Just want to start off by saying when Pl8 first opened, their food was so good. I would say the last 6 times I ordered, I was disappointed. I keep on giving it another chance thinking it will be better, but I'm done now. Today, I ordered lunch for my boss and I. We had the Seven Flavor Chicken. Not only was it too expensive (price online was $5 less than actual price), but the quality of the dish was not good at all, in fact, I hate to say it but it was terrible. The chicken was was extremely rubbery, and had no flavor at all. It wasn't fresh either, I'm sure it was bagged frozen chicken. I really hate giving businesses poor reviews, but I also hate spending money on food that isn't good. read more

So disappointed tonight that 40 minutes after placing our delivery order the restaurant cancelled the order and informed us that the kitchen was closed. So much for supporting a local business. Beware of placing an order and getting your hopes up. By the time our order was cancelled, our options for ordering from somewhere else were limited read more

OK, so I tried calling one last time, and FINALLY got through. I ordered four items. Fried pot stickers: Very bland without the dipping sauce. Totally NOT worth $7.00 and it only comes with five, not the usual six that other places have. Chicken Dumpling Soup: Very good, decent portion, but I'm still not sure it's worth $6.00. Sichuan Shrimp: Asked for light spicy but apparently they're only capable of making medium spicy as the least spicy of dishes. It was good, but I'm vastly disappointed that the "greens" that the shrimp are supposed to sit on top of are about a handful, and barely a handful. Good flavor otherwise. 7 Flavor Chicken: It was... interesting. The Sichuan Shrimp is definitely better. This dish has a very odd flavor. I think it's the hoisin sauce which is an ingredient in Chinese food which I have never really cared for. I was hoping it would not be a dominant flavor but unfortunately it is in this dish. So, some good food, but definitely not anything which I feel is worth $47.00. I think I'll stick with China Style. They have good food consistently for reasonable prices. ^Update^ _______________________________________________________ After reading the menu, and reading the reviews, I was eager to try this place. It's Saturday, they claim to be open until 10pm. Sadly, I don't think they are. I've tried calling THREE times and nobody picks up the phone. Either they don't want business, or their hours have changed. Either way, I live too far from them to just hop in the car and take a trip out there in the hopes that they're open after all. To the owners: PICK UP YOUR DAMN PHONE WHEN IT RINGS!!! read more

a nice place , good staff, noisy when busy, dumplings were good, dumpling soup good, wide noodles excellent, flourles chocolate cake good, pad thai 0/10 , sparse noodles overcooked to nothing, charged back. will try again on strength of other items, but i worry about a cook willing to try to serve that bad pad thai. read more

A coworker highly recommended PL8. The entire staff is polite, attentive and the service is prompt. The food is outstanding it was well worth the 45 minute drive. read more

We ordered wide rice noodles with beef, which is excellent. The meat, noodles, and nice variety of veggies made our dinner special. We also tried the vegetarian lo mein, which has tons of veggies and flavor as well. Lastly, we had the Otis Road combo for sushi, which was not too fishy and had fresh flavor. Great service, great food. Love this place! read more

Very good, laid back atmosphere. Wait staff is always nice and efficient. There are always new / creative specials on the menu so even if you go regularly you will not get bored. The sushi is great. The tuna poke roll is my favorite. read more

We had take out food from this restaurant, we had ordered there 3 weeks before and had just a mediocre experience . We decided to give it another try , the food was absolutely inedible . And they are higher priced than other Asian restaurants in the area. I see the they have some '5 star' ratings by some....must have had too many Singapore Slings. We will write this place off as inferior in everything. read more

Good food! Our server Henry was super nice and attentive. We enjoyed sitting outdoors!

We love this place so much we order takeout almost every Friday! I love the sushi appetizer and the pad tai. Drinks are also good. Everyone in my family likes the food here and the quality of the food is consistently high. Service is also very attentive and prompt. read more

Love some of the food here but really going downhill. Not enough servers, part of order not showing up, but we were charged. Bathrooms not clean, things falling of walls, no toilet paper. We stopped at the hostess stand to mention bathroom situation and we interrupted three girls busy on their cell phones who did not care about the situation. Good is good consistently but service and cleanliness was terrible. read more

We've been coming here since it opened and it only gets better! Patrick is our go to waiter who gives impeccable service. Chef Chris goes out of his way to deliver beautifully presented and delicious food to nourish our very souls! read more

Pl8 - Asian Fusion Near Me - Barrington, Illinois

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Pl8 is Gr8! In all seriousness though, it is. Pl8, situated in a stereotypically snobby luxury "strip mall" in Barrington, is simply genius. Asian fusion. At really reasonable prices. Done impeccably well. With super affordable drinks to boot. We ordered LITERALLY everything. Rolls, sashimi, calamari "2 ways," pad thai, the shrimp basil special, banana wontons... The vast majority of the food we were served was on par with the best, most innovative Asian fusion we'd ever had. Our server (Julie) was sweet, fun, prompt, and simply delightful. Great chic indoor dining room, even better outdoor dining space. Food synopsis: Snow crab roll with honey wasabi drizzle. Need I say more?! The basil shrimp is the BOMB. The sashimi samplers are SUPER reasonable, SUPER fresh, and awesome. The pad thai was just ok. The pear martini's AMAZING. Suggestion for guests (and proprietors): The specials are on a chalkboard immediately upon entry and they're easy to miss. The hostess may mention the specials in passing. Awkward as it may be, take a moment on your way to your table and study them. They're fresh. They're delicious. I highly recommend them. read more

Dined at PL8 with my family tonight and had a very good meal. Server was very nice! Kids menu (which I think is new) is great. Son had kid appetizer (spring roll + 3 potstickers) and kid sushi (California roll + veggie roll). Both are good quality and value - $6 each. Husband and I split sushi appetizer, and the salmon (which neither of us love) was probably the best salmon we've ever had. Husband had dragon noodle entree and I had the scallops. Both were solid. Only miss was one weird piece of yellowtail on sushi appetizer plate. We will be back. read more

They've finally pushed me over the edge. The quality of PL8's food has always been inconsistent, but now I"m done. Ordered two pad thai with no peanuts- received one- with peanuts. Tempura was cold and rubbery and they put the dipping sauce on its side and it opened up all over the bag, my coat and the car. Food and service were absolutely terrible. Please hire some help who can read and who care even the slightest about what they are doing. Will not return and this is one of the closest restaurants to my house. Don't waste your time. If you want Asian food go to China Palace or Shakou. read more

I love all things Asian fusion. This is old news for anyone who regularly dines with me. I don't discriminate. I love it all. Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Thai... So naturally I was insanely excited to venture back to my hometown to dine on a little of each. Upon walking in, I immediately noticed the chic and contemporary Asian flair - as well as the gorgeous Chinese dragon hanging from the ceiling. We were immediately seated (thank goodness for a reservation) and began to peruse the massive menu. I have to admit, I was overwhelmed with the amount of dishes. As much as I like options, the menu was just too big for me. As far as the dishes go, it was overall pretty darn good. I opted for the basil chicken which was both sweet and spicy. I loved the mix of both the light and dark meat and loved it even more that it wasn't fried. The bf ordered the Spicy Dragon Noodles with beef. Delicious. Spicy. Hot. The dish was on fire but packed a ton of layered flavors. The rest of our dining party ordered a variety of sushi dishes. I had a piece of the Autumn roll - which was unbelievable. I love a good veggie roll and Pl8 does veggie rolls right. Our table also ordered the edamame and veggie spring rolls - both were generic and somewhat forgettable - especially for the price. One thing important to note, the portions are huge. Massive even. With that said, so are the prices. Service was also fantastic. Our server was attentive, friendly and very knowledgeable about the menu. He was able to provide "healthier" options and knew exactly how each dish was made, making special requests very easy. Overall - Chic ambiance. Great food. Stellar service. read more

Considering that they used my previous review for a billboard on Rt 14, I wish I could bring happier news about our most recent D8 at Pl8, but alas, I cannot. Is the food still good? Yes, the food is still good. But, service is also a big part of a restaurant experience, and the last time we dined at Pl8 the service left us with much to be desired. We called a few weeks in advance for a party of 8 for a birthday dinner and requested the round table in the corner on the right side when you first come around the corner into the bar. We were told that "they don't reserve specific tables, but they would see what they could do." Fair enough, although I'm not sure why a specific table can't be reserved. It's not like George Clooney may stop by tonight and ask for his favorite booth or something - we are in Barrington, you know - not Manhattan. Fast forward a few weeks and we call to confirm our reservation and ask about the table. Now we are told (by a rather haughty individual) that "someone else asked for that table a few weeks before you did.". This is obviously a bit of a surprise since we were told before that specific tables are NOT reserveable. When asked about this, Miss Haughty made up some laughable excuse that they told us that "because they thought the other party would cancel, therefore they told us the previous story because we didn't think it would matter." Huh? This makes no sense whatsoever, and frankly it left a bad taste in our mouth, as being lied to tends to do. Did we still have a good time? Yes - it's not the end of the world. But, I did check out the party that miraculously reserved the table I wanted so far in advance of me, and I didn't see George Clooney anywhere. So, Pl8, not to be an ingr8, but may I say that your hostess may like to misst8 or is deadw8. Put that on your next billboard. read more

Overpriced or portions too small: pick one. Went there a few times and the chef boasted of their portion size, which is 2/3 that of a normal Asian restaurant, if not less. Their carry out portion filled only half of a small to-go container. The food is good quality but they haven't found their niche. $15 entrees are the same lunch or dinner, no free appetizer, spring roll or cup of soup. They will be out of business soon if they don't either cut their prices $3 across the board OR increase portions by 50%. For a much better experience try Heng Weng in Palatine or the famous Plum Garden in McHenry. read more

The food is good every time! And I love the service!! Pat the manager is a blast at the bar!!! read more

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Happened upon this place for lunch while out running some errands, and was glad we stopped! Simple decor, booths along the walls and a fair number of tables. There's a smallish bar with a large screen TV. Music playing, but not at a level that impedes conversation. Interesting beer selections, and my wife had a mai tai, which was rather strong for her, even though she had asked them to go light on the liquor. I thought I had seen something on the chalkboard about poke, but although I was mistaken, our waiter said he was sure that they had the stuff to make it and would be happy to do so. The Mrs ordered chicken lo mein, which she said was quite good. I enjoyed the poke bowl very much, and the price was reasonable - some places tend to gouge you when ordering off menu, but this was happily not the case here. I would like to go back and try out what seems to be a pretty extensive menu of sushi & sashimi. read more

Went for the first time on a Friday night (yesterday) with friends. The decor is nice. Our waitress brought our drinks - yummy blood orange martini, but my friends had the lychee and it was bitter, yuck - and took our appetizer order, then ignored us for nearly 30 minutes. We had to flag her down to get another round of drinks and place our dinner order. We had the carpaccio and tempura apps and the carpaccio was pretty good - a bit heavy on the olive oil, but the fish was very fresh - and the tempura was fine. Nothing special. For dinner we shared a poke salad which was seriously overdressed and had only one raggedy piece of fish on it, the crunchy lobster roll which was tasty, and the spicy garlic noodles, which had neither spice nor garlic, unless you count pre-packaged, toasted bits of garlic as the garlic. One friend ordered the miso soup as well but it was so watery and tasteless she sent it back. All in all, for the price, I'd rather go to PF Changs for Chinese and Tokio Sake for sushi. Too bad - we have so few restaurants in Barrington, I was hoping for a great new place here in town. But I don't see myself going back. read more

One of our favorite spots to visit! I'm vegan and there are plenty of great options here- my favorite being the kung pao tofu. We've had some hiccups in ordering take out, but for the most part, they have been respectful of COVID guidelines. Try the spicy garlic edamame; we love it! read more

So happy that something this wonderful moved in! Barrington isn't known for having a foodie scene and this strip mall definitely needed something special after G Whiz moved to another location, taking most of the traffic in the neighborhood with it. I've been here probably 10 times now and I have not had a bad meal. We have a few fan favorites like the Black Mamba and the Crabby I Yam but there is not a bad roll on the menu. They normally have specials which CANNOT be overlooked, one of my favorite rolls is the Cinco de Mayo roll (sadly no longer on the menu, maybe next year!) The tempura appetizer also is a good mix of veggies/shrimp and even our vegetarian friends rave about the veggie only rolls. The service is always impeccable, drinks are kept full (and strong). The mai tai is a must for your first visit or if you are going alcohol free their iced green tea is the best. You can easily make a reservation open table and during the summer they have patio seating. We hosted a birthday party here and they were very accommodating and the prices are on par with the area. We don't come here for anything but sushi so I can't speak to the other dishes but this has quickly become our go to sushi place in the suburbs! Make sure to take a fortune cookie (or two) on the way out! read more

I've been to this place a couple of times when they first opened and was quite impressed. However, went back again recently and found it to be just OK. The bartender was a screwball who didn't radiate much hospitality and the wine offerings seemed very retail name oriented. We settled for some Sake which was tasty. The Sushi was good, but certainly not great. It appears to be a tough area for restaurants as I saw Barrington Bistro across the parking lot has closed its doors. I don't believe I will be returning to pl8. read more

We started out with reservations for a party of four on a Saturday night at 7 only to realize that we made the reservation of SUNDAY. The place was packed and in fairness to them, they tried to see if they could accommodate us in a reasonable time, but we were too hungry to wait and promised to come on SUNDAY as we had a reservation! I am so glad we did. The decor is so urban chic with clean lines and not too much stuff. They have seats at the bar as well as table and booths. The server (Pat) was very knowledgeable and made a great recommendation of their Basil Shrimp dish and he did not steer us the wrong way. It was incredible. The Szechuan green beans were tender and cooked and seasoned perfectly. The wide noodle dish with chicken could not have had more taste, and my fave. the 7 season beef was out of this world. Their special martini (Pear) was fresh and tasty. I had their fresh ginger ale and they have an assortment of Asian beers as well. This place gets packed on Saturdays, so plan ahead, you won't be disappointed. read more

We come here often and enjoy the food every time. On a cold rainy day the Chong Ching noodle soup is the best. Warm spicy and delicious. The sushi and rolls are always made with fresh ingredients. Drinks are also very tasty. Shawn has another gem. read more

Pl8 - Spicy tuna chicharone - Asian Fusion Near Me - Barrington, Illinois

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We tried pl8 for the first time and WOW! One of the best asian restaurants I've eaten at in the Chicago area. We split an order one of the traditional Maki rolls to start, Tuna with avocado -- outstanding. Yum the House ginger salad was soooooo good. Spring mix with tomatoes and carrots with this homemade fresh ginger dressing that was delicious. I had the Black Pepper garlic beef which was so good. The portion was large, the sauce was amazing and the quality of the beef was outstanding. My husband had the seven flavor chicken. It was the perfect mix of heat, spices and flavor. Both of us had enough for leftovers for lunch the next day. Will we be returning --- HELL YES! The service, drinks and food was fantastic. Thank you for a wonderful dining experience. read more

This is a great place for lunch. We had: Shrimp tempura - the breading was really light Braised pork with wheat noodle - a tad oily Chicken and shrimp pad Thai - bland Shanghai scallops - a tad oily We were the only table and yet it took a while to get the food to the table. We will definitely be back. read more

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I was told my pick up would be ready in 45 minutes. When I arrived, the reception area was crammed with people waiting and I am STILL waiting after 1:15. Awful and absolutely zero in the way of apology, empathy, etc. Waiting outside in the cold because there no room to social distance inside. read more

Review for Chinese food only; didn't try sushi. Based on recommendations, carried out from Pl8. The restaurant appears to be nice inside. Ordered sesame chicken and shrimp, Mongolian beef, vegetable fried rice, the Rangoon sticks, and spicy garlic edamame. Pl8 is definitely more expensive than most other Chinese food spots and portions are smaller. While the sesame chicken and shrimp were both good, we didn't find them to be better than other options in the area. The Mongolian beef had little beef and a lot of onions (more than I've seen elsewhere). The Mongolian beef also was pretty bland in flavor. The Rangoon sticks were soggy and lacked the crunch we'd hoped for. They look awesome in pictures but were a let down. The spicy garlic edamame was good and a unique prep for edamame. The vegetable fried rice was the highlight of the meal. Not oily and lots of different veggies made this a solid dish. Overall, we were unimpressed with Pl8 and aren't sure that it's worth the trip and the higher price tag. Maybe we'll try eating in but weren't impressed with our carry out dinner tonight. read more

This review is not for the food. I got a delivery (Doordash) brochure in the mail from them last night and tried to order. I immedately tried to order something because I've always wanted to try them. And at the end of the order process, I put in the $5 off coupon code it gave. And it said THIS CODE IS EXPIRED. The same day I received the brochure. Cancelled the order. What a waste of money for them. read more

The atmosphere is fun, service is excellent. Ordered the wild rice noodles and they were doughy and carb-o-licious. They didn't have a whole lot of flavor tho, I ordered them to be made spicy. They came out not spicy at all so the waitress gave me chili paste which bumped up the flavor. My husband ordered the mix n match tempura which we would NOT recommend. We also shared a delicious sushi roll (can't remember the name) , it came with honey mustard drizzled over it and it was amazing. We will be back to sit at the bar and enjoy some sushi for sure. And try their Lychee Martini! read more

Came here on a Friday for a business lunch and I was pleasantly surprised. The outside didn't look like much since it was in a shopping center and didn't give it any distinction. If you didn't know what you were looking for, you might miss it. The inside was modern with dramatic decorations such as a wall that looks like the side of a shipping container. My lunch companion and I shared edamame, potstickers, hand grenade, crunchy lobster, and pepper road. The edamame and potstickers were very ordinary - it's something you expect all Japanese restaurants to serve and don't really mess up. The thing that I do appreciate is the size of the maki pieces. They weren't these ridiculously gigantic pieces that you can't fit in your mouth and with so many ingredients that you can't really taste the flavor of the fish. These were nice, bite size pieces that you could manage and taste the star of the show. All the rolls we ordered were good and the pricing is inline with every other sushi restaurant that I've been to. If I was in the area, I would definitely go back! read more

We've been going to PL8 since they opened. For many years, we were never disappointed. Last night we met friends - a table for six. We think our waitress was the ONLY one waiting tables in the entire dining room - she tried her best to keep up. Waited over 20 minutes for our first drinks to arrive. The food wasn't remarkable in any way - not like in the past. We dined for over 2 hours - (mostly because it took forever to get our food) - and FIVE tables around us were never cleared & cleaned after the guests left. One of the tables had a child's entire dinner on the floor surrounding the high-chair- and was never cleaned up while we were there. Management must understand that 50% of the luxury of going to a restaurant is the atmosphere & the service. The other 50% is outstanding recipes executed well. Cannot recommend this place any longer. We will not return. read more

Had dinner here this past Friday night 9/18/20, with an old friend / coworker! We hadn't dined here in about 4 or 5 years but wow, the food and service are still awesome now as it was back then!! Our server's name was Beebe--can't remember if that was her first or last name, but she was absolutely dynamite--so friendly, knowledgeable and efficient (as were all her supporting team members)! We had 3 different appetizers (tempura PL8, golden crisp vegetable spring rolls, and fire cracker shrimp); for entrees, I had the spicy dragon noodles with beef, chicken and shrimp, while my friend had the Singaporean rice noodles with chicken. We shared an order of Mapo Tofu and an order of Schezuan string beans. For dessert, we had the banana ice cream with wontons! EVERYTHING was awesome!! We ended up staying for over 3 hours--right up until closing time, so you can see we had an amazing meal and time here! What was great to see, too, was that the place still got packed! So they've obviously not lost their magic--which is a relief!! We would definitely come back again!! read more

Barrington needed a restaurant like this. Great food, clean presentations, and a hip atmosphere. Sriracha spicy shrimp is the best dish I've had. Sushi is above average although pieces are small. Can't wait to return. read more

I came here with my family for my fav Aunt's b-day. She and my cuz have been before and they did not steer us wrong. The service was really great. I unfortunately don't remember our servers name but she was super nice and totally accommodating because we were the annoying table of females who were talking too much to look at the menu... several times. We had the spring rolls and edamame which were very good. I am normally a strictly Sashimi gal in a Sushi restaurant, but I tried the wide noodles with beef on their recommendation and they were great. Too bad I left my doggie bag in my cuz's car when I jumped out to catch the train... yum, lunch for her... no lunch for me. :( read more

My Sushi/Sashimi location in the Northwest suburbs. Open for Lunch & Dinner. Close to home and what more can I say but, Cheers!

We went this week to celebrate my daughter's birthday and we were sitting on the bar side. All of the sudden two little girls were running all over the place, screaming and dancing in front of the bar and this lady was sitting there and she starts recording them, we looked at the young man who was behind the bar and even he looked so uncomfortable, we asked our server if that lady was friends with the owner to allow her do this when there's other families trying to have a good time. She just blushed and apologized. I have nothing to say about the service, our waitress was excellent, she was so sweet and attentive. So sad to see how this place is going downhill, this new ownership is just bad, the food is nothing compared to what it used to be 10 years ago. Seems more like a take out place, their rolls are so plain (we had to ask our waitress if there was any way to make some of our favorite rolls from the old menu, luckily she managed to get them for us, they were not the same as they used to be, but she made the effort for us and we loved that) their wok dishes are just bad for the price they're. It sucks to see how a place like this is just nothing like it used to be. I just hope that server finds a better place to work, and also the rest of the people there. Owners of pl8 WAKE UP! read more

Comfortable, and dare I say romantic? The food was amazing, simple and delicious. The staff was a delight as well. The waiter was talkative, but not to talkative. He was attentive, and respectful. He was able to suggest things for our dinner I hadn't given thought to, and seemed very willing to give his opinion and knowledge of the food and drinks available. It was too cold to sit outside, but it the inside had a unique layout and vibe. Perfect for a sit down dinner with friends, or a calm and collected date night. read more