Gari Sushi & Asian Bistro

I came here on a Thursday, so it wasn’t too busy and we were seated immediately. Contrary to many previous views, I thought service was very good. If I were to guess, I would say that lack of friendliness is due to language, as it seems that English is not some waiters’ primary language. However, my waitress was very nice and thanked me for checking in on Unilocal!
I redeemed my check-​in offer of a free California roll. I really liked the roll, even though it’s pretty standard. They don’t overuse rice, which I appreciate. The ratio of rice to other ingredients is good. I ordered the Fire Dragon roll — spicy tuna, eel, and tobiko. I really enjoyed it. It was $ 14, which seems pretty standard for sushi prices in the area.
The only thing I didn’t like was the lighting. I’m sure it is hip to have a dark ambiance, but I couldn’t read my menu!

Stumbled upon Gari thanks to Groupon and am grateful for it! Sushi is great, definitely on par with a lot of the Wicker Park joints nearbybut within walking distance of me. It may become my new «go-​to». BYOB and they serve Poke which is amazing! Highly recommend trying the Poke, Michigan Beach roll and Sexy chick roll. Their fried rice is also delicious! I can’t wait to come back!

Pretty good, especially for vegetarian sushi. We go here a lot and I enjoy it. The reason it’s a 4 is because of the service which is often not great. Since we are used to it it’s not a big deal, but it’s something to keep in mind.

If anyone gives this place a higher rating than one. They are high. The service is Horrendous. No one smiles or greets (staff) it took almost 35 minutes for 4rolls which tasted, off. The quality of the fish is mediocre at best, and incredibly overpriced. I left feeling like someone should be paying me to eat here. Never coming back, save yourself the trip and money.

Such delicious sushi, no wait, BYOB, and consistent quality! There are options of tables or sushi bar, and the prices are reasonable especially with a groupon!

The quality and freshness of the sushi was great! Loved all the rolls we ate, and the spicy miso was awesome. It’s a really cute, cozy atmosphere with good service and reasonable pricing. Really happy we can add this to the list of great local neighborhood sushi joints.

Amazing sushi! I’ve been here 3 times and the quality of the sushi has been consistently great. Service is always good too. It’s our number one place for sushi now!

Very nice little place, we ordered the Emanuel (eww at the name), the sexy chick and the Veggie roll, the presentation was really nice, superior, the taste excellent, the service good, very few people there on this Tuesday nigt, the ambience is quiet and good for conversation, would definitely good back.

Great rolls and miso soup. Service was friendly. We got a groupon here which made the value unbelievable. I’m from California and usually don’t like rolls w too much sauce. But they keep the additional sauce on the side for dipping and the rolls were very tasty.

Enjoyed my dinner! This is my second time here it was so good. I ordered Godzilla Maki and 2 grilled salmon meals!

Seems like this place is either a hit or a huge miss– I unfortunately experienced a miss.
We live in the area and were craving sushi after coming home from a concert the other night. Gari was the only place delivering at 11:30pm so we decided to give it a try. Ordered a simple sushi chef’s platter and an order of dumplings to make it easy; estimated delivery was 45 – 60 minutes.
1 hour and 43 minutes later, our delivery finally arrives. Driver demanded payment despite the fact that we had paid via PayPal. Even more irritating, the bill at delivery was a few dollars more than the bill at checkout. We got the PayPal payment refunded but should have gotten everything refunded. We called the next day and they denied it ever happened. The sushi stale, like it had been sitting in this guy’s car for an hour while he had shift drinks with his buddies. Despite the staleness, the sushi wasn’t even that good.
There are better places in the area, and this place deserves to be put out of business for the heinous customer service and utter disrespect. Also, never pay cash for delivery.

Waited over an hour for our sushi while the chefs were filling carry out orders and other tables who arrived well after we ordered got their sushi on time. The worst part is they tried to charge us for sushi that was never brought out and appetizers that were over fried and burnt. The wait staff was incompetent and it seemed as if there was no manager/​senior to correctly handle the situation.

Sushi rolls were large
Rolled to perfection
I had a quick protein crave after my work out.
I dined fast and sat by the window.
Excellent value.
I will return!

My boyfriend and I love this place! Their fish is SO fresh. The sushi is so delicious– generous with fish and don’t overdo it with the rice.
I highly recommend the Wow Roll. The Mr. James Roll is perfect for a sunny day out.
Service is great, too. BYOB.

Somewhat disappointed as I head good things. The quality and taste is that of grocery store sushi. I’ve had the Mexicano roll at a different place: same price but then other restaurant had more pieces and less fatty fish. The spicy mayo is low quality, which is such a simple thing. The service was good. Friendly and fast.

So, I recently moved to the neighborhood (westown, born and raised),
was looking for a sushi place, hopped on Unilocal looking for praise,
scannin, searching, Gari looked cool
Ordered some Sushi, everything was good
thought yes, awesome place in my hood!
ordered more times, oh no — order never arrived!
called to inquire, owner said «call back Thu — your order is free»
I called back, asked for the free food,
was told, owner’s not here, can’t help you dude
called back the next day, got in touch with the owner
he laughed at me, said «I’d never say that, no free order, you boner»
we argued, i got mad
He said fine, I’ll live up to my word.
Asked me what I ordered — I said I’ll have to check on my PC
He said call me back and give it to me.
I called back, gave him the details,
he laughed at me again, called me a liar,
said I can’t do that, shorty
I’ll give you half off — twenty, not forty
Now if he’d been honest right from the beginning,
I’d have said, «$ 20 off, dude I’m winning!»
But since he was so rude and condescending
I said, «screw you I’m not bending»
I’ll get my neighborhood sushi elsewhere,
according to Unilocal,Yuzu’s right there.
so that’s my tale,
we’re finally square.
Gari’s owner made me mad enough to swear!

Went to dinner with my boyfriend here on a Sat night. The atmosphere was low key but cozy, great for a casual byob date.
Cucumber salad– skip this, just sliced cucumbers without much going on
All the rolls had very generous portions of fish which was awesome, even the $ 6 tuna/​avocado roll. Some of the rolls had a bit too much mayo but were otherwise delish.
What sets it apart are the very reasonable prices. We had a ton of sushi for under $ 50.00 which is hard to come by in this part of town.

Just checking in to say I still love everything about this place! BYOB, great service, a big selection of rolls, sashimi/​nigiri, noodles, and more. My bf also likes the offerings from their Asian BBQ grill.
They take reservations, but it’s typically easy to walk in as well. Definitely the best BYOB sushi place in West Town/​Wicker Park.

This hurts my soul to write this review because I really did love this place after going several times during the winter but after the experience I just had, I am just baffled.
I go in with a newbie who never had sushi at all. Both of us are on low carb diets and can’t eat ANY rice. I’ve been to many, many, many sushi restaurants where they are willing to wrap whatever roll they have on their menu in cucumber instead of rice. Well, we tried to order my favorite Mr James roll just like that… Server says, not possible without rice. Tried to order this roll, then that roll, then this roll… No, no, no. He finally budged and let us order what I call the #basicbitch roll (aka California Roll). I am not a sushi virgin here, I’ve been around the fishy blocks y’all… I know what can and cannot be done by those man’s hands who roll that shit. For you to tell me you can’t accommodate my request, a loyal customer, is absurd.
I asked for a miso soup and a seaweed salad to start in order to fill my hungry belly since I can’t have carbs. The miso soup was irregularly salty this time. The highlight of my meal was the seaweed salad. Who knew taking the crap (literally) from the ocean and slapping it on a plate would be the most memorable part of my experience tonight. The irony, I tell you. So disappointed. Not liking the recent changes guys.
Xoxo,
Carb starved bitch.

You wanna BYOB? Yeah you know me!
If you’ve read any of my reviews then you know I have a deep affinity for BYOBs. Just about every weekend, I pick up a new bottle and a new spot to explore and hopefully enjoy. A couple weekends ago, my hubby, recently-​moved-​to-​the-​city friend and her +1 had just finished helping her move and unpack her junk from her trunk. We were getting hangry (so much hunger, anger ensues) and needed food+booze quick and nearby.
Even with mixed reviews, I didn’t let that stop me from trying Gari. Around 8:30p, we walked in to a very dimly lit dining room where there was 1 large party occupying the entire left side of the wall and 2 groups in little 2-​seated tables. The sushi preparation was at the far back of the room. We found a table just in front of the sushi counter that fit us all.
Contrary to some other reviews, service was excellent! We were greeted, seated, introduced menus and specials all by a young, energetic guy that had no problem answering our questions about rolls with brown rice (they offer black rice instead). We shared the tuna tataki, edamame, dobo roll, James roll, free California roll (by checking in on Unilocal,as you should always do!) and tako roll (pics of all rolls are posted). Everything was really good but the James roll stood out as the best and the dobo as the worst. Something about the dobo, weather lack of crunch or just the ingredients made me want to spit it out. My recently-​moved friend loved that roll best, so ‘diff’rent strokes!‘
We finished our meals with the tempura banana (average but satisfied my sweet tooth) and a green tea ice cream type thing that was explained to us as frozen rice paper. It wasn’t the best dessert but who cares? It’s a sushi place and the sushi was great.
My only dislike was that the place felt a little «divey» for a sushi spot. The tables and chairs were very wobbly, to the point that it was making me self-​conscious about my cuban booty! Thought I was going to break the damn thing but I realized it was just lower quality furniture. The prices here are really affordable, so if i have to wobble in my chair a little, I’ll take it or just take it to go.
In short, we drank, laughed and were treated like kings and queens all thanks to taking a chance on a now neighborhood gem.
Thanks for the great time, Gari!