Story, photos and video by Cora Hyun Jung/Murphy News Service
Located only three stations away from the West Bank Green Line LRT station, United Noodles has been serving the local community for the 40 years and has been a good resource for the U’s international students as the closest Asian market to the campus.
United Noodles was found in 1972, not too far from its current location. According to the Star Tribune, it provides more than 8,000 products, which includes 400 types of noodles and 50 kinds of soy sauce, from 15 countries plus Hawaii.
“Nobody here speaks all the languages of the items that we sell,” a co-owner Eric Fung told the Star Tribune.
Sarah Bartus, a food stylist and a regular customer of United Noodles, said she loves United Noodles because she can get something that can’t be found at other grocery stores.
“It’s very easy to find what you are looking for,” she said.
Bartus said her favorite dish in Unideli is Vegetarian Tan Tan ramen.
“I drive from Minnetonka for the ramen,” Bartus said.
Emika Martin, who visited United Noodle to buy ingredients for Pho, said she grew up around Asian food because she is half Japanese and grew up in Taiwan for first seven years of her life.
“I like United Noodles because there are a lot of different options in one place,” Martin said. “There is more Japanese food compared to other places.”
United Noodles has been a good fit not only for international students, but also for those who want to try new things.
“We have a large amount of Asian populations and international populations, as well as people who are looking for and trying to new cuisines, or organic products,” said the store’s chief operations manager Steven Whitten.
The store’s in-store restaurant Unideli is a hot spot for ramen lovers.
“We are seeing continued growth,” Whitten said. “Unideli is very popular, and we are seeing exponential growth there. We use that to feed our retail sales by introducing people to ramen or beef noodle soup.”
He said the store has become more active with the campus community and collaborated with several student groups, including the Korean, Taiwanese and Indonesian student associations.
“We’ve been much more investing to let customers and students know where we are, who we are, [and] what our values and mission is,” Whitten said.
Reporter Cora Hyun Jung is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.