There’s a plethora of ramen restaurants near Santa Clara — at least nine pages’ worth on Yelp. They all have quality reviews and steady followings. But when a San Francisco 49ers player shouts out his favorite on a podcast, you take note.

That’s exactly what Niners safety Ji’Ayir Brown did in the fall of 2024. On a podcast with former team reporter Lindsey Pallares, she asked Brown what his favorite restaurant was in the Bay Area. Without a moment’s hesitation, Brown said it was HiroNori Craft Ramen.

“The ramen spot is the best spot around here,” Brown said. “I ain’t ran into a spot, not a restaurant, not a high-end restaurant that’s better than HiroNori.”

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With a recommendation like that, I had to check it out for myself, and I was secretly hoping I might run into one of the players while there.

Located at 4300 Great America Parkway at Suite 180, HiroNori is about five minutes away by car to Levi’s Stadium, the home of the 49ers. The strip mall ramen restaurant is a known spot for Niners fans who attend home games and even training camp during the summer.

On my visit last August, there were several Niners jerseys among the crowd of tech workers in their jerseys — Patagonia zip-ups. As it turns out, 49ers players other than Brown have been spotted slurping down the house-made noodles, which are made with flour imported from Japan, along with umami-rich chashu, as I would soon learn.

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The HiroNori franchise was founded by Hiro Igarashi and Nori Akasaka. The two Japanese immigrants grew up loving ramen and learning to make it as teenagers, according to the company’s website. They met in Los Angeles in 2011, and six years, later they opened their first shop in Irvine. The brand is known for its small menu, only three ramen types, a few rice bowls and several appetizers, all while using high quality ingredients and maintaining a commitment to........

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