Runa Japanese

This is my new favorite place for sushi and Japanese in the city. I just felt like eating sushi and I googled what was close by, wow I got so lucky! Amazing rolls, appetizer salads are good portion, which is rare at Japanese restaurants in my experience, and the Tempura Udon was like, there are no words. The most ridiculously delicious thing you can imagine eating at a restaurant. It’s BYOB, so be prepared for that. I can’t wait to come back here, I want to try everything on the menu, at least once. Love, love, love!

The salmon was fresh and the service was great. The owner Henry is an amazing host get to know him if you get the chance!

We frequently visit this restaurant and love it! Great sushi, BYOB, prices & staff. They always accommodate us & our families that fly in & know us by name. The only thing missing now is our favorite chef that moved back to Texas! We miss you & hope you are well!!!

When it’s date night and time for sushi this is our go to. A short walk from the house, BYOB, and a laid back vibe.
Order Rock Ebi, Flaming Runa, and enjoy.

My friends and I love BYOB. If we’re going for sushi or Thai, we try to find a place where we can bring our own boos to save some dinero. Runa fit our bill.
We wanted to be super cool and order the flaming roll! It was quite exciting when it came to our table all aglow. Taste was good, as well. We ordered a bunch of maki… too much actually and ended up filled to the brim with fishies. Everything we had was good and just peachy keen.
We found the food to be A-​OK, service was nice but really dragged for a place that wasn’t even half full, cool mural on the wall & overall décor.
Runa I liked you just fine, but you didn’t make my heart skip a beat. I’d give you a second try if you were my date… but I’ve been on enough dates to know… first impressions are usually accurate predictors.

Got takeout here. Ordered on the phone at around 9:15 on a sunday or approximately 45 minutes before they closed. He said it would be ready in 20 minutes. I arrived within 5 and decided to get myself a drink at handlebar next door. At 9:45 I got my food. I showed him the coupon for checking in and got 15% off. My bill for 4 rolls and a salad was $ 42. Not bad.
Side note — Why do they staple the bags shut? I never understood that considering I have to open it to see if I got what I ordered.
All rolls were fresh and delicious. For once a sushi place actually gave us an abundance of wasabi. We got the volcano roll, spicy salmon, dragon roll, and GTR Roll. GTR was hands down my favorite. Plus if youre a car enthusiast I mean you just have to get it.
I would go back. I twas pretty empty on a Sunday night. I’m sure they get very busy on the weekends. Kind of out in the middle of nowhere but it has its charm.

Stopped by Runa for lunch and liked it a lot. Service was perfect and the value was great. They offer several lunch specials. You can get 2 makis for $ 9 or 3 for $ 12. Of course the maki list is limited to regular maki but there were plenty of offerings for my liking. We also got 15% off with our Unilocal checkin.
The maki was delicious– well made and very tasty. I liked them all but my favorite was the spicy crab.
I’ll be back.

Great sushi + Mediocre service + BYOB + glassware = four stars
Garlic edamame is addicting!

To start out, dinner was so unsatisfying, I’m eating cheese and crackers at home as I type. (Also — this is my first Unilocal review because I’m so peeved).
I am not sure why this place has such high ratings. As a sushi enthusiast, I was surprised I had never heard of or been to this place, so my boyfriend and I decided to try it out.
The restaurant was described as romantic, however it was more like we had entered a tween rave basement party. I had a headache as soon as we sat down and couldn’t even focus on anything other than the electronic garbage blasting in our ears.
I will preface this by saying I worked in restaurants for 3 years and am really sensitive to how I treat fellow servers, but I think this restaurant decided to put a completely new, untrained server on the floor — alone. We ordered Hot & Sour Gyoza soup and upon asking her, «Where is the gyoza?» she said, «The beef strips are the gyoza.» … WHAT. Upon asking the second time, she checked and came back 15 minutes later saying she was incorrect. I’m just very surprised any server would argue back with a customer, especially when she didn’t even know what gyoza were. She also was flustered, awkward and slow even though she only had 3 tables.
In terms of the sushi, the fish was warm and mulched, instead of fresh, chilled strips that I think are standard for any highly rated sushi restaurant in Chicago. We left at least 5 pieces on the plate — something I consider a sin in any other awesome sushi place.
I am happy others have enjoyed this place but we definitely won’t be back.

After perusing Unilocal for good options in the area, my friend and I landed on Runa for a Friday night BYOB dinner. Unilocalers be sure to check in for a discount! I made a reservation through Unilocal which was a good thing because it was crowded.
The food was tasty. We ordered the edamame, yellowtail jalapeño, the sushi deluxe platter with a spicy tuna roll, and a specialty roll. Everything tasted really good and fresh. I really enjoyed the yellowtail jalapeño — it had a nice level of heat without overpowering the fish. My friend also ordered the Udon soup. It was a generous portion and she had a lot of it to take home. They accidentally sent out an extra shrimp and veggie tempura appetizer. The breading was nice but was just too much for 2 people given what else we ordered.
Service was friendly and quick. While they don’t rush you out, they definitely turn over tables. While it may not be the most inventive sushi, it is a great local sushi neighborhood spot at a very reasonable price.

My friends and I come here regularly and Its always a great time! One of the few sushi places with freshly shucked oysters which is often found on their daily specials board. My favorites and a must haves are their rocked ebi and super white tuna tataki! If you live is the area, they offer fast delivery!

Chill hipster ambience, good food and a good price.
Ambience: Casual, chill and laid back. We came on a weekday so it wasn’t too busy, but looks like there could be a wait on the weekend due to capacity.
Food: BYOB. Got the Spicy Tuna Ravioli as a starter. It’s literally a spicy tuna mixture with avocados on top (obviously in a more presentable matter). It’s not the traditional ravioli you would think it is, spicy tuna embedded in pasta or dough. Nonetheless delicious. If you don’t like avocados, you can always remove them, they’re on top, but there are a lot. As for rolls we got the Spicy Lady and Pink Dragon rolls. If you like spicy tuna, avocado and unagi sauce you’ll like these! Overall price was decent, about $ 10 – 12 a roll. Pretty standard.
Service: Good, no complaints.

Came here for lunch and not such a bad lunch menu option.
Su & Sa — They did not skip out on the sashimi. The cuts were thick and I really enjoyed that. The three sushi also had big cuts of fish on them, more so than rice which is perfect because a lot of places overdo it with the rice.
Chicken Bento Box — When it came out, it was surprising to us that it was not really in a bento box but it was fine because the platter that it came on was so unique and cute. It a good amount of portion for lunch.
We also ordered half a dozen oyster as well and it came with an extra one. But it was kind of disappointing that the oysters were so small… Hence the deduction of one star.
Service is very attentive and made sure we were fine. & don’t forget to check in because you get 15% off.

This place has pretty solid sushi for a reasonable price. Nothing amazing and I can’t even really recall what we had but I’d probably order take-​out in the future.
Food I do remember:
— beast maki — pretty small pieces! it is rice-​free so all you paleo/​high protein/​low carb/​gluten-​free/​celiac/​yogis people would probably be interested in this
— $ 1 oysters — they only sell this in batches of 6. they’re kind of puny but the sauce they’re served with is tasty
— rocked ebi — batter fried popcorn shrimp covered in a lot of sauce. really good if you’re into savory creamy stuff.

The food: ²⁄₅. We had chipped maguro, salmon rolls, chicken teriyaki and the beast maki. Maguro was fresh and very enjoyable. Salmon rolls were decent too, although not very generous on the fish. The Beast Maki was uneatable, it had such strong fish taste that it made me question if the fish or crab were spoiled. I only ate 2 out of the 6 pieces. Chicken teriyaki was also one of the worst we’ve ever had. It was very overdone and barely had any sauce. We barely ate any.
The service: ²⁄₅. We were there on a Saturday night and they had only two other tables taken. Nonetheless, it took a while to wait for our food, while half of their staff was playing some board game at one of the tables.
Overall: ²⁄₅. Mediocre food and service. Won’t go back.

Been here a few times and just wanted to highlight a few of their items.
Freshly shucked oysters are typically on their daily specials board. They’re sweet, cleaned thoroughly, and dressed with what I believe to be ponzu sauce. It’s delicately balanced and amazing.
I love house special makis. One of my favorites is surprisingly a cooked roll called the Flaming Runa Roll (shrimp tempura, crab stick, topped with salmon, super white tuna, baked, & topped with red & black tobiko). When you order it in house, the wait staff will light the roll on fire. This in turns gently cooks the fish to perfection.
Spicy hand roll with Toro or Salmon is to die for. Well balance heat with the sweetness of the fish. A must order when you’re there.

Spicy Tuna Ravioli — Spicy tuna and crab covered with thin slices of avocado. This was amazing. I would definitely order it again!
Crab Ravioli — Where was the crab? Basically amounted to fried pieces of dough filled with a lot of cream cheese. My friend got this; I wouldn’t recommend it.
Spicy Scallop Roll — One of the classics that I try to get wherever I go. Loved it!
Beast Maki — Avocado, salmon, king crab, spicy tuna… the list goes on! This might have been my favorite roll of the night!
Spicy M Maki — Solid roll, and I’ve never been a fan of jalapenos in sushi. It works though!
Flaming Runa Roll — This roll comes out wrapped in aluminum foil (and on a bed of flaming blue fire!!!). Really cool, but I realized after eating it that I prefer my sushi without flames. ;-) Would be a neat thing to order to impress guests though.
Note: All the sushi came out on one plate, so it seems that the kitchen assumes you will share.

You’ll feel immediately welcomed at Runa. Our server was extremely friendly, and really made us feel like guests, but the food didn’t live up to the high rating.
To start, I tried a few of their half shell oysters. They were varying sizes, but a great deal at a buck each. Sadly, the wasabi in the sauce finish masked any flavor in them!
When I looked through the specialty rolls, more than half had tempura and/​or spicy mayo. I like tasting the fish and these things just cover up the flavor. Choosing the Tuna and Avocado Roll was a good choice, but the Rainbow was bland. Despite the variety of fish in the roll, we couldn’t distinguish the taste between them. The tiny and thin slices could be part of the reason. Not sure if this is the right place if your prefer traditional rolls.

Been to Runa for a free comedy show on the patio as well as for dinner. I liked the comedy more but the BYOB may bring me back.
A friend had her bday dinner here and it was 20% off the entire bill for that month. Definitely called my attention. We all BYOB’d (yeah, you know me) and ordered. The seafood miso was WOW. Best miso I’ve had anywhere and my favorite item that night. We also had edamame, volcano and flaming roll. The volcano was really really smoky. I wasn’t feeling it. The flaming looked cool since it comes out flaming, literally, in aluminum foil. The taste though was just ok. It had a sauce that may have been overlooked as it was almost sour. The rice to fish ratio was also way too much. I didn’t ask for a side of rice on my roll. The server did great considering we all bugged her a ton and had seperste checks.
The thing is that us Chicagoans are so spoiled with 100s of phenom sushi places and BYOB that things really need to shine for me to return on my own. Not sure if I would on this one but maybe next summer for comedy on the patio!

This is by far my favorite spot for sushi. Everything here is so good and I really mean that. There is nothing here that I do not like. Parking is very easy to find on weekdays and weekend and it is free! The only thing here is that the service can be a little better, but that won’t stop me from giving this place 5 stars!
Here is what to try:
Appetizer–
–Rocked Ebi: Lightly breaded shrimp with a perfect amount of sweet and spiciness. This is a must try!
–White Tuna Tataki: Got this a few times and it is really good, but the last time it was just a bit too spicy.
–Spider Appetizer: Simple, but the spicy mayo and sweet soy sauce complimented this perfectly.
Rolls–
–Flaming Runa: This is by far the best roll here. It comes lit on fire; hence, the name!
–Volcano Maki, Beast Maki, and Mango Tango are all really good and must get along with the Flaming Runa.
–Spicy Tuna Hand Roll: Really good… not the best, but definitely top 3!
We also ordered a bunch of stuff, but I forgot the names. Come here and you won’t be disappointed. On top of great sushi this place is also BYOB.