How do you Doodle? Miso Doodle with chicken topping and mushrooms? Sesame Doodle with shrimp and cucumber? Anyway you want it, Doodles restaurant, located at 502 E. John Street, is ready to serve up a fun variation on the classic college food staple: the Ramen noodle.

This Thursday, Dec. 1, Doodles will celebrate their one-year anniversary with free Doodle cups for anyone who stops in. Of course, for restaurant owners and cousins Tan Duong and Shai Mauth, their efforts for starting Doodles go back well over a year.

According to Duong, Doodles has been in the works since 2008.

“It was basically an idea that was thought of because Ramen is a college food and it’s good for the winter time. We just decided to take those ideas and open this place up,” he said.

Duong and Mauth wanted their restaurant to always be quick, simple and on-the-go.

“That’s why all of our meals are served in to-go cups, and you can actually walk and eat,” he said. “And when it’s cold, it will keep you warm.”

With limitless combinations, 12 flavors of Ramen and over 30 toppings, Doodle goers can choose whatever they want in their cup.

“It’s kind of like a sandwich,” Duong said. “They choose whatever they want and we put it all in there. Just add water.”

For Jane Sandberg, graduate student in library and information science, each of his 4 trips to Doodles has been a new experience.

“A friend of mine saw it on the Internet and saw it was Ramen and so I checked it out,” he said. “I get something different every time. There are a lot of options.”

Sandberg can appreciate Doodles both because it’s a unique spin on Ramen, but also because of the price. Doodle cups range from $3 for basic noodles, with meat toppings ranging from .75 cents to $1 and vegetable and egg toppings ranging from .25 cents to $1. Doodles also sells sushi made fresh daily for only $2.

Now about to celebrate their one year anniversary, Duong and Mauth are able to look back on when Doodles was just an idea that seemed beyond reach.

“It’s been a lot of work, and I’m learning pretty much everything from scratch,” Duong said. “When we came into this place I had to make counters, paint, fix the wall and fix the floor. I learned how to do piping. I learned how to do drywall and all kinds of things. I pretty much built my own place.”

Mauth remembers the biggest struggle was finding a location for Doodles.

“First we had to see what was available and what was in our budget,” he said. “Some owners might only want a franchise name. The union is the perfect example — they want corporate chains to come in and they aren’t interested in small businesses.”

For Mauth, opening up a restaurant came a bit easier as he already owns the Xinh Xinh Café in Urbana.

“It was just as hard as any other business, but having a few other businesses under my belt has helped,” he said. “I’ve been in this town for a couple of years (so) I feel comfortable with the U of I campus and Champaign-Urbana altogether.”

The partners work well together to keep things at Doodles running smoothly.

“We both run and operate the business,” Mauth said. “We’re both hands-on when it comes to the business.”

The teamwork required to take on the many responsibilities of running a business is what has helped Duong and Mauth with their success so far. Along the way, they have learned that they must practice patience.

“It’s going uphill as far as money wise, and we’re making a little bit more as time goes by,” said Duong. “It’s picking up slowly. Everyone says it takes about 3 years for a business to mature.”

With year one under their belt, the cousins have started to look towards the future of their business.

“Our original idea and goal was to expand and start a chain, so that would be the ultimate goal in the future,” Duong said.

With students on board with the alternative Ramen noodle, Doodles looks like a promising business.

“We have had a lot positive feedback from everyone,” Duong said. “They bring in a lot of their friends. That gives me a warm feeling that we can make it, slowly but surely.”