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Category: Sushi Bars [Edit]
Neighborhoods: River West, Noble SquareChicago (Blue)
"4.50 stars. Usagi Ya not only provides excellent sushi, but also is an extraordinary value if one goes omakase (chef's choice). It will be…" read more »
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Fast and so yummy
Plus hot delivery guy
= Sushi perfection!
Sushi X = Delivery Superstar.
Boasting hands down the most immaculate to-go packaging, Sushi X rocked my sushi delivery world last night. I mean, these guys are bringing it with beautiful packaging, leak-proof bags for the soup and the perfect amount of utensils.
My first impression was slight annoyance. I was put on hold for about 5 minutes, but I held strong. Once I was finally taken off the Muzak hold music, a perfectly nice gal took my order for California, beef asparagus, spicy crunchy tuna and spicy shrimp rolls, a miso soup and extra sides of raw ginger and spicy red chili paste. I was a bit put off that they don't have sashimi on the delivery menu. Really? Bogus.
Delivery estimate: 45 minutes. Actual delivery time: About 30 minutes. And the most shocking part was the (very hot) delivery guy was able to find his way to my bat cave of an apartment without calling me for instructions. Whoot whoot!
The food? Yummers. I only partook in a California roll and miso soup (damn diet), but they were very well done and pretty darn tasty. The roll was actually a bit on the larger side and didn't skimp on the crab meat, which I love. My miso soup had great flavor, although if I had one teensy complaint it would be my soup wasn't quite hot enough for my liking, but when you get soup delivered, the temperature can be hit or miss. I'm told the sauce, tempura and mayo-laden beef, tuna and shrimp rolls were delicious. I bet they were. I hate people who can eat fried food and mayo right now.
Again, I can't say enough about the presentation. I was asked how many people would be dining, so I received the perfect amount of chop sticks, soy sauce (yes, I'm a bit persnickety and don't like sharing my soy sauce) and mounds of lovely, delicious raw ginger. The rolls were all served in their own foil blanket so the flavors wouldn't merge and everything was non-smooshed and fairly temperature appropriate.
If you're not ordering sushi take-out from Sushi X, you should be.
I'm no sushi expert, but I've tried a lot of sushi in my lifetime.
First off people, stop complaining about them not having wine glasses. You're going for the sushi and plus it's freaking BYOB! No corkage fee.
From the outside, it looks pretty ghetto, and I will admit that on the inside, it's not very big BUT they are known to be more of a delivery/to-go restaurant. (**Couple yrs ago, they were awarded 1st place for best take out sushi restaurant**)
Sushi X keeps it real with quality fish and they don't skimp on the meat (unlike ahem...COAST :T), everything is super fresh. I highly recommend spicy tuna (my fav), godzilla roll, honey, and rainbow roll.
The Service is always on point and they hook it up with an industry discount every time I'm in there. They also opened up a new location with a bar in lincoln park. I still have yet to check that spot out.
believe me, you will not be disappointed~
This place is a cool little spot to dine on some tasty sushi.
The rolls are definately not of the traditional sorts as one of the managers there pointed out but they are quite delicious. The Red Dragon, Honey Roll, 5-0 (they call it that because there is bacon in the roll) were all fantastic but the double stack was my favorite roll. It's on the afforable side and it's BYOB, without a cork fee and they brought out an ice filled pale to keep my beers frosty. Solid food, up beat music, attentive staff and decent ambiance. (they need more than just blue walls, although they have a projector going on one side of the place). I definately recommend this place especially if Butterfly on Grand is impossible.
The rolls here are HUGE! You really get your money's worth here. 3 rolls for a party of 2 is more than enough. One of my fav sushi places to go to with many creative rolls to choose from. Their potstickers are delicious! The dipping sauce is unique with a spicy twist on it. Super yummy! Its pretty packed on the weekends and there is usually a 20 minute wait. Go on the weekdays and the place is empty because they do a lot of deliveries/take outs. Side note: stay away from the oyster shooters, they are terrible!
Totally unexpected sushi bliss.
Scene: 7 girls with 6 bottles of wine and empty bellies on a mission for a rocking girls night out. I was in charge of picking the place. Requirements: BYOB and a reservation available for 7 lovely ladies at 8pm on a Friday night. Sushi preferred.
Sushi X happily took our reservation and had a nice section for us ready to go even with our delayed arrival (extra hair primping and all). We started off the night some crunchy edamame and they were quick to open up our bottles of wine.
The service and the food were equally impressive. They were attentive, but not overbearing, letting us ladies dish out the gossip between bites and slowly order a few rolls at a time. They even spit up the rolls on two plates for each side of the table so sharing was easy.
Everything we ate was gold here. Crab rangoon roll what? Believe me, it's as good as it sounds. The spicy scallop roll converted a table of scallop roll sceptics into believers. As for the classics, the spider roll, spicy tuna and rainbow roll were big, stuffed to the gill (HA) rolls of sushi perfection.
For dessert they split us up a couple of plates of smooth creamy mochi and strongly encouraged us to stay and finish up the rest of wine, even long after the food was gone.
Now that above is an excellent combination for a perfect night out. Can't wait to go back!
let's be real people...sushi comes in all types; there's the artificial crab/cheap ingredients hole-in-the wall place, there's the oh-so fancy & expensive joint, and there's the uber trendy and hit or miss quality place with ultra "different" rolls.... Sushi X is a perfect combination of them all. The quality of fish used is very good /fresh & the combo of ingredients on a lot of the rolls actually make sense! I've tried many sushi places from high end to low, heck, I've had sushi fresh from the fisherman's market in Tokyo! This casual place is consistently good. The GODZILLA roll must be ordered every time.
Okay, so the decor is minimal, dark and tries a wee bit much to be trendy but I'm talking about the good stuff here... the food! The service is hit or miss but the food always hits the spot. If I have cravings for good sushi, I'm going to a Sushi X. The rolls are large & you get good bang for your buck when you visit during their happy hour time at the Diversey location. I try to give other sushi spots a try but they never do it like the X does it! :)
We visited this place because of all the good reviews. And my verdict: Worst sushi I've ever had. The fish was stale and smelled bad.
Lighting isn't great here and I had a little LED flashlight with me, so I used it briefly to get a better look at what was in my sushi. The owner came over and jokingly said, "There's a reason why we keep it dark here". Talk about a Freudian slip!
Although they are a BYOB place, they do not have wine glasses. Instead, the gave us little grapefruit juice glasses. And then they didn't have space on the table for their wine bucket, so they put it on the seat beside us. Needless to say, we won't be going back.
Side note: On the way out, we saw a party of three come in. They had a six-pack of wine (!) with them - that's 4.5 Liters of wine...goodness!
I'm giving this joint 5 stars. I'm new to the world of sushi so may not be the best judge, but this place has a lot going for it.
I've been several times and the food is always very fresh. The ginger salad is delicious and not overpowering. I've only had the non seafood rolls (they have quite a few), but feosh lovers I've been with have loved the food as well.
If you haven't caught on, I frequent the BYOB's as much as possible and this is no exception. NO corkage fee. To top it off, the food prices are very reasonable.Apx $35 for 2 people with a salad appetizer and enough rolls to be very full.
The staff is friendly, but won't be at your table 20x asking if you need anything.
The place is really small so you may have a bit of a wait. Dimly lit for romance (oh yeah).They do play anime on a screen and music, but it's not bothersome. Small space and small tables so tall and/or robust folks might have a bit of a squeeze
Metered street parking, but not difficult.
WORD TO THE WISE- - - - the diversy~n~LSD location is not byob.
=p
We've been here for half-price sushi a few times.
The good:
* excellent sushi
* BYOB
* and it's half-price sushi!
The bad:
* service is very hit-or-miss (sometimes we get someone great, other times, I think they could care less - we still tip like it's full-price and it'd be nice to get full-price service every time we go in)
* tries a little too hard to be hip
* really expensive at full-price
This place seems a little rotten. I was turned off as soon as I walked in. The decor is terrible and gloomy. Sushi joints are supposed to be a little flashy, no?
Too expensive for the taste, when Butterfly down the street does everything better and less expensive.
The staff was not the best by any means, after being asked a question our server responded with a short, snippy answer as she was WALKING AWAY!
Not wasting my time/$$$ there again.
I started eating take out at Sushi X a few years back and it was SUPERB. I ordered from them, even though Bob San was just a block away, because I truly loved their quality of fish, packaging and service.
Then, I finally came to the restaurant when I moved closer and it was a huge thumbs down. The bad decor was a total turn off.
I had not been back for over 6 months because of that, as well as, the fact that Butterfly Sushi opened and it was AT LEAST $3 cheaper per roll, had a friendly staff and livelier decor.
I came in tonight because I heard from a friend that the Sushi Happy Hour (Sunday through Wednesday) was a great deal. Unbeknown to me, they changed the special. I learned later.
After my meal I once again realized that there is a good reason why I do not frequent this place- The fish to rice ratio is not worth the price, the decor still stinks, and the waitstaff is not friendly or informative and they constantly try to force you into buying more food. All reasons why they are never packed and Butterfly always is.
Not interested in going back. I'd rather wait in line at Butterfly than come here.
I've always had great experiences at this tiny location. Their innovative (and filling) rolls + BYOB makes this a great go-to spot for sushi. Can't beat their 1/2 price deal, which I believe they now only offer on Sunday and Monday evenings between 5-7pm.
Well, I guess it's happening; we couldn't get in for happy hour tonight...
We used to order delivery a lot from here, and it varied wildly, probably depending on how long the sushi had to sit in a car...
But the food has always tasted great when we dined in. We've been going to happy hour once a week for a little while now, not forever but long enough to become attached to our new tradition!
The environment is wacky, for sure, but I like it. Not snooty at all. For some reason there have been babies making a racket in there every time we've gone, but I don't think you can blame them for that, can you?
The only think I wish is that they had nigiri or sashimi, but I know that's their thing, and I'm not really complaining about it...
Crazy "white-boy" rolls as the husband calls them, very creative and delicious.
Always consistently good!
We always get delivery or take-out from Sushi X and they never disappoint. For some reason my boyfriend and I are creatures of habit and always end up getting the Red Dragon, Alaska, and Spider Rolls. Watch out for the Red Dragon because does it not only have spicy tuna on top, but they also include some pieces of sliced jalapeños in the roll!
The only compliant I has is that I wish they offer nigiri pieces, but the rolls are satisfying enough when the craving hits.
We have been here for dinner before, but I wouldn't recommend it unless u enjoying eating with techno music playing loudly in the background and Japanese anime playing on the wall. The interior is also painted black (same as the outside). I just don't think the combination of all 3 makes it very conducive to eating...
Overall, great for carry-out/delivery, not so good for dining in.
Ordered delivery from here the other day. Although a bit expensive, the food was wonderful.
This is a perfect place for people who don't like sushi to try some new stuff. The honey sushi was insanely good and the spicy tuna roll was perfect (some places like to make it so hot that you can't enjoy it).
This is not a traditional sushi joint. They are proud to put their own twist on sushi and it works. Very tasty and satisfying, I'd order from here again and will probably head in to enjoy the restaurant itself.
A bit pricey, I'd spend the extra dough over, say, Kamehachi because the quality and care is so much better.
Very enjoyable. Recommended!
I really enjoy the Sushi Happy Hour from 5-7pm every weekday !! I am not one to critique sushi but the deal is HOT !
A small joint w/ a LARGE vibe ! Been here w/ my gfriend and we had the Godzilla, Cali Roll, and Shrimp Tempura - YUMMY.
I even mentioned this joint as one of my fave things:
http://bastosgirlsgree...
Sushi-X has a pretty unbelievable happy hour. Sunday - Wednesday, from 5-7 pm (as long as you are seated by 7 pm) you get half off all sushi.
Two friends and I end up their last night around 6:30. The place is fairly small, maybe about 10 tables. It also features Japanese anime projected on to a wall. It is a pretty dark place.
When we arrive, there are two two-tops in front of us. In about 5 minutes, those two tables are sat so we should be next. Well because of the configuration of Sushi-X two tables got up and they sat another two two-tops after us.
So we finally get seated around 7:05 after the 7 pm happy hour time and I must admit I had a little chip on my shoulder. The table we were seated at had cleared out about 10 minutes prior and the servers made no attempt to clean the table so we could sit down. They really could use a bus boy at Sushi X. From a business perespective I understand it but as a customer I was a little annoyed.
Once I got over it, I ordered a philly roll and a Five-O roll. The Philly was pretty standard, cream cheese, salmon and avocado. The Five- O features bacon, hamachi, avocado, cilantro, scallions, pineapple mustard mayo, rolled in bacon bits, wrapped with proscuitto. All it was missing was a little spam and it would have reminded me of Hawaii!
The roll was huge and filling; there must have been about 8 pieces. In hindsight, I didn't really need the Philly roll. I also had the miso soup which was served in a big coffee cup. Very tasty.
The bill comes and the staff at Sushi-X was kind enough to give us the happy hour prices....which made me very happy.
Sushi-X is a good BYOB place with a great happy hour deal. I wouldn't go out of my way to get here but the food is pretty good. If you are going to go for happy hour be sure to get there early. The place is tiny but it is worth the deal.
I had tried sushi in the past and truly thought it was the most disgusting thing I had ever tasted. Then a friend FORCED me to go here as a b-day dinner, and I am a completely changed person.
Even though I just tried this last night, I could eat it again today. Must try! Tried the avacado & shitaki rolls first and was completely happy with my choice. I tried my friend's more adventurous crab rangoon and lava rolls, which were amazing. MUST TRY!
I have to comment -- what a creepy, dark, weird-looking little joint! I was actually kind of nervous just going there for pickup.
BUT, the rolls are AMAZING! This is great sushi; the best I've had in the Noble Square neighborhood so far. I had the spider roll today and I'm pretty sure it was the best one I've ever had... they also have some EXTREMELY inventive and elaborate-sounding rolls on their menu. I can't wait to try more!
I probably would have given this place five stars, actually, because I liked the sushi just that much, but I was really turned off by the customer service I received over the telephone. I am pretty sure I was put on hold more than five different times in the process of placing my very short and simple order. How annoying during the workday, and how rude!
Prices aren't low, but people here seem to be commenting on half-price deals, so just go then! They also have adorable packaging for their carryout (which I would recommend because of the icky vibe of the restaurant itself); I know that's just a tangential anecdote, but I do think it makes the dining experience more enjoyable.
FYI, Sushi X also has a Lincoln Park location.
This is no traditional sushi joint. They have a roll called 5-0 that's made with two types of bacon. Not something I would advertise as "sushi" but I have to admit. It was pretty damn good. I guess it's hard to go wrong with Bacon, prosciutto, and wasabi mayo.
We ordered Miso soup and edamame to get started. The soup was decent, the edamame was a heaping portion.
It would have been nice to have options other than rolls on the menu. There are only rolls. But it seems they are taking the approach of doing one thing, and doing it well.
There were 4 of us and we ordered 2 rolls each thinking that we'd order more after the first round. HOLY CRAP THESE ROLLS ARE HUGE! We had a hard time finishing them.
The happy hour specials are amazing. You get half off most rolls as long as you are seated by 7pm. We got 8 rolls, edamame, and miso soup. Our bill was somwhere around $60 for the four of us and we were stuffed to the Gills. (pun intended)
This is another BYOB joint which I am really starting to appreciate.
Ok, so we absolutely GORGED ourselves on some seriously delicious half-priced sushi last night.
The three of us agreed that it was some of the best sushi we have had in a long time and we each have sushi several times a month.
A couple things:
The seating in the side area is poorly set up and it made it difficult for our server to get to us, therefore we didn't get a lot of service.
When you first walk in, its so dark you can hardly see! Yikes.
The table was a little grimy and the soy sauce bottle was a little icky too.
Once I got over those things, I ate as though I hadn't eaten in days.
The Red Dragon - uh-maz-ing. I also had the White Tiger. Yum. My friend had the Godzilla. Deeeelicious (a little too much cream cheese for me, but still very tasty) and this one that was all veggies with a ginger dipping sauce that was really good too.
Overall it was super fresh, tasty and we absolutely stuffed ourselves for $24 each INCLUDING tip.
Totally will be back for the special.
I learned something from Sushi X this weekend: Don't judge a sushi joint by it's cover. (or store front, mind you.)
With it's dark front façade, lack of windows and techno music thumping does give a S&M "Leather Daddy", vampire bar vibe, however, quickly after walking in it feels like an underground, moody lounge.
Since Butterfly Sushi couldn't squeeze our party of 9 -- oh yes it's ladies night -- we were on a hunt for another BYOB/Sushi place near the Wicker Park hood. I'm glad we went to Sushi X. It's intimate, funky, delicious and very reasonably priced.
Two rolls that you have to try are the Spicy Scallop and Crab Rangoon (it's served with plum sauce for dipping...ahhh delicious.)
The sushi is a little hit and miss here, sometimes it's really good, other times it's a little mediocre, but it's never bad. The happy hour special is when it's worth it, otherwise I would say it's a little overpriced for what you get. The one time I ordered miso soup it was pretty cold. The edamame is pretty decent.
The service is likewise a little spotty, but it's not terrible. The dining room is dark and somewhat uninviting, that's true, and they project weird anime and similar video on the wall. But like I mentioned, the happy hour special is a good deal, and I will definitely be back, at least as long as they keep running it.
The only reason why I gave this a 3 star rating was because of the overall experience.
First off - The sushi itself is very good. I would probably order takeout to save the money (drinks, tip, time) rather than dine in. The dining experience is what prevented the 5 star rating in my book.
Atmosphere - I felt like a DJ was going to pop out of a corner and start spinning house music. This place seemed to be more of a place to be spotted, rather than a place to eat.
There was a wall in the back corner with the DVD emblem bouncing around the wall because in the 2 hours I was there, no one could either restart the DVD player or press play on the player. I don't know why anyone needs to be watching a movie in a sushi restaurant.
Service - We sat down around 8:30 at night on a Monday night (not typically a night for slow service) and didn't get our food until about 9:30. There were 3 of us there, and we decided to split a bottle of wine. The waitress brought out the bottle and 2 glasses. She ran off to get the third glass and we ended up pouring our own wine. We ordered Soup and Edamame as an appetizer (I the edamame, my friend the soup) and she got the soup while I waited on the edamame for another 10 minutes! A group sat after us, and the waitress took their order first, than finally took our order. Once the order was taken, we still waited about 45 minutes to receive our food. Please let me remind everyone that this was on a Monday and I think there was only about 3 tables.
If we are going on food along, this place deserves 5 stars. The price is pretty standard, (about $10-$16 per roll) and the quality is very good.
I was not a fan of the atmosphere and the service, which is why it received the 3 star rating in my book.
My suggestion, order takeout and eat it on your back deck with a nice bottle of Saki or wine.
Sushi X is now 100% awesome.
I stopped in on Monday night for a few rolls and was shocked when I got my bill -- half price due to HAPPY HOUR! All three rolls were half price!
I think I know where I'm going to be every Monday night from now on...
Sushi X has been one of my favorite places for maki (rolls) for about 4 years. They're a little… Read more »
Sushi X is the type of place that non-sushi people (aka my date) really enjoy. The rolls were BIG, especially from the MEGA menu choices. We ordered the Godzilla which was huge and good, but had a little too much cream cheese for my taste (so did many of the mennu items! lots of tempura too). We also got the spicy tuna and alaskan rolls. I actually wish they had been a little smaller and more pop-able (anyone else with me on this?). The spicy was in fact VERY spicy, so buyer beware.
I liked the atmosphere just fine. I was expecting a super-dark place after reading all the yelp reviews, but they must have installed more lighting because I found the room to be well-lit and comfortable. Our server was friendly and attentive. BYOB with no corkage fee was great!
I have been going to Sushi X for 4 years. Actually i have been taking carry-out 99.9% of time. I got hooked on them because some time back this was the only place in the neighborhood which was open till 2am so there was never a problem of getting sushi late at night. The three times i have had dinner there were really nice as well.
Some of my favorite things there include crab cakes, rainbow, caterpillar, honey, spider and godzilla rolls. I give them five stars because they have maintained the quality of seafood and because they care to update their menu from time to time with interesting innovations.
I keep ording the LAVA roll.... I dream about it's cream cheese spicy goodness!!!
but they loose a star for taking 90 mins. to deliver boo hisss...
Great sushi Delivery! Fresh and yummy on arrival. Miso was bland but you can't have it all. I had… Read more »
This was my first and last visit to this location.
I've gotten carry out from the Lincoln Park location numerous times and have thoroughly enjoyed the food. So when we found ourselves right down the street from this branch and hungry, we stopped in for dinner.
My first impression stepping into this tiny, dark room is that they are trying too hard. Bright blue walls, low lights and the giant screen playing anime, with overly-loud generic music in the background? No thanks. And the grey mini blinds on the tiny window in the corner seemed to take away any cool points they earned with the slate tables and frosted glass candles. And the entire space was filled with the booming voice of a guy on his cell phone showing us all just how important he is.
It would have been nice to hear about the special (Sunday - Wednesday 5pm -7pm half price rolls) from our server *before* we placed our order. I would have ordered differently, if I didn't hear about it when she was greeting the table next to us.. about five minutes after we had placed our order.
The food was okay but really nothing special:
miso - bland
veggie tempura - not much variety, but okay
maki - small in size and not big on flavor
We would have ordered the wasabi mashed potatoes, but we were denied by the waitress with no reason as to why they weren't serving them.
Our waitress might as well have been a robot, and an inefficient one at that. She took our order and dropped off our food, sure.. but when we were ready for the check, she was at the counter texting on her phone.. for way too long.
If our waitress hadn't sucked, and we would have been able to order the wasabi mashed potatoes, our dinner would have been worth coming back here again. Oh well.. next!
It's hard to know how to rate Sushi X.
The food:
Having never been to Sushi X, we ordered one hot item and 8 rolls between us. We had the wasabi garlic mashed potatoes, a buddha roll, a veggie tempura roll (no roe please!), a shitake roll, an avocado roll, a crab rangoon roll, a salmon skin roll, a sake roll, and a kappa roll. The first four were mine (vegetarians who still love sushi, unite!) and the latter four my girlfriend's. We also ordered the "Japanese Iced Green Tea".
Oh my God. I had no idea how huge the buddha and crab rangoon rolls would be. Is this normal in Chicago? I've never had such a wide maki before. And there were 10 pieces! In the other parts of the country I've had sushi my rolls have generally ranged 6-8 pieces, but not 10. If we had know, I think we'd have cut our order in half.
That said, almost everything we had was fantastic. I agree that Sushi X is a little heavy handed with the mayo. I get why they have it in some rolls, but it's in most of their rolls on the right side of the menu, so they could really hold back a little more. Even so, the buddha was pretty fabulous with lettuce, avocado, daikon, tempura asparagus, cucumber, shitake, and green onions. Better than your usual veggie roll with just avocado, carrots, and cucumber. My girlfriend said the crab rangoon tasted almost creepily like the real thing, in a good way. The wasabi garlic mashed potatoes were unusual in a sushi place, but incredibly good. I mean, I'm an Irish girl. There were potatoes. With WASABI. I'm sold. I didn't really dig my shitake roll because it was drowned in sesame seeds. I love me some sesame but I mean they were literally like 30% of the roll and I think anyone who has have had sesame knows they that's enough to overpower everything else in the roll. Sad.
Also, that Japanese iced green tea? Was a bottle of Fuze. Which is made in the U.S. ... yeah. I mean, there might be a slight chance that Fuze uses Japanese tea leaves instead of Chinese or Indian, but I doubt it. I felt more than a little cheated paying $3 for a Fuze flavor I don't even like.
The Service:
Weird. Sometimes really awesome, sometimes non-existent. It wasn't horrible by any means. Just that our server semi-disappeared after bringing our last dish and only filled our water glass once during the meal. Still, they're a small place with only two servers, so I can see how during a busy time they might flake a little.
The Atmosphere:
Awesome and headache inducing at the same time. Some might think of it as goth. I don't, largely because in Japan, many restaurants are themed. This one happens to be a restaurant in the US themed to be kind of Japanese. It's dark, with anime playing on one wall. Unlike most places in town, the servers aren't 20-something white kids. Techno is played at a level that's loud but not totally impossible to converse over (though you might have to speak up). I liked it, but I'm a little weird, so I get why some don't.
So that's that. Sushi X is on par with other overpriced sushi places in the area, but Sunday and Monday you can take advantage of the 5-7 happy hour. The price is good for two rolls per person per order but you can put in more orders until 7, so you can technically work it for as long as you want. That said, if you're ordering Mega or Neo rolls, I can't imagine ordering more than two. Really, they're huge.
I will note, I felt a little sick after my meal, but I'm pretty sure that's because of the giant portions, not the quality of the food.
If you like fish with cream cheese/milk together plus mayo go for it!!!!
Sushi will be prepared behind the wall by a mystery chef who does not want to be recognized. Food will be invisible in darkness, after a significant wait. For which you will pay through the nose, your stomach may feel queasy on the way back home...with the mix of raw fish and milk like products.
If you're going to go to Sushi X please do me a favor and trek up to the one in Lincoln Park. The experience is better, the space doesn't feel like you're in a prison, and the service is way better and faster!!!
We usually go to the one in LP but I work very close to the West Town location. So my husband and I walk up to this weird scary building, and the inside was just as bad. They did a way better job in LP getting the vibe right than in this small, scary looking space.
Plus, as I saw in a previous review, the two girls who were working were AWFUL. Seriously. I couldn't believe texting, playing on the computer, and ORDERING A PIZZA would take precedence over waiting on your customers. They had friends come in and out, their pizza was delivered, one of their boyfriends came in, and most of the time they just sat behind the counter talking. We waiting forever to get our food, and the table that came in 20 mins after us got their sushi before we did. ARE YOU SERIOUS!? Our sushi was eh...it seemed like they had been in a rush to make them because they kept falling apart and there was barely anything inside our Dragon roll. And to top it off, I'm pretty sure the fish on our Rainbow Roll caused me to see my meal in reverse later on that night. It was just so dried up and nasty looking. And most of the roll was avacado, not really much fish.
We will never come back to this location: i have always been pleased with the Lincoln Park location!!
Fresh and spicy Red dragon. Hot salty fresh edaname.
Delivery, or dine in - the same quality. I'm a Red Dragon fan and I always order it where ever I go. Butterfly doesn't get it and holy smokes don't try ordering sushi period at Thalia. Sushi X is always fresh and delvers the quality I have to have.
Dark as hell, I mean black, not nary a window.
can't even see the menu which is in some Neo sushi language (inside out, hot cold etc.) and there is no damn sushi bar! Who is making my maki?
Listen, go here if your having an affair with a stripper and you wanna make out in a dark corner while enjoying an overpriced Neo roll!
There isn't much to say that everyone else hasn't already said but I was very disappointed in Sushi X.
I actually enjoyed all the rolls that I ordered, although they were extremely spicy and I love spicy foods but a couple of times I did have to take a break and soothe my mouth with ice water.
The seating was eh, we were sat so close to the another party and a sofa against the wall. When we were given the table it was actually missing a chair and I had to stand a good five minutes before I had to ask for a chair myself. Did I mention that two servers walked past me a couple of times while I was standing? And that brings me to the service. Just awful! Ordering our food wasn't the problem nor was the time it took to get our food but it took forever for someone to aknowledge us and bring us drinks. I ended up not leaving the best tip for our waitress and I don't believe she was very happy about that. Oh well.
I would go back here again for the half priced rolls that I didn't know about until I read the yelp reviews but it would not be my first choice for dinner if I was craving sushi.
ok, so I don't like to be negative and to tell you the truth, I didn't even want a Yelp account (no offense) but after eating what some may call 'sushi' last night at sushi x, i was compelled to start yelping away.
i get it. sushi is trendy. you know 'roll it in this funky mayo' or 'fry it with this 'tropical' fruit tempura'. rub it. pat it down. but don't eat it. i don't want to eat your bizarre sushi experiment in what can only be described as a crazy anime windowless blue hole that blars Liley Allen to feel edgy.
oddly, i was fully willing to cast all that aside if the service wasn't like pulling teeth. not every restaurant experience needs to be a life changing experience but i am giving you my money, humor me. also i bartend currently and have been in the service industry for 7 years, so i feel confident that my take on things is not that off base. i digress....ultimately, my party of 8 arrived at sushi x at 9:30 or so and was literally forced out the door at 11:00. again, i get it. its closing time and everybody wants to leave. BUT my party just spent hundreds of dollars on your subpar sushi and now some guy that works there sat on the front counter and flipped through his ipod, playing only portions of his favorite songs until he settled on 'Closing Time' by Semisonic. ok. thats not funny. its not ironic. its out of control.
don't go to sushi x unless you want your money to be taken, your stomach to feel gross and some dude playing 'closing time' on full blast as the staff practically physically removes you.
go to Tank in Lincoln Square. its amazing.
If there ever was a boutique sushi take away, Sushi X would be it. The first thing you'll immediately notice is the amount of attention paid to their packaging. They have their own specially designed carry out plastic bag, box stickers, chopsticks, flyer menu and business card (see pictures).
Being a bit OCD in my personal time and taking great pleasure in putting stuff away in neat containers, I found it refreshing to find a place that shares my love of organization as each roll was carefully tucked away in a container that looked like it could withstand the harshest of delivery routes (again, see the pictures).
Yes, this is very clever, I hear you say, but as a customer, it gives me great satisfaction when I take away food and the restaurant asks me how many people will be partaking in the meal and then making sure the same amount of utensils are not only included but carefully packaged away for me to enjoy and use. Call me a sucker but small things like that carry a lot of weight for me.
The food is outstanding. The rolls are decently sized if not a tad on the big size but that's forgivable considering the price you're paying which is a tad on the expensive side. The ingredients are plentiful and they do not cut any corners in the construction of their rolls. This is definitely a place where both quality and quantity are served.
Sushi X has the best giant rolls ever. The rolls are definitely a 2 or 3 biter. Not only do they give giant portions, but they have an amazing happy hour from Sun-Thur from 5-7 PM where all rolls are half off. I always get 2 giant mega rolls and it totals anywhere from $12-$16.
This place is a hidden gem and a hole in the wall. It is very tiny with limited seating. The only down side is that the staff is not that attentive and is terrible with refilling cups of water.
Although the ambiance and service of the restaurant could be 10x better, the quality of the food and price makes me and my friends come here twice a week.
Bust out those magnifying glasses, Sushi X is hard to locate considering there isn't a large sign in front of the restaurant. And forget the menus that are usually posted on the front windows, because there are no windows in front of this establishment. I wasn't sure what I was walking into had it not been for a couple of friends who were regulars at the place.
Upon entering, you find yourself in a very, VERY dark room. It is finally after about three meters that you find yourself in the restaurant with a projection screen showcasing Anime as your only light source. We were lucky to find seating, and I say lucky because there only seemed to be seriously less than ten tables.
Because of lack of light, I found it very hard to focus on the menu. I was too frustrated to read descriptions on the menu items, that I resorted to only my regular sushi rolls, Dragon and Shrimp Tempura, after failed attempts to read the menu with my phone (I'm telling you, it's THAT dark). The music was a tad bit loud as well, you would think with the dim lighting that it would be an intimate place, but I could hardly hear anything!
On the plus side, it is a BYOB establishment, the food arrived in a timely manner and wasn't half-bad. Although, if you normally order spicy-tuna, I say refrain from theirs, it was over-the-top spicy, even for me, the spice lover!
Overall:
Cleanliness: A
Food: B
Service: B
Location: B
Prices: B
Space: C
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Grade: B
15% off anytime for students
Neighborhood: University Village
Shiso Specials
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Chicago, IL
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Wicker Park
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: Near West Side
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: Near West Side
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: West Loop
Category: Japanese
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