The genesis of the restaurant was our vision to bring delicious, real ramen to college students and college towns. The name tries to capture that inspiration. The character “学” can be generally translated as “learning” or “education” or “study,” and is often read as “gaku” (in Japanese, the same character may be read different ways depending on how it is used and whether and how it is combined with other characters). As a verb, it means “to learn or study” (学ぶ, manabu). But it is also combined with other characters to create the words “student” (学生, gakusei) and ”college” (大学, daigaku). Of course, everyone is welcome at Gaku Ramen. But Gaku Ramen is for amazing towns and cities that draw on college and university students for their character, energy and vibrancy. Burlington and Boulder are emblematic of this ethos.