Tanuki

After confirming this place has noodles in addition to the sushi and is BYOB, some friends and I went here after deciding we didn’t want to wait for Andy’s Thai Kitchen. We had no wait at Tanuki for 5 of us around 8PM on a Friday. Before going in, I didn’t realize how trendy the place is with uplighting against stone walls and a bachelorette party of loud guests. I didn’t love that scene but was excited for sushi and miso soup after seeing some excellent reviews on here. I got the ($ 20) Silver Sashimi platter. I was happy with the miso soup, which is usually pretty standard but was tasty here and had nice soft pieces of tofu in it. I was also happy with the sushi itself but missed rice. There were many pieces of fish, all soft and fresh tasting, but with only the fancy threads of radish underneath, left me a bit hungry. My friend who got the sweet potato roll and miso soup and boyfriend who got the Panang Curry and a robata of sausage also felt hungry after finishing their meals. The portion was a bit small for the curry dish as compared to other places that serve thai/​pan Asian. That being said, my friend who got fried rice honestly said it was some of the best he had. For all of that, I give this an A-​OK rating but am not in a rush to go back soon.

Wow! My wife and I are lucky enough to live about a block away from Tanuki. Sushi was excellent, robata is amazing and the staff was super nice. This is the kind of place we will go to time and time again.

I love this place. Excellent, affordable byob sushi. I’ve been multiple times and everything is excellent. I’m always surprised at how affordable the bill is and enjoy the fact that you get a free «bite» when you check in on Unilocal.
Can’t wait to go back.

I wasn’t quite sure about the existence of God until I ate at Tanuki. Oh my lord. Phenomenal. Brought friends from out of town there. They won’t shut up about it. I’ll be back probably tomorrow.

Finally made it to Tanuki and not stoked about the experience at all. First, the bad. Literally, and I mean literally, every roll has mayo in it. And not just like oh, a little dab of mayo… more like, OMG, I’m eating spoonfuls of mayo for dinner. There is only 1 roll on the whole menu without mayo and it’s labeled as such, which I guess is kind of funny. Maybe everyone at Tanuki just really, really loves mayo. Me, not so much. Especially not when it overpowers the other flavors in the roll. I’ve eaten at enough sushi places to know that some rolls incorporate mayo, but I am sincerely talking about every single roll on the menu tasting like mayo + rice. No, thank you.
As far as the good, the spicy miso was spot on. Actually spicy, and full of flavor. Additionally, the service was great and they didn’t give us a hard time about finishing our wine after we had already paid (there were empty tables, so we weren’t holding up someone else’s dining experience). But other than that, I won’t be back for the sushi. They do have a lot of items outside of sushi on their menu, so if you go, I’d give those a try instead! The BYOB policy (no cork fee) is terrific.

I went here with a big party (12 people) and they told me that we could have up to 4 different checks for our table. Fine. We all brought cash. When we walked in all over the menu it says if you pay cash your bill will be 10% off. Great we said, we all have cash. But wait the waitress said the whole table has to pay cash. Ok no problem. But then she comes back and explains that by the whole table she means it all has to be on one bill. It says that no where on the menu! They also charged us a 20% service charge also not mentioned on the menu. The manager told us its policy, well a policy that isn’t written on the menu… We paid cash just like they advertised and we got no discount at all. Also the sushi was mediocre at best. Would not recommend this restaurant at all!

My wife found this restaurant while back and I know how much she love sushi, so I decided to treat her to dinner tonight at one of her favorite places to eat. I tried a few things on their menu and was very pleased with everything I had and how delicious they were. Also, their service was excellent and the ambiance was low key but great for a first date if you’re interested. I would definitely eat here again and I would recommend them to my friends. In fact I already posted to Facebook and Instagram.

Good fresh food with a nice variety of Japanese inspired food. I like the Yakitori selections that make this place different than the other sushi restaurants in the area. Awesome wait staff too!

This is my favorite sushi place is Chicago. It’s a small restaurant with a great atmosphere. The staff is very nice, helpful and it’s not too expensive. BYOB and a great place for a date. I will continue to go back.

Went here twice in one week after our first trip was so fulfilling. Great sushi with just a few hints of some fusion dishes that work really well. Fun staff, nice social environment and nice location. A new regular sushi joint for the right price.

This evening I took my 75 year old mother out for supper. She enjoys Pompie in the neighborhood and there happen to be an open meter parking spot in front of Tanuki. Issue is mom is handicapped, on oxygen, and in a wheelchair. I pull into the spot and the owner has his flower boxes up to the edge of the curb with no room to spare.
I get out and move the boxes to allow room to help my mom from the car and into her wheelchair. While I am doing this, I notice the owner is looking out the front window of his restaurant. Once I get my mother settled and we roll away I look back and see the owner (presumed)smoking his cigarette and moving the boxes right back to the edge of the curb — almost touching my car. I thought this was odd, so I inquired why he didn’t leave some room so that people can exit their cars since it is a metered spot. His response (rather than show compassion) was, «Hey I have a permit to put my boxes there.» As it turns out, he was correct. The caveat is however (I verified with our Alderman’s Office) that the permit requires the establishment allow a minimum of 12″ between his boxes and the curb.
I guess what burned my britches is his lack of compassion for a 75 year old woman wheelchair bound on oxygen. I am unsure what he is used to, but clearly the proprietor is not from the neigborhood and might be in need of some compassion training. My guess is my mom is not the first handicapped person he failed to demonstrate some compassion to because he or she parked in front of his business and was not eating there.
I am new to the neighborhood; and as a result of my experience, I will not partake or recommend to my friends or family.

This place accommodates a group beautifully. My friends and I are notorious for bringing a bottle of wine per member of the group– and they were quick to open new bottles and clear the old.
Regarding the sushi– all rolls I’ve tried are delicious– nothing wildly creative, which is ok for me. It’s a good place– check it out

Nope, another sushi one-​and-​done. Stopped by here on the way home from work and did take-​out, and I would like to have taken it back. First off, very poor value. Most any other place at this price point is better. Second, the food just plain didn’t cut it. I threw about a third of my order away, and it would have been more if I wasn’t famished. The maguro was just plain off. Not good flavor and worse texture. Both rolls were bland mush. The best thing I can say about my meal was that I didn’t get sick. With all the other options in the neighborhood, I am amazed this place is sticking around.

So I went back to Tanuki with my girlfriend more recently and the experience was far from as strong as my first time at Tanuki.
Most of our sushi was great — we got an unagi roll, golden caterpillar, and a philly roll. The unagi was delicious and the golden caterpillar was also really interesting, a lot of great flavors and good fish within the roll. I’d recommend the golden caterpillar for sure.
Also got some rabata — that short rib is so damn good. Got some to start the meal and then got another piece later on.
But there were two main downsides this most recent time. The wait for sushi was insane, I don’t know what was going on in the kitchen but it took just over a half hour for us to get our first roll. Tanuki’s not a large place and there were one or two empty tables so they couldn’t have been too swamped with orders. Such a long wait was really bad service.
The other is that we ordered one additional role, the climax which I had before and loved, but it was really bad this time. We didn’t even finish the roll. The fish in the roll was what ruined it, it was firm and really tough fish. Horrible flavor as well. I don’t know if it was like the end of a fish or what but it was really disgusting and the opposite of the first experience.
Have to take a star away based on the wait and the horrible fish in that last roll

Oh my gosh. You need to check this place out! BYOB, too!
We shared an order of edamame for the table (four of us) and it was a good amount. Could’ve used some more salt/​flavor but it was a good starter.
I shared the chicken fried rice and spicy ginger chicken with my friend and we devoured it. It was tasty, fresh, hot, and the perfect amount of spicy. It was also portioned really well, there was plenty for both of us to eat and be full and not have leftovers. My only slight issue was that there wasn’t a ton of chicken in the spicy chicken dish, but that’s okay. Didn’t diminish the taste of what we had.
My sister and her friend had a few different rolls of sushi. The presentation was so cute! They wrote the name of the restaurant in soy sauce and made a flower out of wasabi. Presentation definitely a ¹⁰⁄₁₀. I don’t eat sushi so I can’t speak to that, but one of them did say, «this is probably some of the best sushi I’ve ever had.»
My friend got the chocolate mochi to finish it off and I tried a bite. Yum! I don’t think I’ve ever actually had mochi, and it was really good. Would get it again, probably.
For 4 of us it came to $ 65, which was only about $ 16-​$ 17 per person. Not bad at all for a great dinner!

I am in love with Tanuki and if I could I would teleport them to the Bay Area and eat there ALL THE TIME. Fantastic food, fast service, open late all at an affordable price? How can you not love this place?
Service: Super quick — I have never had such effective servers before. We had everything we needed even before we could open our mouths and the food came out like 5 minutes after we ordered which was awesome given how hungry we were.
Food: Um. AMAZING! Seriously, I am still dreaming about those bacon enoki skewers
1. Miso Soup — I hate miso soup, I always find it tastes like salt water, but the miso soup here was so good and flavorful, I have no idea what they put in it, but once I tried it I knew I was in for a good night.
2. Grill — Bacon enoki skewer + Pork Shoulder — Both dishes were excellently seasoned, the pork shoulder was slightly tough but still yummy. The bacon enoki skewer though was like heaven in a little bite. Delicious and flavorful bacon countered by the slight chew of enoki? I wish I had ordered a couple more.
3. Sashimi Bowl ($ 20 for 8 pieces)
The sashimi bowl was really amazing — the fish was super fresh.
1. 2x Salmon which was thickly cut and very creamy with a nice bite to it
2. 2x Red Tuna which was firm and delicious and not at all fishy
3. 1x Super White Tuna — I have never ever had this before but it was delicious, very soft and creamy
4. 2x Hamachi — It was good, nice firm texture, but I thought it lacked flavor, my sister loved it, I thought it paled in comparison to the rest.
5. 1x Mackeral — slightly fishy, cooked texture, it was an interesting contrast with the rest of the sashimi.
The fish was all so fresh and generously cut, a real steal. Would definitely recommend this to sashimi lovers.
4. Dragon Roll
Super generous portion. The roll was served with cute sauce decorations that made it look like a caterpillar. The tempura in the dragon roll was light and crunchy and the unagi and avocado were fresh and delicious. Unfortunately call me conservative, but I thought they tried to put too much in the roll, and so some components did not go that well together. It was still an enjoyable roll, but I wouldn’t recommend it especially with so many other better options on the menu.
5. Salmon/​Avocado Roll
Loved this. The salmon was cut generously and the avocado complemented the dish perfectly. The rice was also rolled really thinly so you could really enjoy both flavors.
All in all I love Tanuki, I had a fantastic experience with the food and service here and was more than happy to pay the amount on my bill at the end of the night. I would definitely recommend Tanuki more for their array of fresh fish (and fresh fish rolls) and their skewers. I think their regular rolls try to do too much and in doing so end up tasting more weird and less good. But yes I am definitely dreaming of the next time I go to Tanuki! It was really an amazing experience.

Meh. Service is lacking. Food is mediocre– but the King Komodo roll is good. Too many sushi restaurants in the area to visit this one again.
At least it’s warm inside– maybe too warm.

So when do you come to Tanuki? When you’re hungry and want something close to your house but don’t care about the service!
On a cold, snowy night, my friend and I decided to drop by Tanuki to check it out since it was our first time there. I must say that whoever designed the entrance to the restaurant, what were you thinking? You have to walk up a small flight of stairs and open the outside glass door while standing on the stairs. So awkward lol.
When we entered, it wasn’t busy for a Sunday night. The restaurant wasn’t even half full. Seems like a cozy place and can be romantic with the lighting and candles on the tables. So I guess you can say we had a womance date!
If you check in on the Unilocal app, you can redeem for a free appetizer BUT what they fail to mention is that this appetizer must be redeemed for a small bowl of edamame and not any appetizer of your choice! We didn’t realize that until after we ordered the most expensive appetizer (of course) and when we asked why they brought out the edamame out of nowhere.
The food was good but not amazing. We ordered the Sex on the North Beach roll and King Komodo Jumbo roll as well as the miso soup. Between the two, I liked the Sex on the North Beach roll better. The King Komodo one was good for the first couple of bites but only tasted okay after that for some reason.
So where does the service lack? Well 1) we didn’t get chopsticks, cloth napkins or silverware until after we received our food and also had to ask for them 2) had to ask for refills on water 3) tried to get the server’s attention for a while so that I can order miso soup but she was too occupied with her cell phone 4) didn’t really check up on us to see how we were doing
There are better restaurants in the area. I would skip this one.

Stopped in close to closing time on a weeknight and was treated to a fantastic sushi dinner! This trendy restaurant seems small but can seat a crowd and service was very quick. We had a number of appetizers and rolls, all of which were so tasty and well plated.
Their prices were about average for a sushi bar but seem like a deal with the quality of what we got. Would definitely come back.

BYOB, large creative menu, great service and … nothing bad to say at all!
Split between two
Appetizers
— Crispy Triangle — $ 4.25 — Fried tofu, crushed peanut with chili sauce
6 triangles makes this a large portion, especially for the price. Fried crunchy on the outside and extra soft warm tofu on the inside, the sauce could be a little more exciting but I would recommend for a group.
Robata Barbeque Skewers
— Beef Short Rib — $ 2.75 — Korean style shot rib with the chili ginger sauce
— Coconut Shrimp — $ 2.75 — Grilled prawn with the condensed curry & coconut flake
Both really good and so cheap!
Specialty Rolls
— King Komodo and Dragon Queen Roll both $ 15 were great!