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BTS perform at Stanford Stadium on Saturday, May 16, 2026.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Bighit Music<\/p>\n
Audrey\u00a0Cruz, 17, was taking orders during the dinner rush at her parents’ restaurant Kumako Ramen<\/a> when, all of a sudden, she locked eyes with her K-pop idol.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I see his face, and I have a moment of realization,” she said. “I look at him closely and realize, ‘Oh my gosh, are you RM?’ And he just looks at me and nods.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n RM, the leader of BTS, visited the small, casual\u00a0ramen restaurant in San Jose’s Japantown for dinner with some friends on May 14, shortly before BTS played a trio of sold-out concerts at Stanford Stadium<\/a>. Cruz said that no one at the restaurant\u00a0had any\u00a0idea that RM would be visiting, but that he picked the right place \u2014 she and her mother have both been ARMY, the name for BTS’ fans, since she was in the fifth grade.<\/p>\n “He’s been my bias since I started liking BTS,” she said, a term used in\u00a0K-pop fandom to refer to your favorite member in a group. “… I was very flustered, of course, because he’s obviously very handsome.”<\/p>\n Nerves aside,\u00a0Cruz did her best to not treat the K-pop star differently from any other customer, only asking how the food was and if he needed any refills. Despite the fact that he was sitting in the front of the restaurant, no customers seemed to recognize him. He ordered shio ramen and gyoza, and looked like he enjoyed his meal \u2014 when Cruz messed up one of his friends\u2019 orders and brought a katsu curry ramen instead of a katsu curry rice, the group happily ate the extra dish too. “He was very sweet,”\u00a0Cruz said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n She wrote\u00a0RM a note of thanks at the end of the meal, telling him she was looking forward to seeing him again that weekend: She attended all three\u00a0Stanford shows.<\/p>\n RM, member of K-pop boy band BTS, speaks during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit at the Gyeongju Arts Center in Gyeongju on October 29, 2025.<\/p>\n Anthony Wallace\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n While in the Bay Area for their shows on May 16, 17, and 19, BTS also ate at Redwood City pizza restaurant Vesta three times. The first time the group came to the 14-year-old restaurant was on May 11. They sat in a private room with a group of 10 and tried “so much food,” \u00a0co-owner Courtney Borrone said, from pizzas to small plates, salads and lots of dessert. \u201cI got a text from my manager, who was on shift that night, that said ‘BTS just left.’ And we were like, ‘oh my gosh, this is insane.'”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n She said the group was very kind and respectful, and that it seemed like they were having fun.<\/p>\n “Here in Redwood City, we’re not used to this,” she said. “We’re not a hub for superstar celebrities, so this is a first for us.”<\/p>\n But the restaurant’s team refrained\u00a0from sharing the news on social media just yet \u2014 they were hopeful that BTS might return for another meal. And they did.<\/p>\n On stage on Saturday night, BTS member V talked about how he thought Stanford had the best pizza. While he didn’t name-drop Vesta, it seems fair to say that’s what he was talking about: V and j-hope returned to Redwood City for another meal on Monday, and\u00a0in a Tuesday night livestream after their final Stanford\u00a0show<\/a>, the group dined on Vesta’s takeout pizza.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n BTS members ate pizza and other dishes from Vesta in Redwood City three times during their visit to the Bay Area.<\/p>\n Melissa Gayle\/Courtesy of Vesta Pizza<\/p>\n “I am so honored that they picked us,” Borrone said. “We are a small, family-owned business so to have a moment like this where somebody on the international scale found us and sought us out and returned and continued to dine with us, I’m super humbled and super grateful.”<\/p>\n She said the group’s most-ordered dishes were the sausage and honey pizza, the pepperoni pizza, and the cheesecake and bread pudding. Borrone and her family celebrated the unexpected endorsement from perhaps the biggest band in the world by buying last-minute tickets to their Tuesday\u00a0show.<\/p>\n Stay informed, and entertained.<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n “For all of us, it was a very happy, uplifting experience,” she said. “… It’s a memory that will last forever for sure.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s note: This story was updated at 4:25 p.m., May 21, to correct the spelling of Audrey Cruz’s name.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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