Mio Bento

Outstanding!!! The prices are good, food is great, staff is very nice even though we used a
certificate, byob, etc. This is hands down the best value sushi place in the city.
I feel really fortunate to be able walk to this place. I usually get the bulgogi and some sushi (dragon and caterpillar rolls are really good).

Walking by, like I do several times a week, I noticed their welcome board looked a bit unusual… instead of listing their monthly special, there was a somber «good-​bye». Had the board not been out I may not have otherwise noticed the letter taped to their door. The letter opened with «Closing time… for now» and closed with a genuine «WE HAVE BEEN HONORED TO SERVE YOU.»
In a flash, happy (and all too recent) memories of take out combined with nothing but pleasent experiences dining in rushed through my mind. What events led to Mio Bento deciding to «hand over the spatula» I wondered… A sad way to ring in the new year for there was no better quality maki in this part of Chicago.

This place is awesome! I’m afraid to say this out loud because I don’t want everyone to bombard the place. Haha. I went to lunch here with a girlfriend today and we had the whole place to our self. It’s tiny but cozy place. Service was great. Food was so awesome. It reminds me of my favorite joint back at home.
We both got bento boxes that came with salad, maki and soup. Our miso soup came out first and it was so tasty. My lunch companion is a miso connoisseur and she said it seemed sweet with a hint of orange. I couldn’t taste it but all I knew is that it was good and warming. We had a choice for maki that came with our bento, either salmon or spicy tuna. The tuna is tasty. I had the pork katsu bento. I’m such a sucker for katsu. It was breaded just enough, fried to perfection garnished with sauce and sesame. Oh so good. We also shared a Scallop Tempura. Everything was very yummy and satisfying.
I love this place! My friend and I tried out this place because of a
. I’m so glad we did. I’m definitely coming back to this place.

We love Mio Bento. Their sushi is fresh and yummy. Their rice dishes are tasty, filling and inexpensive. I like the chicken teriyaki which comes with miso soup, rice and tons of veggies.
Also, their delivery is quick and really friendly. I’ve been there countless times and have never had a bad experience. It is my go-​to sushi spot.
They also have great deals and specials.

I headed here on a Friday night in search of some yummy non-​meat fare. I was pleased to see the place was BYOB and that I could walk here from my house.
The place is pretty small, and it definitely seems this place is more of a take out restaurant. But, there were a couple tables occupied when I arrived, and I’d say throughout our dinner there, there were always at least two tables occupied.
We decided to take advantage of the nice night and sit at one of their two outside tables. Believe it or not, the Irving Park Road traffic didn’t really bother us.
We had a
certificate, which was $ 25 off a $ 45 bill, with the required purchase of two main entrée dinners. We should have brought another person or two, because that was too much food for two people.
I started out with the shrimp bento box. It have me fried veggies and shrimp, soup, salad, rice, and a couple pieces of sushi. That alone would have been enough for me, and all for less than $ 10. My one complaint about my dish is that the pieces of veggie and shrimp were very very fried with the fried coating being super thick. I had to take some of it off to enjoy it.
My husband got the Bi Bim Bop, which was a huge bowl of rice, veggies, and meat. To reach our $ 45 total, we ordered 3 sushi rolls too — the Mexican Roll, the Ebi Summer Roll, and the Rock & Roll. My favorite was the summer roll (it was made with rice paper), but it fell apart super easily.
Our waitress was as nice as can be. The table was small, and she was always there to take away a dish as we were finished with it.
All that food, plus we BYOB’d a bottle of wine and the total came to about $ 33. If you’re looking for a romantic date night place, this isn’t it, but if you want a low key evening out with good food, this place is a good bet.

Wanna know what is awesome when fluctuating barometric pressure and temps start to wreak havoc on your sinuses, immune system and mental health?
Great, slightly spicy ramen for $ 7 from Mio Bento.
SEVEN DOLLARS iS A LOT CHEAPER THAN A DOCTOR THAT WILL PUMP YOU FULL OF NONSENSE, too. Ahem, and it tastes wonderful and they’ll deliver it right to your door. No Rx required, just tell ‘em Dr. Unilocal Colleen sent you. (I kid, I kid). I will not be held liable for malpractice, damn you!
Mio Bento is located right near Oakley/​Irving Park, and I feel they sometimes get missed because their shop is somewhat under an awning and drivers are typically catapulting their cars down Irving Park at breakneck speed… people miss it. Which, is a huge shame. Because, there’s this ramen and it’s $ 7 and it is awesome and it’ll cure your heartache and whatever else might be ailing you. The good news is street parking is pretty easy and pretty free.
No really, its good. They also have sushi and other Japanese fare made fresh and friendly. A nice casual eatery with great food, great prices and a really wonderful staff. No pretense, just sit down and eat or dial up and wait for your «medication» ramen to arrive.
Worth a stop in, or a call. Most definitely. RAMEN.

I was almost going to make it 4 stars because everything was so good that I gluttoned myself into what was surely the first phase of internal hemorrhaging, but then I realized that Mio Bento and their delicious, affordable, quick Japanese food should not be blamed for my being a piggy. Plus my first visit was so yum that I came back that same week for a quick bite before a friends b-​day up the block– so obvi it was good enough to come back for.
Besides the friendly staff and great portions, they make a mean cup ‘o Miso soup– probably the best I’ve had to date. Their bento boxes are adorbs and it’s the perfect amount of food for a lunch. I recommend eating in so your experience is as fresh as possible.
Now, if you’re like me and enjoy pushing your stomach stretching abilities to the limit, get the Magma roll in addition to your meal. It’s huge (enough to split if you’ve already gotten a bento for your meal) and though this one takes a bit longer to make, it’s amazing and it totally defies the universal rule that cheese and fish do not belong together.
Quick tip: Don’t forget to grab a box of Pocky for an after lunch/​dinner treat!

I recently went to Mio Bento for dinner with my husband, and it was disappointing. The food was very tasty, but the service and lack of proper air conditioning left something to be desired.
I took advantage of the Unilocal deal that Mio Bento had going on where you buy a coupon for $ 10 worth of food for only $ 6. It seemed like a good deal. I bought two since it said one coupon could be used per person.
So we head over there. It’s a Saturday night. We’ve come equipped with a bottle of wine, of course, since it’s BYOB. We find parking easily right in front of the restaurant. It’s 6 p.m., and the place is dead. I had actually made a reservation, since you can do that easily from its Unilocal page, but I felt kind of silly because clearly we weren’t going to have to wait for a table.
One of the first things that I noticed was the temperature of the restaurant. Maybe they don’t have air-​conditioning or maybe it just wasn’t on, but it was extremely uncomfortable in there. An osculating fan was positioned in the corner, and it was on, but it didn’t do much. We could have sat outside, but it was one of those 90-​degree days, and sitting next to the traffic on Irving Park Road didn’t appeal to me.
At this point, I probably would have opted to leave since it was so hot inside, but since I had already purchased the coupons, I didn’t want them to go to waste. So, we sit down. The waitress comes over with wine glasses because she sees our bottle.
We order some starters. The starters come out. Everything looks good … but then we realize we don’t have any chopsticks. Or soy sauce. Or plates. It takes us a little while to get the waitresses’ attention, but she apologizes and brings everything over. We had Miso Soup, Seaweed Salad and the Shrimp Tempura, which also came with veggies. All were very good.
For sushi, we got the Rock ‘n’ Roll, Philly rolls and a Spider roll. Everything tasted excellent, however by this point, since the rolls had a bit of a kick, we were sweating. Droplets of sweat were literally rolling down our faces.
The lack of proper air conditioning made for an extremely uncomfortable meal. It’s a shame too because all the food was great. I just hate restaurants that make their customers suffer because they are too cheap to turn on the AC. I was going to give this place three stars because the food was so good, and it was just the uncomfortable temperature that spoiled the meal, but I feel like not giving your customers a comfortable environment to eat in is inexcusable.
So, if you want to eat food from Mio Bento, ORDER CARRY-​OUT. DO NOT EAT IN THE RESTAURANT … especially during the summer. OK, that’s all I got.