After Hours: Ramen on Beneva Until 1:30 AM, Mondays Included

When I worked overnight dispatch, the 1 AM food question was never what sounded good. It was what was still open. The honest answer was usually a vending machine with one row of peanut butter crackers left.

Sushi Ramen on North Beneva Road in Sarasota is a better answer. Its own site lists 4 PM to 1:30 AM, Monday through Sunday, for dine-in, carryout and delivery. Every night. Mondays too, which is the night most kitchens quietly pretend does not exist.

The menu has four ramens: tonkatsu, miso, spicy and shoyu, each from $16.99. Gyoza is $7.50. Pad thai and yakisoba are there for anyone who wants noodles without committing to broth. Miso soup is $4.99. I have spent more than that on vending machine crackers I did not enjoy.

It sits at 935 N. Beneva Rd., Suite 401, not far from the Publix. One reviewer on the restaurant's site mentions a little karaoke corner. Another says it was the first time they could get sushi that late. That second one is the review I would have written on my break, in a parking lot, years ago.

The night shift is nurses, line cooks, bartenders, stockers and anyone coming off a double. Somebody has to feed them. On Beneva, somebody does, until 1:30.

Hours change, so check their site before you drive over.

Owen