Sushi Taiyo

Attention, Ladies & Gentlemen who love and miss Sushi Taiyo as much as I do… I have found the chefs of Sushi Taiyo! If you love this place or just want to hear an unlikely story, here it goes:
I moved here from the DC area 2 and a half years ago into an apartment at Ontario and State and somehow by sheer luck I found my favorite sushi restaurant in the world two blocks from my apartment, Sushi Taiyo. I have probably been to over a hundred sushi places, and no where has come remotely close to their spicy tuna and philly roll (they call it bagel roll, and I know, not very daring, and I get all types of sushi all the time, but why mess with what you love.)
So one day, a few months ago, as we all know they closed their doors. I was on a run and randomly saw the sign, took a picture, sent it to my gf, and did everything I could to find out what would happen, but with no success.
Only 2 weeks ago I moved in with my gf to Lakeview and tonight was the first night living at our new apartment that we decided to have our favorite date night, sushi & sake. We looked around at some places and ended up walking two blocks to «Rise Sushi and Sake Lounge» on Southport. When the waitress brought out my spicy tuna and bagel roll I noticed immediately they were identical to Sushi Taiyo. I asked her if they had any relation and she said it was the same owner and all the chefs moved up here after Sushi Taiyo closed. The reason for closing was the hotel decided to not continue their lease and expanded to the first floor. All of us couldn’t believe the amazing find and for that, the waitress brought out a free bottle of sake!
I will certainly be posting on the Rise Sushi Unilocal but needless to say… Out of what? 200 plus sushi places in Chicago, if not more… I moved the same distance away back to the best sushi restaurant I have ever been.

Just read an article that this place has recently closed?! Can anyone confirm or deny? If it’s true — I’m devastated! Sushi Taiyo was my go-​to sushi place! Best spicy tuna rolls and salmon rangoon ever. Really friendly host/​hostesses too. Whomp whomp. :(

I went here with a couple of my friends! It was 3 of us total. We ordered a whole
Bunch of food and thought we over ordered but the portions are really small. We had three rolls, sashimi appetizer which had like 5 pieces on there, sea bass (best dish there, it was a very small dish), pork belly dish with rice (which was really good) the food came out rather quickly! Maybe it was 10 and they close at 11. Haha bar is available. Place is dark and intimate. Upscale sushi place

My mistake was not getting sushi.
We started with the tuna tartar which was delicious, chunks of raw tuna mixed with a sesame cream sauce with very delicate rice crisps. I’m pretty sure the «sesame cream sauce» was spicy mayonnaise but I love it. This was the meal highlight (and the reason for 2 stars)
It was freezing outside (what’s new chicago?), so I did not want sushi (my mistake) and got a bowl of udon noodle soup. This was really bland and unforgettable, I regretted ordering it immediately. I doused it with spicy pepper flakes and even poured in soy sauce to make it better but overall, meh.
Other people in my group got sushi which looked delicious.
The atmosphere of this place is nice. It is modern and trendy but still feels intimate. It is quiet inside I think it would be nice for a date.
Summary: don’t get the udon.

First point of confusion — the door. The entrance is technically to a different restaurant (Top Wok), but apparently they’re housed under the same roof. Our waitress eventually came around, took our orders, and miso soup came out promptly. The 3 rolls, however, took at least 20 extra minutes (after the soup), on a Wednesday night. After we ate, the check also took quite a long time to arrive. Service aside, the menu features a variety of signature rolls at average prices.

My fiancé and I have been coming to Sushi Taiyo for two years now, and it’s been our regular (twice a month or more) for at least a year and a half. Having visited other «trendy» sushi spots in River North/​Gold Coast (Jellyfish, Union Sushi, etc.), Sushi Taiyo is vastly superior in terms of both value and ambiance.
We have tried every every specialty roll on Taiyo’s menu, and we’ve been hard pressed to find a subpar roll. Among our favorites include the Oyshi Maki and the Yuzu Maki, which creates a great rich versus light flavor dynamic. I’d venture a guess that the perceived service issues are one-​off (people are more inclined to complain about bad service than praise good service), as we’ve always had very attentive servers and have even gotten to know a couple (who are all very friendly) since we stop in so frequently. The atmosphere in the restaurant is suitable for anywhere from a romantic dinner for two or a bigger outing with a group of friends — we’ve done both and had great experiences under both circumstances. The décor would definitely fall in the realm of trendy but is not overwhelming by any means.
In terms of price, signature rolls typically run in the neighborhood of $ 10-​$ 15 per roll, and a typical ticket for my fiancé and me usually includes a beer, tea, the Sunomono Salad and three rolls, which usually comes out in the $ 60 range, so it’s conceivable to dine here for around $ 50 for two. The quality of the sushi is, at the least, on par with the restaurants listed above, if not better, and at a fraction of the cost.

After forgetting to make a Valentine’s Day reservation, I hopped on Opentable and saw that everywhere was booked except for Sushi Taiyo. I had never been here before, and was apprehensive after reading others’ negative reviews about bad service. HOWEVER, the service we received was exceptional. We arrived at 5:30 on Valentine’s Day, and were eating by 5:40. The staff was very attentive, and the food was prepared quickly. We ordered signature rolls two at a time until we were full. The waitress checked on us often and gave us some excellent recommendations.
The Chef’s Roll was exceptional and so was the Honey Roll. There were many creative options on the menu, and I’m disappointed I didn’t get to try them all!
Overall, the experience at Sushi Taiyo was incredible. I was shocked that more people weren’t eating there because the sushi was great, the service was outstanding, and the atmosphere was superb. Not to mention, it’s right off of Michigan Ave!
I would highly recommend Sushi Taiyo to anyone looking for for a great sushi experience at a convenient location.

Fantastic sushi!
We live in the area and order from Sushi Taiyo 1 – 2 times every week. The fish is fresh every single time and delivery is typically within 30 minutes (a bit longer on the weekends). We’ve eaten in the restuarant a few times as well and the service has always been great and they make a good dirty martini. We customize our rolls every time we order and they always get it right. Love this place!

Solid food and presentation. Got a fresh tasting tempura mix and some normal rolls. Not tightly bound, but taste was fresh.

Dined here for lunch yesterday (12÷30÷14). The wait staff was very friendly and were prompt in refilling our water glasses. My friend and I ordered the soft shell crab roll and two signature rolls-​one with tuna and mango and one with salmon and avocado (I can’t remember the names of these rolls). It took a while for the rolls to arrive at our table but all three were pretty tasty. My only complaint was the mango on top of the tuna roll was not ripe at all. I would return but am eager to check out other sushi restaurants in the downtown area.

Very delicious spot for sushi! Went off the reviews to try this place and was glad I did. The prices I would say are normal for fresh sushi!
Will definitely return the next time we visit Chicago!

The udon here is yummy. The noodles are so soft, they slip right into your mouth. They’re cooked just right so they feel chewy in your mouth. The shiitake (?) mushrooms in the soup are sliced thinly so their taste isn’t overwhelming. The poached egg in there is DELICIOUS because it was cooked so nicely and did not feel cold as it was sitting in the hot soup. The sushi here is yummy, too. There is little rice so it’s healthy as you’re not consuming as many carbohydrates. The green tea is hot and they brought the pot of tea to our table.
The servers and busboys are pleasant and respectful. They are quick in refilling our water cups and tell us the sushi that’s on the plate they bring out for us.
The women’s restroom is to the left of the men’s restroom and next to the server station. It seems to be hard to find because the men’s restroom is right off the dining room and the women’s restroom sign is visible only from a certain area in the dining room. I saw another customer walk over to the men’s restroom, looking for the women’s restroom. The restroom is well-​lit. The soap container they use doesn’t seem to contain the soap the container label reads, which might mean the container was reused, which is quite eco-​friendly.
I like how they have mints at the front desk, although I didn’t help myself to any. The décor is nice and the ambiance is nice. I forgot what music they play, which means it probably wasn’t distracting, which is good. I noticed the tables were quite close to each other, which made it quite cramped when patrons tried to get up to the restroom or when the servers and busboys tried to get around to the tables in the center of the dining room that are surrounded by other tables.

I stopped at this place just cause I was craving sushi and the reviews looked pretty good. I had the soft shell crab, a lobster and eel roll and a spicy roll with octopus. Delicious and fresh and totally reasonably priced. Would eat here again for sure.

We arrived in Chicago and were starving so we started out along Michigan to find a spot to eat and everywhere it was an hour to a 2 hour wait. Too Hungry for that. So using the trusty Unilocal app we found this place and we could walk right in at 7:30 on a Friday night. Woo!
The menu was very large and the cocktails were spot on. The miso warmed us up since it was an abnormally chilly May night, but really $ 4 for basic miso? We split an appetizer of seared veggie gyoza and they were delicious. For rolls, we had the Zen (loved the pickled oshiko), the honey roll… and one other that I can’t remember. We enjoyed all of our food. And really the price was fine considering the location, but still $ 4 for miso…
Service was attentive but not looming and the space was inviting and warm.

Showed up on a weekday evening around 7pm. Not super crowded, although by the time I left the later night crowd was showing up and nearly a third of the restaurant was full. Dim lights, mild trendy atmosphere but nothing too over the top.
Ordered a couple rolls and nigiri which were on the whole quite good. I really enjoyed the spicy flavors in the red dragon roll. The nigiri was quite good too and the tamago which I had never tried before was probably my favorite thing of the night.
A lot of their signature rolls had some sort of sweet flavors in them though which was a bit of a turn off. Honey, raspberry, yuzu fruit, etc. don’t really appeal to me when it comes to sushi and the yuzu was definitely my least favorite of the night as the tart/​sweetness was a little overwhelming.
I did like how they offered a hitachino nest beer outside of the standard sapporo/​kirin you typically find. Unfortunately, they had no clue how to actually pour a full pint glass and I lost out on 2oz each time if not more which was stupid since the beers were 6 – 8 bucks.
Overall, no real complaints about the quality, portions were a little small and I spent way more than I would have liked but I did leave satisfied which is what counts.

I thought our food was fantastic! We came in with a big group. We called ahead and they were able to accommodate us with no problem. We were a quite busy and stressful group, but our server was fantastic. She offered her suggestions and kept calm. I had a fantastic roll, but I can’t remember the name. It started with a y or an o… I will add a pic, maybe it will help if you want to try it (I highly recommend it!!!) the ambiance was semi-​casual and very pleasant to the eyes. The restrooms were clean and the food did not take Long to reach our table. The seating was really cool against the big windows. I would definitely eat here again!

This place is busy. I wish they had a bar where I could have sat and ate rather than looking desolate on a table by myself! Damn you business trips.
It is definitely a nice place, great décor and and lively atmosphere without the Guu Sakebar type shouting and greeting.
I guess its more fault of my own for going with a simple sushi selection from which I was not really impressed or looking forward to my next visit but my argument is that the menu is freaking confusing.

We were starved and really craving sushi while staying in the loop and this was one of the top rated places that popped up on Unilocal.Everything seemed very affordable which was another reason why we decided on Sushi Taiyo.
As a note: my husband and I are big into rolls with cream cheese, tempura flakes and/​or cilantro. We ordered 4 rolls: Bagel Roll, Taiyo Spicy Maki, Niku Maki & Oyshi Maki – uhhh YUM!!! Our favorites were the Niku & Oyshi but I’d go back to try all the others! We also ordered a milky sake & plum sake. Total was around 70 bucks which we felt was pretty good.
The atmosphere is cool but I wasn’t a huge fan of the low seating (I’m already 5’3″ and felt like a straight up child sitting in those seats). I liked that the space is small and intimate because it wasn’t too loud. Overall I give this place 4 stars and will probably come back if I’m in the area again!

Great corner location for decent people watching along the Miracle Mile.
Really great atmosphere — super romantical.
Subtle lighting and very warm.
I started with miso soup which was good. It went dandy with the hot sake — and perfect for the crisp fall day I was avoiding outdoors.
The edamame was pretty good — all the salted pieces were on top, but it was tasty.
The roll I tried was a specialty roll called, Oy-​something or other. It was a lobster roll with salmon atop. I was surprised it was warm, but it was so delicious.
It was an all around pleasant experience and looked like they had a solid take out service which is awesome! I would love this level of quality food for take out.

I enjoyed the quiet, swank atmosphere at this place. They have the most comfortable dining chairs ever and the décor just gives off a vibe of sophistication.
I visited twice and had the rainbow maki sushi roll and alums maki rolls. The rainbow maki was not only delicious, but also very pretty :-) I have a weakness for tempura rolls containing cream cheese and avocado so I have to suggest trying that one.
Service was fair… The first time, After serving my sushi, the server disappeared for quite a while which kind of sucked because I was desperately in need of a fork :-(otherwise he was very polite and there were no other issues and I had the same server the second time as well.
All in all I had a decent experience. I would definitely recommend and hopefully visit this place again to try some of their other sushi. They offer a very appetizing menu :-)