year.
Many of the rewards — such as dinner for two including any two bowls of ramen, two sides and two drinks in exchange for a $20 donation — are cheaper than regular menu prices.
"It's a great way to introduce Furious Spoon to the neighborhood," Mangal said.
The free ramen-for-a-year reward is $250.
Mangal said a customer who bought the reward for the Wicker Park location came in and ate ramen every day religiously for the first three months the restaurant was open.
Surprisingly, that customer still comes in and has not lost his taste for ramen.
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