They have an all you can eat option, which is nice. You get to choose 5 pieces or/and 3 rolls at once, and individual pieces are $1 each. It's nice and clean, and pretty tasty. The lady running the business is amazing-- up and down the stairs every day! Byob ;)
(4)
Brooke A.
Girlfriend and I went here for a quick dinner our biggest mistake was not ordering the sushi at the very least. I ordered soba noodles with pork katsu, i expected the noodle to be cold and have the sauce on the side being slightly experienced in Japanese cuisine; however, it was basically soba noodles in a ramen broth. The pork katsu was tough and hard to chew and tasted like cardboard. My gf ordered udon noodles with shrimp tempura and gyoza on the side saying that the food was plain and nothing special. Overall the food was not good at all but we regret not giving the sushi a try. The sushi seems to be the ONLY reason to go there and not for quality sushi, just a bang for your buck.
(2)
Jay I.
A Generous 2 star (Only because I save 1 star for the restaurants with rude attitude and/or worst food in the world) The food is edible, but it stops there. Freshness is just above the threshold. Even if they offer all you can eat for less than 20 bucks, it is no use for a sushi lover because their portion of rice is way too big so that you would be bothered. If I give 2 stars to a restaurant that gives you AYCE sushi for less than 20, then... Maybe you just wanna have some rolls or other grilled dishes here (which I never tried before).
(2)
reba r.
Horrible! I just ordered from them via Grub Hub and this is the saddest sushi I have ever had. Tempura arrived cold and they forgot my mochi. Miso soup was bland and just tasted like broth. The asparagus maki was tempura which was not mentioned in the description. Will never order from here again and neither should you.
(1)
MaryLu C.
We have been regulars there for about three years and when we cannot decide where to go... we go to "rice balls" as our 6 y.o. calls it. BYOB and under $18.95 all you can eat sushi. This is family owned and yes, some of the family does not have the best English which I think results in the confusion documented in some reviews. Also they do now limit the first order to keep prices in check. We have encountered that too, but can I again say, $19 AYCE and BYOB. Be nice to hard working immigrants and go to the best sushi deal in the city and what they do not always have in English skills they make up for with nice. The sushi is great and we might just go back tonight.
(5)
Maryam E.
I don't know why this place has a lot of bad reviews, I love it! For lunch it's $14 all u can eat and $19 for dinner with more role choices They have everything and the fish is so fresh and tasty The only thing I don't like is the waitress Ok so what I order one roll at a time ? Isn't that the point of all I can eat? Anyways, it is a must try And unfortunately they don't have a lot of spicy tuna sauce option, but they don't charge for sauce sides ;)
(4)
Kristen L.
My boyfriend and I went because he was hungry and I couldn't decide what to eat. As soon as we walked in, I noticed that the servers were around our age (20-25) and were very nonchalant and seemed unfriendly. During our meal, they didn't check up on us and only came when we asked them to. Not being a big fan of sushi in the first place, other than salmon and maki rolls, I stupidly ordered their fried rice. The portion was extremely small and while the taste was okay, I stopped eating as soon as I saw a hair. While I'm not the one to be very picky and would normally just pick the hair out and continue eating around it, this hair looked like a pubic hair. Disgusted, I notified the server and he looked at the hair and examined it, as if he couldn't tell it was a hair. I didn't want to order anything else, but my boyfriend insisted that I did and I ended up ordering a plate of tempura which ended up being somewhere around $12. Overall, ridiculously priced, not very clean and unfriendly wait staff.
(1)
Jason R.
[UPDATE] There must have been new management. The bitter old lady wasn't there, who was there every day. The new lady was thinner, and had purple highlights, and looked younger. That is the woman, who was sweet and kind. The food was a lot better, less sloppy, this time. [RED FLAG] They will now include their own $3 tip into your bill. I went to lunch for $13.95, and the bill was $18.06 I went to write a tip, thinking I made a mistake and went (12:15-1:00pm) during dinner hours (after 4pm). As I was writing the tip for $3, the kind lady said that the tip is included, all I need to do is sign. This could be from the lack of customers, on top of low tipping. aka we don't need to raise wages, we need to raise tipping to 20% from everybody: blacks, white, asians, mexicans, indians, rich, poor, aka everybody... its not a racial issue - its a personal integrity issue to not tip. "if you're there" - "you share" the wealth, by tipping well. Any place you go.
(3)
Emily N.
IchiWRONG is more like it. Ordered a few things via GrubHub, for pickup, last night. Nothing was good, and only the tempura was decent. The spicy tuna roll was mostly rice. The hamachi jalapeno appetizer was nowhere near fresh. I ordered some other maki roll was that was sub par. A completely underwhelming experience, to say the least. It's unfortunate too. The decor was great, and the service (though minimal) was fast and friendly. It's too bad the quality of the food was so terrible.
(1)
Colleen D.
Cute place / very small - quaint. I stopped in to order take out - it was a Monday at 5:00 and there was not a patron in there. The miso soup was not good / odd taste. The ginger salad excellent. Spicy tuns rolls excellent. Tuna sashimi - very good quality but very small compared to Butterfly. I'll come back for their all you can eat sushi one day.
(3)
Diana S.
$18.99 all you can eat sushi Sundays and apparently every day after 4, "all you can eat to go" is 19.99 for 4 rolls. The lunch ayce is $13.99.... always so fresh and so amaiznggggg!
(5)
Katherine M.
I have been going to this restaurant even before it was Japanese! We have gone sometimes as often as 1-2 per month, bu the food has slipped in the last year. The last time a couple weeks ago was the last time. The service just keeps getting worse and worse and the sushi is not fresh. I really doubt the person making the sushi is a trained sushi chef. And it is not authentic Japanese tasting--miso was like some store packet, too much rice not enough meats. The last couple times we have been here were not good experiences due to the staff being abusive to each other (I do understand Chinese expletives courtesy of friends) and the chicken tasting pre-cooked/dried out and the sushi fish did not take like sushi grade fish. Stay away unless they are truly under new management and hire a Properly trained sushi chef who will be using fresh fish and not too much rice.
(1)
Max G.
Got the all you eat for 18$. Not worth it for me. Little cuts of fish diluted with way too much rice. Plus they charge 1$ per piece of everything you don't finish. Maybe ordering individual pieces is better vs the all you can eat but I'm going elsewhere next time
(2)
Katrina L.
BYOB and all you can eat for a good price. Is great for a casual evening with a yearn for sushi. The fish is fresh and my favorite rolls are the Ichiban and Crunchy rolls. I wish the Mochi was part of All you can Eat though.
(4)
Holly L.
Generous two stars. Seriously. I don't understand how this place has 3-4 stars. Although I consider service very important, I think the food is still the most important at a restaurant. For example, if the food is amazing but service isn't that great, I would still give 4-5 stars. But this place is horrible, even just based on food. Although I am not that picky, I know my Japanese food, and this place did not know how to do it. I did All You Can Eat, so I can't say for regular sushi or kitchen food much. But this place was the worst all you can places I've tried so far. My seaweed salad had a thin layer of seaweed and rest cucumber (but I've seen this some other places so okay fine), tempura was very greasy when it should be light and crispy, and the sauce was so bland. But the worst part was nigiri. It literally had a handful of rice at the bottom--ok, exaggerated--but the rice portion was larger than fish piece. WHAT. And quality of salmon and white tuna were just... blegh. I think I got the crazy maki, which had just incredible amt of rice in it. I had my fair share of AYCE so i know they put a lot of rice at AYCE places, but this was more than any other places I've ever been. Worst, the maki didn't even taste that great. I usually make sure I get my money's worth out of AYCE, and I wouldn't say it takes a lot for me to say the food taste good. But after about 2 appt, 2 piece of nigiri, and a maki roll, I didn't want to eat anymore--and the only reason I finished it is because I didn't want to get charged for it. And that's seriously saying a lot.
(2)
Joe T.
Kind of overpriced sushi. My rolls tasted way more ricey, with small insertions of sashimi pieces. Service staff outnumbered clientèle it felt like. I've had way better sushi for less money elsewhere. How are college kids supposed to afford this crap? A couple of the sushi pieces hit the spot, such as the eel roll and smelt roe. My buddy got the unlimited sushi for $18.95 deal and the staff was watching like hawk vultures to make sure he didn't share any pieces with any one else. In addition to that they reminded him that they would charge him for having leftovers. Kind of a dinnertime buzzkill right there. Overall, if you are very close by and have to have sushi, you can hit this place up. But if you can go a little further to a better place, I highly suggest that.
(2)
Melissa L.
All rice and fillers, barley any fish.
(2)
Vim M.
Warning! All you can eat sushi prices include a MANDATORY 18% Gratuity charge. Which normally isn't a problem if the service is good. But, its not. Also, it takes forever the sushi to come and when it does finally come, its full of rice.
(1)
Natalie L.
This is our go to sushi spot in the neighborhood. Recently, we've noticed that the sushi is a bit "fishier." But we still think it's better than the other options available to us. I usually opt for the ichiban roll because I like the textural contrast of the apple instead of avocado.
(3)
Bob L.
Wish I could give a nonstar or a half or 0.1. I ordered naba udon and yakisoba and spicy tuna roll through grubhub. And it took an hour and half. First of all, naba yaki udon is not fried one, it's with broth, which I didn't know, so fare enough. But the tuna roll was soggy, and the yaki soba was soooooooo plain. I even forced my classmates to try and all of them didn't like it. It is not "not good", it was " terrible" side. So I called them and complaint about it, and the Chinese host kept repeating saying that other people ordered that noodle, and if they bring a sauce or new food, they need to pay delivery person again. What the f**k, you can first say that you're sorry, and she was just making an excuse. And she put me on hold and never return on my call for 10 minutes. I didn't check Grubhub rating before order, which was 2.5 stars, I regret ordering there. Complete waste of money and time, and put me in really awful mood. DO NOT go, or order.
(1)
Taiyang L.
I had the all-you-can-eat sushi dinner and really enjoyed it! While the Miso Soup was too dilute, the sushi was really delicious. They have really interesting sushi as well using strawberry and apple as ingredients. They tasted really good for such innovative idea! It is slightly annoying not being able to order more than 5 pieces of Nigiri sushi each round, but the rolls were so delicious they made up for it!
(5)
Sara L.
Everytime I finish a meal that I order from here, I tell myself to never order from here again. Yet, I continue to order take out time after time due to the close proximity of the restaurant and the severity of my sushi cravings. Couple days ago, I ordered a lot of nigiris, and let me just say that the sushi rice was mushy and tasted like old vinegar. It was not edible. I ended up picking the fish off the top. If you plan on eating here, my advice is to just get sashimi.
(1)
Derrick T.
After receiving a coupon on the street for a free smoothie with lunch entree, my office mate and I were psyched to check this place out. We made our way there one day, only to find that they had opened, then closed for a week to do construction work. Today, we went again to find them open, eager to have some customers. We kept it simple, ordering one lunch entree for each of us and added in the free smoothie. Watermelon Smoothie - Fresh fruit, simple, tasty. Not bad, not good, just a par level smoothie. Sushi Lunch Combo - 5 pieces of chef selected sushi with a California roll. Now as a sushi fanatic, I'm sorry to say that this doesn't fulfill the cravings that I have... amongst the five pieces of sushi, one was too "watery", two had slightly fishy flavors (which should not happen with fresh fish), and the rest were just fairly average. The rice on the sushi was slightly overpacked, as you could taste some of the gumminess of the rice. The California Roll, unfortunately, suffered a similar fate of being "over-rolled" and over worked causing the rice to be pressed into a layer of gumminess that shouldnt' be there. A highlight of the restaurant is that the service is quite phenomenal and friendly, with the waitresses consistently taking care of us. They were advertising a happy hour special as well that may be worth taking advantage of with $1 pieces of sushi and $3-$4 rolls, however I'll likely never know... Verdict: Not likely a place I would revisit for sushi, as it ranks low in the quality to price ratio for my sushi needs... Great service, but not great food.
(2)
Christine N.
my brother and 2 friends were going to go to an italian restaurant across the street, but decided to come here to avoid the wait. here's my overall experience: walked in and nobody helped us. there was only one other table that was being served at the moment. there were 3 people in the sushi area downstairs, and all of them looked up, but continued in their own conversation, waiting for the host to come from the bathroom or wherever the hell he was. seriously? yea. uh. dock a star. THEN, we got seated. the food was fine. the sushi was actually not as bad as i thought it'd be, being i'm an avid sushi eater in los angeles. fortunately, it didn't make me sick like previous experiences, but overall, it didnt disappoint that much. for how much they were giving and how much we were going to eat, the all you can eat price was very good as well. one complaint about the food, however, is that there is SO much rice. the food was fine. not amazing. just... fine.. another experience i had, was as i was eating, the server AND the manager person came to me and told me that they charge the fee for unfinished rice too. that just put me in a foul mood. it's fine if you have to tell me for my own benefit, but it was so obvious that this asian manager lady had told our server to tell me to finish my rice. what are you, my mother? even my own korean mother doesn't tell me to finish my rice. i'll finish it if i can. if i can't, i'll pay the frickin fee. ok, now i want to dock another star. but i didn't die from eating it. so fine i'll give you 2 stars. i will never go back to you simply because you made me feel sick by your horrendous service.
(2)
Eric H.
I wrote a sushi review for a place near my work before... I was never a big fan of sushi mostly because my only experiences with it included such obnoxious service (as was the case with the other restaurant) or it's been a sushi platter bought from Costco. I've since been here a few times and each time gotten the all you can eat deal. Their specialty rolls (on the dinner only menu) are pretty good, but you're not missing out on much if you decide to go at lunch time. Most of the dinner only rolls have eel which I think is a rubbery mess of disgusting fishyness that doesn't ever belong in my mouth again, so I try to go at lunch time. The real winner is the Ichiban roll. Shrimp tempura, crab legs, spicy mayo, APPLE (genius on this roll), and it is on the all you can eat list for lunch... last time I went I ordered 3 of these rolls and just a few other items.
(5)
Yuan Z.
rice rice rice rice rice with a sprinkle of fish. you might as well just eat white rice at home. The seating is awkward, servers sucked, and the boss lady herself is super strict. I accidentally dropped a big chunk of rice on the table, so I decided not to eat it. The waitress actually had to bring the boss lady out over about the ball of rice. After a long negotiation, she finally said I didn't have to eat it. Through the rest of the meal, the boss lady stayed around and I can see her eyeing me from the corners of my eyes, checking if I drop another rice. Their amount of rice is HUGE. It's actually laughable how big it is. You can definitely tell the boss is trying to maximize profits through these cheap tactics.
(1)
Maria Z.
Not bad. For the price, it really isn't bad. i love how their all you can eat menu is very varied, from noodles to spring roles, and edamame (which is cold and nasty) The rolls were yummy. Okay, I'd say. I agree with everyone that they add WAY too much rice, and the rice is dry-ish. For the price of 18.95, I could get an all you can eat at House of Sushi and Noodles, which has WAY better sushi rolls. The reason for the low rating was the service. We had a young man wait our table, and he was not rude to us, and he did fill our water, however he made the experience totally uncomfortable. We came in with a party of 5 and one of us didn't get the all you can eat option and ordered her own meal. The waiter kept STARRING US DOWN. I guess this was to make sure we didn't share food with the person who didn't buy the buffet, but COME ON...?! That was so awkward..... He wouldn't stop looking at us and making eye contact. I felt like a baby, or a criminal. It was annoying. Tip: Next time, please don't be a creeper. It is really not worth what she would of ate if she cheated to me writing this horrible review of you based on the creep and not on the food.
(2)
Benjamin R.
My group ordered the all-you-can-eat sushi for $19 each, which we determined was a good deal if you were hungry. (The Ichiban roll, a house specialty, would set you back $14 by itself.) On the plus side, you can get (I think) every sushi and maki on the menu, as well as every appetizer. On the minus side, there are very strict rules about how you can share, as a well as a penalty for sending back food uneaten. Having said that, I thought the sushi--and service--was good. I'd recommend it if everyone at your table has a strong appetite.
(3)
Joan A.
Unfortunately wasn't a fan of this place, though I'm an avid sushi lover. My tempura roll wasn't fresh, and the seaweed salad was average. Service also was slow, even though there weren't too many people there. There also weren't a ton of options. I give stars for the yummy iced green tea, and the cutesy atmosphere.
(2)
C C.
So, I've been avoiding this place for a year due to the poor-ish Yelp reviews but finally stopped in as was craving sushi and caved. It wasn't bad for the circumstances of really craving sushi and had to be near the University Village area, but if you have any choice to not be in this area (I was on lunch hour so had to be)... go somewhere else. Chicken quality was poor. All-you-can-eat sushi is a good deal and a cool roll with mango sauce and fresh apple is included, but quality is lacking. Way too much rice in rolls too- obviously tactic to make their costs cheaper.
(2)
Jason H.
Awful service, overcooked rice & the "vegetables' included in the teriyaki chicken were just a few pieces of broccoli. Won't be going here again.
(1)
Og B.
all you can eat sushi! yay!! BOOOOO! poorly made, not fresh salmon and produce, over priced. me and my girlfriend both had the all you can eat sushi for $18.95 and a green tea $1.00. with a tiny 10% tip, we spent 50$. we got some nasty green tea, with no sort of refill, 4 maki rolls, and 3 pieces of sushi. one roll had 4 huge apple slices in each piece, a tiny piece of crab, and some eel sauce drizzled. the pieces were so big i couldnt even fit them in my mouth. SO MUCH RICE! SO MUCH brown nasty APPLE! so little fish! another roll was a dime sized piece of white tuna surrounded by mounds and mounds of rice with alittle spicy mayo and crunchys on top. terrible. the sushi pieces consisted of the thinnest piece of fish ive ever seen and literally a fist full of rice. if you dont eat all the rice they charge you. bullpucky. we ate so much rice. it wasnt even good rice. im so disappointed. for 50 bucks we couldve gone to a nice byob sushi place and gotten 3 nice maki's and 2 sashimi's worth of delicious sushi. sushi with fresh yummy fish in it! that is what i require!!!
(1)
Victor M.
BYOB and then.. I don't know.. Rolls are rolled in lots of rice, sometimes part of the piece of seaweed is stuck between two layers of rice. Don't get me wrong.. the price for buffet is a pretty good deal. Doesn't require a far drive if you're from south side, south loop, etc.. it's not fine dining, just a sushi restaurant. The sushi pieces were also pretty terrible... lots of rice and thin fillet of fish on top; the tuna was practically see through. My friends got the buffet deal. I didn't feel like carbo loading so I went with some sashimi and seaweed salad. The seaweed salad is good as well as presentation, but the fish cuts suck. Each piece ranges between $2-3. At that price/cut factoring in decor and type of location I definitely had better. You're here because you love fish as a garnish. Service is nice, but then again.. one waitress for 2 tables while I was there on a Saturday night.
(2)
Dan D.
Want REALLY fresh sushi? Want to eat until you need to roll out of the restaurant from being too full? How about hurting your butt when you roll out of the restaurant (from your still fat money-laden wallet that Ichiban barely puts a dent into)? Then come to Ichiban. All-you-can-eat sushi at a great price. The lunch price is $13.95 and is a very innovative menu and very complete. They offer nigiri (regular sushi pieces), maki rolls of MANY MANY MANY types, and even crazy innovative rolls. Unlike other places, Ichiban has no limit to how much sushi you can order per plate (i.e. Hiro's Cafe and House of Sushi and Noodles....). This is fantastic - order whatever you want, however much you want, and enjoy yourselves. But you will have to pay for whatever you cannot finish of course! Here is a little known secret.... Are you ready?.... Alrighty, Go to Ichiban's website (located on this same Yelp page) and check out their "Promotions." They have coupons for lunch, dinner, and takeout. 10% off is a nice offering. Great service, AMAZING sushi (the BEST tuna nigiri from all of the many all-you-can-eat sushi places in chicago - and yes, I have tried them all and eaten at all of the places over 4 times a piece). A+. (Anata no kangei)
(4)
Alan Z.
Good sushi! Good deals for all you can eat. BYOB. The parking might be a hassle since its on Taylor street. Also the space is kind of small but the sushi rolls are really made with quality.
(5)
M H.
The time honored tradition started early this year Sushay Tuesday by the founder "Me" a bit corny but corny is good on most days. So we go to celebrate the day but start off at the Jewel on Ashland/Roosevelt it's BYOB so I had to get wine and beer. Makes for more interesting nights (insert smile here) We arrive and there are patrons on the patio enjoying the good weather but I opted to stay inside beat the bugs rush...or so I thought. We're greeted by the host and ask where we would like to be seated. We take a seat near the kitchen and watch the chef's create meanwhile were swatting at flies in the dining area. So we get our little piece of paper with rolls/appetizers on it I check off two only just to get things started. The sushi comes and its real good all to the delight of my girlfriend and I. We went through the bottle of wine and a beer well the beer would be all me. I mastered nine rolls and two apps I'm proud to say I got my money's worth. The ambiance is a little less to be desired unless you have the stadiums booth seats in the far right corner over looking the chefs. Ultimately a good choice for sushi, reasonably price, BYOB and it's all you can eat. #Winner#....
(3)
Mandy A.
I will preface this by saying I am not a sushi snob. However I have stopped getting sushi from Dominick's because who the hell puts carrots in their california roll? Gross. Big honking carrots. Anyways, I just like rolls. I'll go for the sashimi once in awhile but I really love all of the gooey rolls that require you to smash everything in your mouth in one bite and spend the next 12-15 minutes chewing. Yum. Also, I love cream cheese. Have I mentioned that? See my name above. Anyways, we stumbled upon Ichiban while looking for a BYOB place close by that was pretty reasonable. We didn't know about the all-u-can-eat until we walked in but it was a nice surprise. Under $40 for the two of us to eat all of the maki roll goodness we could. I made the mistake of letting my husband order for the both of us and I think he went a little overboard and didn't get too much variety. However, everything was really good. We got the standard spicy tuna and california rolls, Boston roll I think and the Rock and Roll. That was our favorite out of the 5 or 6 we ordered. We were both stuffed but I convinced both of us to try the Ichiban roll and it was a delicious choice. The apples were an odd choice but they worked, yummy. I would go back and just get five orders of that. So for a close, cheap place, this is perfect for me and all of the snobby, sushi eaters can leave this place comfortably uncrowded for me, thanks.
(4)
Emily A.
Still a huge fan of this place. Yes, your expectation shouldn't be over the moon, but I believe Ichiban exceeds mid to high range expectations anyways. The sushi is fresh, some pieces do come with too much rice, but you can pick the fish off. Go here to enjoy friends, great sushi, and a bottle of wine that you bring. Any BYOB gets at least a 4 or 5....because my pocket book is happier.
(4)
Kara V.
I was almost disgusted by this place. I put the "almost" in that sentence out of politeness. We ordered takeout from here about a week ago - and could not be more disappointed that we deviated from our normal Osaka 2 habit. Anyway, we ordered a standard couple of rolls - Tuna and Avocado, Spicy Salmon, and some Shrimp Tempura option, along with Edamame. At first look, I knew it was going to be bad. The rolls were nearly ALL rice. Some actually had fillings in them smaller than my fingertips. They must have used one piece of shrimp for the entire roll, no joke. I can't even comment on the flavor of the shrimp because there wasn't enough there to judge. Then, I noticed the tuna was BLACK instead of the usual red color. That means it had been oxidized and was probably old, or incorrectly prepared. I choked down one or two pieces because I had paid for the roll and was hungry, and then threw out the rest. Finally, the edamame was refrigerator-cold, with no salt or flavor. I will never order from here again. It's just not worth it with the abundance of sushi in the area. Osaka 2 is about two blocks further east on Taylor and is SUPER fresh/tasty, and Tatsu isn't bad either. If only any of them had brown rice...
(1)
Claire Y.
A fairly nice Japanese replacement for my beloved Italian brunch spot, Irlandese. I'm not much of a sushi/maki roll fan, but I suppose their food isn't so bad. Located near the Medical District and the University Village, folks could probably appreciate more competitive prices, but their pricing isn't exactly outrageous. Like every other Japanese/Chinese establishment, they offer fruit smoothies. A solid lunch option on Taylor. It remains to be seen how long this one will last (after observing 3 changes of ownership in the last year).
(4)
Heather P.
They get a star for BYO, but it sort of ends there. Is it a good value? Sure, but only if you are going for quantity rather than quality. It is good? No. Is service polite and friendly? I don't think so. Would I go back? Probably not.
(1)
Kate G.
The worst sushi I ever had.... Just received my order, hot water as miso soup, little piece of fish like they were searching for it somewhere in refridge... I am shocked - i paid 38 bucks with delivery!! And ate nothing! Guys, it seems to me that you have decided not to pay attention to your current work. Have questions? Write me or call me, you have my number. They don't care... Never again.
(1)
Benjamin U.
I have been here 6 times and they've only been open 2 of those times.... Sushi here is average and all you can eat is always a great option if you are starving but it doesn't really help when you go on a friday night at 6 and they are closed... The all you can eat is a great deal but service takes maybe 30-40 mins per a round. Put aside sometime assuming that they are open...
(2)
Will T.
I came here for the AYCE sushi buffet and though the food may be good the services sucks really bad. I went with my brother here last month and there were only 4 table with customers and yet it took 45 minutes EACH time I put an order in...I assumed it's a tactic to make you full since you wait a long time before having seconds. I spent two to three hours here just to have lunch. What's worse is they force you to pay 18 percent gratuity when ordering AYCE even if you're the only person there. Overall, you're forced to pay the server for their bad service. Coming back here again would take some serious consideration.
(1)
Brian O.
Overall a pleasant experience. I like the atmosphere for lunch! Ordered the lunch special which included: California roll, spicy tuna, cucumber roll and miso soup. The price seems pretty decent, about what you would expect for sushi. Food was great, service friendly! I'll be back for sure.
(4)
Andy N.
While Ichiban certainly doesn't reign high on the list of sushi buffets I've been to, it's certainly a hell lot better than the management over at Volcano on Taylor. Oh wait... are they owned by the same people? Yes, that menu DID seem awfully familiar. And here I was thinking that the "Ichiban" roll was unique to just this place. My mistake. Ichiban (一番) in Japanese means "Number one," and I honestly can't say that the restaurant keeps to the namesake. A large group of us came in for lunch one day and most of us decided on the AYCE option. This restaurant (and Volcano) allows each individual to order themselves, instead of doing one large order for the group. The good thing about this is that you can bring friends and NOT have them be forced to do AYCE if they don't want. On the other hand, it doesn't allow you the stomach room to try more rolls than you order. Each time an order is placed, you are "restricted" to 5 pieces of nigiri, 3 rolls, but as many appetizers as you like. Being a sushi fan, I usually just go for the nigiri, especially salmon. However, the overall preparation of the rolls was so slow that most of us got pretty full just on the first order. The rolls that I managed to try this one time were the Ichiban and Alaskan (which also contains samon). The Ichiban contains applies which is different from most rolls I've had, but the tempura in it was pretty bland. For $12 a la carte, I wish it had a little bit more POW in it. At a price of $19.50 lunch including tax and tip, I can't say that this is totally worth it, but I am giving it a few stars up for the fact that they let me take home my one order of food because I was experiencing a hiccuping episode that made me want to shoot myself. The servers are all nice (and they are all Chinese btw, so Cantonese will help here), so I was able to ask and get the few rolls I had left over carried out. Damn you hiccups!!
(3)
Timmy M.
Like many Sushi places in the area, this place offers an all-you-can-eat option. No matter how drunk you are, all-you-can-eat sushi is never a good decision. That being said, this place has a couple very good rolls, including the Ichiban roll. I highly recommend it. The ladies working there are very nice but the service was a bit slow on the day I went, surprising because the place was pretty empty.
(4)
Tom M.
I usually do pick up and the rolls are very good for the price. When I have eaten there, the service was good. Solid sushi spot and great price point for all you can eat.
(4)
Kamilah S.
I had the Gyoza, Sake and Arizona Sunshine. Everything was great. It was easy and quick ordering process thanks to GrubHub!
(5)
Julie T.
Had the all you can eat selection and their menu is so small compared to all the other AYCE places. Even the limited selection they had wasn't great at all! I really don't like how they automatically add tip onto the AYCE. The service wasn't even that great either. We've always been sat upstairs and there's only one waiter and he barely check up on us. We had to stare at him until he approached us.
(1)
Amy T.
Most ridiculous dining experience since they had new management and owner. Staff and hostess are not the same ones each time. Disappointing that I came here with a large group at 6. They set us up outside and we only kept seeing people leave. Took a long time to provide water. 6:20 finally took our orders (4/12 ordered from the menu while the rest are AYCE) 7:20 water refilled and three menu items came out (fried rice, udon noodles) 7:40 we left and management said we don't have to pay for the food I have to say the rice was too salty. The udon noodle soup base was soy sauce that was barely diluted and had sugar added. I don't know why this guy ate it anyway.... When I went into the basement at 7:38 I tried to call for help but was ignored and got stares from the sushi chefs who did nothing. I saw my bento box finally made but I never got a lick of it. In addition there were stacks of carryout on the counter. They definitely have their priority with customers on a Friday night. People came and left without eating. More people still sat in there expecting food. Left this place with my party angry and starved. Not sure why we even bothered with this establishment. If anyone knows of the elixir to stop hunger let me know. I might need it if someone I know wants to visit this establishment again...
(1)
Jessica T.
I am a frequent Ichiban diner, and only for a few reasons. 1. I think the sushi is delicious and reasonably priced. 2. I like the all you can eat special 3. BYOB HOWEVER, the service is a little ridiculous. Sometimes, when they aren't busy, service is fine. When they are busy, it seems that the waitstaff gets stressed and starts becoming very unprofessional. For example, one summer day, I went in with my boyfriend. We waited probably twenty minutes for the ONE waitress to clear the outdoor seating after a party had left. We waited because we figured it would take 5 minutes, but nope. Last night I went in with a party of 6 at 8pm. The waiter told me the restaurant closed at 9... fine with us. I figured okay they don't seat any more customers after 9pm, typical for a restaurant. After we had sat down, he told us that the kitchen actually closes at 8:30. Cool... So 9:10 rolls around, waiter comes by and tells us that their credit card machine closes down at 9... Okay yeah, bullshit. But whatever, we were done eating anyways. Didn't even offer us any to-go boxes for food or refilled waters. Not a good way to run a business. These people are completely rude. As I was walking home, I noticed Hana Sushi actually is BYOB too. I will probably begin taking my business there.
(2)
Allison J.
Came because we saw the all you can eat sushi deal advertised from the side walk. If you enjoy high quantities of sushi this is the place to go but I feel that their sushi was definitely lacking in quality. It didn't taste fresh and we probably will not be coming again
(2)
Jennifer H.
this place is not fancy, it's a neighborhood BYOB place. Everything I ordered was good although I'm not a sushi snob by any means. Service was a little slow but nothing terrible. If you're in the neighborhood this place is worth stopping into but I wouldn't make a special trip here, it's good but nothing special.
(4)
Jessie Elizabeth J.
Great all-you-can-eat sushi that is quality! You can order side dishes such as seaweed salad unlimited as well. You may wait a bit for your sushi but that's to be expected for this kind of deal. BYOB as well.
(4)
Van C.
This place does not disappoint. I honestly don't know why this place only received 3 1/2 stars. The all you can eat sushi special is superb. It totals to 18 bucks with tax and gratuity. The sushi itself is better than most places. I've been going here throughout the years and the quality of sushi has remained the same. I definitely recommend everyone to go here. Don't listen to all these hating ass haters talking about "forced gratuity, poor quality, etc". A mandatory gratuity was instituted because cheap ass people don't know how to tip. I can go on for days. Reading all these negative ass reviews from people disgusts me.
(4)
Melody C.
I chose this place based on yelp reviews and driving past it a couple of times. This place definitely had my friend who didn't like sushi, give it another chance. We got the All You Can Eat for $13.95 + 18% tip, which isn't bad. It all adds up to about $16-18 per person which is great for AYCE sushi. They also have great variety. My only beef with this place is that the service sucked. Our waiter was slow and didn't bother to memorize whose order was whose so all we got were plates thrown in front of us. We even got a few orders that got forgotten. They also require 18% tip if the AYCE is ordered, and the service definitely wasn't worth the 18%. Then again, this is what you get for $13.95 AYCE And because I might be wrong, but isn't tuna sashimi suppose to be more red than pale pink?
(3)
Erin S.
Absolutely delicious and fresh every single time. I've celebrated anniversaries and birthdays here and the service and food never disappoint. We like that the gratuity is included for the all you can eat sushi dinner. Good for those like me and the beau who can certainly eat a lot! I recommend the rock n roll as well as most of the chef specials!
(5)
Aaron Jae M.
Went for all you can eat sushi at lunch time. The sushi is just alright but it's totally worth the price. There are rolls and individual pieces you can choose from as well as classic appetizers like miso soup, pot stickers, and tempura vegetables. They also have a few main dishes that you can also get.
(4)
Abel ..
How anyone could rate this place anything lower then 5 stars is beyond me. They have the best sushi I have ever had and great service. They also give you the option to have all you can eat sushi which is what I ALWAYS get. I'll never go anywhere else for sushi besides here. The only down side is, it can be expensive. But, for 2 people all you can eat you could expect to pay a little less then $50 which is honestly less then it would at other places. Fantastic food, highly recommend it!
(5)
Melissa H.
One of the best all you can eat sushi places I've been to. Only complaint is that you have to order each Crab Rangoon separately.
(4)
Anon Y.
Pros: +Good Location +Good Seating +Attentive Staff even if you order AYCE Cons: -Have to eat every last piece To start off I've only eaten AYCE here so I'm not sure how the regular food is. The variety for AYCE is pretty decent and theirs something for everyone. You order from a special menu that has appetizer, soup, salad, sushi & sashimi. Go for Dinner, the lunch menu selection is alright but the dinner menu selection is well worth the price with a huge variety of tempura and specialty rolls. Overall it's great for lunch and dinner. I highly recommend it.
(4)
Michael L.
I am not a fan on paying for non-AYCE sushi spots. I understand that not all AYCE sushi spots have the best tasting sushi out there, but this place makes me regret not paying for nigiri and rolls separately. I've been here a few times and the most recent time left me unsatisfied for my occasional sushi cravings. The rice was overcooked--it didn't even taste like Japanese rice. I wouldn't be surprised if they used Chinese rice. Then they use so much of it in the rolls so if you plan on coming here expect to have a plan to burn all those carbs you are going to consume. Don't get the tempura because it doesn't taste like it. It tasted like it was fried in the same old oil they use to cook some Chinese dishes. I also thought all the rolls I got tasted about the same. I couldn't even tell the difference when I was reluctantly stuffing my face. I live in the area so I would come here to try to satisfy my AYCE sushi craving without having to drive all the day up north to sushi para 2. I think I would rather drive up there now or find a different sushi spot that may not be AYCE.
(1)
Ralph H.
Had the All you can eat (AYCE) sushi and it was really bad. 90% rice rolls. Be able to empty your schedule just to have lunch hear because it takes them hours to get you your food. It's like they play the waiting game for you to get full and not order any more or wait for you to get sick of their service and get the hell out of there. Not coming back unless I have a rice craving.
(2)
Natalie V.
I'm glad Ichiban is so close. I really enjoy their food. Service is quick, even for last-minute pick-up orders. I always get the California Roll because it's what I like! I've tasted other items here but I keep going back to the California Roll. Also, I always get the edamame. They give you a nice serving. Food is always fresh to me.
(5)
Mel S.
Just came back- i upgraded to two stars from one. They cut down (a little) on the rice, but you still have small pieces of fish. That's fine. It's all you can eat sushi for $14- what do you expect. What I did not appreciate was tip already added to the bill- Who does that?! Is that even allowed? Shouldn't there be some sign on the menu about this automatic service charge? Come here if you're desperate- but I still stand by my previous recommendation of going down the street to Tatsu if you are willing to spend extra cash.
(2)
Amy D.
Bottom line: Buffet lacks variety. Time: Taking a stroll and had a sudden craving for sushi! Early Friday night dinner. Service: Beware...Gratuity is included automatically if you get the buffet! - Not as attentive and slow service. - Slow service = More water drinking = Get full faster = Eat less. - It's a lose lose situation. Food: Buffet lacks variety. - Sometimes they have good special rolls that are included with the buffet. - Miso soup was pretty whack. Although not as salty. It was just plain bland. - Some unusual rolls that includes fruit making it quite refreshing Needs more waiters/waitresses to make the flow of dinner more smooth. Less waiting time and more nom nom time please!
(2)
Darren T.
This is a budget sushi place...if you want a quick fix but refuse to pay for a higher quality, this is it. By no means am I a sushi expert, but the fish quality was not good and doesn't look that appealing. The rice was inconsistent and clumpy. Me and my party of 4 had the lunch buffet for $13.95 each with a mandatory 18% tip. This is definitely a place I will not recommend and go back again. Especially how the tip was mandatory 18% I would understand if its a party of 6+, so they basically robbed your money in tips without a choice.
(1)
Irene Z.
We've been here almost every week in the last month...Big Bowl Udon ($4.95) with choice of 3 ingredients for $5 (including shrimp, mussels, scallop, shrimp tempura). Not only is it a great deal, it's delicious. The bowl is sometimes hard for me to finish, but on the very cold nights we were here recently...it hit the (cold) spot and kept us warm while filling our stomachs with goodness. Staff knows us now too, and comes prepared to our table w/our big bowl menu sheets. Love it, all around.
(4)
Brittany W.
I absolutely LOVE this place. I can't count how many times I've been here for the all you can eat sushi. Crab rangoons are a fav of mine as well as the smoked salmon rolls and the miso soup. The service is a bit slow sometimes but the food never disappoints.
(5)
Nick S.
Very good sushi! Their deal with all you can eat is awesome! However, their service is bad. The servers can be rude.
(4)
Erika A.
At home sick the last few days ordered takeout twice.. 4 rolls for 20 bucks! Awesome! Not my favorite spot but for 13 bucks all u can Eat lunch sushi, who can complain. I was especially pleased with ichiban roll! My favorite! My tip order from them directly with their menu not third party like grub hub that may not have right menu
(4)
Caesar M.
Place is good. Good value for your money. A little outdated but I honestly enjoyed the food. Service was a little slow and dry for the empty venue.
(3)
Aaron S.
You all know me, I'm the all-you-can-eat-sushi guy. Well, at the moment I'm still the "Fat American Can't Figure Out Foreign Cuisine" guy, according to my nickname, but I completely figured out this sushi bar's cuisine and can sum it up in one word: Rice. I was really hoping that this would be a pleasant experience, finding a sushi place that was easy to get to via the #9 Ashland bus near our place, not too far of a trip to get there, and guess what? All-you-can-eat sushi. Another notch to add into my AYCE Sushi List bedpost/belt (depending on your preferred metaphor). The place is "cozy", and we chose a table in the upstairs niche by the big glass window overlooking the kitchen. Unfortunately the glass wall was a little high up and didn't make for a viewing experience. What ALSO didn't make for a viewing experience was the laser disco ball monstrosity they had turned on. I don't even recall there being any music playing (although maybe I tuned it out for being a foreign language other than Japanese) - it was just an annoying green laser light globe shooting the same messed-up patterns of lasers all throughout the experience. There wasn't a party going on - in fact for 30 minutes, we were the only customers in the place. It was close to Christmas, but still no excuse. Which really baffled me that the service was so poor. It took quite a while for our first round to come out, and the refills on water were also pretty slow. Sitting with an empty water glass while the attendant is standing in her little booth doing relatively nothing, not checking up on her only customers at the time? Kind of rude. Then the sushi came. And it was yet another night of a "AYCE sushi place where the appetizers are better than the sushi" experience. This review is coming 7 months late, and yet all I can remember about the experience was the above, a reminder to myself that the miso was "okay" and the gyoza were "better than any of the nigiri" and "HOLY BALLS THAT'S A LOTTA RICE". Some others have posted pictures. They are indeed the truth. And I have added two of my own that were taken to display 1) a sampling of some of the rolls and 2) THE RICE. I believe one photo shows a roll that is clearly 80% rice by volume. That's nowhere near acceptable for nigiri sushi, let alone a freakin' maki. It takes a helluva lot for me to have to ding an All-You-Can-Eat Sushi place down to the 1-star level. And this place offered a helluva lot to convince me that it's the proper decision. And please don't call me a "sushi snob". I believe my AYCE Sushi List speaks for itself that I know what I'm talking about but by no means so I engage in sushi snobbery. I'm just a Fat American who disapproves of an establishment trying to punish me for eating all I can eat by serving me over 80% rice.
(1)
Sam Y.
So I don't know what happened to this place. Or maybe it's just me trying more sushi? Whatever the case the quality here has been suffering as of late. It's not all bad, it's just inconsistent. The service time has majorly slowed down, there seems to be less fish in the rolls, and the fish is of noticeably lower quality. Disappointing change.
(3)
Dan L.
BYOB and under $20 All you can eat sushi. I've found my vice. Went here after friend suggested it. All you can eat after 4PM - close with a huge variety of options is one of the best finds! The small 2 floor restaurant feels like a modern style 'hole in the wall' type visit. Very clean and pretty intimate, especially if you are seated on the upper level. Ordering is simple because they hand you print outs and a pen with everything they offer for their all you can eat menu opposed to the regular offered menu. They had about 40 options ranging from maki, sushi, and appetizers, along with 3 chef specials you could choose from, one being the tiger eye which had jalapeño and was tempura battered. Nothing I had was even close to poor quality and I left a full/happy customer. And did I mention this was a $20 all you can eat?! Our waitress was super helpful and did the awesome gesture of bringing our friend out an ice cream ball thing for her b-day and started singing happy birthday. Can't wait to return
(5)
Cristina P.
Really sub par sushi. Its all you can eat but the food wasnt very good. If your looking for good sushi I would hit up somewhere else.
(2)
Giedre K.
Love this place! Absolutely delicious. It was a little expensive, but definitely worth it. :)
(5)
George B.
I love this place, best value you can ever get out of 19 $ (dinner time) or 14$ (lunch time) Highly recommend it to all the students and budget tasters
(5)
Brad J.
Discount sushi joint, but NOT worth the time and effort. Been there a few times and it has been a pretty consistently disappointing experience. Takes forever to serve food on a day with no one else in the restaurant. Average wait is 45 minutes for 5 rolls, even if you're the only ones there. Also, apparently sharing any food will add a $1 charge to your order. Staff speaks only broken English, and they cannot understand enough to answer questions, so if you have allergies they can't tell you if shellfish is in something. They Will get your order wrong. They will add an 18% gratuity even for a party of 2. Do not bother with them. Taylor street has better sushi options.
(1)
Varsha L.
The place was cute, the sushi was good not great, I guess I would give it a 3.5 instead of just a 3 bec I thought the spicy tuna was pretty good, there was a lot of rice in the sushi like other people mentioned , it did fill you up bec of the rice, the spicy tuna is pretty spicy! We did have a chef's special roll with unagi which was also good, the california roll was just okay-kinda bland.
(3)
Carrie J.
Sat down around 1:00pm with a friend and we decided to go for the $13.95 all-you-can-eat sushi lunch special. Some sushi rolls were only available during the dinner special ($18.95) but I'm still impressed with the big lunch selection. Our orders came pretty fast, about 5-10 minutes, considering that there's only 2 chefs and lots of people who came for lunch~the waiting staff (there's only 2 as well...I think) was great, always checked on us for water or extra napkins. We went all out on the nigiri sushi & loved it. Rice was packed right and the fish was fresh. Before we got too stuffed we were able to try: Salmon Skin, very crunchy and not too greasy. I will come back for this roll. Futo Maki, 5 pieces again...I think, it's nothing fancy but it's got a very homey taste with all the vegetables stuffed in it. Very light and comforting. ~Meh, it's alright. Ichiban Roll, 5 pieces in a roll, and it's very good. I'm surprised that the apple slices worked pretty well with the other ingredients in the roll~this is a roll you gotta order! I really like this cafe and I'm glad I came.
(4)
Kat F.
All you can eat + BYOB with no corkage fee for $20? Definitely too good to be true. Service wasn't too bad but the food was another story. The sushi is mediocre at best and the all you can eat portion was limited to the most basic of the sushi rolls on the menu. The only reason I finished everything I ordered is because you get a penalty and are charged for each item left remaining on your plate! Honestly, if I could do it again I'd take my $20 to Whole Foods and buy their sushi to go - cheaper and higher quality.
(2)
Amanda M.
When I moved to Chicago, I was in need of my all you can eat sushi fix. Coming from Naperville, I always ate at Sakura. After experiencing all the sushi places on Taylor Street I have definitely fell in love with Ichiban. I can't give it a full 5 stars because it still doesn't have as much variety as I wish it had on it's all you can eat menu. For example, most all you can eat sushi places have amaebi or ebi (sweet shrimp & regular shrimp sushi) and Ichiban only carries that on their regular menu. $13.95 however is very cheap for lunch before 4pm. $18.95 for their dinner is reasonable. Their choices of maki rolls and special rolls is amazing. Their Ichiban roll is my favorite. It was mangoes and apples which I thought would be strange but worth a try & I'm very happy I tried it. Their salad dressing is also delicious. I buy a pint of it to bring home which I use for both dressing salad and as a dipping sauce for things like french garlic breaded shrimp!
(4)
Adam N.
This place has good sushi for reasonable prices and was a usual stop of mine. However recently I had an experience there with very rude wait staff. They took very long, barley said anything, and charged us for food we didn't order, and then would not take it off the bill. Needless to say, I will not be returning.
(1)
Mary C.
Checked in today, ate last night. I went in pretty late with a friend. It was half full and we were seated quickly. We were handed an all you can eat menu (will try next time), but we had a voucher and ordered off the regular menu. Good thing because soon after we recieved our rolls, the kitchen closed. I'm not a big fish eater, cooked or raw. So my review has nothing to say about their quality of fish. We ordered only Maki rolls.... And cucumber salad that's hard to mess up. Loved it. We ordered (in order of yumminess) The California, The Caterpillar, The Lobster, & The Dragon. These were huge rolls, except for the California. The huge special rolls are cut in a dozen or so pieces. Which is great because we have small mouths and even then my friend had to bite the pieces. LOL Now I loved the Dragon roll, but it was friends least favorite. she preferred any of the other three rolls. Heavy on the rice? Maybe for others, but we are rice eaters. Nom Nom nom We did notice everyone else did the all you can eat. Their rolls seemed dainty. And they were eating a lot of edamame, I guess to fill up? When our rolls came out, all heads turned. I did take a pic but my phone didn't save it. :-( I guess you get what you pay for. ;-) So I suggest menu ordering for real value. Why 4 stars? She forgot my friends coke...twice.
(4)
Yu S.
The sushi has significantly decreased in quality since the store first opened. I think the owners have changed as well. The rice in the sushi is almost 1/2 an inch with almost no fish. Their boss also yelled at a friend of mine for having some rice in her plate. Her speech went somewhere on the line of "one patch of rice, 1dollar, see 1 2 3, 3 dollar!" Horrible service. Horrible food. We used to be regular customers not anymore!
(1)
Robert S.
All you can eat and BYOB, you can't go wrong. A nice little sushi find in the middle of Little Italy. Nothing extraordinary but great bang for your buck. Have enjoyed it a couple of times now and will definitely be back.
(3)
AJ M.
I came here on a blustery spring Saturday to see if this Japanese restaurant would be a location I would frequent when craving sushi. NOTE: Like other all-you-can-order/eat places, you will be charged extra for sushi you don't eat. The Good: To echo the other reviewers, the service was good. I felt like they were very attentive to my guest and me all throughout the dinner. My date and I did the all-you-can-eat option, which is great if you're really hungry or want to try a little bit of everything. After my order was placed, the food came out quickly but was missing an order of nigiri. The waiter acknowledged this without prompting him and offered a suggestion of the Super White Tuna nigiri to replace the fish that had ran out. Bonus points for the waiter's upfront nature and his recommendation. The tuna was very fresh and had a great milky flavor. The Bad: The miso soup was watered-down and the salmon nigiri was a bit tough. The rolls had a LOT of rice and the spicy tuna roll was very salty. Now, I'm used to having a lot of rice in my rolls after going to places like Sushi Para in LP but there was barely any tuna in it! Sad. The Ok: Most of the rolls were OK. Nothing really popped out, screaming "THIS IS AMAZING!" Overall: Good service with so-so food with some definite weaknesses as I outlined above.
(3)
Nicole M.
I dont like writing bad reviews but this place deserves it! I did read the prior reviews and that id give it a try anyways! We walked in to get a table and we pushed aside because a very rude tribe with about 5 kids came in.. come to find out it was the family of the owners.. So they got attention first and got to pick their table, we had wanted outside, but they got it! Even though we asked for outside first, but they came in and we were ignored... Usually even if you own the place, your guests come first! I work in the restaurant business and that is just bad etiquette!!! The kids were rude, running around like idiots, loud and obnoxious.. people that were outside moved in! I mean, it was thursday night at 7pm, maybe they could go some where else, or stay home so guests could dine in!!! So the rice is ridiculous, a sliver-literally a sliver of fish and a pound of rice.. gross! Nothing was that great at all.. I was really disappointed. So they offer the all you can eat buffet, not all you can eat rice! If having the buffet is too much for you--- Dont have it!!!!! Packing everything with tooo much rice is not the answer! The service was not good at all.. Just wont be going back or telling anyone anything good about this place!!!
(1)
Carrie M.
Last time I was here, I was a bit disappointed. The service was great, as usual, but the rice in the sushi just didn't taste fresh this time around.
(3)
Eric F.
I wish I could give a better recommendation, but when a sushi place can't cook rice properly, what can you do? The service is excellent , the wait staff is friendly and the ingredients used are high quality. The problem is that they just don't make sushi well. I've eaten there about 10 times since it's opened, because it is very close to where I live. I stick to the most basic orders because none of the specialty rolls I've tried have been well prepared or are too spicy. However, the greatest downfall of Ichiban, and why I have stopped going, is that they can't prepare rice well. It is sometimes soggy or doesn't stick. As a sushi lover, this is my break point. Maybe i'll try again it in the future, but for the present, I cannot give it a good recommendation.
(2)
Chris R.
My wife is the real sushi fanatic in the family but I do enjoy it from time to time. I have always found sushi overpriced for how much you need to eat in order to feel full. Ichiban recently began offering all you can eat sushi specials for lunch and dinner. Now like most people when I hear "all you can eat" and "sushi" in the same sentence I turn and run at the idea of a big table of pre-made rolls that are sitting around like a buffet. Let me stress that this is NOT that type of offer. Its more like dim sum meets sushi. You are given a paper form with everything on the menu and are asked to check off or write a number (for more than 1 of something) to tell the server what you want. Then they bring the sushi out in waves as its made. I keep it fairly straight forward with my sushi and they do my basics well. Philly role has lots of cream cheese and spicy tuna roll has good flavor without trying to be so spicy it looses touch with the tuna. The individual super-white tuna pieces are very tender and very fresh. Lastly they offer Rock N Roll which may or may not be very traditional but is a whole new sushi experience. Eel, octopus, smoked salmon, cream cheese, and jalapeno wrapped with seaweed outside then deep fried and topped with eel sauce, spicy mayo, and wasabi mayo. If that sounds like a mouthful that's because it is. Considering if you also like miso soup and appetizers, if you like to eat more than 2 rolls and a few individual pieces its well worth the $20 for dinner. One word of warning is eat what you order because if you order more than you can eat they will charge for being wasteful. I'd go back even if I didnt live a block away. But based on my proximity I a wife that loves sushi I am sure I will be back often.
(4)
Joseph O.
I'm rating this restaurant purely by its food. It takes a lot to fill me and I hate paying 12 dollars for one roll of sushi. I can just come here and order up to 9 rolls and much more for that same price. The sushi is tastey and decent quality. They do use fair amounts of rice and my goal is to be filled so I don't mind. Their ichiban roll and golden nugget are amazing and I can't find better tasting versions anywhere. I'm a big fan of all you can eat joints so I've been to sushi para and house of sushi and noodles and they simply don't compare in the amounts of food. Ichiban does have a limit, you can order 3 rolls and 4 pieces of nigiri at a time. And you are allowed to order 3 times, therefore you can get 9 rolls and 12 pieces of nigiri for $12 (before 4pm) or $19 afterwards. The dinner menu also offers a larger variety. I love ichiban and don't understand why so many people give it poor reviews, as long as you look past the service and eat all your food there's no issue. And niether of that is ever a problem for me.
(5)
Tracy K.
Our experience here last night was.. alright. We ordered edamame and spring roll appetizers. The edamame were good, but the spring rolls? The only flavor detected was that of the oil they were cooked in. Decidedly not good. The rolls we ordered were small and lackluster. And our waitress kept confusing who ordered what. My pineapple smoothie with tapioca was so bad I sent it back. Still-frozen tapioca balls nestled in a slightly-yellow block of ice that tastes faintly of pineapple? No thanks. The one saving grace for the night was the fact that the waitress offered us separate checks. I loved not having to ask for it. Very cool. The space itself is pretty tiny, and the annoying mid-90s music they played on repeat was way too loud. Don't waste your time and money here.. go to Osaka Express instead.
(2)
Darryl Y.
I don't usually give reviews but my experience here was bad enough to motivate me to write one. First off I know all you can eat generally adds more rice than usual. I've been to a handful in California and some here in Chicago and am pretty tolerant with the quality of sushi and amount of rice. On my second visit here I got sushi that was sliced as thinly as possible and was sitting on a ball of nasty tasting rice. The cut rolls barely had any fish in it and was also made with a ton of rice. I know these places need to stay in business but the amount of rice given was just plain insulting. To make matters worse the service was definitely piss poor. Our waiter guy was rude and the girl would bring us things we didn't order. If you want decent all you can eat sushi with normal service please stay away. But if rice is what you like and can't make it at home, this place will gladly serve it to you. Just remember to eat it all our they'll charge you a dollar...PER PIECE.
(1)
Bill W.
Decent sushi, good edamame, good service. Price isn't great, but it isn't horrible. They're brand new, and still don't have an alcohol license of any sort.
(4)
Sarah S.
I went on a Thursday night and it was empty. I love the interior design, it's modern style. I ordered to go. I wished they had a to go menu, that would be easier to just check it off. Let me tell you that I been to many sushi places and saw bad and goods. And this was okay place. The service wasn't that great. I would've guessed since I was the only one there the host or waitress or chef would make a conversation with me or something but I just sat there and waited the food. The price is okay, I mean it's sushi so it's not going to be burger price. I had Ichiban roll and couple of sushi pieces. Let's say that I had better. I got spring rolls for free but I thought they would be those clear wrap ones, but it was basically egg rolls. For the quality or great service, you can go somewhere else. But if you want something to satisfy that sushi craving, it's okay place to go.
(2)
Colleen A.
I will come here again because I live around the corner. I don't think it's worth the travel distance if you weren't in the area, but to be able to walk over, it satisfies the craving for sushi. Prices are reasonable and the sushi is good. I went on a Monday night and it was empty, but that meant we had good service. The place is cute and clean and it was not awkward for us to be the only people in the restaurant. It is 100% BYOB which helps keep the bill down as well. All in all, not a bad place for sushi rolls if you live nearby.
(4)
Christi S.
I agree w/ the other reviewer, the sushi here is very ricey. I love the fact it is BYOB w/ no corkage fee but the waiter dropped off a wine opener and walked away for me to open myself, really? I think $18.95 for all you can eat is a fantastic price, however what is the deal w/ being charged if you don't eat it all, including the rice? They put that in small print under all you can eat sushi on their menu. I think that is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. We were all so full but didn't want to leave even one piece left on our plate for fear of being charged. Even after working out for 90 minutes the next morning, I was still full. Not nice to do that to your customers. I'll never be back.
(2)
Milan P.
Meh. That's all I can really say about this place. I mean its truly a great deal. Something like 15 to 17 for all you can eat maki and its byob, but the sushi itself is just whatever. We didn't have the best service either, but it was understandable because the waitress/busser/hostess was doing it all herself. Overall this place is great if you're looking for ok sushi for a good price, but I guess that's what you get when you eat at an all you can eat sushi place.
(1)
Steven K.
Icky-bad. $18 for all you can eat "sushi" was mostly rice with lunchmeat thin fish. Will not go back.
(1)
Christine P.
Stumbling around on a saturday afternoon led to us walking around and finding Ichiban. We walked in right after they opened and the place was empty. it was nice to have the place to ourselves, as the restaurant is "cozy" (tiny is more direct of a word!). We got two lunch specials and a lava roll (?), which was good and spicy. For a spontaneous lunch, this was a little more than we wanted to spend, but still worth it!
(4)
Pete M.
I went here because of a restarant.com certificate. The meat and fish weren't very fresh and the pricing was very high for the amount of food and quality. If you want a good Japanese steakhouse try Tsukasa in Vernon Hills or Kampai in Mt. Prospect.
(1)
Heather L.
I went here yesterday for lunch. It's a cute little spot for a casual sushi meal. The owner was very nice. I was really excited to find an all you can eat sushi place that isn't a buffet, b/c since I moved from New England (where Sushi Palace is in New Haven, CT), I've been missing great sushi for a set price. So, I had high hopes for Ichiban, but they fell short. They put a lot of rice on the rolls, which is typical for many all-you-can-eat places, but it's definitely not a good thing. The quality of the fish was fine - nothing amazing, but not bad. The spicy tuna was too spicy for me, but I don't have a lot of spice tolerance, so others may enjoy it more. The edamame was cold. They serve it that way on purpose, apparently, but it can be warmed if you ask them. All in all, it was an OK experience, but I think I'd rather pay more money and get better sushi with less rice.
(2)
Heather D.
Yuck. I knew going into a buffet that I should not have really high expectations.... but I didn't know that I was walking into a terrible situation. We were so unhappy with the amount of rice in our rolls, it was insane. There was 2 times the amount of rice in our sushi pieces than you would normally see, and you're expected to eat it all or you have to pay extra?!? ha! We felt like total weirdos putting rice into our napkins and "hiding" it. Not because I was avoiding becoming "too full" to get more... but because the rice was so sticky and starchy it was actually gross and overpowering. I don't consider myself a sushi snob.... but I at least know the adequate amount of rice that should be in a roll or with a piece of fish. I will say, the highlight of the evening was when my girlfriend was pulling rice out of her 4" diameter roll and tells the waiter there's just too much rice... he looks at her confused and says, "No, not really".... I mean, how the heck do you shove a 4" piece in your mouth (of which 3" are all rice)??? Well, NEVER going back to that place. I'd say it was reasonably priced, but it really wasn't worth the experience.
(1)
Anna H.
like many have said, the sushi is veeery skimpy on the actual fish. the unagi rolls have giant spikes of cucumber with this sliver of eel, loaded in sauce. whenever i go there, usually for lunch, there only seems to be one waiter, and they're never especially prompt or friendly... you almost have to coerce them into communicating with you. i'm bummed, there was a place up the street that was much better, and they just closed recently...
(2)
Chiki T.
wow!!!! what a good deal for ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI.... A lot of choices to choose from the menu, the sushi and maki rolls taste fresh and good and also variety of chef's special rolls included. For only $18.95 per person (dinner), I definitely will recommend this place to everybody... Overall, the food, the price and the service are EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT!!!!!!!
(5)
Josh J.
This place has one of those all-you-can-eat deals for under $20. The sushi is average and is heavy on the rice. Make sure you go there well before closing time. They turned the lights off on us promptly at closing time! The plus is that it is BYOB with no corkage fee.
(2)
Taylor T.
I would never come here again. The sushi is not very fresh, and the service is terrible. It might seem like a great idea to do their unlimited sushi deal but they sure know how to get you on that. They fail to tell you that if you do not finish each piece of sushi, you must pay $1.00 per piece, yes per piece- not order. It is written at the top of the ordering sheet but is not pointed out to you before you order, most likely because they want to take your money. I ended up having to pay almost $10.00 extra because I did not finish it all. The service is terrible and slow, stay away from here, there many better places for sushi in this area.
(1)
Jay H.
This little sushi spot has a pretty cool interior because it allows diners to peer down at the kitchen below. The sushi and maki here are satisfying for a quick sushi/maki fix and won't blow your budget. They offer a decent variety of sushi, maki, and appetizers. The fish was fresh, and the wait staff are friendly and attentive.
(3)
Kim B.
Yikes. I read the previous reviews and thought, "How bad can it be? The negative reviews must be exaggerated." It was that bad. Some of the worst sushi I've ever had, possibly even worse than the sushi at an all you can eat Asian buffet. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere.
(1)
Susan W.
UNACCEPTABLE. Tried to come here TWICE. First attempt on a Wednesday night a little past 8PM. I came with my husband and two friends. They were closed even though their website said they're open until 9PM. I has a bit more understanding the first time because I figured they closed early because they were slow. But the second attempt was on a Saturday afternoon at 2PM which is during their lunch special hours. Tried to come here with another group, but they were inexplicably closed again. Luckily, there's tons of restaurants on Taylor and I can get sushi at Tatsu a couple blocks down. Won't bother trying to come here again.
(1)
Bee F.
Ugh! The service was fine - that is the only reason why this place would get one star... The sushi was soooo gross!!! I couldn't even eat the spicy salmon roll I got because it was grey salmon and super chewy (yuck!)...and there was soooo much overcooked rice on all of the rolls. My husband's negi hamachi roll was so weird, it looked like the fish was dark brown and chopped up...where as the roll usually has a whiteish fish... If you are a sushi lover this is not the place for you at all. We have had awesome sushi in the neighborhood and other places (even sushi station in algonquin, IL was waaaay better and that is the fast food of sushi for the most part). Don't waste money. My husband still cannot eat sushi after going here and he has always loved it. It literally made us sick...whatever we got was NOT fresh and did not look like it would at other places.
(1)
Klaudia G.
you will pay 40$ for nothing but rice, hope you love rice!!!
(1)
Judy J.
I've come here a couple times now for the buffet. The buffet is the average price as any other sushi restaurant. They have interesting maki rolls (like the Ichiban roll with apples), and their sushi isn't that bad either. However, they give WAYYYYY too much rice. I think of all the sushi buffets I've had, this place gives the most rice, so you get full really fast. I recommend to try it once for their different types of maki but not a place I would go back.
(3)
Jennifer B.
good quality sushi for those who like all you can eat. they have a wide variety of rolls and appetizers to choose from. the service isn't so great. i usually come with a few girls and we bring a couple bottles of wine. the last time we were there we had to ask three times for a cork screw and a couple more times for a bucket of ice. we also had to ask three different people because we barely every saw our waiter. but the service aside, the food is great for all you can eat and i will continue to go here for our ladies sushi nights.
(4)
Sonia S.
The service is terrible here. If you have 45 minutes to wait and don't mind a rude waiter, then this is the place for you.
(1)
Jennifer C.
your basic all you can eat sushi place... "basic" as in- they stuff as much rice as they can in to everything trying to get people full using as little fish as possible and ask you to pay for the left overs for not finishing them. The first time i went, i went on a double date with a bottle of wine and a six pack (its BYOB) We had a decent time there but i know I definitely did not eat my money's worth (20 bucks for dinner). Maybe I had too much wine and it made me full faster, but i've had a lot of sushi in my life and i could tell they definitely stuff a LOT of rice in the rolls. The second time (and my last) i went, it was only because my boyfriend really wanted sushi and it was the only place around that we can find that was open. I went in with a mission to eat at least 20 dollars worth... but boy do i regret that... They had some "chef's special" rolls.. we ordered 2 of them. one of them of deep fried (i think the #4 chef special) It was too big for my to fit it all in my mouth so i took bite but all i got was rice. i examined the roll and the rice to fish/veggie ratio was about 5:1.. not even exaggerating!!! their spicy tuna is nasty.. i work at a sushi place so i can tell that they use the premade spicy tuna.. it's seriously like tuna paste.. Spicy tuna used to be my favorite until I had it there. It literally made me gag.. and i cant eat spicy tuna anymore. I could not finish everything on my plate because i was so full from eating.... rice. the waiter told my boyfriend that he has to charge us if we dont finish.. I know its their rule and everything so i tried sooo hard to eat as much as I can.. but i ended up just smearing the left over rolls on the plate to make it look like I ate it. I was extremely full but not at all satisfied.. I could have eaten another order of the don katsu but i was just pissed about their rolls i just wanted to leave. The owners probably think it's okay to make the maki rolls so shitty because it's a college campus and there are hungry college kids... but seriously... why must you over stuff everything with rice?? it doesnt even taste good!!
(1)
A K.
the food is really just eh..., even though have all-you-can eat sushi, they have stuffed the poor Makis with so much rice that if you look at the cut surface, there's only 20-30% of "stuff" in their, fish and veggies combined. also, with the nigiri's the ratio between the fish and the rice is unbelievable, it's a good 1mm:1INCH....AND if you are doing the all-you-can-eat program they FINE you 50 cents per piece of rice that you don't finish, so that just killed my experience here if you stuff the whole piece in your mouth, you don't really taste anything other than rice, and if you take the rice out you get fined....so...yeah...not a big fan, I've had much better
(2)
Amie S.
Ichiban is the best!! The rolls are amazing and unlike other sushi places, you can actually get full off of it and try new things with the all-you-can-eat menu!! This is my favorite lunch place...it never dissapoints!
(5)
danielle h.
I ordered delivery from here for lunch and was very excited to try it, but when I got the sushi box it was warm. Warm sushi is not my thing, so I popped it in the fridge for a few minutes. When I opened the box the first thing I noticed was all the rice around the maki like a 90/10 ratio of rice to filling. The next thing was that the rolls were not uniform some pieces had all of the filling and others were missing things. The fish also did nto taste that fresh. Needless to say I will not be ordering from here again.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : Yes Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch Parking : Street Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : No Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Quiet Alcohol : No Outdoor Seating : Yes Wi-Fi : No Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
Iza Z.
They have an all you can eat option, which is nice. You get to choose 5 pieces or/and 3 rolls at once, and individual pieces are $1 each. It's nice and clean, and pretty tasty. The lady running the business is amazing-- up and down the stairs every day! Byob ;)
(4)Brooke A.
Girlfriend and I went here for a quick dinner our biggest mistake was not ordering the sushi at the very least. I ordered soba noodles with pork katsu, i expected the noodle to be cold and have the sauce on the side being slightly experienced in Japanese cuisine; however, it was basically soba noodles in a ramen broth. The pork katsu was tough and hard to chew and tasted like cardboard. My gf ordered udon noodles with shrimp tempura and gyoza on the side saying that the food was plain and nothing special. Overall the food was not good at all but we regret not giving the sushi a try. The sushi seems to be the ONLY reason to go there and not for quality sushi, just a bang for your buck.
(2)Jay I.
A Generous 2 star (Only because I save 1 star for the restaurants with rude attitude and/or worst food in the world) The food is edible, but it stops there. Freshness is just above the threshold. Even if they offer all you can eat for less than 20 bucks, it is no use for a sushi lover because their portion of rice is way too big so that you would be bothered. If I give 2 stars to a restaurant that gives you AYCE sushi for less than 20, then... Maybe you just wanna have some rolls or other grilled dishes here (which I never tried before).
(2)reba r.
Horrible! I just ordered from them via Grub Hub and this is the saddest sushi I have ever had. Tempura arrived cold and they forgot my mochi. Miso soup was bland and just tasted like broth. The asparagus maki was tempura which was not mentioned in the description. Will never order from here again and neither should you.
(1)MaryLu C.
We have been regulars there for about three years and when we cannot decide where to go... we go to "rice balls" as our 6 y.o. calls it. BYOB and under $18.95 all you can eat sushi. This is family owned and yes, some of the family does not have the best English which I think results in the confusion documented in some reviews. Also they do now limit the first order to keep prices in check. We have encountered that too, but can I again say, $19 AYCE and BYOB. Be nice to hard working immigrants and go to the best sushi deal in the city and what they do not always have in English skills they make up for with nice. The sushi is great and we might just go back tonight.
(5)Maryam E.
I don't know why this place has a lot of bad reviews, I love it! For lunch it's $14 all u can eat and $19 for dinner with more role choices They have everything and the fish is so fresh and tasty The only thing I don't like is the waitress Ok so what I order one roll at a time ? Isn't that the point of all I can eat? Anyways, it is a must try And unfortunately they don't have a lot of spicy tuna sauce option, but they don't charge for sauce sides ;)
(4)Kristen L.
My boyfriend and I went because he was hungry and I couldn't decide what to eat. As soon as we walked in, I noticed that the servers were around our age (20-25) and were very nonchalant and seemed unfriendly. During our meal, they didn't check up on us and only came when we asked them to. Not being a big fan of sushi in the first place, other than salmon and maki rolls, I stupidly ordered their fried rice. The portion was extremely small and while the taste was okay, I stopped eating as soon as I saw a hair. While I'm not the one to be very picky and would normally just pick the hair out and continue eating around it, this hair looked like a pubic hair. Disgusted, I notified the server and he looked at the hair and examined it, as if he couldn't tell it was a hair. I didn't want to order anything else, but my boyfriend insisted that I did and I ended up ordering a plate of tempura which ended up being somewhere around $12. Overall, ridiculously priced, not very clean and unfriendly wait staff.
(1)Jason R.
[UPDATE] There must have been new management. The bitter old lady wasn't there, who was there every day. The new lady was thinner, and had purple highlights, and looked younger. That is the woman, who was sweet and kind. The food was a lot better, less sloppy, this time. [RED FLAG] They will now include their own $3 tip into your bill. I went to lunch for $13.95, and the bill was $18.06 I went to write a tip, thinking I made a mistake and went (12:15-1:00pm) during dinner hours (after 4pm). As I was writing the tip for $3, the kind lady said that the tip is included, all I need to do is sign. This could be from the lack of customers, on top of low tipping. aka we don't need to raise wages, we need to raise tipping to 20% from everybody: blacks, white, asians, mexicans, indians, rich, poor, aka everybody... its not a racial issue - its a personal integrity issue to not tip. "if you're there" - "you share" the wealth, by tipping well. Any place you go.
(3)Emily N.
IchiWRONG is more like it. Ordered a few things via GrubHub, for pickup, last night. Nothing was good, and only the tempura was decent. The spicy tuna roll was mostly rice. The hamachi jalapeno appetizer was nowhere near fresh. I ordered some other maki roll was that was sub par. A completely underwhelming experience, to say the least. It's unfortunate too. The decor was great, and the service (though minimal) was fast and friendly. It's too bad the quality of the food was so terrible.
(1)Colleen D.
Cute place / very small - quaint. I stopped in to order take out - it was a Monday at 5:00 and there was not a patron in there. The miso soup was not good / odd taste. The ginger salad excellent. Spicy tuns rolls excellent. Tuna sashimi - very good quality but very small compared to Butterfly. I'll come back for their all you can eat sushi one day.
(3)Diana S.
$18.99 all you can eat sushi Sundays and apparently every day after 4, "all you can eat to go" is 19.99 for 4 rolls. The lunch ayce is $13.99.... always so fresh and so amaiznggggg!
(5)Katherine M.
I have been going to this restaurant even before it was Japanese! We have gone sometimes as often as 1-2 per month, bu the food has slipped in the last year. The last time a couple weeks ago was the last time. The service just keeps getting worse and worse and the sushi is not fresh. I really doubt the person making the sushi is a trained sushi chef. And it is not authentic Japanese tasting--miso was like some store packet, too much rice not enough meats. The last couple times we have been here were not good experiences due to the staff being abusive to each other (I do understand Chinese expletives courtesy of friends) and the chicken tasting pre-cooked/dried out and the sushi fish did not take like sushi grade fish. Stay away unless they are truly under new management and hire a Properly trained sushi chef who will be using fresh fish and not too much rice.
(1)Max G.
Got the all you eat for 18$. Not worth it for me. Little cuts of fish diluted with way too much rice. Plus they charge 1$ per piece of everything you don't finish. Maybe ordering individual pieces is better vs the all you can eat but I'm going elsewhere next time
(2)Katrina L.
BYOB and all you can eat for a good price. Is great for a casual evening with a yearn for sushi. The fish is fresh and my favorite rolls are the Ichiban and Crunchy rolls. I wish the Mochi was part of All you can Eat though.
(4)Holly L.
Generous two stars. Seriously. I don't understand how this place has 3-4 stars. Although I consider service very important, I think the food is still the most important at a restaurant. For example, if the food is amazing but service isn't that great, I would still give 4-5 stars. But this place is horrible, even just based on food. Although I am not that picky, I know my Japanese food, and this place did not know how to do it. I did All You Can Eat, so I can't say for regular sushi or kitchen food much. But this place was the worst all you can places I've tried so far. My seaweed salad had a thin layer of seaweed and rest cucumber (but I've seen this some other places so okay fine), tempura was very greasy when it should be light and crispy, and the sauce was so bland. But the worst part was nigiri. It literally had a handful of rice at the bottom--ok, exaggerated--but the rice portion was larger than fish piece. WHAT. And quality of salmon and white tuna were just... blegh. I think I got the crazy maki, which had just incredible amt of rice in it. I had my fair share of AYCE so i know they put a lot of rice at AYCE places, but this was more than any other places I've ever been. Worst, the maki didn't even taste that great. I usually make sure I get my money's worth out of AYCE, and I wouldn't say it takes a lot for me to say the food taste good. But after about 2 appt, 2 piece of nigiri, and a maki roll, I didn't want to eat anymore--and the only reason I finished it is because I didn't want to get charged for it. And that's seriously saying a lot.
(2)Joe T.
Kind of overpriced sushi. My rolls tasted way more ricey, with small insertions of sashimi pieces. Service staff outnumbered clientèle it felt like. I've had way better sushi for less money elsewhere. How are college kids supposed to afford this crap? A couple of the sushi pieces hit the spot, such as the eel roll and smelt roe. My buddy got the unlimited sushi for $18.95 deal and the staff was watching like hawk vultures to make sure he didn't share any pieces with any one else. In addition to that they reminded him that they would charge him for having leftovers. Kind of a dinnertime buzzkill right there. Overall, if you are very close by and have to have sushi, you can hit this place up. But if you can go a little further to a better place, I highly suggest that.
(2)Melissa L.
All rice and fillers, barley any fish.
(2)Vim M.
Warning! All you can eat sushi prices include a MANDATORY 18% Gratuity charge. Which normally isn't a problem if the service is good. But, its not. Also, it takes forever the sushi to come and when it does finally come, its full of rice.
(1)Natalie L.
This is our go to sushi spot in the neighborhood. Recently, we've noticed that the sushi is a bit "fishier." But we still think it's better than the other options available to us. I usually opt for the ichiban roll because I like the textural contrast of the apple instead of avocado.
(3)Bob L.
Wish I could give a nonstar or a half or 0.1. I ordered naba udon and yakisoba and spicy tuna roll through grubhub. And it took an hour and half. First of all, naba yaki udon is not fried one, it's with broth, which I didn't know, so fare enough. But the tuna roll was soggy, and the yaki soba was soooooooo plain. I even forced my classmates to try and all of them didn't like it. It is not "not good", it was " terrible" side. So I called them and complaint about it, and the Chinese host kept repeating saying that other people ordered that noodle, and if they bring a sauce or new food, they need to pay delivery person again. What the f**k, you can first say that you're sorry, and she was just making an excuse. And she put me on hold and never return on my call for 10 minutes. I didn't check Grubhub rating before order, which was 2.5 stars, I regret ordering there. Complete waste of money and time, and put me in really awful mood. DO NOT go, or order.
(1)Taiyang L.
I had the all-you-can-eat sushi dinner and really enjoyed it! While the Miso Soup was too dilute, the sushi was really delicious. They have really interesting sushi as well using strawberry and apple as ingredients. They tasted really good for such innovative idea! It is slightly annoying not being able to order more than 5 pieces of Nigiri sushi each round, but the rolls were so delicious they made up for it!
(5)Sara L.
Everytime I finish a meal that I order from here, I tell myself to never order from here again. Yet, I continue to order take out time after time due to the close proximity of the restaurant and the severity of my sushi cravings. Couple days ago, I ordered a lot of nigiris, and let me just say that the sushi rice was mushy and tasted like old vinegar. It was not edible. I ended up picking the fish off the top. If you plan on eating here, my advice is to just get sashimi.
(1)Derrick T.
After receiving a coupon on the street for a free smoothie with lunch entree, my office mate and I were psyched to check this place out. We made our way there one day, only to find that they had opened, then closed for a week to do construction work. Today, we went again to find them open, eager to have some customers. We kept it simple, ordering one lunch entree for each of us and added in the free smoothie. Watermelon Smoothie - Fresh fruit, simple, tasty. Not bad, not good, just a par level smoothie. Sushi Lunch Combo - 5 pieces of chef selected sushi with a California roll. Now as a sushi fanatic, I'm sorry to say that this doesn't fulfill the cravings that I have... amongst the five pieces of sushi, one was too "watery", two had slightly fishy flavors (which should not happen with fresh fish), and the rest were just fairly average. The rice on the sushi was slightly overpacked, as you could taste some of the gumminess of the rice. The California Roll, unfortunately, suffered a similar fate of being "over-rolled" and over worked causing the rice to be pressed into a layer of gumminess that shouldnt' be there. A highlight of the restaurant is that the service is quite phenomenal and friendly, with the waitresses consistently taking care of us. They were advertising a happy hour special as well that may be worth taking advantage of with $1 pieces of sushi and $3-$4 rolls, however I'll likely never know... Verdict: Not likely a place I would revisit for sushi, as it ranks low in the quality to price ratio for my sushi needs... Great service, but not great food.
(2)Christine N.
my brother and 2 friends were going to go to an italian restaurant across the street, but decided to come here to avoid the wait. here's my overall experience: walked in and nobody helped us. there was only one other table that was being served at the moment. there were 3 people in the sushi area downstairs, and all of them looked up, but continued in their own conversation, waiting for the host to come from the bathroom or wherever the hell he was. seriously? yea. uh. dock a star. THEN, we got seated. the food was fine. the sushi was actually not as bad as i thought it'd be, being i'm an avid sushi eater in los angeles. fortunately, it didn't make me sick like previous experiences, but overall, it didnt disappoint that much. for how much they were giving and how much we were going to eat, the all you can eat price was very good as well. one complaint about the food, however, is that there is SO much rice. the food was fine. not amazing. just... fine.. another experience i had, was as i was eating, the server AND the manager person came to me and told me that they charge the fee for unfinished rice too. that just put me in a foul mood. it's fine if you have to tell me for my own benefit, but it was so obvious that this asian manager lady had told our server to tell me to finish my rice. what are you, my mother? even my own korean mother doesn't tell me to finish my rice. i'll finish it if i can. if i can't, i'll pay the frickin fee. ok, now i want to dock another star. but i didn't die from eating it. so fine i'll give you 2 stars. i will never go back to you simply because you made me feel sick by your horrendous service.
(2)Eric H.
I wrote a sushi review for a place near my work before... I was never a big fan of sushi mostly because my only experiences with it included such obnoxious service (as was the case with the other restaurant) or it's been a sushi platter bought from Costco. I've since been here a few times and each time gotten the all you can eat deal. Their specialty rolls (on the dinner only menu) are pretty good, but you're not missing out on much if you decide to go at lunch time. Most of the dinner only rolls have eel which I think is a rubbery mess of disgusting fishyness that doesn't ever belong in my mouth again, so I try to go at lunch time. The real winner is the Ichiban roll. Shrimp tempura, crab legs, spicy mayo, APPLE (genius on this roll), and it is on the all you can eat list for lunch... last time I went I ordered 3 of these rolls and just a few other items.
(5)Yuan Z.
rice rice rice rice rice with a sprinkle of fish. you might as well just eat white rice at home. The seating is awkward, servers sucked, and the boss lady herself is super strict. I accidentally dropped a big chunk of rice on the table, so I decided not to eat it. The waitress actually had to bring the boss lady out over about the ball of rice. After a long negotiation, she finally said I didn't have to eat it. Through the rest of the meal, the boss lady stayed around and I can see her eyeing me from the corners of my eyes, checking if I drop another rice. Their amount of rice is HUGE. It's actually laughable how big it is. You can definitely tell the boss is trying to maximize profits through these cheap tactics.
(1)Maria Z.
Not bad. For the price, it really isn't bad. i love how their all you can eat menu is very varied, from noodles to spring roles, and edamame (which is cold and nasty) The rolls were yummy. Okay, I'd say. I agree with everyone that they add WAY too much rice, and the rice is dry-ish. For the price of 18.95, I could get an all you can eat at House of Sushi and Noodles, which has WAY better sushi rolls. The reason for the low rating was the service. We had a young man wait our table, and he was not rude to us, and he did fill our water, however he made the experience totally uncomfortable. We came in with a party of 5 and one of us didn't get the all you can eat option and ordered her own meal. The waiter kept STARRING US DOWN. I guess this was to make sure we didn't share food with the person who didn't buy the buffet, but COME ON...?! That was so awkward..... He wouldn't stop looking at us and making eye contact. I felt like a baby, or a criminal. It was annoying. Tip: Next time, please don't be a creeper. It is really not worth what she would of ate if she cheated to me writing this horrible review of you based on the creep and not on the food.
(2)Benjamin R.
My group ordered the all-you-can-eat sushi for $19 each, which we determined was a good deal if you were hungry. (The Ichiban roll, a house specialty, would set you back $14 by itself.) On the plus side, you can get (I think) every sushi and maki on the menu, as well as every appetizer. On the minus side, there are very strict rules about how you can share, as a well as a penalty for sending back food uneaten. Having said that, I thought the sushi--and service--was good. I'd recommend it if everyone at your table has a strong appetite.
(3)Joan A.
Unfortunately wasn't a fan of this place, though I'm an avid sushi lover. My tempura roll wasn't fresh, and the seaweed salad was average. Service also was slow, even though there weren't too many people there. There also weren't a ton of options. I give stars for the yummy iced green tea, and the cutesy atmosphere.
(2)C C.
So, I've been avoiding this place for a year due to the poor-ish Yelp reviews but finally stopped in as was craving sushi and caved. It wasn't bad for the circumstances of really craving sushi and had to be near the University Village area, but if you have any choice to not be in this area (I was on lunch hour so had to be)... go somewhere else. Chicken quality was poor. All-you-can-eat sushi is a good deal and a cool roll with mango sauce and fresh apple is included, but quality is lacking. Way too much rice in rolls too- obviously tactic to make their costs cheaper.
(2)Jason H.
Awful service, overcooked rice & the "vegetables' included in the teriyaki chicken were just a few pieces of broccoli. Won't be going here again.
(1)Og B.
all you can eat sushi! yay!! BOOOOO! poorly made, not fresh salmon and produce, over priced. me and my girlfriend both had the all you can eat sushi for $18.95 and a green tea $1.00. with a tiny 10% tip, we spent 50$. we got some nasty green tea, with no sort of refill, 4 maki rolls, and 3 pieces of sushi. one roll had 4 huge apple slices in each piece, a tiny piece of crab, and some eel sauce drizzled. the pieces were so big i couldnt even fit them in my mouth. SO MUCH RICE! SO MUCH brown nasty APPLE! so little fish! another roll was a dime sized piece of white tuna surrounded by mounds and mounds of rice with alittle spicy mayo and crunchys on top. terrible. the sushi pieces consisted of the thinnest piece of fish ive ever seen and literally a fist full of rice. if you dont eat all the rice they charge you. bullpucky. we ate so much rice. it wasnt even good rice. im so disappointed. for 50 bucks we couldve gone to a nice byob sushi place and gotten 3 nice maki's and 2 sashimi's worth of delicious sushi. sushi with fresh yummy fish in it! that is what i require!!!
(1)Victor M.
BYOB and then.. I don't know.. Rolls are rolled in lots of rice, sometimes part of the piece of seaweed is stuck between two layers of rice. Don't get me wrong.. the price for buffet is a pretty good deal. Doesn't require a far drive if you're from south side, south loop, etc.. it's not fine dining, just a sushi restaurant. The sushi pieces were also pretty terrible... lots of rice and thin fillet of fish on top; the tuna was practically see through. My friends got the buffet deal. I didn't feel like carbo loading so I went with some sashimi and seaweed salad. The seaweed salad is good as well as presentation, but the fish cuts suck. Each piece ranges between $2-3. At that price/cut factoring in decor and type of location I definitely had better. You're here because you love fish as a garnish. Service is nice, but then again.. one waitress for 2 tables while I was there on a Saturday night.
(2)Dan D.
Want REALLY fresh sushi? Want to eat until you need to roll out of the restaurant from being too full? How about hurting your butt when you roll out of the restaurant (from your still fat money-laden wallet that Ichiban barely puts a dent into)? Then come to Ichiban. All-you-can-eat sushi at a great price. The lunch price is $13.95 and is a very innovative menu and very complete. They offer nigiri (regular sushi pieces), maki rolls of MANY MANY MANY types, and even crazy innovative rolls. Unlike other places, Ichiban has no limit to how much sushi you can order per plate (i.e. Hiro's Cafe and House of Sushi and Noodles....). This is fantastic - order whatever you want, however much you want, and enjoy yourselves. But you will have to pay for whatever you cannot finish of course! Here is a little known secret.... Are you ready?.... Alrighty, Go to Ichiban's website (located on this same Yelp page) and check out their "Promotions." They have coupons for lunch, dinner, and takeout. 10% off is a nice offering. Great service, AMAZING sushi (the BEST tuna nigiri from all of the many all-you-can-eat sushi places in chicago - and yes, I have tried them all and eaten at all of the places over 4 times a piece). A+. (Anata no kangei)
(4)Alan Z.
Good sushi! Good deals for all you can eat. BYOB. The parking might be a hassle since its on Taylor street. Also the space is kind of small but the sushi rolls are really made with quality.
(5)M H.
The time honored tradition started early this year Sushay Tuesday by the founder "Me" a bit corny but corny is good on most days. So we go to celebrate the day but start off at the Jewel on Ashland/Roosevelt it's BYOB so I had to get wine and beer. Makes for more interesting nights (insert smile here) We arrive and there are patrons on the patio enjoying the good weather but I opted to stay inside beat the bugs rush...or so I thought. We're greeted by the host and ask where we would like to be seated. We take a seat near the kitchen and watch the chef's create meanwhile were swatting at flies in the dining area. So we get our little piece of paper with rolls/appetizers on it I check off two only just to get things started. The sushi comes and its real good all to the delight of my girlfriend and I. We went through the bottle of wine and a beer well the beer would be all me. I mastered nine rolls and two apps I'm proud to say I got my money's worth. The ambiance is a little less to be desired unless you have the stadiums booth seats in the far right corner over looking the chefs. Ultimately a good choice for sushi, reasonably price, BYOB and it's all you can eat. #Winner#....
(3)Mandy A.
I will preface this by saying I am not a sushi snob. However I have stopped getting sushi from Dominick's because who the hell puts carrots in their california roll? Gross. Big honking carrots. Anyways, I just like rolls. I'll go for the sashimi once in awhile but I really love all of the gooey rolls that require you to smash everything in your mouth in one bite and spend the next 12-15 minutes chewing. Yum. Also, I love cream cheese. Have I mentioned that? See my name above. Anyways, we stumbled upon Ichiban while looking for a BYOB place close by that was pretty reasonable. We didn't know about the all-u-can-eat until we walked in but it was a nice surprise. Under $40 for the two of us to eat all of the maki roll goodness we could. I made the mistake of letting my husband order for the both of us and I think he went a little overboard and didn't get too much variety. However, everything was really good. We got the standard spicy tuna and california rolls, Boston roll I think and the Rock and Roll. That was our favorite out of the 5 or 6 we ordered. We were both stuffed but I convinced both of us to try the Ichiban roll and it was a delicious choice. The apples were an odd choice but they worked, yummy. I would go back and just get five orders of that. So for a close, cheap place, this is perfect for me and all of the snobby, sushi eaters can leave this place comfortably uncrowded for me, thanks.
(4)Emily A.
Still a huge fan of this place. Yes, your expectation shouldn't be over the moon, but I believe Ichiban exceeds mid to high range expectations anyways. The sushi is fresh, some pieces do come with too much rice, but you can pick the fish off. Go here to enjoy friends, great sushi, and a bottle of wine that you bring. Any BYOB gets at least a 4 or 5....because my pocket book is happier.
(4)Kara V.
I was almost disgusted by this place. I put the "almost" in that sentence out of politeness. We ordered takeout from here about a week ago - and could not be more disappointed that we deviated from our normal Osaka 2 habit. Anyway, we ordered a standard couple of rolls - Tuna and Avocado, Spicy Salmon, and some Shrimp Tempura option, along with Edamame. At first look, I knew it was going to be bad. The rolls were nearly ALL rice. Some actually had fillings in them smaller than my fingertips. They must have used one piece of shrimp for the entire roll, no joke. I can't even comment on the flavor of the shrimp because there wasn't enough there to judge. Then, I noticed the tuna was BLACK instead of the usual red color. That means it had been oxidized and was probably old, or incorrectly prepared. I choked down one or two pieces because I had paid for the roll and was hungry, and then threw out the rest. Finally, the edamame was refrigerator-cold, with no salt or flavor. I will never order from here again. It's just not worth it with the abundance of sushi in the area. Osaka 2 is about two blocks further east on Taylor and is SUPER fresh/tasty, and Tatsu isn't bad either. If only any of them had brown rice...
(1)Claire Y.
A fairly nice Japanese replacement for my beloved Italian brunch spot, Irlandese. I'm not much of a sushi/maki roll fan, but I suppose their food isn't so bad. Located near the Medical District and the University Village, folks could probably appreciate more competitive prices, but their pricing isn't exactly outrageous. Like every other Japanese/Chinese establishment, they offer fruit smoothies. A solid lunch option on Taylor. It remains to be seen how long this one will last (after observing 3 changes of ownership in the last year).
(4)Heather P.
They get a star for BYO, but it sort of ends there. Is it a good value? Sure, but only if you are going for quantity rather than quality. It is good? No. Is service polite and friendly? I don't think so. Would I go back? Probably not.
(1)Kate G.
The worst sushi I ever had.... Just received my order, hot water as miso soup, little piece of fish like they were searching for it somewhere in refridge... I am shocked - i paid 38 bucks with delivery!! And ate nothing! Guys, it seems to me that you have decided not to pay attention to your current work. Have questions? Write me or call me, you have my number. They don't care... Never again.
(1)Benjamin U.
I have been here 6 times and they've only been open 2 of those times.... Sushi here is average and all you can eat is always a great option if you are starving but it doesn't really help when you go on a friday night at 6 and they are closed... The all you can eat is a great deal but service takes maybe 30-40 mins per a round. Put aside sometime assuming that they are open...
(2)Will T.
I came here for the AYCE sushi buffet and though the food may be good the services sucks really bad. I went with my brother here last month and there were only 4 table with customers and yet it took 45 minutes EACH time I put an order in...I assumed it's a tactic to make you full since you wait a long time before having seconds. I spent two to three hours here just to have lunch. What's worse is they force you to pay 18 percent gratuity when ordering AYCE even if you're the only person there. Overall, you're forced to pay the server for their bad service. Coming back here again would take some serious consideration.
(1)Brian O.
Overall a pleasant experience. I like the atmosphere for lunch! Ordered the lunch special which included: California roll, spicy tuna, cucumber roll and miso soup. The price seems pretty decent, about what you would expect for sushi. Food was great, service friendly! I'll be back for sure.
(4)Andy N.
While Ichiban certainly doesn't reign high on the list of sushi buffets I've been to, it's certainly a hell lot better than the management over at Volcano on Taylor. Oh wait... are they owned by the same people? Yes, that menu DID seem awfully familiar. And here I was thinking that the "Ichiban" roll was unique to just this place. My mistake. Ichiban (一番) in Japanese means "Number one," and I honestly can't say that the restaurant keeps to the namesake. A large group of us came in for lunch one day and most of us decided on the AYCE option. This restaurant (and Volcano) allows each individual to order themselves, instead of doing one large order for the group. The good thing about this is that you can bring friends and NOT have them be forced to do AYCE if they don't want. On the other hand, it doesn't allow you the stomach room to try more rolls than you order. Each time an order is placed, you are "restricted" to 5 pieces of nigiri, 3 rolls, but as many appetizers as you like. Being a sushi fan, I usually just go for the nigiri, especially salmon. However, the overall preparation of the rolls was so slow that most of us got pretty full just on the first order. The rolls that I managed to try this one time were the Ichiban and Alaskan (which also contains samon). The Ichiban contains applies which is different from most rolls I've had, but the tempura in it was pretty bland. For $12 a la carte, I wish it had a little bit more POW in it. At a price of $19.50 lunch including tax and tip, I can't say that this is totally worth it, but I am giving it a few stars up for the fact that they let me take home my one order of food because I was experiencing a hiccuping episode that made me want to shoot myself. The servers are all nice (and they are all Chinese btw, so Cantonese will help here), so I was able to ask and get the few rolls I had left over carried out. Damn you hiccups!!
(3)Timmy M.
Like many Sushi places in the area, this place offers an all-you-can-eat option. No matter how drunk you are, all-you-can-eat sushi is never a good decision. That being said, this place has a couple very good rolls, including the Ichiban roll. I highly recommend it. The ladies working there are very nice but the service was a bit slow on the day I went, surprising because the place was pretty empty.
(4)Tom M.
I usually do pick up and the rolls are very good for the price. When I have eaten there, the service was good. Solid sushi spot and great price point for all you can eat.
(4)Kamilah S.
I had the Gyoza, Sake and Arizona Sunshine. Everything was great. It was easy and quick ordering process thanks to GrubHub!
(5)Julie T.
Had the all you can eat selection and their menu is so small compared to all the other AYCE places. Even the limited selection they had wasn't great at all! I really don't like how they automatically add tip onto the AYCE. The service wasn't even that great either. We've always been sat upstairs and there's only one waiter and he barely check up on us. We had to stare at him until he approached us.
(1)Amy T.
Most ridiculous dining experience since they had new management and owner. Staff and hostess are not the same ones each time. Disappointing that I came here with a large group at 6. They set us up outside and we only kept seeing people leave. Took a long time to provide water. 6:20 finally took our orders (4/12 ordered from the menu while the rest are AYCE) 7:20 water refilled and three menu items came out (fried rice, udon noodles) 7:40 we left and management said we don't have to pay for the food I have to say the rice was too salty. The udon noodle soup base was soy sauce that was barely diluted and had sugar added. I don't know why this guy ate it anyway.... When I went into the basement at 7:38 I tried to call for help but was ignored and got stares from the sushi chefs who did nothing. I saw my bento box finally made but I never got a lick of it. In addition there were stacks of carryout on the counter. They definitely have their priority with customers on a Friday night. People came and left without eating. More people still sat in there expecting food. Left this place with my party angry and starved. Not sure why we even bothered with this establishment. If anyone knows of the elixir to stop hunger let me know. I might need it if someone I know wants to visit this establishment again...
(1)Jessica T.
I am a frequent Ichiban diner, and only for a few reasons. 1. I think the sushi is delicious and reasonably priced. 2. I like the all you can eat special 3. BYOB HOWEVER, the service is a little ridiculous. Sometimes, when they aren't busy, service is fine. When they are busy, it seems that the waitstaff gets stressed and starts becoming very unprofessional. For example, one summer day, I went in with my boyfriend. We waited probably twenty minutes for the ONE waitress to clear the outdoor seating after a party had left. We waited because we figured it would take 5 minutes, but nope. Last night I went in with a party of 6 at 8pm. The waiter told me the restaurant closed at 9... fine with us. I figured okay they don't seat any more customers after 9pm, typical for a restaurant. After we had sat down, he told us that the kitchen actually closes at 8:30. Cool... So 9:10 rolls around, waiter comes by and tells us that their credit card machine closes down at 9... Okay yeah, bullshit. But whatever, we were done eating anyways. Didn't even offer us any to-go boxes for food or refilled waters. Not a good way to run a business. These people are completely rude. As I was walking home, I noticed Hana Sushi actually is BYOB too. I will probably begin taking my business there.
(2)Allison J.
Came because we saw the all you can eat sushi deal advertised from the side walk. If you enjoy high quantities of sushi this is the place to go but I feel that their sushi was definitely lacking in quality. It didn't taste fresh and we probably will not be coming again
(2)Jennifer H.
this place is not fancy, it's a neighborhood BYOB place. Everything I ordered was good although I'm not a sushi snob by any means. Service was a little slow but nothing terrible. If you're in the neighborhood this place is worth stopping into but I wouldn't make a special trip here, it's good but nothing special.
(4)Jessie Elizabeth J.
Great all-you-can-eat sushi that is quality! You can order side dishes such as seaweed salad unlimited as well. You may wait a bit for your sushi but that's to be expected for this kind of deal. BYOB as well.
(4)Van C.
This place does not disappoint. I honestly don't know why this place only received 3 1/2 stars. The all you can eat sushi special is superb. It totals to 18 bucks with tax and gratuity. The sushi itself is better than most places. I've been going here throughout the years and the quality of sushi has remained the same. I definitely recommend everyone to go here. Don't listen to all these hating ass haters talking about "forced gratuity, poor quality, etc". A mandatory gratuity was instituted because cheap ass people don't know how to tip. I can go on for days. Reading all these negative ass reviews from people disgusts me.
(4)Melody C.
I chose this place based on yelp reviews and driving past it a couple of times. This place definitely had my friend who didn't like sushi, give it another chance. We got the All You Can Eat for $13.95 + 18% tip, which isn't bad. It all adds up to about $16-18 per person which is great for AYCE sushi. They also have great variety. My only beef with this place is that the service sucked. Our waiter was slow and didn't bother to memorize whose order was whose so all we got were plates thrown in front of us. We even got a few orders that got forgotten. They also require 18% tip if the AYCE is ordered, and the service definitely wasn't worth the 18%. Then again, this is what you get for $13.95 AYCE And because I might be wrong, but isn't tuna sashimi suppose to be more red than pale pink?
(3)Erin S.
Absolutely delicious and fresh every single time. I've celebrated anniversaries and birthdays here and the service and food never disappoint. We like that the gratuity is included for the all you can eat sushi dinner. Good for those like me and the beau who can certainly eat a lot! I recommend the rock n roll as well as most of the chef specials!
(5)Aaron Jae M.
Went for all you can eat sushi at lunch time. The sushi is just alright but it's totally worth the price. There are rolls and individual pieces you can choose from as well as classic appetizers like miso soup, pot stickers, and tempura vegetables. They also have a few main dishes that you can also get.
(4)Abel ..
How anyone could rate this place anything lower then 5 stars is beyond me. They have the best sushi I have ever had and great service. They also give you the option to have all you can eat sushi which is what I ALWAYS get. I'll never go anywhere else for sushi besides here. The only down side is, it can be expensive. But, for 2 people all you can eat you could expect to pay a little less then $50 which is honestly less then it would at other places. Fantastic food, highly recommend it!
(5)Melissa H.
One of the best all you can eat sushi places I've been to. Only complaint is that you have to order each Crab Rangoon separately.
(4)Anon Y.
Pros: +Good Location +Good Seating +Attentive Staff even if you order AYCE Cons: -Have to eat every last piece To start off I've only eaten AYCE here so I'm not sure how the regular food is. The variety for AYCE is pretty decent and theirs something for everyone. You order from a special menu that has appetizer, soup, salad, sushi & sashimi. Go for Dinner, the lunch menu selection is alright but the dinner menu selection is well worth the price with a huge variety of tempura and specialty rolls. Overall it's great for lunch and dinner. I highly recommend it.
(4)Michael L.
I am not a fan on paying for non-AYCE sushi spots. I understand that not all AYCE sushi spots have the best tasting sushi out there, but this place makes me regret not paying for nigiri and rolls separately. I've been here a few times and the most recent time left me unsatisfied for my occasional sushi cravings. The rice was overcooked--it didn't even taste like Japanese rice. I wouldn't be surprised if they used Chinese rice. Then they use so much of it in the rolls so if you plan on coming here expect to have a plan to burn all those carbs you are going to consume. Don't get the tempura because it doesn't taste like it. It tasted like it was fried in the same old oil they use to cook some Chinese dishes. I also thought all the rolls I got tasted about the same. I couldn't even tell the difference when I was reluctantly stuffing my face. I live in the area so I would come here to try to satisfy my AYCE sushi craving without having to drive all the day up north to sushi para 2. I think I would rather drive up there now or find a different sushi spot that may not be AYCE.
(1)Ralph H.
Had the All you can eat (AYCE) sushi and it was really bad. 90% rice rolls. Be able to empty your schedule just to have lunch hear because it takes them hours to get you your food. It's like they play the waiting game for you to get full and not order any more or wait for you to get sick of their service and get the hell out of there. Not coming back unless I have a rice craving.
(2)Natalie V.
I'm glad Ichiban is so close. I really enjoy their food. Service is quick, even for last-minute pick-up orders. I always get the California Roll because it's what I like! I've tasted other items here but I keep going back to the California Roll. Also, I always get the edamame. They give you a nice serving. Food is always fresh to me.
(5)Mel S.
Just came back- i upgraded to two stars from one. They cut down (a little) on the rice, but you still have small pieces of fish. That's fine. It's all you can eat sushi for $14- what do you expect. What I did not appreciate was tip already added to the bill- Who does that?! Is that even allowed? Shouldn't there be some sign on the menu about this automatic service charge? Come here if you're desperate- but I still stand by my previous recommendation of going down the street to Tatsu if you are willing to spend extra cash.
(2)Amy D.
Bottom line: Buffet lacks variety. Time: Taking a stroll and had a sudden craving for sushi! Early Friday night dinner. Service: Beware...Gratuity is included automatically if you get the buffet! - Not as attentive and slow service. - Slow service = More water drinking = Get full faster = Eat less. - It's a lose lose situation. Food: Buffet lacks variety. - Sometimes they have good special rolls that are included with the buffet. - Miso soup was pretty whack. Although not as salty. It was just plain bland. - Some unusual rolls that includes fruit making it quite refreshing Needs more waiters/waitresses to make the flow of dinner more smooth. Less waiting time and more nom nom time please!
(2)Darren T.
This is a budget sushi place...if you want a quick fix but refuse to pay for a higher quality, this is it. By no means am I a sushi expert, but the fish quality was not good and doesn't look that appealing. The rice was inconsistent and clumpy. Me and my party of 4 had the lunch buffet for $13.95 each with a mandatory 18% tip. This is definitely a place I will not recommend and go back again. Especially how the tip was mandatory 18% I would understand if its a party of 6+, so they basically robbed your money in tips without a choice.
(1)Irene Z.
We've been here almost every week in the last month...Big Bowl Udon ($4.95) with choice of 3 ingredients for $5 (including shrimp, mussels, scallop, shrimp tempura). Not only is it a great deal, it's delicious. The bowl is sometimes hard for me to finish, but on the very cold nights we were here recently...it hit the (cold) spot and kept us warm while filling our stomachs with goodness. Staff knows us now too, and comes prepared to our table w/our big bowl menu sheets. Love it, all around.
(4)Brittany W.
I absolutely LOVE this place. I can't count how many times I've been here for the all you can eat sushi. Crab rangoons are a fav of mine as well as the smoked salmon rolls and the miso soup. The service is a bit slow sometimes but the food never disappoints.
(5)Nick S.
Very good sushi! Their deal with all you can eat is awesome! However, their service is bad. The servers can be rude.
(4)Erika A.
At home sick the last few days ordered takeout twice.. 4 rolls for 20 bucks! Awesome! Not my favorite spot but for 13 bucks all u can Eat lunch sushi, who can complain. I was especially pleased with ichiban roll! My favorite! My tip order from them directly with their menu not third party like grub hub that may not have right menu
(4)Caesar M.
Place is good. Good value for your money. A little outdated but I honestly enjoyed the food. Service was a little slow and dry for the empty venue.
(3)Aaron S.
You all know me, I'm the all-you-can-eat-sushi guy. Well, at the moment I'm still the "Fat American Can't Figure Out Foreign Cuisine" guy, according to my nickname, but I completely figured out this sushi bar's cuisine and can sum it up in one word: Rice. I was really hoping that this would be a pleasant experience, finding a sushi place that was easy to get to via the #9 Ashland bus near our place, not too far of a trip to get there, and guess what? All-you-can-eat sushi. Another notch to add into my AYCE Sushi List bedpost/belt (depending on your preferred metaphor). The place is "cozy", and we chose a table in the upstairs niche by the big glass window overlooking the kitchen. Unfortunately the glass wall was a little high up and didn't make for a viewing experience. What ALSO didn't make for a viewing experience was the laser disco ball monstrosity they had turned on. I don't even recall there being any music playing (although maybe I tuned it out for being a foreign language other than Japanese) - it was just an annoying green laser light globe shooting the same messed-up patterns of lasers all throughout the experience. There wasn't a party going on - in fact for 30 minutes, we were the only customers in the place. It was close to Christmas, but still no excuse. Which really baffled me that the service was so poor. It took quite a while for our first round to come out, and the refills on water were also pretty slow. Sitting with an empty water glass while the attendant is standing in her little booth doing relatively nothing, not checking up on her only customers at the time? Kind of rude. Then the sushi came. And it was yet another night of a "AYCE sushi place where the appetizers are better than the sushi" experience. This review is coming 7 months late, and yet all I can remember about the experience was the above, a reminder to myself that the miso was "okay" and the gyoza were "better than any of the nigiri" and "HOLY BALLS THAT'S A LOTTA RICE". Some others have posted pictures. They are indeed the truth. And I have added two of my own that were taken to display 1) a sampling of some of the rolls and 2) THE RICE. I believe one photo shows a roll that is clearly 80% rice by volume. That's nowhere near acceptable for nigiri sushi, let alone a freakin' maki. It takes a helluva lot for me to have to ding an All-You-Can-Eat Sushi place down to the 1-star level. And this place offered a helluva lot to convince me that it's the proper decision. And please don't call me a "sushi snob". I believe my AYCE Sushi List speaks for itself that I know what I'm talking about but by no means so I engage in sushi snobbery. I'm just a Fat American who disapproves of an establishment trying to punish me for eating all I can eat by serving me over 80% rice.
(1)Sam Y.
So I don't know what happened to this place. Or maybe it's just me trying more sushi? Whatever the case the quality here has been suffering as of late. It's not all bad, it's just inconsistent. The service time has majorly slowed down, there seems to be less fish in the rolls, and the fish is of noticeably lower quality. Disappointing change.
(3)Dan L.
BYOB and under $20 All you can eat sushi. I've found my vice. Went here after friend suggested it. All you can eat after 4PM - close with a huge variety of options is one of the best finds! The small 2 floor restaurant feels like a modern style 'hole in the wall' type visit. Very clean and pretty intimate, especially if you are seated on the upper level. Ordering is simple because they hand you print outs and a pen with everything they offer for their all you can eat menu opposed to the regular offered menu. They had about 40 options ranging from maki, sushi, and appetizers, along with 3 chef specials you could choose from, one being the tiger eye which had jalapeño and was tempura battered. Nothing I had was even close to poor quality and I left a full/happy customer. And did I mention this was a $20 all you can eat?! Our waitress was super helpful and did the awesome gesture of bringing our friend out an ice cream ball thing for her b-day and started singing happy birthday. Can't wait to return
(5)Cristina P.
Really sub par sushi. Its all you can eat but the food wasnt very good. If your looking for good sushi I would hit up somewhere else.
(2)Giedre K.
Love this place! Absolutely delicious. It was a little expensive, but definitely worth it. :)
(5)George B.
I love this place, best value you can ever get out of 19 $ (dinner time) or 14$ (lunch time) Highly recommend it to all the students and budget tasters
(5)Brad J.
Discount sushi joint, but NOT worth the time and effort. Been there a few times and it has been a pretty consistently disappointing experience. Takes forever to serve food on a day with no one else in the restaurant. Average wait is 45 minutes for 5 rolls, even if you're the only ones there. Also, apparently sharing any food will add a $1 charge to your order. Staff speaks only broken English, and they cannot understand enough to answer questions, so if you have allergies they can't tell you if shellfish is in something. They Will get your order wrong. They will add an 18% gratuity even for a party of 2. Do not bother with them. Taylor street has better sushi options.
(1)Varsha L.
The place was cute, the sushi was good not great, I guess I would give it a 3.5 instead of just a 3 bec I thought the spicy tuna was pretty good, there was a lot of rice in the sushi like other people mentioned , it did fill you up bec of the rice, the spicy tuna is pretty spicy! We did have a chef's special roll with unagi which was also good, the california roll was just okay-kinda bland.
(3)Carrie J.
Sat down around 1:00pm with a friend and we decided to go for the $13.95 all-you-can-eat sushi lunch special. Some sushi rolls were only available during the dinner special ($18.95) but I'm still impressed with the big lunch selection. Our orders came pretty fast, about 5-10 minutes, considering that there's only 2 chefs and lots of people who came for lunch~the waiting staff (there's only 2 as well...I think) was great, always checked on us for water or extra napkins. We went all out on the nigiri sushi & loved it. Rice was packed right and the fish was fresh. Before we got too stuffed we were able to try: Salmon Skin, very crunchy and not too greasy. I will come back for this roll. Futo Maki, 5 pieces again...I think, it's nothing fancy but it's got a very homey taste with all the vegetables stuffed in it. Very light and comforting. ~Meh, it's alright. Ichiban Roll, 5 pieces in a roll, and it's very good. I'm surprised that the apple slices worked pretty well with the other ingredients in the roll~this is a roll you gotta order! I really like this cafe and I'm glad I came.
(4)Kat F.
All you can eat + BYOB with no corkage fee for $20? Definitely too good to be true. Service wasn't too bad but the food was another story. The sushi is mediocre at best and the all you can eat portion was limited to the most basic of the sushi rolls on the menu. The only reason I finished everything I ordered is because you get a penalty and are charged for each item left remaining on your plate! Honestly, if I could do it again I'd take my $20 to Whole Foods and buy their sushi to go - cheaper and higher quality.
(2)Amanda M.
When I moved to Chicago, I was in need of my all you can eat sushi fix. Coming from Naperville, I always ate at Sakura. After experiencing all the sushi places on Taylor Street I have definitely fell in love with Ichiban. I can't give it a full 5 stars because it still doesn't have as much variety as I wish it had on it's all you can eat menu. For example, most all you can eat sushi places have amaebi or ebi (sweet shrimp & regular shrimp sushi) and Ichiban only carries that on their regular menu. $13.95 however is very cheap for lunch before 4pm. $18.95 for their dinner is reasonable. Their choices of maki rolls and special rolls is amazing. Their Ichiban roll is my favorite. It was mangoes and apples which I thought would be strange but worth a try & I'm very happy I tried it. Their salad dressing is also delicious. I buy a pint of it to bring home which I use for both dressing salad and as a dipping sauce for things like french garlic breaded shrimp!
(4)Adam N.
This place has good sushi for reasonable prices and was a usual stop of mine. However recently I had an experience there with very rude wait staff. They took very long, barley said anything, and charged us for food we didn't order, and then would not take it off the bill. Needless to say, I will not be returning.
(1)Mary C.
Checked in today, ate last night. I went in pretty late with a friend. It was half full and we were seated quickly. We were handed an all you can eat menu (will try next time), but we had a voucher and ordered off the regular menu. Good thing because soon after we recieved our rolls, the kitchen closed. I'm not a big fish eater, cooked or raw. So my review has nothing to say about their quality of fish. We ordered only Maki rolls.... And cucumber salad that's hard to mess up. Loved it. We ordered (in order of yumminess) The California, The Caterpillar, The Lobster, & The Dragon. These were huge rolls, except for the California. The huge special rolls are cut in a dozen or so pieces. Which is great because we have small mouths and even then my friend had to bite the pieces. LOL Now I loved the Dragon roll, but it was friends least favorite. she preferred any of the other three rolls. Heavy on the rice? Maybe for others, but we are rice eaters. Nom Nom nom We did notice everyone else did the all you can eat. Their rolls seemed dainty. And they were eating a lot of edamame, I guess to fill up? When our rolls came out, all heads turned. I did take a pic but my phone didn't save it. :-( I guess you get what you pay for. ;-) So I suggest menu ordering for real value. Why 4 stars? She forgot my friends coke...twice.
(4)Yu S.
The sushi has significantly decreased in quality since the store first opened. I think the owners have changed as well. The rice in the sushi is almost 1/2 an inch with almost no fish. Their boss also yelled at a friend of mine for having some rice in her plate. Her speech went somewhere on the line of "one patch of rice, 1dollar, see 1 2 3, 3 dollar!" Horrible service. Horrible food. We used to be regular customers not anymore!
(1)Robert S.
All you can eat and BYOB, you can't go wrong. A nice little sushi find in the middle of Little Italy. Nothing extraordinary but great bang for your buck. Have enjoyed it a couple of times now and will definitely be back.
(3)AJ M.
I came here on a blustery spring Saturday to see if this Japanese restaurant would be a location I would frequent when craving sushi. NOTE: Like other all-you-can-order/eat places, you will be charged extra for sushi you don't eat. The Good: To echo the other reviewers, the service was good. I felt like they were very attentive to my guest and me all throughout the dinner. My date and I did the all-you-can-eat option, which is great if you're really hungry or want to try a little bit of everything. After my order was placed, the food came out quickly but was missing an order of nigiri. The waiter acknowledged this without prompting him and offered a suggestion of the Super White Tuna nigiri to replace the fish that had ran out. Bonus points for the waiter's upfront nature and his recommendation. The tuna was very fresh and had a great milky flavor. The Bad: The miso soup was watered-down and the salmon nigiri was a bit tough. The rolls had a LOT of rice and the spicy tuna roll was very salty. Now, I'm used to having a lot of rice in my rolls after going to places like Sushi Para in LP but there was barely any tuna in it! Sad. The Ok: Most of the rolls were OK. Nothing really popped out, screaming "THIS IS AMAZING!" Overall: Good service with so-so food with some definite weaknesses as I outlined above.
(3)Nicole M.
I dont like writing bad reviews but this place deserves it! I did read the prior reviews and that id give it a try anyways! We walked in to get a table and we pushed aside because a very rude tribe with about 5 kids came in.. come to find out it was the family of the owners.. So they got attention first and got to pick their table, we had wanted outside, but they got it! Even though we asked for outside first, but they came in and we were ignored... Usually even if you own the place, your guests come first! I work in the restaurant business and that is just bad etiquette!!! The kids were rude, running around like idiots, loud and obnoxious.. people that were outside moved in! I mean, it was thursday night at 7pm, maybe they could go some where else, or stay home so guests could dine in!!! So the rice is ridiculous, a sliver-literally a sliver of fish and a pound of rice.. gross! Nothing was that great at all.. I was really disappointed. So they offer the all you can eat buffet, not all you can eat rice! If having the buffet is too much for you--- Dont have it!!!!! Packing everything with tooo much rice is not the answer! The service was not good at all.. Just wont be going back or telling anyone anything good about this place!!!
(1)Carrie M.
Last time I was here, I was a bit disappointed. The service was great, as usual, but the rice in the sushi just didn't taste fresh this time around.
(3)Eric F.
I wish I could give a better recommendation, but when a sushi place can't cook rice properly, what can you do? The service is excellent , the wait staff is friendly and the ingredients used are high quality. The problem is that they just don't make sushi well. I've eaten there about 10 times since it's opened, because it is very close to where I live. I stick to the most basic orders because none of the specialty rolls I've tried have been well prepared or are too spicy. However, the greatest downfall of Ichiban, and why I have stopped going, is that they can't prepare rice well. It is sometimes soggy or doesn't stick. As a sushi lover, this is my break point. Maybe i'll try again it in the future, but for the present, I cannot give it a good recommendation.
(2)Chris R.
My wife is the real sushi fanatic in the family but I do enjoy it from time to time. I have always found sushi overpriced for how much you need to eat in order to feel full. Ichiban recently began offering all you can eat sushi specials for lunch and dinner. Now like most people when I hear "all you can eat" and "sushi" in the same sentence I turn and run at the idea of a big table of pre-made rolls that are sitting around like a buffet. Let me stress that this is NOT that type of offer. Its more like dim sum meets sushi. You are given a paper form with everything on the menu and are asked to check off or write a number (for more than 1 of something) to tell the server what you want. Then they bring the sushi out in waves as its made. I keep it fairly straight forward with my sushi and they do my basics well. Philly role has lots of cream cheese and spicy tuna roll has good flavor without trying to be so spicy it looses touch with the tuna. The individual super-white tuna pieces are very tender and very fresh. Lastly they offer Rock N Roll which may or may not be very traditional but is a whole new sushi experience. Eel, octopus, smoked salmon, cream cheese, and jalapeno wrapped with seaweed outside then deep fried and topped with eel sauce, spicy mayo, and wasabi mayo. If that sounds like a mouthful that's because it is. Considering if you also like miso soup and appetizers, if you like to eat more than 2 rolls and a few individual pieces its well worth the $20 for dinner. One word of warning is eat what you order because if you order more than you can eat they will charge for being wasteful. I'd go back even if I didnt live a block away. But based on my proximity I a wife that loves sushi I am sure I will be back often.
(4)Joseph O.
I'm rating this restaurant purely by its food. It takes a lot to fill me and I hate paying 12 dollars for one roll of sushi. I can just come here and order up to 9 rolls and much more for that same price. The sushi is tastey and decent quality. They do use fair amounts of rice and my goal is to be filled so I don't mind. Their ichiban roll and golden nugget are amazing and I can't find better tasting versions anywhere. I'm a big fan of all you can eat joints so I've been to sushi para and house of sushi and noodles and they simply don't compare in the amounts of food. Ichiban does have a limit, you can order 3 rolls and 4 pieces of nigiri at a time. And you are allowed to order 3 times, therefore you can get 9 rolls and 12 pieces of nigiri for $12 (before 4pm) or $19 afterwards. The dinner menu also offers a larger variety. I love ichiban and don't understand why so many people give it poor reviews, as long as you look past the service and eat all your food there's no issue. And niether of that is ever a problem for me.
(5)Tracy K.
Our experience here last night was.. alright. We ordered edamame and spring roll appetizers. The edamame were good, but the spring rolls? The only flavor detected was that of the oil they were cooked in. Decidedly not good. The rolls we ordered were small and lackluster. And our waitress kept confusing who ordered what. My pineapple smoothie with tapioca was so bad I sent it back. Still-frozen tapioca balls nestled in a slightly-yellow block of ice that tastes faintly of pineapple? No thanks. The one saving grace for the night was the fact that the waitress offered us separate checks. I loved not having to ask for it. Very cool. The space itself is pretty tiny, and the annoying mid-90s music they played on repeat was way too loud. Don't waste your time and money here.. go to Osaka Express instead.
(2)Darryl Y.
I don't usually give reviews but my experience here was bad enough to motivate me to write one. First off I know all you can eat generally adds more rice than usual. I've been to a handful in California and some here in Chicago and am pretty tolerant with the quality of sushi and amount of rice. On my second visit here I got sushi that was sliced as thinly as possible and was sitting on a ball of nasty tasting rice. The cut rolls barely had any fish in it and was also made with a ton of rice. I know these places need to stay in business but the amount of rice given was just plain insulting. To make matters worse the service was definitely piss poor. Our waiter guy was rude and the girl would bring us things we didn't order. If you want decent all you can eat sushi with normal service please stay away. But if rice is what you like and can't make it at home, this place will gladly serve it to you. Just remember to eat it all our they'll charge you a dollar...PER PIECE.
(1)Bill W.
Decent sushi, good edamame, good service. Price isn't great, but it isn't horrible. They're brand new, and still don't have an alcohol license of any sort.
(4)Sarah S.
I went on a Thursday night and it was empty. I love the interior design, it's modern style. I ordered to go. I wished they had a to go menu, that would be easier to just check it off. Let me tell you that I been to many sushi places and saw bad and goods. And this was okay place. The service wasn't that great. I would've guessed since I was the only one there the host or waitress or chef would make a conversation with me or something but I just sat there and waited the food. The price is okay, I mean it's sushi so it's not going to be burger price. I had Ichiban roll and couple of sushi pieces. Let's say that I had better. I got spring rolls for free but I thought they would be those clear wrap ones, but it was basically egg rolls. For the quality or great service, you can go somewhere else. But if you want something to satisfy that sushi craving, it's okay place to go.
(2)Colleen A.
I will come here again because I live around the corner. I don't think it's worth the travel distance if you weren't in the area, but to be able to walk over, it satisfies the craving for sushi. Prices are reasonable and the sushi is good. I went on a Monday night and it was empty, but that meant we had good service. The place is cute and clean and it was not awkward for us to be the only people in the restaurant. It is 100% BYOB which helps keep the bill down as well. All in all, not a bad place for sushi rolls if you live nearby.
(4)Christi S.
I agree w/ the other reviewer, the sushi here is very ricey. I love the fact it is BYOB w/ no corkage fee but the waiter dropped off a wine opener and walked away for me to open myself, really? I think $18.95 for all you can eat is a fantastic price, however what is the deal w/ being charged if you don't eat it all, including the rice? They put that in small print under all you can eat sushi on their menu. I think that is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. We were all so full but didn't want to leave even one piece left on our plate for fear of being charged. Even after working out for 90 minutes the next morning, I was still full. Not nice to do that to your customers. I'll never be back.
(2)Milan P.
Meh. That's all I can really say about this place. I mean its truly a great deal. Something like 15 to 17 for all you can eat maki and its byob, but the sushi itself is just whatever. We didn't have the best service either, but it was understandable because the waitress/busser/hostess was doing it all herself. Overall this place is great if you're looking for ok sushi for a good price, but I guess that's what you get when you eat at an all you can eat sushi place.
(1)Steven K.
Icky-bad. $18 for all you can eat "sushi" was mostly rice with lunchmeat thin fish. Will not go back.
(1)Christine P.
Stumbling around on a saturday afternoon led to us walking around and finding Ichiban. We walked in right after they opened and the place was empty. it was nice to have the place to ourselves, as the restaurant is "cozy" (tiny is more direct of a word!). We got two lunch specials and a lava roll (?), which was good and spicy. For a spontaneous lunch, this was a little more than we wanted to spend, but still worth it!
(4)Pete M.
I went here because of a restarant.com certificate. The meat and fish weren't very fresh and the pricing was very high for the amount of food and quality. If you want a good Japanese steakhouse try Tsukasa in Vernon Hills or Kampai in Mt. Prospect.
(1)Heather L.
I went here yesterday for lunch. It's a cute little spot for a casual sushi meal. The owner was very nice. I was really excited to find an all you can eat sushi place that isn't a buffet, b/c since I moved from New England (where Sushi Palace is in New Haven, CT), I've been missing great sushi for a set price. So, I had high hopes for Ichiban, but they fell short. They put a lot of rice on the rolls, which is typical for many all-you-can-eat places, but it's definitely not a good thing. The quality of the fish was fine - nothing amazing, but not bad. The spicy tuna was too spicy for me, but I don't have a lot of spice tolerance, so others may enjoy it more. The edamame was cold. They serve it that way on purpose, apparently, but it can be warmed if you ask them. All in all, it was an OK experience, but I think I'd rather pay more money and get better sushi with less rice.
(2)Heather D.
Yuck. I knew going into a buffet that I should not have really high expectations.... but I didn't know that I was walking into a terrible situation. We were so unhappy with the amount of rice in our rolls, it was insane. There was 2 times the amount of rice in our sushi pieces than you would normally see, and you're expected to eat it all or you have to pay extra?!? ha! We felt like total weirdos putting rice into our napkins and "hiding" it. Not because I was avoiding becoming "too full" to get more... but because the rice was so sticky and starchy it was actually gross and overpowering. I don't consider myself a sushi snob.... but I at least know the adequate amount of rice that should be in a roll or with a piece of fish. I will say, the highlight of the evening was when my girlfriend was pulling rice out of her 4" diameter roll and tells the waiter there's just too much rice... he looks at her confused and says, "No, not really".... I mean, how the heck do you shove a 4" piece in your mouth (of which 3" are all rice)??? Well, NEVER going back to that place. I'd say it was reasonably priced, but it really wasn't worth the experience.
(1)Anna H.
like many have said, the sushi is veeery skimpy on the actual fish. the unagi rolls have giant spikes of cucumber with this sliver of eel, loaded in sauce. whenever i go there, usually for lunch, there only seems to be one waiter, and they're never especially prompt or friendly... you almost have to coerce them into communicating with you. i'm bummed, there was a place up the street that was much better, and they just closed recently...
(2)Chiki T.
wow!!!! what a good deal for ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI.... A lot of choices to choose from the menu, the sushi and maki rolls taste fresh and good and also variety of chef's special rolls included. For only $18.95 per person (dinner), I definitely will recommend this place to everybody... Overall, the food, the price and the service are EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT!!!!!!!
(5)Josh J.
This place has one of those all-you-can-eat deals for under $20. The sushi is average and is heavy on the rice. Make sure you go there well before closing time. They turned the lights off on us promptly at closing time! The plus is that it is BYOB with no corkage fee.
(2)Taylor T.
I would never come here again. The sushi is not very fresh, and the service is terrible. It might seem like a great idea to do their unlimited sushi deal but they sure know how to get you on that. They fail to tell you that if you do not finish each piece of sushi, you must pay $1.00 per piece, yes per piece- not order. It is written at the top of the ordering sheet but is not pointed out to you before you order, most likely because they want to take your money. I ended up having to pay almost $10.00 extra because I did not finish it all. The service is terrible and slow, stay away from here, there many better places for sushi in this area.
(1)Jay H.
This little sushi spot has a pretty cool interior because it allows diners to peer down at the kitchen below. The sushi and maki here are satisfying for a quick sushi/maki fix and won't blow your budget. They offer a decent variety of sushi, maki, and appetizers. The fish was fresh, and the wait staff are friendly and attentive.
(3)Kim B.
Yikes. I read the previous reviews and thought, "How bad can it be? The negative reviews must be exaggerated." It was that bad. Some of the worst sushi I've ever had, possibly even worse than the sushi at an all you can eat Asian buffet. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere.
(1)Susan W.
UNACCEPTABLE. Tried to come here TWICE. First attempt on a Wednesday night a little past 8PM. I came with my husband and two friends. They were closed even though their website said they're open until 9PM. I has a bit more understanding the first time because I figured they closed early because they were slow. But the second attempt was on a Saturday afternoon at 2PM which is during their lunch special hours. Tried to come here with another group, but they were inexplicably closed again. Luckily, there's tons of restaurants on Taylor and I can get sushi at Tatsu a couple blocks down. Won't bother trying to come here again.
(1)Bee F.
Ugh! The service was fine - that is the only reason why this place would get one star... The sushi was soooo gross!!! I couldn't even eat the spicy salmon roll I got because it was grey salmon and super chewy (yuck!)...and there was soooo much overcooked rice on all of the rolls. My husband's negi hamachi roll was so weird, it looked like the fish was dark brown and chopped up...where as the roll usually has a whiteish fish... If you are a sushi lover this is not the place for you at all. We have had awesome sushi in the neighborhood and other places (even sushi station in algonquin, IL was waaaay better and that is the fast food of sushi for the most part). Don't waste money. My husband still cannot eat sushi after going here and he has always loved it. It literally made us sick...whatever we got was NOT fresh and did not look like it would at other places.
(1)Klaudia G.
you will pay 40$ for nothing but rice, hope you love rice!!!
(1)Judy J.
I've come here a couple times now for the buffet. The buffet is the average price as any other sushi restaurant. They have interesting maki rolls (like the Ichiban roll with apples), and their sushi isn't that bad either. However, they give WAYYYYY too much rice. I think of all the sushi buffets I've had, this place gives the most rice, so you get full really fast. I recommend to try it once for their different types of maki but not a place I would go back.
(3)Jennifer B.
good quality sushi for those who like all you can eat. they have a wide variety of rolls and appetizers to choose from. the service isn't so great. i usually come with a few girls and we bring a couple bottles of wine. the last time we were there we had to ask three times for a cork screw and a couple more times for a bucket of ice. we also had to ask three different people because we barely every saw our waiter. but the service aside, the food is great for all you can eat and i will continue to go here for our ladies sushi nights.
(4)Sonia S.
The service is terrible here. If you have 45 minutes to wait and don't mind a rude waiter, then this is the place for you.
(1)Jennifer C.
your basic all you can eat sushi place... "basic" as in- they stuff as much rice as they can in to everything trying to get people full using as little fish as possible and ask you to pay for the left overs for not finishing them. The first time i went, i went on a double date with a bottle of wine and a six pack (its BYOB) We had a decent time there but i know I definitely did not eat my money's worth (20 bucks for dinner). Maybe I had too much wine and it made me full faster, but i've had a lot of sushi in my life and i could tell they definitely stuff a LOT of rice in the rolls. The second time (and my last) i went, it was only because my boyfriend really wanted sushi and it was the only place around that we can find that was open. I went in with a mission to eat at least 20 dollars worth... but boy do i regret that... They had some "chef's special" rolls.. we ordered 2 of them. one of them of deep fried (i think the #4 chef special) It was too big for my to fit it all in my mouth so i took bite but all i got was rice. i examined the roll and the rice to fish/veggie ratio was about 5:1.. not even exaggerating!!! their spicy tuna is nasty.. i work at a sushi place so i can tell that they use the premade spicy tuna.. it's seriously like tuna paste.. Spicy tuna used to be my favorite until I had it there. It literally made me gag.. and i cant eat spicy tuna anymore. I could not finish everything on my plate because i was so full from eating.... rice. the waiter told my boyfriend that he has to charge us if we dont finish.. I know its their rule and everything so i tried sooo hard to eat as much as I can.. but i ended up just smearing the left over rolls on the plate to make it look like I ate it. I was extremely full but not at all satisfied.. I could have eaten another order of the don katsu but i was just pissed about their rolls i just wanted to leave. The owners probably think it's okay to make the maki rolls so shitty because it's a college campus and there are hungry college kids... but seriously... why must you over stuff everything with rice?? it doesnt even taste good!!
(1)A K.
the food is really just eh..., even though have all-you-can eat sushi, they have stuffed the poor Makis with so much rice that if you look at the cut surface, there's only 20-30% of "stuff" in their, fish and veggies combined. also, with the nigiri's the ratio between the fish and the rice is unbelievable, it's a good 1mm:1INCH....AND if you are doing the all-you-can-eat program they FINE you 50 cents per piece of rice that you don't finish, so that just killed my experience here if you stuff the whole piece in your mouth, you don't really taste anything other than rice, and if you take the rice out you get fined....so...yeah...not a big fan, I've had much better
(2)Amie S.
Ichiban is the best!! The rolls are amazing and unlike other sushi places, you can actually get full off of it and try new things with the all-you-can-eat menu!! This is my favorite lunch place...it never dissapoints!
(5)danielle h.
I ordered delivery from here for lunch and was very excited to try it, but when I got the sushi box it was warm. Warm sushi is not my thing, so I popped it in the fridge for a few minutes. When I opened the box the first thing I noticed was all the rice around the maki like a 90/10 ratio of rice to filling. The next thing was that the rolls were not uniform some pieces had all of the filling and others were missing things. The fish also did nto taste that fresh. Needless to say I will not be ordering from here again.
(1)