Tsuki

One thing that I’ve noticed with most of the restaurants that have gone out of business and that is that I’ve tried to give them business.
As a volunteer for a non-​profit, I bring in 50 — 80 people for a networking mixer where each person spends about $ 40 each. Tsuki, along with others, refused me or never got back to me. So instead they are dead during the requested times.
I hate to see businesses die, but poor ownership/​management will be the cause.

I went here last night for their Ladies’ Night. It was the BEST time ever. They hold it every last Thursday of the month. They offer complimentary manicures, $ 10 bottles of wine, and half price appetizers. I went with a group of 6 girls, and our bill came out to less than $ 100 bucks (including tip)…NO WAY!!! What an awesome deal. The staff are pretty friendly but it can get crazy so you may have to flag them down once in a while to get your orders and drinks.
We ordered 3 bottles of wine, sushi and some hot plates. The lounge menu is ridiculously cheap! You can get makis and other dishes for $ 3 – 4 bucks. The manicures were awesome too. They had a great selection of colors and the work turned out pretty well. There’s also a table of cute hair accessories. Plus, they do a drawing towards the end of the event. Out of 4 winners, 2 of them were from my group… coolness. One friend won a bag with hairbands and accessories. My other friend won $ 20 GC to Tsuki.
My girlfriends and I have decided this will be our monthly ritual from now on.

Tsuki is great! Our service was excellenet — timely, courteous and helpful. Everything was very fresh and tasty as well — the seaweed salad was great, featuring two different kinds of seaweed and cucumbers. The house salad with ginger dressing is also a great standby favorite of mine. Our rolls were also excellent, although I wish they had a few more special rolls to choose from.
Dessert was great, with green tea ice cream and various mochi flavors to choose from, including espresso, peach, pistacio and tiramisu.
Also, Medical professional, take note… August is medical professionals appreciation month! So awesome, atleast for me and my husband. He didn’t have his badge when he came this time, but we are definiately going to come back before the month is up. Half off people! This is the first we’ve seen of a «medical apprecaite month» but we are digging it.
All in all, the service and food was great. The atmosphere is open and soothing, and there is even a large bar section in the other room that looked great. They also have outdoor seating, but they need to cozy it up a little bit, looked a little sparse and uninviting. Prices were moderate to a little pricey — similar to sushisamba pricing.

Short… Me likey Tsuki.
From the moment Tsuki opened, we were fans. We used to like Ringo quite a bit, so when the same owners opened Tsuki we were excited. A dining experience later and we were completely won over. This place has a nice vibe, cool look, and great food. We even had our wedding rehearsal dinner there a few years ago.
A recent trip there yielded the same happy experience — Food was great, the joint has a nice swanky-​on-​a-​budget feel like I really liked. I would say that I prefer to eat at Tsuki vs. Macku purely based on the vibe and the nicer space, and if Macku is a little better with the sushi I’d say (a) I don’t notice it and (b) I don’t care.
A fan!

Maybe it’s just me but does anyone else get see the tumbleweed or hear the crickets when you come into Tsuki?! Everytime I pass by this place it seems to become almost if not completely empty. I’ve come once before and it was a little bit more poppin– by poppin in their terms I mean just over 4 tables. Needless to say I felt a little silly coming in with a table reservation this past Sunday to an empty restaurant but was still hopeful to get some decent sushi with my friends. We each ordered a special maki roll to share and had a shumai appetizer. For the $ 4 I paid for the shumai, I wish I went to Chinatown instead for the real ones. It kinda embarasses me that they even call that dish shumai to be honest. The sushi was ok, nothing to rave about and it was not as good as I remembered the last time I visited. Our server also seem uninterested and even forgot part of our order despite the lack of customers that were there that evening.
I hate to say this but the reason that brought me back in was because of a
certificate and other than that I don’t see myself coming back anytime soon.

I’d give 3 ½ stars if that were an option. I went to Tsuki last night with a friend. I was surprised that they had an all-​you-​can-​eat deal for $ 31.95 on Wednesdays. Most AYCE deals are just boring maki. Here you could get different soups, salads, appetizers, maki, sushi and noodles. We definitely ate more than $ 32 worth of food. The food was quite tasty. The servers were very nice and attentive. Even parking was available and easy on Fullerton.
I only wish that the AYCE included hamachi and toro. Toro will never be on any AYCE menu, so that’s just wishful thinking.
I will be coming back here again.

When I’m pissed off at other restaurants I turn to Tsuki. Check Please makes the lines ridiculous and reservations impossible at whatever restaurant I want to try, I go to Tsuki.
They have a great selection of hot and cold dishes. Every time I come there’s something new to try so I don’t usually order the sushi. Last time I got their soba or udon, tempura and grilled eel.
Have their ice cream mochi! The Tiramisu, Pistachio, and Oreo cookie flavors are my favorite.
Their service is always great. If I have any issues with the food or whatever they fix it. Going to Tsuki makes me feel better. I always leave there happy.

Respectable sushi in the city. Ordered the sushi moriawase which comes with 7 pieces of sushi and a spicy tuna roll. But hot damn, they weren’t kidding about the spicy component of the spicy tuna!
I had to use the «save the best for last» technique in which I painstakingly stuffed myself with the spicy tuna so that I can enjoy the nigiri later. Well, I had to throw in one or two nigiri treats for motivation to get me through the spicy tuna.
Eating raw + extremely spicy does not bode well for my belly. But I just completed part one of my training before my foreign country escapade like to India. Next stop will be Mexican elotes stand and I will work my way up to New York hot dog street vendor and White Castle.
cash in!

This place was very nice! Went here with my fiancé because we were in the area at like 10pm on a Thursday, there were like 2 other tables there and so we sat down. The service we got was outstanding, our server was very helpful and the food came out super quick. The place has a nice romantic feeling, but is trendy at the same time.
The food was awesome! We got the half priced calamari, which was good, not my fave, but definitely worthy. The sushi was very good, fish was fresh and the rolls were creative, loved the ebi tempura crunch, the bbq eel roll, the salmon and tuna were great too. Now, I would stay away from the super fancy ones bc A) they are really expensive for what you’re getting and B) some of them are just plain WEIRD! we got the spider roll and it had mint inside, now what kind of roll has mint, that was gross!
So overall we would def. come back if we are in the area, as the rolls that are standard are delicious, service is wonderful (the manager even walked around at 1030 letting us know it was last call, which I thought was very nice), and the place is not one where the tables are all over each other (you get your privacy) :)

Everything about this place really seemed great on paper, but I walked away just thinking it was a perfectly «fine» food experience. Weird.
So we made a reservation for a Saturday night at 930. We walk in, and nooooooo other customers are there. Okay, that’s a lie — there was one other table and two people sitting at the sushi bar. But still. That didn’t seem like a good sign. The cocktail I had, by the way, was the Geisha — a very nice and simple champagne cocktail.
When we were seated, it took our server far too long to bring us water (and I don’t think they ever refilled us, now that I think on it), and the cocktails were slow to come out as well. Still, I won’t make too big of a point about it — the food came out in a pretty timely fashion.
I liked the vibe, the loungey atmosphere of the place. We were dressed up and felt very swanky — though a bit weird given the emptiness of the place. Still, it looks like a hot sushi lounge, it just isn’t attended like one.
We started with the seaweed salad which I thought was very good — had a lovely fresh taste to it. That was followed by the calimari, which we also enjoyed — they came out hot, and they weren’t overly crispy like calimari tends to be. They were very chewy still, which I thought was just fine, and my dining partner loved it. The soy based sauce that came with them was far too salty for my taste, however. Then we had their fried Satsumaimo sticks — basically sweet potato fries and fried skinny noodles. I didn’t care much for the sweet potato fries — they had a nice sugary taste but were soggy and limp. I liked the noodles — though they seemed to literally be spaghetti that was fried and dipped in sugar. The cheesy tasting sauce that came with this dish was highly unappetizing.
As for the sushi, we tried the Smoked Duck ngiri, the Hotate Volcano Sushi, the Spicy Pinenut Tuna, and a Shrimp Tempura Tuna roll. The latter was definitely the standout — I think the farther the sushi chefs deviated from tradition, the less I liked it. The shrimp tempura tuna roll really was very good, but the spicy pinenut tuna did not do it for me. The combination of ginger, pine nut, and rosemary with tuna… it just didn’t make sense in my mouth. It wasn’t bad, I mean I ate it, but it just didn’t seem quite right. The volcano roll was pretty good — very large pieces as I recall, but it was all right.
Anyway, some of the things really were good (shrimp tempura tuna and seaweed salad, mainly), some things were fine (calimari, volcano) and some dishes made me go «hmm…blarg…not so much» — those being the pine nut tuna and the sweet potato things.
Sorry Tsuki, but I think your restaurant was mostly empty for a reason. The food isn’t bad, it’s just that in a city like this, you can do so much better!

$ 10 bottles of wine on Monday.
You can choose — 5 different whites, 5 different reds.
You don’t even have to dance for it.
$ 10!
Does it scream HAPPY HOUR or what???
A very nice bottle of Argentinean Malbec, 2 spicy tuna rolls, 1 Alaska maki (salmon, avocado and cream cheese), one big bowl of edamame.
Grand total of $ 22.
On top of that — a super cute manager who told me with tears in his eyes (ok — maybe it was just allergies) that he took French in college for one year… and then proved it to me in placing in one long sentence all the things he remembered from ‘back in the days’.
Always makes me smile…
Surely not the best sushi in town but an unbeatable deal if you want to start the night cheap… or end it after your pick-​me up Monday bottle of wine!!!
Just do it!
Oh — and still $ 3 sushis every day of the week between 5 and 7pm!

First off, let me state that the full-​out restaurant side of the place is enjoyable. The service and specialty rolls are good. This review, however, is going to involve the sushi bar next door. So yes, let’s discuss that.
I’ve been coming here with one of my besties (Dan) on Mondays for happy hour sushi for a few weeks now (5 in a row, I think? Yowza!). I’m in love with this deal. Between the hours of 5 and 7, we pay $ 3.00 for a spicy asparagus roll, a garden roll and an unagi cucumber (there are others but we seem to prefer these three). We also end up paying half price for ebi shumai (we alternate between fried and steamed), fried calamari and the yaki tori. Toss in two bottles of red, white or a red-​white combo for $ 10 bucks a pop and you have two happy campers.
FACT: I text Dan on Sunday evenings with ‘Spicy asparagus roll?’ His responses have thus far been variations of ‘Yes’ (I’ve seen ‘of course,’ ‘sure,’ etc.). We’ve established this as a Monday evening tradition and we’re totally ok with that.
ANOTHER FACT: We always sit at the bar. If you ever walk in after 6 and see two crazies sitting at the bar with tons of food and wine, chatting up a storm, stop over and say hello! We don’t bite. Well… Dan doesn’t. I might. Not on Mondays though.
PS – I would like to extend a special hey there, hi there, hello and praise to the bestest bartenders/​servers/​hosts in the world — Paul, Ian and Derek. They always chat us up, share wacky stories (believe me, we reciprocate) and just allow for an amazing experience each and every time. They are definitely a part of why we come back every week.
And now it’s time to crave the asparagus roll for a week. Ugh.

Woah! If I go back enough times, I know I could totally give this place five stars.
A friend and I were cruising around looking for Nada Coffee and Tea and we stumbled upon a sushi joint that advertised $ 3 Happy Hour sushi. That’s enough of a reason to pull over, park and get in on that happy hour. There are two parts to this place: the restaurant and the lounge. The happy hour is in the lounge only, so enter on the left side of the building. This place seems super expensive when you enter. You know the kind of place I mean: so swanky that you feel like you might have to pay just to look at the place. I thought that $ 3 seemed like a good deal but I figured their regular menu prices were insanely high. WRONG! The feel of this place is definitely swanky. It is a bit dark inside so if you’re not into that, you won’t like this place. I was with a friend but I kind of felt like we needed to be on a date. The lounge definitely has a romantic vibe and it would be great for a date. There was plenty of seating at the bar, along the back wall, by the fireplace and in the back by the curtains. There weren’t many patrons when we arrived (about 5) so we had very attentive service from a great server, Paul.
Paul informed us that there were $ 3 and $ 5 drink specials (awesome!) so I had a bottle of a seasonal White Ale (kind of like Blue Moon) and my friend had a yummy glass of Chianti. We ordered Ebi Tempura, Alaskan Maki, Florida Maki (mostly a California Roll) and Spicy Tuna Maki (yummy!). Each were only $ 3! There were several other choices on the menu including a veggie roll, other fried veggie option and two salads. Pretty excellent for a small, happy hour menu. We were super satisfied with the four choices that we made — it was a ton of food!
Total we spent about $ 30 for drinks and sushi. $ 15/​person for everything including drinks? You can’t beat that! I will absolutely be back here for another happy hour. And their regular menu is actually reasonably priced. I definitely frequent sushi places that are as or more expensive than Tsuki so it’s worth going out of your way to try.

Went to Tsuki for happy hour on Thursday. The maki is good and the lycheetini my friend had was tasty as well. What was nice was the fireplace in the lounge area where we ate. Just seemed like a nice place to go after work and relax.
It’s not in my area so I don’t know if I would of gone and made the trip if I wasn’t already around there and there weren’t the specials. It was good though and would be somewhere I’d go again if in the area!

The décor and service were great! Every server was extremely nice even if they weren’t serving our table. Upon asking where the washroom was, the host actually walked me to the door. I’m assuming because it has the asian character for female instead of actually saying WOMEN.
As previously mentioned, the rolls can get small and pricey but they are good. I love the Crazy Tuna roll. I don’t particularly like when spicy tunas are minced tuna (which theirs is) so I really liked the crazy tuna. The flavors of the different tunas just burst in my mouth as the spicy mayo on top melts in. Occasional pops of red tobiko gives the roll some substance so it’s not just a mush.
I went there for a birthday so they gave the birthday people a green tea ice cream with tempura mochi ice cream on top. It was like tasting a little bit of heaven melt in your mouth. I’m not sure if this was actually on the dessert menu though. Hopefully you can request it anyway.
All in all, the rolls are kind of small. The regular hot entrees (like chicken teriyaki) looked decently priced. I also tried the green tea soba which I thought was very interesting. In the end, the service, décor and the Crazy Tuna is what made my day; bumping it from a three star to a four star!

Eh. Edamame, four rolls (2 specialty, 2 regular — 6 pieces each), and 3 teeny mochi (ice cream dessert) will cost you ~$ 65. Nothing impressive about the rolls either; in fact, they were kind of small, and none were innovative. Nice décor and great service, though. And last Tuesdays of every month is ladies’ night with complimentary manicures and massages with drink specials. I think I’ll only come back for that.
Their layout is clever: there’s a bar and lounge section when you walk in the main doors with a long contemporary couch that extends along the entire wall, off to the right is a whole separate section for dining, and upstairs you can reserve for an intimate, private dinner party.

Went there for the $ 31.95 all you can eat deal on Wednesdays. You have to order from a special menu, which gives you good choices of soups, cold and hot appetizers, minimal choices of nigiri sushi (salmon, unagi, tamago, tuna and ebi). Then you have can choose from 10 of the special Tsuki maki or many standard no frills maki.
As someone who will eat about just anything, you break even with your $ 32. The Tsuki Signature maki are all well presented and distinctive.
I like their regular menu a lot better. I just didn’t feel satisfied after exhausting the special menu.

The day began to shine as her smile lit up the skies…
A new friend inspired me to come here after what was a most adventurous day filled with many twists and turns that led to moments of not so pleasant expressions on her face, but despite the obstacles and great strength to endure my driving and company she literally glowed happiness as her dinner was presented and she was able to enjoy one of her most favorite meals.
«Like money in a bank», tsuki delivers on presentation, service, décor and then there’s the food. Fresh, oh «so MONEY» inviting to the eyes and nose, and the flavor of fresh kill scallops… simply incredible!
All suggestions by our server were killer and and helped make for a great way to end such an eventful day.
Smiles a plenty on the staff, the patio is off the street and a pleasant little space among the taller buildings, though the inside is definitely a «must do» for more intimate moments.
Tsuki must also mean «lifesaver» or «miracle» as it saved and made for a very memorable day.
Check out the website for coupons or daily specials which make the time here even more special. www​.tsuki​.us/​m​a​i​n​m​e​n​u​.html

Sushi: excellent, good selection, high grade fish
Miso: Good, but why did they have to add gummy fried tofu to the mix?
Edamame: Nice and salty and WARM
Menu: Good selection, though I would like to see more innovative appetizers
service: adequate, but definite pissiness at the door when we walked in with our dripping umbrellas
the Space: Hmmmm
This is where I kind of get tripped up. Yes the lighting is dim. It’s because they took some old warehouse with mismatched tile floors and an industrial ceiling, dimmed the lights and opened the doors for business.
The restaurant area is a large space that is in need of a lot of refinement. Either stick with industrial chick or new and trendy. They are going for the trendy motif, but definitely lost momemtum. Or ran out of $$$.
The bar area is better, but for food, I would sooner take out.

Let me start off saying that I love sushi. I think I’m pretty picky because I’ve had my friends who claim they love sushi, but really it was more like «i don’t know too much about sushi, but i’ll eat anything wrapped in rice, because i can’t tell the diference!». Not all sushi are created equal, people!
With this being said, I love Tsuki. First time I came here, the sushi was great. Its not the best I’ve had, but its pretty darn good for Chicago. It fits under the «creative culinary experience» sushi. Their other food is great too. I recall the price not being too bad, but you do end up getting what you pay for.
I loved Tsuki so much, I decided to host a private birthday dinner with a fixed 6 course meal upstairs in their party room. I bet nobody even knew they had a private party room! But they do! Its a great place to host parties. The event planner worked with me for my party and I decided on a menu, and even made a special vegetarian one for my vegan friends. Everyone LOVED the food and some commented on it being «the best sushi they have ever had». They also loved the atmosphere, their décor is very zen + a little trendy. I heard they play live jazz on Mondays, and I would love to check it out.