Killer Noodle, a new dan dan noodle shop from the Tsujita team, is now open on Sawtelle Boulevard

From fiery dan dan noodles to hot chicken, here’s what’s happening in the food and drink world.

Dangerous noodles: You’ve seen the lines outside of all three Tsujita ramen and sushi restaurants on Sawtelle Boulevard and in Glendale. The ramen specialists have been drawing crowds with their Hakata-style tonkotsu ramen and tsukemen since first opening in 2011. Now the team behind the restaurants has opened Killer Noodle, a new shop specializing in Chinese-style dan dan noodles on Sawtelle Boulevard. Chef Takeshi Tsujita worked with the restaurant’s Tokyo team to develop an original recipe for the tantanmen. There are three flavor options, including Tokyo-style tantanmen (spicy with sesame); Downtown-style tantanmen (includes a cayenne pepper kick) and Original-style tantanmen (cayenne pepper and black pepper with a squeeze of lemon). You can order each as a soup or stir fried without soup, then customize your heat level and choose toppings. Killer Noodle is open for lunch and dinner. 2030 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles, (424) 293-0474, www.killernoodle.com.

Hot hot chicken: Howlin’ Ray’s hot chicken has been open for about a year and a half in the Far East Plaza in Chinatown, and the lines for the spicy fried chicken only seem to be getting longer. Chef Johnny Zone, who opened the restaurant with his wife, Amanda Chapman, after a successful run with a Howlin’ Ray’s hot chicken food truck, is looking into a West L.A. location of the restaurant. “Having one in that area would be really good,” Zone recently told The Times. “The restaurant is still getting into its teenage years. Most chefs would expand in an instant, but I want it to be the same quality. We’ve been approached by a lot of businessmen who see a line and they see good Yelp reviews and they see money. I don’t want to do it 80%. So that’s why I’m taking my time with it.” Zone is expanding the Chinatown restaurant’s back kitchen into a next-door space but doesn’t plan additional seating. “It’s so I can open up more days and longer hours so that line is shorter,” Zone said. Amen to that. 727 N. Broadway, No. 128, Los Angeles, www.howlinrays.com.

Vegas Italian: If you’re still having trouble getting a weekend reservation at Giada, Giada De Laurentiis’ Italian restaurant at the Cromwell Hotel in Las Vegas, you’ll be glad to learn that the chef, cookbook author and TV personality is opening another restaurant at Caesars Palace, across the Las Vegas Strip. Pronto, a fast-casual Italian restaurant with what De Laurentiis described in a recent release as “California influence,” is scheduled to open early next year. The restaurant will be adjacent to the hotel’s Bacchanal buffet and Mr. Chow. Pronto will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner with house-made pastries, salumi platters, breakfast sandwiches, and paninis. 3570 S. Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, (866) 227-5938, www.caesars.com.

OC Havana: If you grew up in Orange County or happened to go to school there, chances are you’ve spent some time at Habana. The Costa Mesa Cuban restaurant has been making mojitos and serving plates of ropa vieja for more than 20 years. Now it’s opening a location at the Irvine Spectrum. The Irvine restaurant will include new menu items, a bakery and cafe, and plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. Habana in Irvine is scheduled to open Oct. 30. 670 Irvine Spectrum Drive, Suite 708, Irvine, (949) 450-1004, www.restauranthabana.com.

Mall food: Chef Adam Sobel has teamed with James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Mina to open Cal Mare restaurant at the Beverly Center. The 8,200-square-foot restaurant is on the ground floor of the center along La Cienega Boulevard. (“Cal” is short for California, and “mare” means “sea” in Italian.) The restaurant will specialize in coastal Italian food with a focus on seafood and California produce. The menu will include seafood from the Mediterranean and Pacific, fresh pastas, and pizzas made in a brick oven. Cal Mare is expected to open in late November. The restaurant is part of an ongoing effort to revamp the mall’s culinary offerings, which also includes a new food hall helmed by Mina. 8500 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 854-0070, www.beverlycenter.com.

Jenn.Harris@latimes.com

@Jenn_Harris_

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