Checked out this classy Japanese restaurant in Hoffman Estates. It may be located in a strip mall but it's a lot better inside. Bistro Wasabi is one of the many Asian restaurants around. Had a hard time choosing which to go but this one was the choice. They're only open in evenings so hours are limited. Basic looking place when coming up on it. It's another one of these strip mall restaurants. There's also many other Asian restaurants in this same place so they basically just blend in together it seems. A difference is they're only open in evenings. They have the usual items like sushi. It's about $5 for the cheapest rolls. There's the usual and the unusual. A few choices for vegetarians to get. We got an Asparagus Roll and a Plum Paste And Shiso Leaf Roll. Better than expected. There was a minty flavor along with a sweetness. For sure it's worth going to if wanting to try some interesting rolls and other Japanese favorites. It's closed Mondays. There's lots to choose from but the rolls are the best things. read more

Bistro Wasabi II - Classic Martini With Asparagus Roll And The Plum Paste Shisto Roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Hoffman Estates, Illinois

Bistro Wasabi II made a great impression from the moment our dishes arrived. The pork cutlet was a standout--crispy from the panko breading yet still tender inside, paired with a fresh, crunchy cabbage salad. The sesame essence salmon was equally well-executed, with the teriyaki sauce served on the side so the flavor could be customized, plus a generous mix of crisp tempura vegetables. Both entrées also came with white rice and miso soup, which rounded out the meal perfectly. Overall, every component felt thoughtfully prepared and well-balanced. While the prices lean toward the higher end, the superb quality of the ingredients and the care in presentation made it feel well worth it. It's the kind of place where you can tell the kitchen pays attention to detail, and we left fully satisfied. read more

Bistro Wasabi II - Pork Cutlet with cabbage salad - Sushi Bars Near Me - Hoffman Estates, Illinois

See all

Loved Bistro Wasabi - its definitely a hidden gem located at a Hoffman Estates plaza. Enter into a cool Vibe, you don't feel like your in the burbs. Beautiful cocktail bar, sushi sitting area, and dining tables. Good and fast service. Sushi is high quality along with the other cooked entrees. Full cocktail list, full bar and wines and sake available. Highly recommend. Great for date night or girls night out. read more

See all

It's been a long time since I updated my review for Bistro Wasabi. Since I've been there twice this past week, this is a good time for the update. Last week, I took my son, who was celebrating something. We went overboard, trying various Maki rolls and Nigiri. If I remember correctly, we had Tomago, Squid, and we reordered a few later. For the Maki Rolls, we stayed traditional with Salmon and Avocado, Ebi Q, Una Q, Negi Hamachi, Salmon Skin, and Tekka. I also had a Sake-Martini (a must-try if you are a martini purist. Last night, there were three of us. We started with Seaweed Salad and spicy Edamame. We also had Flying Fish Roe Nigiri and Salmon Nigiri. For Maki Rolls, we had Boston (Salmon and Avocado), Negi Hamachi (Yellowtail and scallions), Tekka (Tuna), and one maki roll from their specials which I think was called "Baha," and contained a variety of fish. (I also had .another Sake-Martini - man, those are good.) My wife, whos doesn't eat seafood, had the Chicken Terriaki. While I have pictures from the first visit, I had technical problems with my phone on the second. I took lots of pictures, but they disappeared this morning. The only surviving picture is of the Miso Soup Both times the service was outstanding. Since we were there at 8 PM last night (a Friday), it was very loud but not so much that we couldn't talk. The service is always outstanding. My cousin, who was with us and visiting from Seattle, said this was the best sushi she ever had. I would put it up there as the top few I've been to, also. It can be pricy, but you pay for the quality and the service. read more

See all

Great drink variety, love their martinis. Our favorites apps are Raspberry Chipotle Shrimp and Avocados Tempura. Never had a bad meal here and the ambiance is perfect. You can eat at the sushi bar for service too. read more

Food was delicious. Atmosphere great. Service, fantastic. Such a needed dinner option in this area

Loved the fusion chips, hot sake, and kamikaze roll. Cute interior. Friendly service.

We've tried here twice now and there is literally no staff. Martinis are just juice pretty much. The food is okay but definitely not enough staff. The bartender gives you a rotten mouth full when ask if you could have a drink and our bill was all wrong. read more

Great atmosphere and friendly workers. The service is always top notch. Food is fresh and the bar has amazing cocktails

This place is located inside a food court in Arlington Heights. Food is self-serve, customers choose from a large menu and then find a seat inside the food court to dine your food. Food is pricy but quality is very average. You need to keep an eye on your receipt because they tuck a tip into your total price without first asking your permission. read more

I decided to try this finally while i was town and found it very rushed, thrown together and disorganized. The food was okay, but none of us are looking to purchase mediocre food. I remember a friend saying they liked this spot, but can't figure out what is likable... perhaps with more personable staff, and a lot hard work- it could actually be good. read more

Great service and sushi! Love the Tokyo Rose martini. Thank you Chefs for a great dinner.

Enjoyed our dinner at BW II. We just started going out for dinner and was happy to see they made doe a safe environment upon being seated. The staff was very appreciative of us dinning in and served us well our entire stay. 4.5 star rating over all- We started our with agadahi tofu along with edamame. The agadashi was fantastic... alway love this dish and it was served just right. For our main dishes we went with: Maki Buddha - Asparagus, Avocado and Cucumber, and veggie tempura rolls. All were very good but the veggie tempura rolls were excellent. Special roll- spicy tuna, spicy crab, cream cheese, Avocado and more- this thing was massive. It was excellent tasting but it was almost to big. Tuna and yellowtail nigiri- was fresh as a nice portion Overall good dinner and enjoyed ourselves. Service was a little slow a few times and the on cocktail my wife wanted on the special menu wasn't available due to being out of elderflower. Not going to knock them o. It despite getting back on their feet from Covid. Food was excellent quality and tasted great. read more

See all

Excellent dishes! Excellent service! In company of great friends the ambiance is created of course. read more

See all

We love this place! It is one of our neighborhood favorites. They have wonderful sushi and are reasonably priced. read more

We went here with our family of 5 for dinner. Drinks were good, there a several wines and many martini options. Spicy Edamame was very good for an appetizer! We all enjoyed different sushi rolls or plates of sashimi. Traditional rolls are all available here. It has a clean modern look with fun upbeat club/euro style music playing. Service is good, but nothing exceptional. We have a lovely dinner and would definitely return for a date night or couples night out! read more

See all

I would like to preface this by saying that it's important to be up front and honest with what you are offering customers. When I come to a Japanese restaurant, I am, for all intents and purposes, hoping for Japanese cuisine. We ordered a maguro salad (fine, rather refreshing), an assortment of rolls, and a "spicy chirashi." Now, when ordering a chirashi, spicy or otherwise, I expect a bowl containing sashimi over a bed of rice. What was served was essentially a hwe dup bap, a Korean sushi bowl. I love Korean food, but I did not come here to have Korean food. If it was on the menu as "Hwe Dup Bap" or "Korean sushi bowl", I would have not ordered it, as $27 is pretty steep for it if I can get it elsewhere for almost half price. Please, just be genuine with what you are serving people. We will not be returning, as neither the menu description, listed in the images submission, nor the waitress's description were accurate to what this was. read more

Bistro Wasabi II - What was the menu description at the time of ordering (please just call it what it is, thank you). - Sushi Bars Near Me - Hoffman Estates, Illinois

See all

First time here. The food was delicious. I like to ask the waiters where ever I go, what they recommend? Getting their opinion is important to me since I like to try different things. Victoria our waitress was very sweet and had delicious recommendations. The ambiance felt like I was in the city. It was dark and good lighting. Didn't feel at all like you were in the middle of Hoffman estates. Would definitely come back to try more. read more

Bistro Wasabi II - So delicious. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Hoffman Estates, Illinois

This location continues it's decline. We had dinner and drinks last night with friends and noticed an all new wait staff - again! And I can't understand the reasoning, as the prior staff was awesome, while last evening's staff was less than average. They were slow, inattentive and unaware. Drinks were just alright, which was always part of the appeal and the sushi was good, but not great, as is the norm. My recommendation is to stop trying to fix what wasn't wrong and get back to doing what made you successful - super friendly, engaging service with top notch drinks and sushi! read more

We have been here dozens of times but today the service was terrible. With a confirmed reservation, we still waited 5 mins for a table 15 mins for water & a 1st drink, and another 10 minutes to place our order. On a positive note, the food is always great. They did get better as visit continued. I wasn't looking for a free round but they realized I was not happy with the service. Thank you! read more

The ambience is beautiful inside however I wish the food could match up with it. We ordered an appetizer of ceviche which was good however our entrees seemed mediocre. We ordered sushi and the rice didn't taste as great quality tasting like it was bought at a local grocery store. There are other sushi restaurants that make it much better. As for the beef and udon, the beef wasn't tender and hard to chew. The sauce was something that I would buy to make at home. Our waitress took quite a while to take our order and to get our bill. We had to ask another waitress for our request. We will not be returning back here. read more

I don't know why I haven't updated this review. I've been here many more times. Service is always amazing! We usually sit in the bar, and the bartender is awesome! Food is always amazing. Wife and I have tried a ton of their food options. She prefers to get some Maki. I usually get some appetizers. Usually gyoza & yakitori. And then I'll get a few pieces of nigiri. Their cocktails also great! Give them a try! read more

See all

*pre covid review* Came here for a friends birthday in December and we had a great time. I ordered a maitai which was good, gyoza which were pretty tasty (nice and crunchy!) and lots of nigiri. I was skeptical about the quality of their fish since I really love nigiri and have had some great fish at different omakases around the U.S. I just didn't think it would be above average but to my surprise it was! The salmon was my favorite but I also liked the salmon roe and the eel. At the end of our meal, our server brought over a plate of different flavored mochi cut up into bite size pieces for us to share. They didn't charge us for it since it was my friends birthday and I thought that was so sweet. I also really like the decor and how it looked inside. I would recommend coming here for a date night or dinner with friends. read more

See all

I really, really wanted to love this place based on its reviews, but our experience was pretty Terri and just didn't warrant it. FOOD: It was a mixed bag. We had the Gyoza and the beef asparagus for appetizers to start. The beef was thin and wrapped around 3 spears of asparagus - meat was TOUGH, almost impossible to chew, and the asparagus underdone and crunchy, making it difficult / unsatisfying to eat. The gyoza was pan fried and very crispy on the outside, not sautéed the way gyoza is typically prepared. Our dinner consisted of chicken teriyaki, Alaskan rolls, and a pineapple roll on special. Rolls were OK, save for the pineapple, which was clearly canned, giving the roll a metallic taste. The chicken teriyaki had less than half a breast on the plate, sliced very thin I to 3 sections, and was so overcooked it was almost inedible. The teriyaki was also served at room temperature, clearly having sat for some time before we received it, no surprise given the service account below. SERVICE: Atrocious. No excuse. We had two servers, one training the other, and even then still couldn't get any attention. Our drinks came after the appetizers and we're wrong. We had to ask several times for water, often asking someone else because our servers were too busy giggling at the host station. Neither came back at any point to ask if we were okay or needed anything, and neither looked the way of our table when we ate (I was trying to flag them down. When we were finished dining, it took at least 15 minutes to flag another server down for our check (which was priced wrong). Our server finally returned with a check that actually charged us MORE because she forgot to ring in the drinks the first time.... Rather than to just leave them off k owing she'd done a terrible job of serving us (she apologized several times during the meal for being late with items, etc.), she added them anyway. Seemed like a perfect chance to make up for everything else but... VALUE: Also ATROCIOUS given the quality of the food and service we received. For a family of four, we paid $237 for a meal I'd rather forget. We won't be back, and suggest you avoid it and spare yourselves also. read more

Long time regular here, now less regular. A few month back 2 key staff disappeared - the years -long bartender and master martini maker, and the hostess/server/bus boy/workhorse/hustler. Both were absolute gems who cared about their work and customers. It isn't the same with the amateur, rotating staff now. The drinks are terrible. They don't know how to make basic drinks, and they simply are not as good. There's no longer any enthusiasm when customers arrive, no personality, no kindness. So far the quality of the food remains very high and the sushi chefs appear to be the same. But overall it is a different feel and the drinks stink, so we're going from dining 2-3 times a month to 1x every 3-4 months. Advice to owners- go get your 2 key staff back. They are missed and were the heart of your restaurant. read more

The food is usually very good, but the service not always. Bad experience with service this weekend. Mistake made with our reservation and so the 4 of us were seated at the sushi bar which makes group conversation impossible. Even worse there were open tables for 4, and they refused to move us. We were done in about 1 hour and still open tables. Offered little compensation for their mistake. Not sure when I will return. Used to love it!! read more

Great food, super fresh. I've sat at the bar the last two times and loved watching them prepare everything. Good ambiance too! The pineapple roll is my favorite! read more

I would definitely recommend this restaurant. I just went there a week ago and they have great food, service, and ambiance. This is a great restaurant to go to with family/friends. I would definitely recommend this, you have been missing out on a hidden gem if you have never eaten here before! read more

Driving by and saw this place... looked intriguing so I looked it up. Good reviews. Bookmarked... and scheduled a GNO for Friday... now to make reservations... RESERVATIONS / HOSTESS / CUSTOMER SERVICE WTF. You call... If it's during reg business hours... And no one answers you're supposed to leave a message or try back later. Really? And if you want to make reservations just leave a message and they'll call you back... unless they get busy. Then they won't. And then when you call while on the way to meet your group... they don't have a clue and aren't taking reservations... too full... etc. Maybe you should respond with an apology and response like 'we will do our best to accommodate your party when you arrive? Pretty amateur... and seems like that level of service has happened to others. Get on OpenTable or say you don't take reservations... but answer the phone. Seriously? AMBIANCE Decor. Gorgeous. Love white and silver. Made me less irritated with the mom pop shop phone dealio. Lightning is perfect to make you want to chat and lounge... had to fix exposure on all the pics I took though. ;-) SERVICE Decent a little slow at times. Food seems to take forever but 2 hours isn't horrible if you're enjoying the convo. Busing the sushi bar (seated there after a 15m wait was fine...) seemed inconsistent. Putting the dishes on a nearby empty table seemed to help. MENU / FOOD / DRINKS It's a mystery... menu seemed more like an outline... is this to dodge promises you can't keep? Had to stick to well knowns or ask the disappearing waitstaff... so we stuck to favorites....sushi rolls overall (took a poll) were good but not amazing... dragon/spider/sapporo... presentation is better at Sushi Ai and Wildfish. Oh the Sapporo was a recommendation to me by the waitress... mediocre. :-/ Where this place shines is the appetizers and sauces. Seared Tuna was definitely delish. Crab cakes too. Fish Carpacchio... teriyaki sauce was light and not overly salty... The martinis tried were unanimously applauded as good and strong. Wine was also. My watery virgin Mai Tai was charged appropriately on the bill as "Orange juice." I should have asked for no ice and more cherries. SUMMARY It's quality over quantity which I like... but I'm not gonna lie... the service needs to ramp up to justify $18 appetizers and $25-50 entrees. Pros are some of the menu items and interior... major cons are the poor customer service. Substance counts just as much as looks... imho. read more

See all

I am being absolutely and completely honest with everyone here. My family has gone here for over ten years. We have traveled across the country and tried every sushi place under the sun. I can undoubtedly say I have never had kinder of more comforting service anywhere else, and, the sushi at Bistro Wasabi is the best I have ever tried. Every person we have introduced to here has become instantly obsessed with the contemporary, sleek vibe and deliciously crafted food made with excellent precision. The whole crew working here is absolutely fantastic! I have and always will praise this as my FAVORITE restaurant of all time read more

Ambiance was nice and chill, noise level was low. The fish was fresh and tasty. The staff very nice and friendly and knew the menu well

Dang pandemic has ruined everything included this place. Nothing like trying to come early so you can avoid the crowds and get some service. Never works here since there is NO staff here no matter when you come so therefore no service. This place pulls the serious long stall game: ie: Sit you at the table, but no one show up for order taking for 20 minutes. Drink order are placed and you're lucky if you can squeeze in a appetizer order before the staff bolts away. Other staff bring the ordered drinks, and the long over due appetizers so there is no chance of placing you dinner order, no waiter. Then no wait staff show again until the appetizer has been completely demolished and another 20 minutes has ticked by. So we've now been in the restaurant nearly an hour when the wait staff appears to FINALLY TAKE our dinner order!!!!! :( Tried ordering sushi but the tiny list of sushi was further diminished by being out stock. Get your act together people, your slowly dished out service stinks as badly as old fish even with your spicy sauce! read more

Hi My wife and I recently moved to the area and heard great thing about Bistro Wasabi but didn't think that a sushi restaurant in a strip mall would be "all that" compared to the bigger, more extravagant brick and mortar establishments. For an anniversary celebration, we searched for a sushi place that was nearby and Bistro Wasabi was highly ranked (and a close friend had previously recommended it to us) so we thought we'd give it a try. Some of the reviews had mentioned they had made their reservations and (then) shared their reviews. Not thinking this (strip mall) restaurant would really need a reservation on an early Saturday evening, upon walking in, we could see quite a few empty tables and when asked by the host (who we eventually learned was way more than just that) asked if we had reservations. When we had responded saying no, but would that be an issue (seeing the few empty tables), her response was actually, I'm sorry but we're booked until closing. She did offer that there were a couple of seats available at the sushi bar and if we wanted, we could sit there. We obliged. From start to finish, we thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience and although the restaurant's layout was small but decent, the ambiance and displayed art deco all around was fantastic and rather unexpected for its location in a strip mall. A comment we later had shared about the lack of waitstaff was obvious (which explained the few empty tables) but the one who did everything from hosting and seating to waiting EVERY occupied table and seat at the sushi bar to running the register to handling the to-go orders and ensuring everyone was satisfied with their service was simply amazing, super polite, efficient and although I'm sure she was well beyond exhausted at the end of her shift, she should be given a medal and honored as the most capable person of redefining what it means to do more than any person should ever be expect to be expected to do (mind you, all at once and for hours on end)!!! Overall, this is certainly "The" diamond in the rough in Hoffman Estates and with a single employee who is worthy of the respect and recognition of everyone who ever is to be so fortunate to visits this Bistro! read more

Bistro Wasabi II - Sushi Bars Near Me - Hoffman Estates, Illinois

Love it! Clean, trendy and friendly staff. The portions are generous and super tasty!

Took a friend from Germany there and didn't think about making a reservation for 6pm on a Wednesday night. But, the place was packed, as I think it usually is, because it's a great place. Anyway, the hostess (also waitressing!) was very kind and seated us at the sushi bar, which was fine and turned out to be very fun as the sushi chefs explained things to us as they were making orders. While other places are complaining about understaffing, Bistro Wasabi did great with only 2 sushi chefs and 2 wait staff who were doing double and triple duty and didn't complain! We had edamame as an appetizer. Delicious - just the right warm temp and not too much salt. Miso soup was excellent. And the sushi was fabulous. I had the maki special and my friend had the special roll of the night - I think it was called the Godzilla. Whatever the name, it was delicious. No one rushed us and we had a very nice evening. read more

Bistro Wasabi II - Leftovers! Still delicious! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Hoffman Estates, Illinois

This place is great!! The sushi is so good and fresh. Great customer service. They have both indoor and outdoor seating. The waiter was super nice and very helpful. Great ambiance as well. We ordered the sushi rolls in the picture as well as an order of edamame. I love how simple their rolls are with great quality fish. You can really taste the freshness of it all. Next time I will definitely be getting sashimi and trying more of their rolls! read more

Bistro Wasabi II - Edamame - Sushi Bars Near Me - Hoffman Estates, Illinois

See all

We were in the area and wanted to eat some sushi. We saw this place near by a Thai restaurant that we tried before. When we walked in, it was very modern white furniture open dinning space that was divided by a long bar in front with rows of liquor as the wall. It was kind of neat. We were seated in the back of the restaurant and we decided to sit at the sushi bar. We both ordered hot green tea that came in a nice porcelain white tea kettle. The Sushi master greeted us which was nice to hear. He even explain one of the Maki rolls he made what was in it. We started off with some miso soup which had a nice flavor broth to it and plenty of seaweed and little bits of tofu. We ordered a couple of maki rolls and salmon and scallops nigiri. The one big maki roll special we tried was the lobster roll its huge and a bit spicy. It was good. The rice wasn't sticky enough though as we added soy sauce it fell apart luckily we had our own plates to catch the rice. I did wish they had super white tuna on the menu. Most your typical raw sushi they had there. The pace of our food was pretty typical we didn't feel rushed. They also played back ground music of contemporary hipster kind of beat. The workers here were nice and accommodating. Overall, a nice experience... read more

See all

This restaurant was phenomenal from service to taste. We ordered the teriyaki sampler, sautéed lobster, and panko shrimp for appetizer. The teriyaki had extremely tender and succulent shrimp, chicken, and steak. The sautéed lobster was the best lobster I've ever tasted in my life and was cut into shareable pieces so there was no licking at the shell. The panko shrimp was also super tasty. I had the sesame salmon which came with tempura vegetables and the salmon was phenomenal. My dad had the eel unagi which he thoroughly enjoyed and my mom had the king crab sushi which was excellent. The vibe was super chill. Definitely will be back! read more

See all

Above average sushi. Truly horrible service. Even when going for take-out, you're lucky if they answer the phone, you then get there to pick it up and wait 20 minutes before your presence is acknowledged. Every time, the same. When eating there, there is also an unacceptably long wait. I really want to love this place, but they're making it awfully hard. Just hire some more staff already. Good rolls here include the Baja & Kamikaze, my wife loves the Buddha vegetarian rolls. read more

Apparently if you are not a regular here you get treated much differently. Went for dinner here last evening with an out-of-town friend, after raving about the place, ie: excellent sushi and the martinis, only to be asked to vacate the table we were at because someone was waiting for it... that we could finish our (fresh) drinks at the bar. We were both horrified and, not to mention how embarrassed I was. My money is just as green, I'll gladly spend it somewhere else. *The service was sub par until they needed the table, then I got attention from three employees. This situation could've been handled a lot differently, I'm not sure I will ever return. read more