Nagoya

Ick. This is an awful sushi buffet. I would just go to a Chinese buffet, they have better sushi.
I couldn’t find sushi that wasn’t drenched or even had a little drizzle of awful sriracha sauce on it. Excuse me but name a sushi restaurant in which they put sriracha on everything. none. I wouldn’t recommend it

I have tried eating here several times… and I won’t be coming back. Simply stated, the place smells and looks dangerous. The sushi is always crusted over, slimy and chewy — and the time I’ve tried to give the place a chance, my family and I usually end up with a few days worth of the «runs», if you know what I mean — a mild form of what I’d consider food poisoning or bacterial exposure. The rest of the buffet items are pretty flavorless and dull — they aren’t all that tasty to begin with.
I gave this place chance after chance to be a decent buffet place but I just won’t eat there anymore — it’s not safe.

No goya.
This place started in my heart as a shining beacon of hope — would this be my new Todai, close to home and full of sushi? It seemed that way in the beginning when Nagoya first opened. Sushi for days, awesome hot dishes, and what’s this… duck? Seriously, duck? Be still, my beating heart!!!
Over the past few years, the quality and actual number of food items has gone down considerably. The duck is all but gone, the sushi is seriously meh, and it’s like a dirty, sad ghost town inside! Surely this is indicative that I’m not the only one who feels very disappointed in this place.
Side note: the last time I was there, these two shady dudes kept going in and out of a separate dining room just off of the main dining area. I was sure they were doing something illegal: from whippets to selling arms — who knows? Call me Angela Lansbury, because I can smell illegal activity from like 20 feet away.
But hey, there’s has a pretty solid aquarium by the hostess desk.

This was the WORST buffet experience EVER. Came out of this place feeling empty hearted, empty stomached and empty walleted. But I should have known better.
My first guess there would be an issue with the meal came when we pulled into the lot. I was feeling some sushi and decided on hitting this poor facsimile of a buffet. We got a spot right in front of the door, at 810 pm, on a Friday night. The parking lot was a ghost town, complete with tumbleweed and all. My brain was telling me «No», but my hungry belly was pushing me forward, toward a nearly empty wasteland of a dining room, which was plain as day from outside. As soon as we walked in, I felt like we stepped into The Matrix. It seemed like everything inside had a strange greenish hue cast upon it. The staff were somewhat zombified, unhappy looking, most businesses relish the fact that people walk in the door, but not here. No, even our first «server» didn’t want us in her section, as she made it apparent to the hostess that she was going to be taking off shortly. So we ended up sitting in one of the few tables that was right near the start of the sushi section. Great right? Negative.
Just grabbing a plate was an ordeal. The first three plates I grabbed, each of which had food stuck on them, made we wonder if the dirty dishes pile was supposed to be accessible to the diners. I finally find a clean one and head down the Hall of Sadness (That’s what I call the food area). As I passed plate after plate of lonely single pieces of maki, I decided on some strange cream cheese tuna deal (I dunno, the labels were missing in some places) and another un-​memorable piece. The staff behind the buffet servers were just standing around, seemingly hopeful that someone would just grab every piece. They were making absolutely no effort to replenish anything, ANYTHING AT ALL. Not wanting to fill my plate with any items I might regret, I surveyed the entire buffet in order to assess every item. I managed to add a single salt and pepper shrimp some old and death green colored seaweed salad and a scoop of rice to my plate. Pretty pathetic. I’m pretty pro at most buffets, and am not one to shy away from questionable establishments. Hell, a roach crawled across my table at one of my favorite restaurants, and I still finished my meal there. But here I was, with 3 ounces of food on my plate. The fried rice I got was unseasoned, stale. The shrimp was just okay, and the sushi, blech. Melanie came back with whatever pieces of maki looked the least like it would give her the plague, along with some edamame. She ate one of her soybeans, then handed me one. I crinkled my face after eating the cold, overcooked, water-​logged, no salt soybean as Mel exclaimed, «How do you mess that up?» I couldn’t answer, at least not at that time. I did manage to find some salt and pepper lobster tails, which were hit or miss, and somehow the shining beacon at the buffet. The hits were solid, felt cooked and had some taste to it. The misses were mushy, soft and yucky looking. I ate these with some plain steamed rice, and we were both pretty much done with dinner and ready for dessert, after 3 plates that could have been condensed down to a saucer full of food, which is highly uncharacteristic of me. Also done with dinner were the staff, who, 45 minutes before closing time, were already cleaning the stations, and getting rid of food. And I don’t mean by tossing the few measly pieces of sushi. No, they took out containers and were putting them away neatly, as if to be served to the unsuspecting diners the next day. I’m not saying that that was what they did. I’m just saying, that’s what it looked like. The worst part is, they were doing this while people were still eating! So now the whole edamame thing makes perfect sense! If you make edamame at home, you know it’s always best the first time around, re-​heating always cooks it a little more than you wanted, takes away some of the color…
So since I not only hated the food AND was still hungry, I went for some ice cream, since between that and the fruit, the ice cream looked less sad. Supposedly serving Schoep’s Ice Cream, the attendant helped me to the smallest scoops known to man, of Strawberry Cheesecake and Green Tea. I didn’t know Schoep’s made Green Tea?!(They probably don’t) The strawberry cheesecake tasted more like fro yo or soft serve, and I know my Wisconsin based ice creams. Most of the good ones have something that helps me to tell it apart from other lesser forms of the frozen treat, and that something is, a milky after-​odor that I usually have on my lips after eating said dairy treat, such as good quality cheeses or ice cream. Yes, it is a strange indicator of quality dairy products, but it’s my strange indicator of quality dairy products.
Check came, I paid and a piece of my soul wept. I’m just glad it was only me and Mel that had to experience this, the saddest dinner in a long time…

Gave first a good review then a bad review. then a better one. now going back to a less star ones. because there is really no consistency on their menu. keep changing the prices. first they raised it way to high. then dropped it. now dropped it. again. but the food is different then when i was there 2 weeks ago when they first dropped the price. no more mussels. oysters. crab legs. it is just going DOWN HILL… i see this place closing very soon. especially there is a new sushi place opening minutes from there.
They really think costumers are stupid I guess. well ain’t happening. there is a lots of other places to go to. then the staff pretends they don’t undrstand english. give me a BREAK.
DONE with this place!!!
They keep playing with prices. an the menu so everytime you go there you don’t know what to expect. just not worth it anymore.

Lunch is now $ 7.99 Mon-​Sat with ayce sushi, but it doesn’t seem as glorious as before. That’s incredible, though, compared to a regular Chinese buffet! Although, you have to wait sometimes for the nigri as they don’t make them as fast at the multitude of maki’s they offer. I’m not sure it’s just today, but they didn’t have sprinkles and nuts for the ice cream. Perhaps some things had to go when the price dropped from $ 11.99. The desserts and fruits were still plentiful.

I’m struggling on how to write this review. It’s hard, because I hate to give one-​stars. To me, giving a one-​star to a restaurant is a big «F you» to its owners, takes money out of the pockets of its waitstaff, and is an insult to their cooks.
And I’ve tried to think of ways to make this at least a two-​star review. But our experience was so awful I can’t justify it. I’m so sorry, Nagoya, but it is what it is. Here’s what it was:
Ambiance:
Nagoya is pretty big and pretty typical as far as buffet lines go. It seems like it has space for a lot of people, but since we were in for lunch, it wasn’t very crowded. The decorations were your typical psuedo pan-​Asian fare: geisha statuettes, golden cats, bamboo fans, etc. Nothing special. Nothing distinct. At this point, we’re still at five stars because, let’s face it, some of the best food comes out of the most bland looking kitchens!
Service:
We were promptly greeted by a nice woman who must have been a manager/​owner. She led us to a table near the walled-​off buffet line and introduced us to a sullen looking girl, who was to be our waitress.
So we stood there awkwardly, waiting for Sullen-​waitress to take us to our table. No dice. Sullen-​waitress just stood there, looking at us stupidly. A bit more of awkward feet-​shuffling and waiting occurred until we figured out that we were supposed to sit at the table next to Sullen-​waitress and her stupid-​gaze.
After we sat down, Sullen-​waitress asked what we wanted to drink, but since it was just lunch, we asked for water. Once Sullen-​waitress dropped the glasses on our table, she told us to «Enjoy». I’m not entirely sure how one goes about «enjoying» water, but I just shrugged it off as a misspeak on Sullen-​waitress’ part.
After nursing our waters for a bit, we began to discuss just booking it out of there. We didn’t know where Sullen-​waitress was, we were hungry, and we were tired of waiting to see if we could go hit the buffet line yet. Turns our Sullen-​waitress had melted back into the wall behind our table, which means she could have clearly heard our entire conversation, where we wondered where she was. It was only until we discussed leaving did she re-​materialize to let us know «you can go get food now.» Well, gee, that would have been nice to know 15 minutes ago.
At this point, even with stellar food, the review would have been capped at three stars.
Food:
According their menu, lunch starts at 11:00 am. We got there around 11:45 am. Can someone on God’s green earth please explain to me how 95% of the food I chose was cold? As far as sushi went, I picked up the Spicy Tuna, Shrimp Nigri, and the Crunch roll. Not fresh. I understand that this is a buffet and that the seafood might not be the freshest, but the fish tasted rubbery. Gross.
So we’re at two stars.
Price:
And two stars is where I convinced myself I’d stay for this review. Because, for the terrible service and terrible food, I only paid about $ 25 for two. But than I remembered that me and the boy had a terrific dinner the night before for under $ 20. And so the review became a one star.
Nagoya, shape it up. Yesterday was easily the worst dining experience I’ve ever had.

Just a quick update — came here Father’s Day weekend for their All-​You-​Can-​Eat-​Lobster weekend special. It was awesome. The lobster was steamed and fresh (if it was frozen and steamed, I couldn’t tell the difference… it was still good).
Service seems to have improved as well (though it was already decent). Our plates/​cups/​table was cleared quickly and efficiently… whenever we went up to get more food, the table was cleared for us by the time we got back. And it was a busy day that day.
All-​you-​can-​eat-​Lobster. Do it!

This buffet wasn’t exactly good and it wasn’t exactly bad. For a buffet of this price, they could really update the décor a bit to make patrons feel like they’re dining in a classier place. Another issue I had was the temperature control inside the restaurant since I visited in December but the heat wasn’t on warm enough so I felt pretty chilly the entire meal. The service was good however.
For the food, it almost seems like they’re very focused on the sushi and not so much on everything else. The hot food is solid, actually better than most Chinese restaurants you’ll find but they do lack variety in their options although they do use pretty good ingredients. The ingredients in the sushi seem pretty good as well although the rice is a bit cold and fried items really aren’t crispy inside. However, they kept the plates well stocked and even carried premium rolls like Dragon Roll, Shrimp Tempura Roll, etc. I guess it’s not to my tastes but the rolls had a lot of sauce on them. I know that a lot of people like their maki and sushi like that but Crazy Buffet II, Royal Buffet, and Todai Buffet are much lighter in the amount of sauce they put on. Judging from the lack of wasabi and vinegar in the sushi, my best guess is that the food is made for a non-​Asian palate.
I might come back again if I’m in the area but there are a lot of other restaurants in Naperville to try.

LOBSTER! LOBSTER! LOBSTER!!! (
)
From my understanding base on the reviews Nagoya doesn’t normally serve lobster, but when we came in on Sunday, ¹⁰⁄₂₃ they were serving steam lobsters, crab legs, raw oysters, etc. Of course lobsters was the hot commodity. I’m pretty sure Nagoya felt a cry in their bank account. Our party of 15 easily ate 30 – 40 lobsters, I myself had 4, yes, 4 full lobsters, even the claws. They were fresh, delicious, and a generous size.
The crab legs (
) were also fantastic and I tried some of the sushi while waiting in line for the lobster and it was pretty good, a great variety. If you want sashimi you have to ask for it. There’s also a create your own stir fry section, my cousin couldn’t eat seafood so she had this and enjoyed it.
The lobster blinded my eyes from pondering else well, but the one or two glances I did give to the rest of the buffet it all look pretty good. Fresh watermelon was being cut, steamed fish, noodles, etc. I’ll have to try these other dishes next time, well maybe. I mean c’mon who can pass up lobster?
Our server was fantastic, wish I got his name, but he did an amazing job with removing plates, refilling waters, and bringing extra napkins. Never had to ask him twice and everything was brought out in a timely manner.
BUT the best part?! The buffet only cost us $ 23.99/person. I definitely ate my share. Been looking for a great seafood buffet in Illinois and have finally found one!

This is my hands-​down favorite place for unlimited sushi. It’s not too busy (probably due to the fact that there’s a decent amount of seating), and I pretty much destroy the sushi bar. They don’t charge if you leave some food on your plate (rice, usually), which is nice, and the food is pretty good for mass-​produced options. The hot stuff is average, and the ice cream selection is yummy! Try the green tea and coffee flavors!
Whenever I’m in town, I always make an effort to stop here for lunch.

Priorities at Nagoya:
1. Sushi. Cannot get enough of it. There’s a whole lot of variety and the sushi chefs behind the counter are always replenishing the rolls.
2. Sushi. Aaaagain! Seriously. It totally makes an equal appearance on my 2^nd plate… sometimes 3^rd. ha.
3. Hot Buffet. The grilled and steamed fish are my faves, but I like to try a little bit of everything!
4. Fresh Fruit. There’s so much of it, I have to stop myself because I want #5 on my list.
5. Dessert/​Ice Cream. A good selection of pastries and custards. They pair up very nicely with the fresh fruit. However, I must tell you that you need to make room for a scoop of ice cream. I recommend their more interesting flavors like ginger. It’s a good pallet cleanser after a meal. If you like crystallized sugar ginger, you’ll like this creamy concoction. The other flavors are great too!
Overall, I think it’s a good price for the quality and assortment of food that they offer. I have not tried the hibachi grill but without trying it, I’ll still give Nagoya 4 out of 5 stars!

I have been here with family and friends for 4 – 5 times since it was opened. It is a decent place even I am not crazy about buffets in general.
I would recommend to go during the weekend even it might be crowed just because of Sashimi if you are a Sushi fan.
They have varieties of Sashimi to choose from: Tuna, Ahi Tuna, Spicy Tuna, Salmon, White fish, squid, and clams. They were fresh every time I was there.
They also have extensive sushi bar. I usually just get the Unagi and pass the rest as I got enough from the Sashimi section.
Very nice Chinese food choices as well. My kids favorites are spring rolls, Korean beef ribs, and sesame balls. Raw Oysters could be a hit and miss. Half the time I got juicy and tasty ones. The other half not so much. It is same thing with crab legs.
There is also a Mongolian BBQ style station to grill or cook in the front of you.
I also like the extensive fruit, sweets and Ice cream selections. Lychee and Green Tea Ice cream are my favorites.
The service was very attentive. I guess it is a good place to come when you have a group of people who could choose whatever they prefer. And it is right across from the Fox Valley mall while you could burn off the calories after the feast.

I was starting to feel like Nagoya was my boyfriend’s mistress on the side. I knew he was going, sometimes a few times a week, at his lunch hour from work, and yet we’d never gone to this place together. I was getting suspicious that he was keeping something from me regarding his evasiveness about dining options. He finally broke down and admitted that he was in love with cheap Japanese food, but we could work it out, and as a token of good faith he took me there for the Sunday lunch buffet.
Buffets aren’t usually my type, but I was open-​minded. I could definitely see what he liked about Nagoya. Bountiful options, polite service, and unbeatable freshness.
A Pan-​Asian cuisine is represented, starting with appetizers such as gyoza, shumai, teriyaki skewers, snow crab legs, a variety of salads and soups, then of course the sushi and sashimi, and on to an excellent hibachi (udon noodles with beef and bay scallops were wonderful!) There’s even an ice cream station with flavors like green tea, adzuki bean and plum wine.
The menu rotates frequently so you may see other items when you go.
I definitely got value out of the pineapple smoothie with tapioca pearls that I ordered: it came in a huge glass stein (about twice the size I was expecting), so heavy I could hardly lift it off the table.
The seating area is pretty noisy; servers were quick to remove plates and fill water.
Overall, Nagoya wouldn’t be my first choice for sushi, but for a broad-​ranging and affordable Asian food experience, it’s a good option.

I was really looking forward to what the hype was on this sushi and food buffet that my friends were telling me about.
It was 11 bucks per plate, which is common for most buffets.
I went with my friend and her family whom i love cuz they’re just wonderful people to be with. We went up for our first plate and stocked up and then got a separate plate for sushi.
The food was pretty good for buffet food and I’m not a fan of buffet food but this was pretty good.
Sushi on the other hand was disappointing. Some of them didn’t taste great and others that were supposed to be warm were cold. If you go here don’t go for the sushi (maybe it was a bad day, so give it a try).
The fruit was fresh and yummy, jelly=nassssty do not touch!
Ice cream=mmmmmm mint chocolate chip is my fave so of course i got that, my friend loves strawberry cheesecake
OOOO and for all you filipinos, there’s lychee!
Come here before 330 so you can get buffet for 11 dollars! Not bad at all and then you can walk off the calories at the mall right across the street

Nagoya is a decent Japanese buffet along the giant commercial strip that is Route 59. We went here on my uncle’s dime as a Christmas present, which was nice of him.
The restaurant seems pretty big, and there is certainly no shortage of Japanese imported cars in the parking lot. And this is how places like Nagoya end up being the closest to Asia that I can get this side of Chinatown.
The food is solidly average. As is my custom, I get sushi first, and both the rice and the sushi seemed to not be as fresh here as I’ve had elsewhere. One of their maki rolls was quite good (I do believe it was the ill-​named «spicy boy!») but everything else was just okay.
With my sushi craving filled, I moved on to the rest of the line. Nothing I ended up picking stood out to me, except maybe the frog legs, which taste even more like chicken when they’re deep fried than when they’re pan-​roasted. (Who knew?)
The barbecue pork was really good, especially with some über-​sticky pineapple sweet rice. The tempura was more chewy than crunchy, and the fried whitefish wasn’t all that great. The dumplings tasted good, with a bit of soy sauce.
I am happy to say that the ice cream was very good, and that the almond jello (no idea what it’s actually called) was yummy. Fresh lichee is always a plus.
Overall, this place is good. I’ve had worse, but I’ve also had much better.

I was able to try Nagoya because a girlfriend took me here for a late birthday lunch. I only heard mixed reviews but she SWORE by them. I laughed at this statement my friend made but it’s true. Walking in she said you know it’s GOOD food when the place has a ton of Asians waking out. I have to agree because usually they won’t eat at crap places.
Walking in I thought they had pretty nice décor and a good layout. Nice full bar area. We were seated at a table in the same room as the buffet. Walking in that room I was in awe of how long the buffet line was. So much food! :)
Now when you think ALL YOU CAN EAT sushi, stir fry etc you might think hmmm how long has the food been sitting out. Well let me tell you this place serves FRESH food. I was impressed with how clean they kept the line and how they do not put out any new sushi until the plate is empty. Workers stand there and monitor the plates and make it on the spot.
I did not try the Hibachi station but I will next time. You can’t usually go wrong when it comes to fresh stir fry.
They have a station with a wide variety of fresh fruits. A dessert area and get this an ice cream station with SIXTEEN choices. They give you a scoop and you add the toppings. :)
The variety of food to pick from is just crazy. I even went out of my comfort zone and tried a few things I normally would not. I was glad I did that.
It was about 2:30 when we went today (Thursday) and it was dead which was nice. I hear the dinner crowd and weekend crowds are crazy. I liked that I was able to try them for the first time while they were slow.
Now our waitress (Ashelly) was not so nice to one of my friends so she was not thrilled with the service. We were taking a break and the waitress brings the bill. We all look at eachother and say ummm we are not done. Thought in our heads how about asking us would you like the bill now? It was funny because moments before we were discussing manners in people these days etc.
Overall I was impressed and I WILL go back. I HAVE TO bring the boyfriend. I knew he would not be happy when he saw/​heard I went for sushi without him. LOL. Sorry babe girls day! :)
Oh $ 12.00 for lunch and about $ 18.00 for dinner. I think considering it is all you can eat it is a good price.
Remember it is NOT JUST sushi. They make stir fry, Chinese food, crab legs, oysters, soups, assorted salads, desserts, fruit etc.
I only wish it was not off of Route 59 due to SO MUCH traffic but… try them! :)
Cheers!

First off, I’m not big on buffets as I never get my money worth.
Place wasn’t pack. A bit too tight with the tables though.
Selections was ok. Not as much as I expected. Food quality is good.
Overall, it’s good, but I wouldn’t come back unless I’m in the area.

Came here for a birthday dinner… after reading some scary reviews I was uncertain of what to expect… Luckily, we came during a good time. Standard super Asian buffet with a hibachi and slightly better sushi.
Not really awesome quality food… just okay… same with the service…
Solid 3 star in my book.

First of all, Unilocal’s number of stars (overall rating) is pretty accurate but I wanted to try for myself…
I should have known better.
At first arrival, I was immediately impressed by the variety and selection of choices. Long salad bar, many appetizers, seemingly adequate amount of sushi being prepared by cooks, and a hibachi grill! It was spacious and not as packed like Todai in Woodfield and the chairs looked nice.
But long story short (so that you can go onto other reviews of other buffets that are far worth better in food quality) Upon actually seating down to eat, I probably liked about 30% of what I ate and couldn’t really finish more than half of what I selected.
The bads (and there were many):
The whole crabs were extremely dryyyyyy! It tasted old and and dry. I normally adore crabs but I couldn’t finish my crab at all. And the salted crab legs were quite salty.
Imitation crab meat was an overkill here. I felt like that was the theme of the entire buffet. They used TONS of it, in EVERYTHING! From appetizers, to salad, and what’s mostly annoying was, in practically all of their sushi rolls! I felt like I had to search and find until my eyes watered to find a decent maki roll that didn’t have tons of imitation crab as its main ingredient. It didn’t matter what they named each roll, I felt like every roll was the same and tasted the same.
On top of that, every rolls were fat and thick because they used to much rice, so you don’t really get to taste what you are eating and you only feel full faster. I was extremely disappointed.
The goods (fair and few):
Go for the dumplings like gyoza pieces, baked cheese mussels, noodles dishes (though it was salty too), sautéed veggies, fresh fruits and green tea ice cream for desert (probably my only favorite thing of the night).
Overall, while I was impressed by the variety, I was so NOT impressed by the food quality. I don’t know if was the crabs, imitation crab meat or a combination of everything but soon after our dinner, my stomach didn’t feel very settled. And later on in the night, I had to drink about a gallon of water and I was still thirsty the next morning. Either is was salt or they put a lot of MSG in all of their foods. I just feel bloated and thirsty now and I don’t think I’ll have enough courage to go back again. I have tasted better quality sushi buffet elsewhere and for less than $ 20/​person!