Born and raised here in Tucson, Gonzales started off as a baker, working in downtown hotspots, while at the same time assisting on the line and learning all the right moves of surviving in a busy kitchen. We have his mom, though, to thank for the first inclination to get into the ramen business.

“She was watching this show on the Food Network that featured Ivan Ramen,” Gonzales said. “Here was this white guy in Japan making ramen and we just thought that maybe we could do that too. So, I just started studying and getting really into ramen.”

It took months of research and a stint at the Los Angeles extension of Singapore’s Yamato School of Ramen before Gonzales possessed the chops to open a noodle truck. Tucson’s Fat Noodle made its debut as a mobile ramen unit, and recently found a permanent location in an old coffee shop, slightly hidden on North First Avenue and East Wetmore Road. – Foothills News