Red Wolf Ramen food truck opened in Opelika

Red Wolf Ramen is the latest establishment to join the growing food truck scene in Opelika. It offers homemade Japanese-style ramen built around five key profiles: dashe, tare, noodles, aromatic oils and special toppings. 

“What we do is the five profiles of ramen that make up authentic-style Japanese ramen. Understand there are no rules when it comes to ramen,” co-owner Jonathan Allen said. “We don’t do like cookie cutter recipes for everything. Every dish is special. Every single bowl that we make is customized.”

Red Wolf Ramen officially opened its kitchen on Oct. 13 with a Friday night event at Franky’s Food Park. The truck is currently housed at Rick Lanier’s The Galley on McCoy, a commercial kitchen at 1300 McCoy St. Allen explained that food trucks have to operate out of a physical “brick-and-mortar location” and that The Galley, which is a shared use commercial kitchen. About 15 different food trucks partner with the kitchen. 

The truck will be at the TNT Cruise In event being held at Angel’s Antiques from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 5. The truck is currently serving in a special events only capacity, but they are hopeful for increasing the amount of events and opportunities in the future.

“Ristretto’s offered to have us come out which we’re really excited about. We have a big car show coming up over in Angel’s Antiques on Dec. 5,” Allen said. “Me and Trip both have full-time jobs, but this is something that we want to turn into a full time career. So as we start ramping up to full time hours like regularly scheduled/timed events, that’ll become more available.”

Allen said they are looking to get involved with Opelika’s Food Truck Friday events and grow the business from there.

Allen is an emergency management analyst for a defense contractor at Maxwell Air Force Base while his business partner and co-owner William Farr (Trip) works in a foundry. Allen’s work at the base in Montgomery is not his only commitment, as he currently runs Red Wolf School of Martial Arts in Opelika. 

Allen started that school with his wife Katherine in 2019. It has been going strong since. If you’ve been attacked, assaulted, harassed or stalked, you can receive free training for as long as needed.

“Our main mission was to help folks who had been assaulted or had been attacked in some way. Give them self-defense training, so they could regain a portion control back in their lives,” Allen said. 

It was through the school that Allen got in contact with Trip, who was a parent of one of Allen’s students. One day, Allen overheard Trip talking about his interest in starting a food truck, and he mentioned his own interest in bringing authentic ramen to the food truck scene.

Allen said he had no prior experience, just a love of food, and specifically a “ramen obsession” that started a decade ago. Despite the lack of experience, Allen and Trip’s shared passion for the idea brought the project to life as they found a truck, refurbished it and installed the “galley,” the truck’s kitchen that includes a complete fire suppression system.

When coming up with the name, Allen said it was actually Trip that suggested using Red Wolf name and brand. Just like his school, Allen said that part of the goal with starting Red Wolf Ramen is to help the community, especially the kids.

Allen said that once they get the food truck “off the ground and start making some money,” they plan on starting a Free Bowl Friday initiative to address food insecurity in the area. 

“We can get them like a basic bowl of hot ramen a couple times a year and just kind of help out the community that way,” he said.