The sushi here was pretty good, we had tempura and other Japanese fair. I have high standards for sushi, my family owns 3 Japanese restaurants back home. for 3 of us we shared 4 different rolls and were pleased with all of them, I would have given them 4 stars but the actual Japanese food was just okay. We're glad to have a place a jump hop skip and away from our house for sushi!
(3)
Rachel B.
Everything was good here. The tables were really small, we had a party of five and they only had tables for four, so that was kind of annoying. But the sushi was really good. You can see them make it at the bar inside. Everything was really fresh too.
(3)
David P.
Good for a small town sushi place
(5)
Sou P.
Sushi tasted OK, but fish on top was very thin/minimal. A real sushi restaurant knows not to skimp on the fish on top. :(
(3)
Elizabeth G.
Love the green tea. Mmmmm....get warm thoughts thinking about it. And great portions for the price. Last week, as I was enjoying delicious sushi at a great Japanese restaurant in town, I couldn't help but think how much more I could have gotten at Spider. And that, my friend, is a good thing. : )
(5)
C S.
We had the seaweed salad, volcano roll, spicy scorpion roll, surf n turf roll and the veggie roll. All very delicious. It's no JMK, but we will be back in the future.
(4)
Kelly C.
The food is so pretty and the icecream (green tea or mango) is great.
(5)
Patrick H.
Okay, I guess. Presentation is kind of lacking. I'm an unagi freak and was not impressed by this one. Better than JMK though.
(3)
Will F.
the food is nasty, the sushi they made is not much different from the supermarket..... i have to throw out 20 dollars worth of sushi!!! never visit again
(1)
Marco R.
Hands down the best sushi in town I love all their different choices of rolls as well as the noddles. The fish has always been fresh and super tasty. One of my favorite places to eat
(4)
Jennifer K.
I will start by mentioning the one and only negative and that is the atmosphere. Spider resides in what was probably a fast food style restaurant in the past. That being said.... The food is incredible! I have been several times in the last few years. Some of our favorites are the ramen, ginger pork, seahorse, salads, and pot stickers. The sushi is also incredible (ESPECIALLY when compared to large local teppan style places that have sub par food). Everything is legit and authentic. As I mentioned the seahorse, it is not actually seahorse, but a large and tempura style, lightly battered shrimp with a little coconut in the batter. The shrimp is stuffed with cream cheese before frying and it is served with tempura battered asparagus and a siricha mayo sauce of some sort. It is phenomenal. Kind of spicy with a good toothy crunch. I could eat 5 plates of those shrimp by myself. Always a hit! Lots of attention to detail and presentation and the service is very good.
(4)
Shawna F.
Average sushi. The service was good, floors sticky, tables sticky, chef expertise and quality of sushi was average alright. They need to give enough ginger for the amount ordered too.
(3)
Matt L.
We were seated quickly, and our order was taken and food brought to us quickly, then all the service vanished. It was not overly busy, but we waited for over 5 mins to get a water refill then for each level of paying our bill. I asked for the wifi password and was never even given a response after she said she would go get it for me. The food was slightly above average, but nothing special. Miso soup was good but house salad was terrible, ginger sauce had no flavor.
I've tried almost every roll on the menu, ALL WERE AMAZING!!! Best spot in Rockford for sushi
(5)
Andrew M.
We surprised this small restaurant by bringing 14 people by on a Saturday night without reservations. The servers were excellent, attentive, and social - but more importantly, they kept up - never leaving us hanging. The kitchen delivered by constantly bringing our food out in a timely manner, first the apps, then a steady stream of sushi all night long. We loved the food, and found the prices very reasonable. I know this will be a regular spot for our group come springtime!
(5)
Darleen V.
Went for lunch with a friend and ordered just the sushi. I heard that the chef was from JMK, and from the looks of the menu he ganked some of ideas too. But pretty common in the culinary world but it seemed really obvious. But only if their rolls were as good as JMK.... We got five different rolls both raw and cooked. The spicy rolls lacked flavor and all the rolls seemed to lack fish. One of our rolls didn't have any fish in any of the end pieces and my friend got a maki roll with chicken with a ridiculously sweet sauce on it. The rice also lacked flavor, on top of it was quite over priced. I would say that people that enjoy this place really do not know much about sushi or fresh fish. Either that or I went on a really really off day. Sorry spider, I should have known that your lack of customers at lunch time was a bad sign....
(2)
Michael V.
This place is awesome. Fresh. Really good. I've been here probably 5 times now and never been disappointed.
(4)
Jane D.
If you want to sit in an unoccupied restaurant and wait hours for sushi, then this is your place! The decor is non-existent. There are about 10 tables for the entire restaurant. My friend and I each ordered 1 large roll. We waited roughly 1 HOUR for the rolls to come out (and there were only about 3 tables in the entire restaurant that were occupied! I can see why they were so dead now). By the time the rolls came out an hour later, we were about to eat our arms off because we were so hungry, so we immediately ordered 2 more rolls. We had to wait ANOTHER HOUR for those 2 rolls to come out. We were there for about 2 HOURS and each only ordered 2 rolls. The wait time is ridiculously long. I am somewhat surprised myself that this place has not gone out of business yet.
(1)
Carli R.
I wish I would have remembered to review this sooner-- my visit was over a month ago, so details are fuzzy but I can definitely give the overall impression. My boyfriend had been told by a coworker that we have to try this place, claiming it to be better than Marc's. Sadly, I'm pretty sure I've never had a worse sushi experience. I will say that I can sorta see how some people would like their food; if you enjoy americanized "sushi" that is piled high with cream cheese and sauces, maybe you'd enjoy the food here. I, personally, prefer to keep it simpler. I like to taste the fish and the individual ingredients... or at least be able to identify them! What I got was mediocre. It wasn't horrible tasting, just below average. After hearing good things, I was very disappointed. In addition to the food sadness, we also had major service sadness going on. Upon receiving our scallop appetizer, I pointed out to our server that we had no utensils of any kind. We then watched as she went and attended to various tasks (they were not busy), and then eventually wandered back our way. But to our dismay, she wasn't coming to bring us our chopsticks-- she went to the table next to us and began taking their order! Since our scallops were getting cold, I went up to the bar and got some utensils from the empty seats there. Now, I should add, I have worked many years in the service industry so I have high expectations but am also forgiving of minor mishaps. I won't go into great detail, but the service for the rest of our visit was some of the worst I've had. I can't give it one star because the tea was lovely. But, wow. Go to Marc's!
(2)
Jordan L.
Pretty good spicy tuna rolls.
(3)
Kurt W.
This place was really great. I tried 5 rolls and the salmon nigri. It was all very fresh and tasted great.
(5)
David M.
Amazing selection. Best sushi I've had in rockford. Winter roll and dragon roll along with some fresh nigiri = awesome. Highly recommend for lunch or dinner. Hit the spot for my sushi craving.
(5)
James R.
I've eaten here a couple of times. They have been pretty consistent. The rolls are as good/bad as the individuals taste's. I had the Samurai Roll which I liked a lot. My wife had the Matrix roll... which neither one of us liked. We shared an Ebi Cream Cheese roll as well as a Spicy Spider Roll. We thought they where pretty good, if not different from what we are normally use to ordering. I know there are some sushi purists out there that will yell up and down that this isn't real sushi and that sushi in the Midwest sucks. Well, okay. But if you want sushi and you live in Rockford, this is one of the better places to get it. The plus side... They deliver. So if you don't want to eat there, you can have it delivered to you or you can go pick it up!
(4)
Anne H.
Great sushi! Lots of vegetarian options outside of the normal sushi fare, including a surprisingly great Mexican roll with cilantro, avocado, tomatoes and cilantro. I've been here three times, and each time the restaurant was clean, the service friendly and fast, and everything was very fresh. Great place to go for lunch, as they have speedy service.
(4)
Vanessa G.
The sushi was good, tasted fresh and they had a good variety of rolls and such. But I think my main complaint would be the restaurant's furniture and interior... a bit cheap and "fast-food" feeling. I get that sometimes you might want that, even for sushi, but then I think going to Hachi Hachi makes more sense. For the price points here, you're probably better off going to JMK Nippon or Shogun for a more "sit-down" restaurant feel. But maybe I misunderstood and it's suppose to be more like fast-food sushi.
(3)
Jay G.
This place is not as fancy as JMK but blows it out of the water for the quality of their fish and not to mention they use real sushi sticky rice. All rolls were delishious from the standard to the fancy ones and have lots of fish and real crab meat to add.
(4)
Tim M.
Best sushi around. A great selection of wonderful rolls as well as very fresh traditional sushi. Good service as well.
(5)
Liv W.
Tried Spider for the first time tonight with a friend. It was delicious!! Tried the house salad because I thought the dressing would be like the ginger dressings that you get at a place like Nippons, which I love. It tasted like that dressing but like they added Orange flavor which made it really sweet. It was the only thing I didn't love. The fried rice was AMAZINGLY delicious with great flavor and texture. We also shared the surf and turf roll and the shrimp tempura roll. I have never really had anything that is much different than a California roll and I loved these two. It was different to eat sushi that wasn't very cold like I'm used to but I really loved these two rolls. Will definitely come back and try more!
(5)
Erica R.
Amazing sushi as always. We came in on a Saturday night and got seated right away. Ordered the plum saki. Never had it before. It's very sweet. We ordered three rolls; the super spider, the California and the philly. All were excellent. Highly recommend Spider Sushi if you're looking for good sushi in a more casual atmosphere.
(5)
Mary D.
I FINALLY got to try this place (it's been there for 2 years?!) last night with a couple of friends and I was quite impressed. I think our waitress was new... or maybe just inexperienced, but she made up in friendliness what she lacked in timing/detail orientation. The Las Vegas Roll was larger than I expected and I was really impressed with how everything was a touch different than the local norm -in a good way. The "Supreme" california roll had mango and cream cheese and was awesome. The Spicy Salmon is going to be my new favorite (radish!? YES) and overall the price wasn't too bad either. I'm actually really excited to go back. I should mention I didn't have anything but makimoto, but the teppan someone else was having smelled wonderful.
(4)
Chris W.
Seeing as I am the "friend" Sara had mentioned dined with her at Spider I thought it would be fitting to get my side of the story as well ;) We made reservations on Valentine day evening and luckily we did as the place was full. Mind you they don't have a ton of seating so it's not like there were a 100 people, but it was packed. We ordered the edamame appetizer which was amazing. For our sushi we ordered exactly as Sara had mentioned, but the tropical roll is actually the Hawaiin Roll :) They were all done very well and each one was tastier than the next. My taste was stuck on the Hawaiin roll, but it was a close call between it and the Surf and Turf. I've been to Spider on a handful of occasions and each time the sushi was amazing. I've yet to try the hibachi, but will do so very soon. If they rest of the menu turns out to be as good as the sushi I will then raise my rating up a notch so stay tuned for that. If you're looking for a great sushi place this is it and definitely my personal favorite in the city of Rockford.
(4)
Patrick B.
I have only eaten the sushi from this place and each time it was delicious. The service has always been quick and kind for me. The place is always clean and I really don't have a single complaint about it. I will say, however, that as far as sushi places are concerned this is on the higher end of average with its prices, BUT I still think it's worth the little extra they charge. I will continue to go here.
(5)
Andrew K.
The food is great. Get the surf n turf. I have eaten here many times and all of my food gas been great. You people complaining about the service can get a grip. We had three complicated rolls that were at our table in 15 minutes.
(5)
Yama S.
This place has amazing sushi I had the captain America and it was amazing The service is super friendly and very well kept clean restaurant....
(5)
Adrienne W.
I didnt realize they add wasabi to every single roll, inside the roll. Even if it didnt list it in the sushi roll description. If you like wasabi that is awesome, but it would of been nice to know before i spent all that money on rolls. (Its waaaaaay too spicey for me) They forgot my order of crab ragoons, (my most favorite thing), and when they finally brought them, i took one bite ans spit it out. It was unlike any crab ragoon i have ever had. If you like crab you will like these, they are like 97% crab and 3% cream cheese. Over all i spent $40 and only had a bite of crab ragoon, and 2 peices of sushi roll. The first one i thought i accidentally hit the wasabi or something, but then i asked after second one was waaaay spicey too. The customer service was ok- not great but ok. I would definitely recommend sushi station in Schaumburg over these guys. They have the best sushi ive had here in the midwest. Ive been to a ton of sushi restaurants (im from the west coast) and never had a place but wasabi in the rolls without listing it or had crab ragoons like that. Im not one for shellfish so i did not care for them. I wish they would of described the ragoons better because these were extremely different from what i have had over the years.
(1)
Sydney W.
I'm not kidding when I say this is some of the best sushi I've had in the midwest, and who would have known that Rockford, Illinois would house such a gem!? After spending my first couple of years after college in Chicago, I was sure that I wouldn't find great sushi outside of the city. So wrong! The service was amazing, and not just because our server was timely and on top of it, but he was hilarious and it was more than just him doing his job, he was a part of our dining experience. Having worked in some of the finest restaurants in Florida, this kind of service is the kind I gave to my guests and thoroughly enjoy when I get to experience it from the other side of the table. I'm more of a sashimi lover myself, but the Red Dragon roll was incredible - shrimp tempura, cucumber, avocado, wrapped in tuna and finished with Tobiko. The Dynamite roll comes topped with jalapenos, but you can take the heat up considerably with serrano peppers, thai chiles or ghost chiles. That's a spicy roll! Shumai was delicious, and the sauce was a hit with our group. House dressing on the salad was perfectly ginger and almost creamy in consistency without being heavy. Hands down the best green tea mochi I've ever had.
(4)
Steff J.
Now my favorite sushi place in Rockford. Amazing. I has the sashimi dinner and husband had steak and shrimp combo. Non sushi lovers can eat here too! Excellent!
(5)
Shannon H.
Spider used to be my favorite when it first opened. Normally I just get carryout but the few times I did eat in the service was just mediocre. The waitress may have been new because she didn't seem very familiar with the menu when we were ordering things. I've noticed they advertise that they offer delivery but every time I've asked for it they aren't offering it, I've tried on week nights and weekends. I'm all about rolls with sauce and extra toppings but so many of the rolls have the same toppings and sauces so it doesn't matter what's on the inside they all start to taste the same. I will say though their miso soup is the best I've ever had, however when I get it togo I don't feel like I get as much as when I eat in. I've also order the seahorse appetizer a few times before and this last time the shrimp were much smaller and less than impressive. The last time I tried ordering takeout I was extremely surprised when they told me they weren't taking togo orders. I ended up going in and saw it was very busy however it doesn't seem very professional to me to turn away paying customers that aren't even in need of service. I know this is a busy place on the weekends but maybe having enough staff to cover the demand would be helpful. When I went in I asked if I could order togo and she was very hesitant to take my order, as I was standing there someone else walked in to pick up an order. This was after they wouldn't let me place a togo order. Also while I was standing there more phone calls were coming in and those customers too were turned away from ordering. We didn't end up waiting very long for our food and it was good but it was really disappointing having to go there and order and then wait when I could've just called in the order and picked it up when it was ready. I'll be willing to give Spider another try in the future but I hope things improve.
(3)
David S.
Sushi was fresh and tasty. Miso soup was great. The Roll selection was creative and worth coming back to try some more. Plan for slow service as this place gets busy, but everybody here is friendly and accommodating. Looking forward to coming back for more.
(4)
James O.
Not my favorite restaurant, but my favorite sushi restaurant in the northern illinois area. I stuck with straight sushi rolls that night. One was eel and avocado which I absolutely loved. The eel and cumcumber was good. Spicy spider was as expected (spicy and I love it). And then I did a simple California... and I *think* it was real crab. I didn't ask. Good news is I found out they deliver with a minimum $40 order, so I have that going for me in the future!
(4)
Mill V.
The stuff I ordered was edible, but was on par with grocery store sushi. And I have sadly bought grocery store sushi once. Again, Rockford sushi places...YOU NEED TO FLAVOR THE RICE! Throw some rice vinegar in it PLEASE! When I am throwing the money down from sushi, the size of the fish should be decent. For how much I ordered, I could of got twice the amount of fish in Chicago. I know fish is pricy, but you got to put in a good amount if you are charging $9-$11 a roll. I am just very unsatisfied with sushi in Rockford. I gave this place two tries, but I'm not in a rush to go for a third.
(3)
Maria J.
A++ service and food. JMK Nippon who?? Spider trumps on all levels. Try the Florida and Venom rolls. You won't be disappointed.
(5)
Kimberly R.
I live in Chicago; however the Spider Sushi bar is my favorite sushi bar. This place is a hidden diamond in a little strip mall. You can always expect friendly service and a fabulous presentation! They are so creative. The plates are named after super heroes. I recommend the Green Lantern, Superman, Thing and Venom. They are so worth the visit!!!
(5)
Sara H.
I had only heard a few things about Spider Sushi before trying it...and I wish I had gone earlier! Being still somewhat of a newbie to sushi, and a little uneasy to some different types, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. However, the sushi menu is very extensive and offers a good variety, which works well for people like me, who don't want straight-up sashimi. That being said, I couldn't have been happier with the food. We ordered edamame for an appetizer, and we split three rolls. The edamame was delicious, served warm and salty. I loved it. The rolls were amazing. We had the Vegetable Tempura Roll, the Surf and Turf Roll, and the Hawaiian Roll. I thought everything was excellent. Each roll was really unique, and delicious! My favorite was probably the Surf and Turf roll, which featured steak and crab, and was rolled with tempura and drizzled in a bit of a spicy sauce. It was so unlike any kind of sushi I've had before. I can understand why its the best seller at the restaurant. The other two rolls were fantastic as well...the Hawaiian Roll was very sweet, with mango and pineapple, and well, its tough to mess up a Vegetable Tempura roll..but they didn't anyway. All were delicious! I'm looking forward to going again...I'm glad that Rockford has a good sushi place!
(4)
Ellie E.
GO TO JMK!! It's only a little bit of extra money, but it is definitely worth it! Much better food &&& atmosphere. If you want more Americanized Japanese food try Shogun.
(1)
Brittany B.
Always have amazing food and sushi rolls! Absolutely love love love coming here for lunch!
(5)
Karen B.
Where's my food? If you think you can stop in and place a sushi order while you wait, think again. I sat there for an hour waiting for some very simple rolls. Incredible! Not busy either. The staff saw me sitting there that whole time and never even offered me a glass of water while I waited. The sushi was just OK but my bill was almost $50. This place has prices inline with Shogun but its pretty ghetto looking I might try it again for lunch to see if service is faster.
(1)
Israel C.
Well to be honest I will never go back to the place again. Sushi was great when they first open. Portions were big and lots of fish and great service but I when back few months ago and I was disappointed portions where really small compare to 2 years ago. So if you want your money's worth of sushi go to shogun awesome place!!!
(1)
Alyssa R.
Service was awful and food was mediocre at best. Waited 20 minutes for an extra chair for our party and then 10 more minutes for actual service. Sushi came out very late for the time that they had to prepare it. Didn't get many difficult to make rolls either?
(2)
kate c.
I don't eat sushi so I ordered chicken yakisoba. It was ok. I guess i like my yakisoba more pan fried and less saucy. SO had a roll with eel in it. He liked it but wouldn't order it again.
(3)
Ann J.
I enjoy eating at this establishment. The food is great, it really is. I prefer a more cozy atmosphere and Spider Sushi is just that, very small and cozy. If I had one complaint it would be the wine prices are too high; they only fill the glass half way and I go there primarily for the wine.
(4)
Drew N.
$38 for two maki rolls and 4 small pieces of nigiri (lunch for two), all of which tasted like they had been left out from the night before. Still hungry afterwards. Never going back.
(1)
Nick M.
Upon arrival, we had to wait for several minutes for a seat we actually stopped waiting and sat down. The waitress didn't take too kindly to that. I'm not sure if she gave us bad service for seating ourselves or if she was just a poor waitress. Food was great! Can't go wrong with the red dragon... Other than the service everything was good but that's a deal breaker.
(1)
Richie G.
been awhile since I've eaten here. I remember when they first opened about 6 years ago. Still a tasty treat. Busier now but not a mob scene. I had spicy tuna roll @ $5.75...I felt it was a good deal. Tasted fresh and presentation was appealing. Also had cali roll. Tasty too. Diana server was friendly and effecient. Worth checking out. Remember its a small business.
(4)
Pedo B.
Great place, Forgot about JMK, spider is all you need. Great prices, great chef (Miguel)
(5)
Inc O.
Worst service ever! We were there for two hours and had serviced ourselves- getting plates for soy sauce, ask the chef for extra ginger and wasabi, ask the bus boy for water, getting our own plates from a table next to us. We got our miso soup 30 min after placing the order, more than that, never received the seaweed salad since the waitress forgot about it... We refused the service of this waitress and asked the manager to replace her with another one...we were then serviced by the manager himself. Quality of sushi was ok.
(1)
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Address :4415 Harrison Ave,Ste 2
Rockford, IL, 61108
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : Yes Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch, Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : No Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
Mel V.
The sushi here was pretty good, we had tempura and other Japanese fair. I have high standards for sushi, my family owns 3 Japanese restaurants back home. for 3 of us we shared 4 different rolls and were pleased with all of them, I would have given them 4 stars but the actual Japanese food was just okay. We're glad to have a place a jump hop skip and away from our house for sushi!
(3)Rachel B.
Everything was good here. The tables were really small, we had a party of five and they only had tables for four, so that was kind of annoying. But the sushi was really good. You can see them make it at the bar inside. Everything was really fresh too.
(3)David P.
Good for a small town sushi place
(5)Sou P.
Sushi tasted OK, but fish on top was very thin/minimal. A real sushi restaurant knows not to skimp on the fish on top. :(
(3)Elizabeth G.
Love the green tea. Mmmmm....get warm thoughts thinking about it. And great portions for the price. Last week, as I was enjoying delicious sushi at a great Japanese restaurant in town, I couldn't help but think how much more I could have gotten at Spider. And that, my friend, is a good thing. : )
(5)C S.
We had the seaweed salad, volcano roll, spicy scorpion roll, surf n turf roll and the veggie roll. All very delicious. It's no JMK, but we will be back in the future.
(4)Kelly C.
The food is so pretty and the icecream (green tea or mango) is great.
(5)Patrick H.
Okay, I guess. Presentation is kind of lacking. I'm an unagi freak and was not impressed by this one. Better than JMK though.
(3)Will F.
the food is nasty, the sushi they made is not much different from the supermarket..... i have to throw out 20 dollars worth of sushi!!! never visit again
(1)Marco R.
Hands down the best sushi in town I love all their different choices of rolls as well as the noddles. The fish has always been fresh and super tasty. One of my favorite places to eat
(4)Jennifer K.
I will start by mentioning the one and only negative and that is the atmosphere. Spider resides in what was probably a fast food style restaurant in the past. That being said.... The food is incredible! I have been several times in the last few years. Some of our favorites are the ramen, ginger pork, seahorse, salads, and pot stickers. The sushi is also incredible (ESPECIALLY when compared to large local teppan style places that have sub par food). Everything is legit and authentic. As I mentioned the seahorse, it is not actually seahorse, but a large and tempura style, lightly battered shrimp with a little coconut in the batter. The shrimp is stuffed with cream cheese before frying and it is served with tempura battered asparagus and a siricha mayo sauce of some sort. It is phenomenal. Kind of spicy with a good toothy crunch. I could eat 5 plates of those shrimp by myself. Always a hit! Lots of attention to detail and presentation and the service is very good.
(4)Shawna F.
Average sushi. The service was good, floors sticky, tables sticky, chef expertise and quality of sushi was average alright. They need to give enough ginger for the amount ordered too.
(3)Matt L.
We were seated quickly, and our order was taken and food brought to us quickly, then all the service vanished. It was not overly busy, but we waited for over 5 mins to get a water refill then for each level of paying our bill. I asked for the wifi password and was never even given a response after she said she would go get it for me. The food was slightly above average, but nothing special. Miso soup was good but house salad was terrible, ginger sauce had no flavor.
(3)Ron M.
We have been there twice already, and each time the food was good, including the sushi. The waitress was friendly and helpful. She was knowledgeable about the menu when we asked what the difference between two similar sushi were. I don't really care for their oversized chairs. It seems you sink too low in them. The décor could be a bit better but the food is good and the place was crowded both times we were there.
(4)Bryan W.
I've tried almost every roll on the menu, ALL WERE AMAZING!!! Best spot in Rockford for sushi
(5)Andrew M.
We surprised this small restaurant by bringing 14 people by on a Saturday night without reservations. The servers were excellent, attentive, and social - but more importantly, they kept up - never leaving us hanging. The kitchen delivered by constantly bringing our food out in a timely manner, first the apps, then a steady stream of sushi all night long. We loved the food, and found the prices very reasonable. I know this will be a regular spot for our group come springtime!
(5)Darleen V.
Went for lunch with a friend and ordered just the sushi. I heard that the chef was from JMK, and from the looks of the menu he ganked some of ideas too. But pretty common in the culinary world but it seemed really obvious. But only if their rolls were as good as JMK.... We got five different rolls both raw and cooked. The spicy rolls lacked flavor and all the rolls seemed to lack fish. One of our rolls didn't have any fish in any of the end pieces and my friend got a maki roll with chicken with a ridiculously sweet sauce on it. The rice also lacked flavor, on top of it was quite over priced. I would say that people that enjoy this place really do not know much about sushi or fresh fish. Either that or I went on a really really off day. Sorry spider, I should have known that your lack of customers at lunch time was a bad sign....
(2)Michael V.
This place is awesome. Fresh. Really good. I've been here probably 5 times now and never been disappointed.
(4)Jane D.
If you want to sit in an unoccupied restaurant and wait hours for sushi, then this is your place! The decor is non-existent. There are about 10 tables for the entire restaurant. My friend and I each ordered 1 large roll. We waited roughly 1 HOUR for the rolls to come out (and there were only about 3 tables in the entire restaurant that were occupied! I can see why they were so dead now). By the time the rolls came out an hour later, we were about to eat our arms off because we were so hungry, so we immediately ordered 2 more rolls. We had to wait ANOTHER HOUR for those 2 rolls to come out. We were there for about 2 HOURS and each only ordered 2 rolls. The wait time is ridiculously long. I am somewhat surprised myself that this place has not gone out of business yet.
(1)Carli R.
I wish I would have remembered to review this sooner-- my visit was over a month ago, so details are fuzzy but I can definitely give the overall impression. My boyfriend had been told by a coworker that we have to try this place, claiming it to be better than Marc's. Sadly, I'm pretty sure I've never had a worse sushi experience. I will say that I can sorta see how some people would like their food; if you enjoy americanized "sushi" that is piled high with cream cheese and sauces, maybe you'd enjoy the food here. I, personally, prefer to keep it simpler. I like to taste the fish and the individual ingredients... or at least be able to identify them! What I got was mediocre. It wasn't horrible tasting, just below average. After hearing good things, I was very disappointed. In addition to the food sadness, we also had major service sadness going on. Upon receiving our scallop appetizer, I pointed out to our server that we had no utensils of any kind. We then watched as she went and attended to various tasks (they were not busy), and then eventually wandered back our way. But to our dismay, she wasn't coming to bring us our chopsticks-- she went to the table next to us and began taking their order! Since our scallops were getting cold, I went up to the bar and got some utensils from the empty seats there. Now, I should add, I have worked many years in the service industry so I have high expectations but am also forgiving of minor mishaps. I won't go into great detail, but the service for the rest of our visit was some of the worst I've had. I can't give it one star because the tea was lovely. But, wow. Go to Marc's!
(2)Jordan L.
Pretty good spicy tuna rolls.
(3)Kurt W.
This place was really great. I tried 5 rolls and the salmon nigri. It was all very fresh and tasted great.
(5)David M.
Amazing selection. Best sushi I've had in rockford. Winter roll and dragon roll along with some fresh nigiri = awesome. Highly recommend for lunch or dinner. Hit the spot for my sushi craving.
(5)James R.
I've eaten here a couple of times. They have been pretty consistent. The rolls are as good/bad as the individuals taste's. I had the Samurai Roll which I liked a lot. My wife had the Matrix roll... which neither one of us liked. We shared an Ebi Cream Cheese roll as well as a Spicy Spider Roll. We thought they where pretty good, if not different from what we are normally use to ordering. I know there are some sushi purists out there that will yell up and down that this isn't real sushi and that sushi in the Midwest sucks. Well, okay. But if you want sushi and you live in Rockford, this is one of the better places to get it. The plus side... They deliver. So if you don't want to eat there, you can have it delivered to you or you can go pick it up!
(4)Anne H.
Great sushi! Lots of vegetarian options outside of the normal sushi fare, including a surprisingly great Mexican roll with cilantro, avocado, tomatoes and cilantro. I've been here three times, and each time the restaurant was clean, the service friendly and fast, and everything was very fresh. Great place to go for lunch, as they have speedy service.
(4)Vanessa G.
The sushi was good, tasted fresh and they had a good variety of rolls and such. But I think my main complaint would be the restaurant's furniture and interior... a bit cheap and "fast-food" feeling. I get that sometimes you might want that, even for sushi, but then I think going to Hachi Hachi makes more sense. For the price points here, you're probably better off going to JMK Nippon or Shogun for a more "sit-down" restaurant feel. But maybe I misunderstood and it's suppose to be more like fast-food sushi.
(3)Jay G.
This place is not as fancy as JMK but blows it out of the water for the quality of their fish and not to mention they use real sushi sticky rice. All rolls were delishious from the standard to the fancy ones and have lots of fish and real crab meat to add.
(4)Tim M.
Best sushi around. A great selection of wonderful rolls as well as very fresh traditional sushi. Good service as well.
(5)Liv W.
Tried Spider for the first time tonight with a friend. It was delicious!! Tried the house salad because I thought the dressing would be like the ginger dressings that you get at a place like Nippons, which I love. It tasted like that dressing but like they added Orange flavor which made it really sweet. It was the only thing I didn't love. The fried rice was AMAZINGLY delicious with great flavor and texture. We also shared the surf and turf roll and the shrimp tempura roll. I have never really had anything that is much different than a California roll and I loved these two. It was different to eat sushi that wasn't very cold like I'm used to but I really loved these two rolls. Will definitely come back and try more!
(5)Erica R.
Amazing sushi as always. We came in on a Saturday night and got seated right away. Ordered the plum saki. Never had it before. It's very sweet. We ordered three rolls; the super spider, the California and the philly. All were excellent. Highly recommend Spider Sushi if you're looking for good sushi in a more casual atmosphere.
(5)Mary D.
I FINALLY got to try this place (it's been there for 2 years?!) last night with a couple of friends and I was quite impressed. I think our waitress was new... or maybe just inexperienced, but she made up in friendliness what she lacked in timing/detail orientation. The Las Vegas Roll was larger than I expected and I was really impressed with how everything was a touch different than the local norm -in a good way. The "Supreme" california roll had mango and cream cheese and was awesome. The Spicy Salmon is going to be my new favorite (radish!? YES) and overall the price wasn't too bad either. I'm actually really excited to go back. I should mention I didn't have anything but makimoto, but the teppan someone else was having smelled wonderful.
(4)Chris W.
Seeing as I am the "friend" Sara had mentioned dined with her at Spider I thought it would be fitting to get my side of the story as well ;) We made reservations on Valentine day evening and luckily we did as the place was full. Mind you they don't have a ton of seating so it's not like there were a 100 people, but it was packed. We ordered the edamame appetizer which was amazing. For our sushi we ordered exactly as Sara had mentioned, but the tropical roll is actually the Hawaiin Roll :) They were all done very well and each one was tastier than the next. My taste was stuck on the Hawaiin roll, but it was a close call between it and the Surf and Turf. I've been to Spider on a handful of occasions and each time the sushi was amazing. I've yet to try the hibachi, but will do so very soon. If they rest of the menu turns out to be as good as the sushi I will then raise my rating up a notch so stay tuned for that. If you're looking for a great sushi place this is it and definitely my personal favorite in the city of Rockford.
(4)Patrick B.
I have only eaten the sushi from this place and each time it was delicious. The service has always been quick and kind for me. The place is always clean and I really don't have a single complaint about it. I will say, however, that as far as sushi places are concerned this is on the higher end of average with its prices, BUT I still think it's worth the little extra they charge. I will continue to go here.
(5)Andrew K.
The food is great. Get the surf n turf. I have eaten here many times and all of my food gas been great. You people complaining about the service can get a grip. We had three complicated rolls that were at our table in 15 minutes.
(5)Yama S.
This place has amazing sushi I had the captain America and it was amazing The service is super friendly and very well kept clean restaurant....
(5)Adrienne W.
I didnt realize they add wasabi to every single roll, inside the roll. Even if it didnt list it in the sushi roll description. If you like wasabi that is awesome, but it would of been nice to know before i spent all that money on rolls. (Its waaaaaay too spicey for me) They forgot my order of crab ragoons, (my most favorite thing), and when they finally brought them, i took one bite ans spit it out. It was unlike any crab ragoon i have ever had. If you like crab you will like these, they are like 97% crab and 3% cream cheese. Over all i spent $40 and only had a bite of crab ragoon, and 2 peices of sushi roll. The first one i thought i accidentally hit the wasabi or something, but then i asked after second one was waaaay spicey too. The customer service was ok- not great but ok. I would definitely recommend sushi station in Schaumburg over these guys. They have the best sushi ive had here in the midwest. Ive been to a ton of sushi restaurants (im from the west coast) and never had a place but wasabi in the rolls without listing it or had crab ragoons like that. Im not one for shellfish so i did not care for them. I wish they would of described the ragoons better because these were extremely different from what i have had over the years.
(1)Sydney W.
I'm not kidding when I say this is some of the best sushi I've had in the midwest, and who would have known that Rockford, Illinois would house such a gem!? After spending my first couple of years after college in Chicago, I was sure that I wouldn't find great sushi outside of the city. So wrong! The service was amazing, and not just because our server was timely and on top of it, but he was hilarious and it was more than just him doing his job, he was a part of our dining experience. Having worked in some of the finest restaurants in Florida, this kind of service is the kind I gave to my guests and thoroughly enjoy when I get to experience it from the other side of the table. I'm more of a sashimi lover myself, but the Red Dragon roll was incredible - shrimp tempura, cucumber, avocado, wrapped in tuna and finished with Tobiko. The Dynamite roll comes topped with jalapenos, but you can take the heat up considerably with serrano peppers, thai chiles or ghost chiles. That's a spicy roll! Shumai was delicious, and the sauce was a hit with our group. House dressing on the salad was perfectly ginger and almost creamy in consistency without being heavy. Hands down the best green tea mochi I've ever had.
(4)Steff J.
Now my favorite sushi place in Rockford. Amazing. I has the sashimi dinner and husband had steak and shrimp combo. Non sushi lovers can eat here too! Excellent!
(5)Shannon H.
Spider used to be my favorite when it first opened. Normally I just get carryout but the few times I did eat in the service was just mediocre. The waitress may have been new because she didn't seem very familiar with the menu when we were ordering things. I've noticed they advertise that they offer delivery but every time I've asked for it they aren't offering it, I've tried on week nights and weekends. I'm all about rolls with sauce and extra toppings but so many of the rolls have the same toppings and sauces so it doesn't matter what's on the inside they all start to taste the same. I will say though their miso soup is the best I've ever had, however when I get it togo I don't feel like I get as much as when I eat in. I've also order the seahorse appetizer a few times before and this last time the shrimp were much smaller and less than impressive. The last time I tried ordering takeout I was extremely surprised when they told me they weren't taking togo orders. I ended up going in and saw it was very busy however it doesn't seem very professional to me to turn away paying customers that aren't even in need of service. I know this is a busy place on the weekends but maybe having enough staff to cover the demand would be helpful. When I went in I asked if I could order togo and she was very hesitant to take my order, as I was standing there someone else walked in to pick up an order. This was after they wouldn't let me place a togo order. Also while I was standing there more phone calls were coming in and those customers too were turned away from ordering. We didn't end up waiting very long for our food and it was good but it was really disappointing having to go there and order and then wait when I could've just called in the order and picked it up when it was ready. I'll be willing to give Spider another try in the future but I hope things improve.
(3)David S.
Sushi was fresh and tasty. Miso soup was great. The Roll selection was creative and worth coming back to try some more. Plan for slow service as this place gets busy, but everybody here is friendly and accommodating. Looking forward to coming back for more.
(4)James O.
Not my favorite restaurant, but my favorite sushi restaurant in the northern illinois area. I stuck with straight sushi rolls that night. One was eel and avocado which I absolutely loved. The eel and cumcumber was good. Spicy spider was as expected (spicy and I love it). And then I did a simple California... and I *think* it was real crab. I didn't ask. Good news is I found out they deliver with a minimum $40 order, so I have that going for me in the future!
(4)Mill V.
The stuff I ordered was edible, but was on par with grocery store sushi. And I have sadly bought grocery store sushi once. Again, Rockford sushi places...YOU NEED TO FLAVOR THE RICE! Throw some rice vinegar in it PLEASE! When I am throwing the money down from sushi, the size of the fish should be decent. For how much I ordered, I could of got twice the amount of fish in Chicago. I know fish is pricy, but you got to put in a good amount if you are charging $9-$11 a roll. I am just very unsatisfied with sushi in Rockford. I gave this place two tries, but I'm not in a rush to go for a third.
(3)Maria J.
A++ service and food. JMK Nippon who?? Spider trumps on all levels. Try the Florida and Venom rolls. You won't be disappointed.
(5)Kimberly R.
I live in Chicago; however the Spider Sushi bar is my favorite sushi bar. This place is a hidden diamond in a little strip mall. You can always expect friendly service and a fabulous presentation! They are so creative. The plates are named after super heroes. I recommend the Green Lantern, Superman, Thing and Venom. They are so worth the visit!!!
(5)Sara H.
I had only heard a few things about Spider Sushi before trying it...and I wish I had gone earlier! Being still somewhat of a newbie to sushi, and a little uneasy to some different types, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. However, the sushi menu is very extensive and offers a good variety, which works well for people like me, who don't want straight-up sashimi. That being said, I couldn't have been happier with the food. We ordered edamame for an appetizer, and we split three rolls. The edamame was delicious, served warm and salty. I loved it. The rolls were amazing. We had the Vegetable Tempura Roll, the Surf and Turf Roll, and the Hawaiian Roll. I thought everything was excellent. Each roll was really unique, and delicious! My favorite was probably the Surf and Turf roll, which featured steak and crab, and was rolled with tempura and drizzled in a bit of a spicy sauce. It was so unlike any kind of sushi I've had before. I can understand why its the best seller at the restaurant. The other two rolls were fantastic as well...the Hawaiian Roll was very sweet, with mango and pineapple, and well, its tough to mess up a Vegetable Tempura roll..but they didn't anyway. All were delicious! I'm looking forward to going again...I'm glad that Rockford has a good sushi place!
(4)Ellie E.
GO TO JMK!! It's only a little bit of extra money, but it is definitely worth it! Much better food &&& atmosphere. If you want more Americanized Japanese food try Shogun.
(1)Brittany B.
Always have amazing food and sushi rolls! Absolutely love love love coming here for lunch!
(5)Karen B.
Where's my food? If you think you can stop in and place a sushi order while you wait, think again. I sat there for an hour waiting for some very simple rolls. Incredible! Not busy either. The staff saw me sitting there that whole time and never even offered me a glass of water while I waited. The sushi was just OK but my bill was almost $50. This place has prices inline with Shogun but its pretty ghetto looking I might try it again for lunch to see if service is faster.
(1)Israel C.
Well to be honest I will never go back to the place again. Sushi was great when they first open. Portions were big and lots of fish and great service but I when back few months ago and I was disappointed portions where really small compare to 2 years ago. So if you want your money's worth of sushi go to shogun awesome place!!!
(1)Alyssa R.
Service was awful and food was mediocre at best. Waited 20 minutes for an extra chair for our party and then 10 more minutes for actual service. Sushi came out very late for the time that they had to prepare it. Didn't get many difficult to make rolls either?
(2)kate c.
I don't eat sushi so I ordered chicken yakisoba. It was ok. I guess i like my yakisoba more pan fried and less saucy. SO had a roll with eel in it. He liked it but wouldn't order it again.
(3)Ann J.
I enjoy eating at this establishment. The food is great, it really is. I prefer a more cozy atmosphere and Spider Sushi is just that, very small and cozy. If I had one complaint it would be the wine prices are too high; they only fill the glass half way and I go there primarily for the wine.
(4)Drew N.
$38 for two maki rolls and 4 small pieces of nigiri (lunch for two), all of which tasted like they had been left out from the night before. Still hungry afterwards. Never going back.
(1)Nick M.
Upon arrival, we had to wait for several minutes for a seat we actually stopped waiting and sat down. The waitress didn't take too kindly to that. I'm not sure if she gave us bad service for seating ourselves or if she was just a poor waitress. Food was great! Can't go wrong with the red dragon... Other than the service everything was good but that's a deal breaker.
(1)Richie G.
been awhile since I've eaten here. I remember when they first opened about 6 years ago. Still a tasty treat. Busier now but not a mob scene. I had spicy tuna roll @ $5.75...I felt it was a good deal. Tasted fresh and presentation was appealing. Also had cali roll. Tasty too. Diana server was friendly and effecient. Worth checking out. Remember its a small business.
(4)Pedo B.
Great place, Forgot about JMK, spider is all you need. Great prices, great chef (Miguel)
(5)Inc O.
Worst service ever! We were there for two hours and had serviced ourselves- getting plates for soy sauce, ask the chef for extra ginger and wasabi, ask the bus boy for water, getting our own plates from a table next to us. We got our miso soup 30 min after placing the order, more than that, never received the seaweed salad since the waitress forgot about it... We refused the service of this waitress and asked the manager to replace her with another one...we were then serviced by the manager himself. Quality of sushi was ok.
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