My boyfriend and I tried this place. Not happy at all! The sashimi was paper thin and not worth the price The rolls were not very interesting. We have no problem paying a premium for good food but this was ridiculous. read more

Hayashi is by far the best sushi I've had in a while. The fish tasted really fresh, and the rice left no aftertaste at all. Sunny maki = delicious. Next time ill try the sushi sashimi combo for a better review. read more

Any time I am in need of sushi, I go to Hayashi. The food is delicious, the atmosphere is very cozy and the people are very nice. I personally love their entrees. You get a cup of Miso or salad and then your main dish which is actually quite large. It is worth the money you are paying for it. I would recommend this place to anyone who is in the mood for some great sushi! read more

The sushi here is always good. It's never excellent but always good. If you are looking for a nice meal with good prices and good service Hayashi is a guaranteed choice. We've been customers for almost 20 years and enjoy our visits. read more

I came here on a Friday evening with a group of about 6 or 7. The place is really small so we had to wait like an hour until we were seated. They didn't have the rolls I usually get, so I got the rainbow roll. The food was pretty good but it wasn't excellent and it was kind of cramped in there. read more

Hayashi - Half of a rainbow roll - Japanese Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

Amazing food! The staff greeted me with 3 hosts saying hello in unison - very cute. I came for a quick bite of sushi before a late business meeting and was just blown away by7 their rolls. I like sushi but hadn't had anything this good in a while. My waiter recommended the mango and shrimp roll as a seasonal specialty, so I added it to my order of the sunshine maki and spicy tuna hand roll. The sushi chef was highly skilled and I enjoyed observing his technique from the bar. I think I may have even learned a trick or tow for the next time I attempt (amateur hour) sushi at home! :) The food came fast and it looked amazing. I couldn't wait to try this gorgeous arrangement of texture and color. The maki lived up to it's name - the sunshine roll made my whole day brighter. I could go on, but suffice to say if you are in the market for good sushi you have come to the right place. The mago added a sweet note to the crunchy tempura shrimp roll. Even the ubiquitous spicy tuna hand roll had just the right amount of kick. Kudos to the chef! All in all, quite a pleasurable experience. If ever I am down this way again I would not hesitate to come back. Thanks for the experienec and happy dining to you all. read more

Hayashi - (Front to back) Sunshine roll, Mango roll, Spicy tuna handroll - Japanese Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

YUM. We've been here a handful of times and the food is always good. I absolutely LOVE the hot appetizers of scallops and soft shell crab! Most of the rolls here are very good. Only downside is it get's pricey unless you're a very light eater AND the atmosphere is really unbecoming. Clean but crowded, small, and very basic seating/decorations. I will return here for sure for the delicious food. read more

Super disappointed this was my absolute favorite place nearby for last 4 years. I supported them during COVID 19 . Always left tips even during pick up. Today I called to order my typical order typically 80-100$ today was a little smaller just 70$ which include butter mussels. All I asked was hey can you add couple more pieces of mussels in I'll pay extra thinking it's like a dollar or 2 more. I can here the guy who answered had no idea if that can be done and went to the owner or manager who told him if it's 6.96 for 5 pieces that's 1.39 per mussel he comes back to tell me 4$ extra for another four pieces. Although I get the cost break down I questioned this as normally when you are a long standing loyal customer you either get it added for free is a discount for sure .... Nope not here when I questioned why I can hear the owner in the background saying " tell him no if he doesn't want it ". That's sad I loved this place and now have to go blue fish in Vernon hills which is farther or tsukasa at least they treat loyal customer with common courtesy ! read more

When I hear sushi, I go crazy!!! Usually I do not leave reviews, but once you try their California roll and the salmon sushi! mhmmm! It was delicious! The service was fast and polite, really appreciated the extra service! The value of the food and service was worth the little detour before going to the airport. Hayashi, you were good! Highly would recommend this to family and friends! read more

Delicious sushi for a reasonable price, with many other great non-sushi options to choose from. The staff was super friendly and constantly made sure our drinks were full/we were satisfied with everything. The service was extremely fast too. I came during the dinner rush and only had to wait around 5-10 min for all of the food to come out. The plating was beautiful and the quality of fish was out of this world! Overall, this was one of the best sushi experiences of my life. I would recommend coming here with friends or family. My favorites were the bloody tuna, fatty salmon, and the miso soup. I will definitely be coming back! read more

Just had dinner here today, pretty packed for Thursday night. This small, yet cozy, restaurant has good sushi and appetizers. I ordered Tempura appetizer (shrimp) and Agedashi tofu. Tempura was tasty&crunchy, and I enjoyed my agedashi tofu very much! For the rolls, we tried: Bloody tuna, spider roll and crispy tuna. Like the appetizer, these rolls were amazingly delicious. I love the spicy on Bloody Tuna and taste of soft shell crab in spider roll. Crispy tuna was a bit too sweet for my taste bud, so next time I'll drop this from my list. Service was quick and nice. Price was pricey considering the size of the roll; but for the taste like this, I have no complaint. Definitely coming back! read more

This is my favorite restaurant of all time. I've been going here since I was ~10. I always go here with my family on my birthday. I'll be honest with you: I only eat the California Rolls, Miso Soup, and edamame. That's it. I get the same thing every time. I don't know how accurately I can rate Hayashi because I haven't tried anything on their menu, but I sure do love those California rolls. The service here is amazing! The waiters are always extremely funny, polite, and are just really nice to have a conversation with. I can't overstate how good these people are! This place has really delicious food, but it can get very expensive, very quickly. I wouldn't go here if I was short on cash. However, if you have the money for it, I'd absolutely recommend Hayashi to you! If you're a fan of sushi, this place is worth checking out. I've had all the California rolls at every Japanese restaurant in Lake County, and Hayashi, by far, has the best rolls I've ever had. When I go to a Japanese place, I always compare it to Hayashi, and Hayashi is always better. That's all I have to say. You should eat at Hayashi at least once. It'll be the best sushi you've ever eaten. read more

We finally checked out Hayashi and I'm wishing we had done so a long time ago. The menu includes a huge variety of sushi. We ordered three different rolls. Each one was better than the next. We also ordered the shrimp and cheese ebi roll appetizer. So good! The service was prompt and friendly. The restaurant was neat and clean. We will definitely be back! read more

Everything about this sushi place amazes me. I have been going here for the last 4 years with my partner for our anniversary, and I could never choose any other place! The staff are so friendly and patient (we take awhile to order!). The music is soft and the tables and chairs are simple and tasteful. I love their display of the sushi bar because you can see all the seafood they use to prepare the rolls, they're all kept fresh and ready. They plate the rolls and sashimi so beautifully, and I am always given more water and tea when I start to run low. And I know this sounds silly, but the bathrooms are beautiful! They are one person bathrooms, so you have that kind of privacy, and there's the soft music and the dimmed lighting (sometimes I just like to use the bathroom because I like the relaxing atmosphere). This is not a place to go for fast service, and it is not cheap, but the quality sushi is so worth the time and money. Alas, great food places are in the eyes of the beholder, but you cannot decide until you actually give it a chance. Hayashi is such a gem in our eyes. It is a special treat that I highly recommend! read more

The ninja turtle roll is my favorite! The server was so nice and efficient! They have my favorite wine-- Kendall Jackson Chardonnay. All around great place to eat!! read more

I travel for a living, and have been for the last 18 years. When I'm in town, I eat here. I've been eating here for 18 years. This is no frills, no Asian Fusion like I get out West. This is sushi. Authentic. Good. Fresh. Never disappoints. Never. read more

By far the best sushi in Gurnee! When I go out for sushi I like to pay for fish in my sushi roll, not a fat sushi roll of rice and small pieces of fish. The house roll is my favorite! Oishi! read more

We have lived in the area for 15 years and have tried all local sushi places. Hayashi is by far the best. Great food and service.

Having been a regular for a few years, I was absolutely taken aback by the poor quality of the chirashi i had for take out recently. The portion was literally half of what i had the last time (i actually think there was more cucumber and orange garnish than fish) and the price had sky rocketed. I know that commodity prices have gone up this year but you have to be a little clever in dealing with that. Drastically cutting portions and raising prices simultaneously is not the way to do it. read more

It was really good actually, the food was fresh and service was great . I will definately recommend the ninja turtle rolls, and the beef noodles were really good. I wouldnt mind going back, maybe at a different time to see if its less packed. I went on a saturday night and it was pretty jammed with customers. Good spot. read more

My daughter and I stopped for lunch as this is one of our favorite places. We were sat at the counter as the place was very busy. The service was the worst I have ever seen. My daughter was hit in the back of the head by a waitress reaching over her to get food off of the counter. A gentleman that I have seen there many times who I think my be the owner literally knocked the chopsticks out of my hand as I was eating as he sat down in the chair next to me. Neither of us even got an apology. We have been going here for years and I was so disappointed in the way they handled themselves and how rude they were. I think we will be finding a new place. read more

I'm simply amazed that this place only has three and a half Stars . This place simply has the freshest best sushi around! I have eaten sushi in Buffalo Grove Glenview Lake Forest. I'm telling you this place is Simply the Best. Every time I come here it's exactly the same. I stopped eating at other restaurants because I'm always disappointed. I only come here now because it's simply better. read more

Very unfriendly staff! Not helpful at all made me feel awkward and uncomfortable. Never checked back on us and my water was empty the entire meal. I will not be going back to this establishment. read more

The place is kinda small but is clean and the Staff were so accomodating and nice.Fresh Sashimi and one if the best Miso soup i tasted so far.Been there twice and ill keep coming if the cravings hit me. read more

We recently moved to Gurnee, and I was looking for a replacement for my sushi favorite, TL's Four Seasons in Bartlett. After trying some AWFUL sushi place by our apartment, I found this place and grabbed an order to go. The miso was very good, but the sashimi was just wonderful. Large pieces, fresh fish, and the prices were better than some of the other sushi places i've been to. Just thinking about it makes me want to go back there right now. Try the ninja turtle roll, it's delicious! read more

Tried this place on a Saturday afternoon late lunch. This is your basic strip mall storefront place with minimal decor. We ordered the Tempura combo appetizer (shrimp and veggies), which was probably the best thing we ordered , very good. The Goyoza was one of the better I've had , very good as well. The fried chicken wings were good but seemed a tad over done. The sushi rolls we ordered here were a solid good across the board , Tuna , tuna avocado,salmon avocado and spicy tuna , although none absolutely blew us away. The terriyaki steak was the weak link here , tasted fine but was fairly tough. I've been to both better and worse places than this and would have no problem returning there. Unfortunately they did nothing to really give me a taste to go back there for. read more

Sushi was wonderful. We shared several different items & everything came out great. One of the dishes was the Sashimi vegetable don, I would recommend it if you want something a little different. Service was great as well! read more

Sushi was sub par, probably the worst sushi I've ever had. The spicy tuna was mostly pink mayonnaise and rice. Very unappetizing and barely any "meat" in the roll, mostly rice. The only good roll we had was the salmon avocado roll. We also got an egg roll that came on a bed of lettuce. This made the egg roll extremely soggy. Will not be back. read more

My parents, husband and I went here about a month ago. Normally I love this place! But this visit was very disappointing. My husband and I were limited on time and my dad had stepped out to talk on his phone when we got there. Since my dad was on his phone my husband and I ordered our food so that way we could eat and have time to enjoy it. Well our food didn't come out till my parents did (45 minutes after we ordered ours) and also the serve didn't do anything! She never came back to ask how it was or even fill up our glasses with water. I had to literally find someone to get water from. The sad part was that there were only three other tables there with six people total between the three. The rolls were good like normal but the service sucked and that is why I am updating this review so low. We didn't even have time to order mochi because we were afraid it was going to take another 30 min to get it! We already had to eat our rolls faster than what we would have liked. read more

(11/1/2008) Okay I need to update my review...went there a few weeks ago and I thought the food was sub-par. The sushi pieces were small and the fish did not look all that fresh. Frankly, it seems the place has steadily gone down hill over the past year or so...each time we've been there it's gotten a little worse. Not sure we'll go back again especially given their higher price point. (I also noticed some reviews of this place by Chicagoans...as a transplant from the city, I would say Morita/Shine on Armitage or Matsuya on Clark are both superior.) read more

this time i didn't enjoy much here. i ordered " salmon don " and i didn't like it at all. the sushi rice tasted funny and there wasn't that much salmons. it's almost 20 bucks so i think they should have given more fish. their edamame was really good though. i will still go there but just NO MORE ordering " salmon don ". read more

Hayashi - Salmon don : I didn't like it at all. - Japanese Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

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Always a great night if Hayashi is on the table, we prefer take out and hangin' around our family room with Hayashi, chopsticks and a great movie. Love the dynamite roll, spicy tuna roll, seaweed salad & any of their sushmi. It's nice to have them in the neighborhood... read more

Mediocre sushi. Their crab roll tasted extremely fishy. Very sloppy, falls apart,and extremely over priced for the quality. If you know what a good roll is and eat sushi regularly don't go here. read more

Overpriced and a waste of money. Aha Sushi in gurnee is overwhelmingly so much better. I was expecting a lot more for the prices they charged and what little they gave was just absurd. We ordered the ninja turtle roll and spider roll. The presentation was just sloppy but with that aside, what was most disappointing was the freshness. Take in consideration that what we ordered was not raw sushi so I can only imagine what their actual sushi tastes like. The spider roll was stale and very salty. I will definitely not be going back. Their service was normal for a sit down sushi place and was the only thing I could say was good about this place. I would not recommend this place to anybody. Save your time and money and spend the 5 minute trip to go to Aha Sushi instead. read more

My husband and I chose to dine here on a Friday night and were very disappointed in the integrity of the dishes. I enjoy sushi, it is one of my favorite cuisines. I enjoy the freshness of seafood, the bright colors, the flavor, the technique behind hand rolled rolls. This restaurant does not take pride in their food or presentation. My husband and I ordered four rolls, two of which were tuna based. After trying my first bite of a spicy tuna roll I felt cheated... tricked. The Tuna was chopped so tiny (like little bacon bits) and was mixed with a ton of spicy mayo tinted tuna like sauce. In the roll there was more of every ingredient besides tuna. All four of our rolls were disappointed. When I go out for sushi I want the rolls to consist of fish- not cost cutting tricks like extra sauce, rice, and finely chopped filler ingredients. Our food was very disappointing and I will not be spending my money here again. If you are looking for quality sushi try sushi thai in libertyville. read more

Calamari was horrible, some of the fried bits didn't even contain squid. For the price I expected better quality it was just bad. The container had about half a cup of calamari with squid in the bits and a half a cup of batter bits that actually tasted fishy and stale. Now onto the rolls, we bought two of the specials. I think this was our serious lapse in judgement. Both rolls we somewhat slimy, fish was not fresh tasting. Generally a lot of crunch, crap and sauce to cover up smelly tuna. Won't return. There is better sushi at the restaurant on orchard road in Antioch. read more

My recent visit to Hayashi was my first time there, and I was not all that impressed. I couldn't believe the miniature size of each piece of sushi! They were bite-size pieces--way smaller than your typical sushi at any other Japanese restaurant. The flavor of the sushi was good, but because they were so small, I had to order 3 maki rolls in order to be full. Here's what I ordered: Spider roll: 5 tiny pieces. Ebi (shrimp) tempura maki: 6 very tiny pieces. Crunch roll: 6 tiny pieces. I initially ordered the first two maki thinking that that would be enough to fill me up. As soon as they arrived, I immediately ordered the crunch roll knowing that I would not be full with just two maki. I devoured the first two makis in 3 minutes. That was how small they were. Everything tasted good, though. The service was pretty good. It's a small restaurant and there were constantly people waiting at the door for a seat. Well, it was the weekend before Valentine's Day, so maybe that had something to do with it. The host was standing right behind me the entire time watching everyone eat. I talked to him while I was waiting for my food to come, and he was not a friendly man at all. Not at all... In the end, I've had much better (and bigger) sushi in the city and I don't think I will return to dine at Hayashi. read more

This sushi restaurant doesn't smell like fish, and their water cup doesn't smell like fish which I find in most sushi restaurant. The price is bit higher than the other local sushi restaurants but the sushi and sashimi are so fresh, I didn't care about the price. Their udon was good. I also had donkatsu which was okay, it didn't have much meat as I wanted. but i went there for sushi and sashimi and they were just amazing. I'll definitely will go back again. read more

We eat sushi quite often in the area. This is a typical strip mall sushi restaurant. I have given it several tries, just because I like sushi so much and am close in the area. The service is mediocre at best, although they have a lot of people standing around. On several occasions, I didn't even have a second glass of wine, not because I didn't want to, but because they never asked, or came by! The sushi is small pieces for the price, and the flavor is okay. I had salmon the other day and it was sickly looking, although the taste was okay. The spicy tuna did not have much tuna, and should have been called just spicy roll with tuna accent. There are better places in the area, like Kawa in Grayslake, or my favorite, Tsukasa in Vernon Hills. I won't go back even though I was hoping they would get better. For those who liked it, they just haven't given others in the area a try! read more

I go to Hayashi multiple times a month, and I have yet to be disappointed. I've tried numerous sushi places in the city, other suburbs, even other states... and I have to say Hayashi is definitely my favorite. The sushi is delicious and fresh. My personal favorite is the bloody tuna roll. Another thing to note, the service is amazing. It's a small place, and the staff is extremely attentive and courteous. Highly recommended! read more