Hokkaido Ramen House taking over Capitol Quisine
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| The sign above a soon-to-be Hokkaido Ramen House in northern Loveland, Colorado - Optopolis |
A Japanese ramen restaurant chain called Hokkaido Ramen House and Izakaya is expanding to Cheyenne with a new location at Downtown's former Capitol Quisine on Capitol Avenue, south of West 18th Street.
A glimpse at the history of Capitol Quisine, others
The building which contains Geek Garage and recently included Capitol Quisine was built in the 1910s according to the Laramie County Property Assessor. A 1955 map seems to indicate Modern Studio and Kelly the Tailor were once occupying the now-former Capitol Quisine, while the 1955 Cheyenne city directory indicates Nation Studio and Hub Sporting Goods at that location (1718 and 1720 Capitol Avenue, respectively). A more detailed history and other former tenants prior to the 2000s are currently unknown to Optopolis.
As of August 2007, a restaurant called Teriyaki Grill was present at the location of now-former Capitol Quisine. September 2011 Google Street View shows another restaurant present, and it was called Asian Noodles & Grill, whose logo appears to be that of a bowl of noodles with "PHO" written on the side of the bowl.
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| Asian Noodles & Grill seen in 2011 - Google Maps Street View |
During July 2017, a restaurant called The Downtown Hub Restaurant & Bakery could be seen as operational within the building; photos posted to their Facebook page indicate that, as soon as May 2017, remodel began inside their soon-to-be restaurant. A newspaper clipping from Wyoming Tribune Eagle's Becky Orr (posted to Facebook by The Downtown Hub) states that the owners then-hoped to open by June 15th, 2017.
A Facebook Post from April 20th, 2018 states that, "tomorrow will be [The Downtown Hub's] last day...[and] we will be closing at 12 pm!" In the comments of their post, The Downtown Hub said they, "would be looking into other buildings and options around town," but it doesn't appear they have reopened in a new location. Currently, their website is down although you can view it through the Wayback Machine.
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| Capitol Quisine branding on the building, seen in late 2023. Notice that "Cuisine" is spelled "Quisine." - Optopolis |
A post from the Cheyenne DDA's Facebook page posted on September 7th, 2018 includes photos of Capitol Quisine which at the time, was, "downtown’s newest café." According to Wyoming News Now, the restaurant dates back to July 2018, and it temporarily closed for part of 2020 as a result of the COVID pandemic. Capitol Quisine permanently closed at the end of May 2021 with plans to open a new sports bar south of the railroad yard and along West 6th Street; the restaurant is called Ike's Bar & Grill, and it still operates today.
As soon as September 2023, it was observed here at Optopolis that the interior of Capitol Quisine was beginning to be gutted; much of the building frame was visible, and the ceiling was exposed.
Hokkaido expanding to Downtown Cheyenne
As soon as August 2024, it was discovered here at Optopolis that the front of Capitol Quisine had been boarded up, seemingly for some sort of remodel. By late November, the sidewalk in front of the building had been barricaded and removed. On the night of Cheyenne's 2024 Christmas Parade, it was discovered here at Optopolis that Hokkaido Ramen House would be the business taking over this space.
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| A small Bobcat tractor sits in front of the restaurant and next to the demolished sidewalk - Optopolis |
It turns out that permits found in the Cheyenne Permits and Projects website were submitted back in February 2024. Information within the Restaurant/Bars Remodel/Addition permit indicates that remodel of the storefront includes re-pouring the concrete floor, among other changes to the restaurant and its storefront.
Hokkaido has two different types of restaurants; one is their Ramen & Sushi Bars which are larger and have more dine-in space, a sushi bar, and alcoholic beverages available, and the other is the Ramen Houses which have a more limited menu. Cheyenne's Hokkaido Ramen House is the latter, and perhaps, this is no surprise given the somewhat limited amount of space inside the former Capitol Quisine location.
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| Coming soon sign placed on top of part of Capitol Quisine's name banner - Optopolis |
There seems to be at least a mild lack of ramen-focused restaurants in Cheyenne. Besides Honolulu Poke & Ramen at Frontier Mall, most other similar restaurants seem to put their emphasis primarily on sushi or other meals besides those that include ramen noodles. The first page of a Google Search for "Ramen Cheyenne" currently only returns two restaurants in Cheyenne: Honolulu Poke & Ramen, as well as Hi Sushi Delectable Donuts.
On the second page of that Google Search, a Facebook post from Los Conejos shows that they were serving their own take on ramen, but that food truck hasn't been publicly operational in quite some time. Although Optopolis didn't find it in this Google Search, a newer food truck called Crāv-A-Bowl does offer ramen bowls, as noted on the side of their food truck. Upon asking in Cheyenne Community Connections, one resident stated, "Sometimes LCCC has ramen;" Another mentioned that Bejo's has phō which typically consists of a mixture of noodles and rice. Yet another commenter mentioned Wasabi.
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| Hokkaido Ramen House, coming soon, seen in northern Loveland, Colorado - Optopolis |
The Cheyenne Hokkaido Ramen House location has not yet been added to the Hokkaido locations map on their website, but it has been added to their menus page, where a link to the coordinates of the soon-to-be restaurant can be found on Google Maps. Hokkaido Ramen House already has one Wyoming location which can be found in Casper. As of the time of a visit by Optopolis in October 2024, they were also working to open a new location in Loveland, Colorado, and that location is also listed as a future location on Hokkaido's menus page.
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