Two locations of a popular Bay Area ramen restaurant now have a strong network to meet customer needs, thanks to the restaurant company’s partnership with Comcast Business.
Comcast Business is providing Uchiwa Ramen with internet and cellular backup solutions at the business’s locations in San Rafael and Emeryville. The combination of these two solutions creates a reliable technology network that helps simplify the management of overall operations and employees’ daily tasks – and ultimately contributes to a more seamless dining experience for customers.
Uchiwa Ramen co-owner Kevin Fong and his team use Comcast Business Internet and Connection Pro to manage operations at the restaurants. Business Internet is the backbone that keeps operations running smoothly. The Connection Pro services help ensure that if the unexpected happens and Uchiwa Ramen loses power, the restaurant’s its Business Internet will stay connected for up to 16 hours with powerful 4G LTE backup.
To keep orders coming in and customers happy, maintaining the Uchiwa Ramen team’s strong internet connection is critical. The business’s point-of-sale (POS) system relies on its network to process dine-in and take-out orders, and Fong regularly receives important documents from his vendors via email. The Comcast Business Internet and Connection Pro services mean Uchiwa Ramen has a reliable, fast internet connection and the backup solution in place to help the network stay up and running in the face of outages.
Choosing Comcast Business
Fong is dedicated to ensuring that the food, customer service and staffing of Uchiwa Ramen remains consistent across his two locations, which is why choosing an affordable, reliable technology provider was such an important commitment.
“With two different locations in two completely different markets, it has been a relief to have a technology network from Comcast Business,” he said. “When it comes to reliability, service and bandwidth, Comcast Business has been a reliable partner to work with. It was a no-brainer to work with them.”
A Community Staple
When Uchiwa Ramen opened its first location in San Rafael in 2014, there were no other dedicated ramen restaurants in the county. As restaurant guests increasingly sought out more healthful food options, Fong and his team delivered with their take on traditional ramen dishes and Asian fusion food – both of which use all-natural, generally low-fat ingredients. Following the success of the first location, Fong opened the second store at a mall in Emeryville. With the second location, he hopes to continue to raise awareness for Asian cuisine, and experiment with all-new fusion dishes.
“Restaurants like Uchiwa Ramen are the lifeblood of our communities, bringing variety and vitality to our local storefronts and introducing us to delicious, unique dishes that we may not have ever tried on our own,” said Jacob Mitchell, vice president of sales and marketing for Comcast’s California region. “We are proud to provide Uchiwa Ramen with these technology solutions, as they support such a trailblazing business that not only serves great food, but is dedicated to educating the public on the food and its origin.”
Vital Statistics
Property Description: The San Rafael location is on a street, and the Emeryville location is in an outdoor mall.
Greenfield or retrofit? The San Rafael location is retrofit, and the Emeryville location is greenfield.
Number of units: Two restaurant locations
Style (High-rise/mid-rise/garden): Mid-rise
Date services started being delivered: January 2023
Special requirements for the property: The properties needed to be built using Type-1 construction to make them fire-resistant. Type-1 structures, constructed of concrete and protected steel (steel coated with a fire-resistant material, most often a concrete mixture), are designed to hold fire for an extended amount of time to keep the fire at bay in the room and/or on the floor of origin.
Lessons Learned
What were the biggest challenges? Meeting Type-1 construction requirements and construction deadlines were the biggest challenges.
What was the biggest success? Being the first new restaurant to open in the mall was the biggest success.
What feedback does the leasing/sales office get from residents/guests? Feedback from residents/guests has been positive.
What should other owners consider before they begin a similar deployment? Owners should read and understand all building codes and regulations.
Services
Services offered or planned:
- High-speed 500 Mbps internet
- Video
- Telephone
- Common-area wireless
- Building monitoring and control
- Point-of-sale system
- Credit card processing services
- Third-party delivery service apps
- Security system
- Online ordering system
Provider Choice
Do additional service providers operate separate broadband networks on the same property? If so, how does the property owner/manager keep providers from getting in one another’s way? In addition to Comcast Business, AT&T is offered. The property owner has standard operating requirements that keep providers
in check.
On the network described, can residents choose among multiple service providers? Yes, the property owner gives residents the autonomy to choose the provider.
Technical Support
Is the point of contact for resident technical support the property manager, the service provider or a third party? The service provider and FirstLight are the points of contact.
Business
Which parts of the network do the service provider own, and which parts belong to the property owner? The property owner has a network contract with the service provider.
Is there a marketing agreement with the property owner? No, but marketing services are included in the lease.
Do the service provider and owner work together to market the services? No.
Technology
Broadband architecture: Coax
Technology/medium that delivers signals:
- Ethernet/Cat 5 or 6
- Coax/DOCSIS
- Wi-Fi
Method for running cables: Horizontal within the building
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