We have been several times since they opened and have tasted every ramen dish on the menu between the two of us. They are all great.
My favorite is the Fire & Ice (kimchi broth), you can spice it up more too! The salmon is also great but if you don't feel in the mood for fishy broth, they will happily serve it with any other meat. My boyfriend likes the cheese bowl, be advised it is a heck of a lot of cheese!!! We like the miso and the shoyu and the pork broth too. Yes, this is all the bowls. A great deal of effort is obviously put into each dish and it shows. Bowls are $12-14, but be advised the bill can rise very easily with the fantastic appetizers and excellent sake selection.
Excellent atmosphere. Very friendly servers. The bar style table is a bit odd, but eating at the (actual) bar is very pleasant and the outside seating is awesome. I wish the music had a little more variety though.
I love sake and decided to have a sake flight last time. It was an excellent experience and I'd highly recommend it. I was worried the quantity of booze would be low but you get about as much sake as you would if you split a bottle with someone, and to try many new things.
Charlotte gets a bad rap for authentic food. I haven't had ramen in Japan but I've had it several other places in the US including a 3 hour wait for the legendary Yume Wo Katare in Boston. Happy to say that Futo Buta definitely measures up in my opinion - different style but the experience is on the same level.
Parking: I see reviews here saying there is only street parking? This is not true, you can park in the lot next to them, just turn past Crispy Crepe on Rensslaer ave - it looks like it's for the apartment complex but the whole first floor is clearly labeled "Retail" parking and is obviously for the stores there.