Ethan’s Cafe

My mom always demanded all her children finish their plates before leaving the table. Every last scrap was delicious and nutritious and there existed starving children in this world. Those maxims are a part of me as assuredly as my Catholic education is. However, once every few years I come across something so nasty, I have no choice but to walk away. Such was the case here… only, I couldn’t walk away, my waitress had disappeared! The clean-​your-​plate maxim may have failed but the do-​not-​steal Commandment had not. I patiently waited, paid, then jetted, hungry.

Why did this place close down? It was great!

I love this place. The bibimbap stonebowl is excellent (perfect hangover killer) and the rest of the food is good too. I’ve never had the problems with all-​you-​can-​eat sushi that others note, but I usually don’t go for that. The staff has always been friendly to me, if a bit slow. Overall I really enjoy the place and will go back many times.

My boyfriend and I came here last night to celebrate some really, really good news. All You Can Eat Sushi sounded like just the thing!
As soon as we arrived, we asked our server if there were any restrictions to the AYCE menu. Our server handed us the menu and said the only restriction was we could only order one maki roll, and we could put in only two sushi selections at a time. Great! Fine! No big deal!
We were promptly ignored for the next 15 minutes, but I let it go because I was in a good mood. Finally, she took our orders.
The sushi was O.K. — not earth-​shattering, but fine. But then it was time for the most awkward ending of a meal ever.
We had finished eating and were ready for the check, but we waited around a LONG time for our server to come back. When she finally appeared, she looked at the very small bits of uneaten sushi on our plate and said, «Oh, you have to finish.» After a moment of confusion, I realized she thought we wanted to order more rolls: meaning, you have to finish what you have before you order more. I said, «Oh no, we just want the check!» After she left, my boyfriend and I giggled at our misunderstanding — we totally thought she meant we couldn’t leave the restaurant without finishing the three pieces left on our plate!
Our giggles soon turned into sober realization. I went up to pay, and she said, «I will not charge you the $ 5.00 unfinished fee today, but next time. .. «Pause. «What?» She pulled out a secret menu we had never seen — one she never showed us when we ASKED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEAL to see restrictions. In plain print, it says customers will be charged $ 5.00 if they don’t finish your food. I’m flabbergasted. This is a joke. At this point, I’m thinking, Whatever, I’m never coming back, anyway. So I just smiled as if not getting charged $ 5.00 was some grand favor, and waited to pay.
AYCE was $ 21.95 a person, so imagine my surprise when the total rang up to over $ 56. «What?» I repeated. «Oh, that’s the 18.5% gratuity for your meal.» she replied. For a two person meal. And terrible service. Oh, and of course it’s all written on that mysterious menu she never showed us — how ever could we have missed it? At this point, I just laughed out loud, paid the bill, and got out of there.
This was all topped off by horrendous intestinal distress later in the evening. I’m not going to say food poisoning, but I am going to say intestinal distress.
In conclusion, this place is a joke.

Went here after my volleyball game with my team. We were just looking for a place to grab some food and decided to go here.
We got in about about an hour and a half before they closed. From what i remember the is a step right when you open the door. watch for that i almost fell going in and then almost fell going out cause i forgot about that darn step.
I ordered the specialty maki roll the FireCracker. It was pretty good at an okay price. i was looking at everyone elses plates they looked about average. nothing really special stands out with the food.
One thing i did notice when we were walking out, i saw a sign that said BYOB. So if you want some suchi and so happen to be carrying a case of beer or some kind of liquor come into Ethan’s.

Nothing here will make you come back!
Alright place to go for their Monday bibimbap special.
Ok for their unlimited sushi night, but there isn’t anything that will impress you to come back a second time. My suggestion is go to Clark street and go eat at Ponzu. There at least the sushi is worth the money

Ethan, what happened to the pat bing su? The last few times I’ve been you guys haven’t had it. This upsets me, as it was so nice to have pat bing su in the area, and not having to drive to Albany Park and the like for such treats was quite excellent.
I’m not quite sure what’s going on with the pat bing su status, did they stop serving it? Is it only served on certain days? Either way, I miss it. Sigh.

I wish I could give it 2.5 stars. But it falls slightly short of 3 stars.
First of all, what’s with the name Ethan’s? My friend asked to meet there and I was expecting some type of sandwich place like Panera. Then they had the most random music playing. It was like something that I would hear as I ate tapas.
Anyhoo. We ordered an assortment of fried tempura and seaweed salad to begin. Fried tempura was good, but the fried dough was not as light as most tempura. The dipping sauce tasted like straight soy sauce. It caught me by surprise because tempura dipping sauce is usually very light and slightly sweet. The seaweed salad was good.
We also got 5 different rolls. I don’t remember any of the names, but they were pretty good. Not outstanding, but satisfying.
We ended our meal with kimchi fried rice. This was the reason why I couldn’t give Ethan’s 3 stars. It didn’t taste bad, it just didn’t taste like kimchi fried rice. The rice was mushy and they put something in there that isn’t typical. I believe it was the spicy paste that you put in another dish called bibimbop. It was just… weird.
Points for BYOB and having both Japanese and Korean. But I have to say that I can cook Korean food better than this. And for sure, my momma’s Korean food rocks this joint.

I came here after a softball game with some girlfriends when we were very hot and sweaty. We just wanted a quick bite, but for being empty, the service was pretty slow. My friend and I got the sunkissed roll, which was a spicy tuna roll wrapped in salmon and avocado, and a crunchy spicy salmon roll. The crunchy spicy salmon was good, but the sunkissed roll must have something citrusy in the mix that wasn’t listed on the menu because it tastes sort of sweet and I didn’t like it.
I also like to eat my sushi with Ponzu sauce. I asked the server for it and she has no idea what I was talking about. Really? it’s vinegary soy sauce and Japanese. why have you never heard of it?

Good rolls. Well done and the I’d say the fish was fresh. Good unagi rolls, both the special amki and regular rolls. I’m on an eel kick lately.
What’s with the name though — Ethan’s?
And the rules for the all you can eat — Oh, Em, Gee. No more than so and so per order, with no more than one being more than $ 9.50. 2 hour limit per table. $ 5 for each roll left over… etc. It was a lot to get around, but the waitress checked me at every violation with no fine.
All in all, the food was good especially for $ 20 all you can eat sushi. Wasn’t crowded at all on a Friday night — which was surprising. It’s gotta be the name throwing people off.
I’ll definitely go back. This vs. waiting for ever to NEVER get in to Sushi Para II — I choose Ethan Hawke’s.

I don’t know who Ethan is, but he seems to be as ADD as me. This café is Joy Yee’s meets Koreatown meets sushi bar. Boba, sushi, bulgogi, espresso… it’s enough to make anyone’s head spin, but everything I had was up to par.
First off, there was complimentary green tea and miso soup with my sushi, which was a nice touch. Second, I love hamachi and salmon, but rarely do I find them combined in a roll without tuna. They let me substitute salmon for tuna in a Chicago Roll, and the fish quality was decent, so I was happy.
In terms of ambiance/​décor, they played some OAR and Coldplay, which made me smile. That, plus Japanese paintings and European coffee bar? All good things, the combination of which is rather unusual and quirky… just like me, so I can’t hate.

I used to be a big fan and eat there all the time after or between class but today was the last straw.
Usually you get free kimchee, so I ordered some and lo and behold I was charged 2.50 for like 5 pieces. at first I thought I must have over looked it on the menu but no … I didn’t. When I asked the waitress she couldn’t find it either. but told me it was the case and that a lot of the prices changed and were not reflected in the menu. am I the only one who sees something wrong with that?
It’s not as if I fished a menu out of my drawer at home and expected the prices to jive. I went to the damn restaurant and ordered off their menu!
Give me a break!!! NO MORE!

I was hooked on this place when I lived on campus. It’s cheap and fairly decent.
I always ordered the bibimbap or the noodles — make sure you order them on the discount days! ($ 5 – 7) The specials change so do your research beforehand. I’ve had the sushi here and it’s ok. I would only eat the sushi if someone else was treating me to lunch or dinner.

Went here last night with my S.O. and I gotta say despite the fact the place is deceptive when it comes to the AYCE sushi price, despite spotty service, and despite the fact that the quality isn’t super great, despite the fact that this place tries to be too many things at once, this place is getting four stars in my book.
The buffet was nice and wound up including a bunch of things that are not listed on the menu. Like we were given miso soup, tempura, and four Nigiri pieces. I know that part of why they do that is to try to fill you up on things that are not sushi, but it was still nice and added a little something to the experience (What can I say? I am a sucker for surprises). The tempura was really not that great, It wound up being a nest of deep fried veggies because they were all stuck together. The nigiri were eatable but not great and IMHO exposed the fact that sushi quality wasn’t high, still decent enough for me either way. (I don’t know enough about sushi to be a quality snob). Everything tasted pretty fresh anyway.
They also had a decent selection of maki rolls and included in the buffet is your choice of one of the more expensive rolls per person, which made it worth the price considering both the rolls we choose were over twelve dollars each. For that we picked the Red Dragon and the Dynamite, and both were excellent. They added a nice touch to the Red Dragon by making it look kinda like a dragon.
The menu included a few more stand outs, our favorites (that i haven’t mentioned yet) included the Unagi, Crunchy Shrimp, Seatle, Tropical, Rose (this one was also artfully presented), JB, and Tropical. There were a couple that didn’t quite make it to good, which were the Orange-​it just tasted weird, and the Sunkiss (artfully presented as well) because it didn’t contain what the menu said it did.
Be forewarned they are pretty strict about the two hour limit that the menu states. Our server also was not too happy when me and the S. O added to our last order, we were going to order just one roll each but when he told us it was our last order we went with two each, and he made a frowny face at us.
All in all a good experience. A plus I forgot to mention is that the place was very clean, and I noted the sushi chef washing his hands very frequently.

Long story short: It’s not the best all-​you-​can-​eat sushi location in the city, but it’s one of the good ones.
Short story long: I was recommended this location by Crystal P. when she saw that I had requested to know of any all-​you-​can-​eat sushi locations NOT on my list already. This place was new to me, so I did the proper thing and went to try it. Heck, if I survived Sushi Lounge, I could make it anywhere. So I did my research on the reviewers who’ve already made their claims to this place and headed there straight after work, arriving at 6pm and we were pretty much the only ones in there.
Most reviewers have said this sushi buffet is $ 15. The restaurant itself misleads you all over the place.
— The menu on the window by the door says: «$ 16.95 Weekdays; $ 19.95 Weekends»
— The huge sign above the window menu clearly says: «Regular $ 19.95 /​Person; Special $ 16.95 /​Weekdays»
— The sign to the LEFT of that huge sign adds: «Friday: Lunch Maki Buffet $ 15 /​Person»
— The menu once you get INSIDE says: «Adults — $ 19.95; Kids — $ 5.95»
So since it was not a Friday (nor lunch) but it was a different weekday, we should have gotten the buffet for $ 16.95, at least according to TWO of the signs. We were charged $ 19.95 each. We preferred to pay rather than try to argue, since the menu in front of us said $ 19.95, even though several other locations suggested it would be less. Maybe we were just UNLUCKY on this occasion, since at this point, the owner was not too pleased with us for taking advantage of the buffet while following all the rules.
Yes, the rules. You didn’t think you’d get such a great deal (if you can GET the deal) on AYCE sushi without some rules, right? Nisha G.‘s review makes it seem like there really aren’t any rules — but there are a litany of rules and this is one of the first AYCE locations I’ve been to that enforces them strictly.
— Of course, there’s the traditional «$ 5 per person for any left over maki.» But if that’s the case, you’re probably not doing it right (as I’ve mentioned in other AYCE sushi reviews).
— «Maki buffet must apply to all the members at the table.» Classic rule that’s put down to avoid sharing. Nicer locations just tell you not to share with the non-​AYCE-​ers.
— «Order maxium of 2 per person or minium of 1 per table at a time.» I left the spelling errors in there because I laughed when I saw them. For each round, the max is 2/​person and the min is 1 roll. Understandable, and nice that it doesn’t always have to be 2/​person every round.
— «Limit of 1 maki per person Any Maki priced at $ 9.95 or above.» Basically you’re handed a list of all the sushi rolls they make, with their standard prices. You can order as many as you want from the rolls that cost less than $ 9.95, but each person gets a once-​per-​buffet allowance of an expensive roll ($ 9.95 and up).
— «2 Hour Limit for Table.» This was actually ENFORCED. There weren’t other people waiting and it really wasn’t crowded — they just didn’t like us eating all that sushi and they dragged their feet the last couple of rounds. We arrived around 6pm and at 7:40pm he told us it was our last order. So we did the maximum 4 rolls in total and he made a frowny face. That last round took about twice as long to make as our previous rounds, including 4-​roll order rounds.
«So how was the sushi,» I hear you silently ask, after reading this far and not seeing my judgment of the fishy food written anywhere yet.
The sushi was good. I wouldn’t say it was great quality, but it was well-​prepared. Some of the rolls had a lovely artistic flair to them (the Rose Maki, Sunkissed Maki and Red Dragon Maki, for example). A few of them were just lacking in flavor, which sadly exposed the quality deficiencies completely.
The buffet was also good. The menu doesn’t say it, but there were a lot of hidden «freebies» included. We were brought little cups of hot green tea. We were brought a bowl of miso soup. We were brought a bowl of «vegetable tempura», which oddly consisted of stringy clumps of cucumber, red bell pepper, onion and carrot tossed in tempura batter and fried as a jumble and placed in a bowl. It was like peel-​a-​part tempura of odd tastes, when we’re used to classic string beans and sweet potato tempura. Lastly, he brought out 4 pieces of nigiri sushi: yellowtail, tuna, salmon and shrimp. It was nice — but due to the low quality, the maki is better than the nigiri. I’m really NOT a quality snob when it comes to sushi, but even I have a breaking point in quality where I have to say «you’re not even trying and my taste buds are now bored and/​or angry.»
Then came the rolls — we tried a good amount of items. The highlights were the Rose Maki, Tokyo Maki, Unagi Maki (eel rolls are my favorite judge of a sushi place), JB Maki and Crunch Shrimp Maki.
All in all, I give it four stars. The sushi quality and rule enforcement kept it from #5, but the good rolls and nice bonuses make this place worth visiting again.

I’ll admit that this place caught me by surprise. Lincoln Park doesn’t really seem like an area that would have decent Korean food. think again. My friend ordered the kimchi bokumbap (fried rice) for herself, but I ended up eating half of it. It totally hit the spot. It ordered edamame and fruit bing soo (shaved ice, condensed milk, red bean paste, mango ice cream (A HUGE SCOOP), strawberry, kiwi, banana, mochi.) I really don’t think you can find a place that has better bing soo. If you do, please let me know.
Outdoor seating rocks– especially when dining with 2 canines. =)

I’ve recently gone to Ethan’s Café to try out their sushi buffet ($ 15 per person). Sushi buffet’s usually make me cringe, because of all the rules and ugh, how full i get! Well… I definitely left Ethan’s Café full, but I left knowing that I’d come back :)
So goto any other sushi buffet and here’s what the scenario is:
Customer: «Hi…I’d like to have the sushi buffet»
Waiter: «Do you know… the RULES?»
Customer: «Um…please, refresh my memory»
Waiter: «Order one plate at a time. Cannot order another plate until you are completely done with the prior. If you do not finish everything on your plate, $ 5.00 charge.»
Now…the one rule that I hate at other places: You cannot order another plate until you are completely done with the prior. At Ethan’s Café, you can order more than one plate and you can keep ‘em coming! Order mid-​way through your plate… Don’t give yourself a chance to realize your full!!! It’s what I did – and I left angry at myself for having eaten so much, but boy does it taste good :)

Ethan’s has great deals but that change all the time, so you may have to call. Monday: I know they have discounted Bulgoki & some maki specials, but I can’t tell you more than that.
The food is not the tastiest but it’s cheap and a great place to study with free wi-​fi. The food has improved greatly though, pretty much with each name change (since it’s happened 3 times, before it was Coffee In the City). You do get free green/​jasmine tea whenever you go in, so I LOVE that. Service is always relaxed and slow, so I wouldn’t recommend visiting for a quick bite.
Addition:
So I went back today and have a bit to add. I noticed that they now have a sushi bar where they make the sushi in front of you. In addition, they have outdoor sidewalk seating for those nice days! There are a variety of bagels, croissants and other breakfast foods too. A few more decorations have been put up, like a cute antique clock on the wall. Lunch specials are back from 11 am til 3 pm. I tend to lean towards the Bibimbob which comes with an over-​easy egg atop of rice, beef, mushrooms, spinach and carrots. All the orders also come with hot tea as I previously mentioned and tofu soup. You choose the flavor & spice to give it by the soy sauce and a spicy red paste on the side.
More reasons to give Ethan’s a try.

Random place near DePaul with yummy Korean food. Kalbi was good and gingery, with rice and lots of veggie side dishes. Kimchee fried rice was spicy and came sizzling in a hot stone bowl with the egg runny but not too undercooked. Prices were decent, service was okay considering the poor girl had five tables in two different sections of the café and also had to make coffee drinks? Like I said it’s random, sort of looks like a coffee place that sprouted two small dining areas.
We were going to ride the brown line all the way out to Kimball to try Kang Nam or Solga when I got too hungry and decided just to get off on Armitage. Wandered around until we noticed some korean ladies with aprons on hanging out in front of Ethan’s, and then realized it was a restauraunt. I bet they’re new or transitioning or something because it’s a coffee shop too. I think I saw a person using WiFi there. They offer Japanese food, udon, sushi and a maki buffet after 5pm for $ 15, but I didn’t go for it since we wanted Korean and also it appears the people who run the place are Korean. Anyway, 4 stars for the food and price. Confusing ambiance, and understaffed (though we came a bit early 4:30pm so maybe they were between shifts or something?) anyway I like to give little places like this the benefit of the doubt.

FYI. Come for the food, and avoid the mediocre coffee beverages.
Coffee in the City recently changed their name to Ethan’s Café when they decided to focus on their Korean and Japanese menu. Not having visited the place for awhile, I was surprised at the new name and the expanded space. I was also happy to see daily specials which included a $ 5 bibimbap special on Monday. The meal is a steal in that if you dine-​in, you get miso soup, kimchi, and the bibimbap (a mixture of veggies, meat, and fried egg on top of rice). The entire meal was delicious and filling, even though the bibimbap lacked enough meat.
Other specials throughout the week include all you can eat sushi for $ 15.
This is a great spot for a quick and casual lunch, and the daily specials are great.