We enjoyed the sushi as always. This trip we got four rolls Party Girl: Always our favorite Kamikaze: God with a kick Fuji Mountain:not bad, but the crab salad kind of overwhelmed the rest. Rainbow: this was a pleasant surprise read more

Sakanaya - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

Upscale sushi spot with delicious Japanese fare. The dishes made with the freshest fish were fantastic. I ordered tuna "classic rolls" as well as a few nigiri: fatty tuna, squid, and fly fish roe. The roe and fatty tuna were standouts in the bunch. On the latter, the fat glistened over the surface of the meat giving it a buttery flavor and texture. The roe by contrast were small and gave a satisfying soft crunch which was a treat. However, the squid and the tuna in the maki roll were clearly less fresh. Both were firmer than usual, with the squid verging on tough. It was topped with gold leaf whose delicate texture ironically emphasized the undesirable consistency of the fish. Perhaps the trick is to start by asking the server what came into the kitchen most recently and ordering that. read more

The sushi is really good quality and the ambiance is really cute I really like their I love salmon sushi I would share that with someone overall my favorite sushi place in champaign read more

Sakanaya - I Love Salmon - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

We enjoyed our three course meal at Sakanaya and will definitely return . Everything we ordered was freshly prepared. Willis Tower and Hwe dup Bob bowl were our favorites , third course was a trio of nigiri which were also delicious . Great menu selection of food, good lighting and modern and clean interior space . read more

Sakanaya - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

Cute little spot on the main strip at UIUC. Service was good, but we did have to ask for water to be refilled. The sushi, in a college town, was surprisingly good! We had the Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice appetizer, and we loved it. It has jalapeños on it, but I was able to eat around them (though the juice was till spicy for me), my niece liked the spice. We also had the "I love sushi" platter with a nice assortment of fish. Again, we were pleasantly surprised. The price was right as well. A bit steep for a college student, but very reasonable for a mom/dad. We will definitely be back next visit! read more

Positioned as a premium sushi restaurant is small with an appealing menu and vegetarian and vegan choices. The ambiance is casual with a few tables no booths. The tuna chunks in the sunset roll were dry and so was the rice. Same unpleasant rice carried to the shiitake mushroom roll. While the mushrooms nicely marinated and could be plucked leaving empty shells of sushi, same resulted in an unpleasant exercise with the tuna. The salmon teriyaki had the consistency of a wood plank on which such fish is often cooked; the salad and rice combo lacked freshness where the latter was just as dry as in sushi. The server couldn't care less about the quality of the food when we voiced our dissatisfaction. A second staff member went to the kitchen to verify that the rice was made the same day. It's a very popular spot with the students. We can only assume that it was either a rare miss or that there is barely any competition. read more

Sakanaya - Shumai - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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Very nice place! Friendly service and good food. The spider roll was huge! Bathrooms were very clean. read more

Sakanaya - Spider - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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Probably best sushi to get on campus!! Very good quality fish, restaurant also had a good vibe to it! I recommend getting the dynamite roll because that was sooo good! read more

Sakanaya - Left: Spicy Salmon Roll Right: Alaskan Roll - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

Service was great! Nice atmosphere. But...the food was just not very good. The nigiri looked good but...Salmon Belly, Hamachi and Albacore. The fish was ok to good. However the rice was cold and too hard and delivered with no wasabi by default. Sushi rice is supposed to be room temperature or slightly warm...not cold like 7-11 sushi. If you went with sashimi you will probably have a better experience. There is nothing nice I can share about the spicy tuna roll. Cold hard rice...meager tuna that lacked taste or appeal. The server was very nice and attentive! The food and the restaurant look nice. So really just get the rice right and I would have enjoyed this much more. A Hawai'i 3 or a Champaign 4. :) Two stars might be rough but $26 for 6 pieces of nigiri you have a right to expect more than cold hard rice. As is this would be a 1* or 2* in Hawai'i. read more

Sakanaya - Albacore, Hamachi, Salmon Belly. - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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From Chicago we have our fair share of Japanese/Sushi spots and many are very good. I also work for a Japanese company and spend time in Japan. By luck we walked by and then into Sakanaya for lunch. Wow what a fantastic meal. Freshest and best sushi I've had outside of Japan. Also the rolls and appetizers were excellent. Loved this place and will be there every time we are in the area. read more

Sakanaya - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

Champaign, IL restaurants are a sea of mediocrity, but Sakanaya is certainly a pearl in that ocean. The food is incredibly fresh, the atmosphere is more upscale than the college town deserves and the staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and welcoming. I love sushi, but do not like much seafood - I'm a shrimp guy - and there are several options for a picky sushi eater like myself. There are quite a few options on the appetizer menu that I enjoy and recommend. The Willis Tower is a signature appetizer. The secret to eating it after they serve it is to knock down the "tower" and mix it up with the fixins surrounding it. They don't always tell you and it's fun to watch as people eat it incorrectly. Like I said, I am an appetizer guy. I love edamame and my fave are dumplings. Their Shumai and Gyoza are really good. They do have some non sushi options and I recommend the Chicken Katsu and Chicken Teriyaki. If you're in Champaign for business (never would expect that) or visiting your college-aged child or even visiting the campus, skip the bars or some of the steak places further away and check out Sakanaya. read more

First time coming here and was pleasantly surprised by such high quality sushi in campus town. The Willis tower is a must get. It's very rich and creamy and has added crisps for texture. The rolls were also very good especially the spider roll where you can actually taste the soft shell crab inside! Service was great and the interior was quite nice. Great place to come out for a nice dinner! read more

Sakanaya - Spider and Kamikaze Roll - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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The best sushi around! Awesome staff! Very clean and quiet. ----------------------- ----------------------- read more

Sakanaya - Sushi perfection! From top to bottom: -Baked Lobster -Naya -Dragon -Spider - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

Kenny provided exceptional service and balanced the crowd to prevent any noticeable delay to our service. Sashimi was delicious as was the "Champaign-Urbana". read more

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I order fried sushi and there is too many sauce on the top and I don't understand the they eat sushi or I eat fried sweet I don't feel the fish. I didn't feel the rice because everything deep fried and there is a lot of door hard to chew no no, I will not eat even for one month anymore read more

Sakanaya - Fried sushi I don't like at all too much too many sweets. I don't understand. Is it sushi or cake too much sauce hard to chew - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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Lovely dining experience. Delicious food and the service was good too. We reserved a table ahead of time and had no issues

Quite surprised to encounter such a friendly and welcoming atmosphere at this place. As soon as you enter you are immediately greeted with sashimi chefs and attentive servers. The menu was reasonably priced when it came down to quantity. Katsu was slightly over breaded but nothing alarming or out of the norm. I would like to point out that the sushi specialty rolls were very filling. I would recommend to stop at this place as it one of the few restaurants that does not trade quality or quantity in the Urbana area. read more

Sakanaya - Pork Don Katsu, Chicken Katsu , Dynamite *, Dragon - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

Best sushi in town, love the intimate atmosphere and service is always timely! My go to is the shrimp tempura, nobody makes it like Sakanaya! read more

Wow! The Champaign-Urbana roll was fresh, well wrapped and large. The flavor combination was spot on. The black truffle edamame were perfectly cooked and so flavorful that we didn't even dip them. Staff was friendly. Beautiful atmosphere. A great spot. read more

I was pleasantly surprised by how fresh and amazing the fish was here. It has a classic Japanese ambience with very attentive service. Nothing fancy, but the food is amazing. Service is fast and it's incredible value. I will 100% come back here again. read more

Sakanaya - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

5 outs 5 all day long! This place is hopping so get on that waitlist way before. We spent 15 mins trying to find a parking spot. The main area is a little loud and crowded but they sat my trophy husband and I next door. Very calm atmosphere. Everyone from the host to both people that came to our table were above and beyond sweet. The food is awesome! Why travel to a college town for sushi? The OMG roll is why. A close second is the crunch munch. Try thy truffle edamame, it's great! We will be back ! read more

We loved our experience at Sakanaya! It was Friday night so we had to wait but that's what you should expect. Service was very nice, newer room was beautiful and food was delicious! Highly recommended!!! read more

AMAZING food, quick service, nice atmosphere. Enjoyed dinner here a few times. Right along campus in Champaign-Urbana.

This place was a happy find, for being in the middle of the country, no where near water. The fish tasted fresh and delicious. Pretty innovative with their appetizers. We had their Willis Tower, it was delicious and beautiful. The server was nice and attentive. The place was quaint about 12 tables. We were there for early dinner, so we waited for about 20 minutes. As the time goes on, more and more people were waiting, so if you don't want to wait too long, go for early dinner about 5p. read more

I was pleasantly surprised by this restaurant! I wasn't expecting such a great sushi place in the town. The sake don is delicious with pretty fresh salmon. It's a generous amount of fish as well! The shu mai was okay and probably wouldn't order again. Definitely go for the sushi and raw fish platters! Service was great and really attentive. Ambiance was also wonderful and pretty aesthetic (including the bathrooms!). read more

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I've come to Sakanaya once a week this school year and it never disappoints! The service is fast and friendly, the restaurant is cozy, and the sushi is fantastic. I've always left happy. Tonight in particular, it was packed. The servers did an excellent job managing the large flow of people & got us tasty food in record time. My favorite is the Playgirl roll! I recommend it to everyone I know. read more

Sakanaya - Playgirl * and Dynamite Rolls - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

It was amazing.. the staff, food, and atmosphere. The sashimi was so fresh and the drinks was superb.

Go here all the time!! This place is the real deal and I love it! I get the chicken teriyaki and Alaskan roll. Today I got the Curry Katsu Don and I didn't like it. I asked if I can switch and they offered a 30% discount on the dish and full price switch of the other dish (which was chicken teriyaki) and I refused and kept the Don. Mathias (who is a phenomenal waiter and remembers myself and my gf when we come in) worked out a 30% discount on the whole meal! I recommend this place to all my friends. read more

This place is definitely recommended! It's small, but its interior design makes the ambiance very chill. The service is great and the food is very tasty! I tried the Chicken Katsu and Gyudon and so far it was delicious! Some side notes: *The waiting time can vary as the place is small so I suggest reserving. Without reservation, it can take up to an hour or an hour & a half. *The food on the menu can be a little pricey but the quality of the food is great therefore it's worth it! Besides that, I totally recommend checking it out! read more

Sakanaya - Gyudon - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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The sashimi was delicious and fresh, the Willis Tower was impressive and fun to dig into. The Ya Ya roll was a great blend of crunchy deep fry outside with soft cream cheese and tamago inside. Overall the food was perfect. The only issue with going to Samanaya is that there are only about 12 tables total. We jumped on Yelp Wait List to get reservations going before we went down there. When we got there, we didn't realize we needed to tell the hostess that we were there, we didn't realize this until we saw multiple names below ours in the list being sat at tables while we still waited. So that was frustrating because the front area of the restaurant was packed with people waiting around for their name to be called, meanwhile it doesn't seem like it's truly going in order. I absolutely recommend checking out Sakanaya - just be sure you get your spot in the reservation line and check in with the hostess when you get there!! read more

Sakanaya - Sashimi - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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Very nice interior restaurant with a very welcoming and accommodating staff. I ordered the Sakanaya Supreme, something they added just recently! It comes with an assortment of the chefs choice of 10 pieces of sashimi, nigiri, and two rolls of your choice. read more

Sakanaya - Sakanaya Supreme - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

I visited Sakanaya for the first time as my friends have been recommending me of their vegan menu options. There were so many vegan rolls I wanted to try and as our server recommended, I ordered the vegan kamikaze. I really liked the kamikaze roll as well as the spicy tuna rice ball. Their new plant based spicy tuna is definitely a must try, I really enjoyed it. I would definitely come back and would recommend Sakanaya to those looking to try vegetarian sushi! read more

Sakanaya - Vegan Kamikaze - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

Service was so kind and helpful, the environment is sort of sophisticated and elevated even thought it's in the middle of a college campus, and the food was amazing, I can't wait to go back. I don't remember what rolls we ordered but they came out amazing. The gyoza was to die for. Can't recommend enough. read more

Sakanaya - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

Always amazing service and food! Couldn't recommend coming here more. One of my favorite sushi places

Ordered takeout, was prepared and ready quickly. The spicy tuna crispy rice was delicious and one of the best versions of the dish I've had!

I was in Champaign with my family for the weekend and I heard Sakanaya was the best Japanese restaurant in Champaign, so I decided to check it out with my kids. We ordered Miso Soup, Agedashi Tofu, Edamame, California and Cucumber rolls (for my kids), and I Love Sushi. Miso Soup was good, came with tofu, wakame (seaweed), and green onions. Edamame was steamed well, but wasn't sprinkled with some salt on top. For Agedashi Tofu, they used more of a firm textured tofu, usually it's supposed to be soft texture. Also, they didn't add grated daikon (radish) to the dish. That would have been a plus. On to the sushi, overall it was ok. The quality of fish was good. However the sushi rice was semi-hard/crunchy. Good nigiri sushi needs good quality fish, but also good quality sushi rice, that is moist and almost melts in your mouth. The I Love Sushi (kinda like omakase) comes with 10 pieces of fish and a negi hamachi roll. I was really opening for 10 pieces of different types of fish, but was given mostly two pieces of the same fish. I did like the fish to rice ratio for their nigiri sushi. Overall, I'd rate Sakanaya a 3.5. read more

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I was pleasantly shocked by how good this place was given its proximity to the ocean. I wasn't expecting Champaign to have good fresh fish. The salmon sashimi was exquisite and the Willis Tower was also shockingly good. I wish I got to try the tuna sashimi, but they had run out for the night. The wait took close to an hour, but our waiter explained that there was an issue with one of the head chefs so the kitchen was slower than usual. Even though it was a hectic night, our server was more than kind and knowledgeable about all the dishes! read more

Excellent food and service!! I dined here with one of my friends from Japan and he said the sushi here was "authentic ". Just see how tasting the foods look read more

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Way too over priced for a restaurant in a college town, and for a sushi restaurant in the middle of the Midwest. The service was friendly and the interior is clean. We started with the miso soup, which was very basic and I could tell it was premade and reheated before serving. My friend's avocado rolls had graying avocados which was just unappetizing. The kamikaze roll was actually really decent with fat pieces of fish inside and on top of the roll--this would be the only thing I get if I came back. The eel roll was average with too tiny of a piece of eel. read more

Sakanaya - Eel, Kamikaze *, Miso Soup, Avocado Roll (GF) - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

I was insanely impressed by this place. Sometimes sushi places can be hit or miss (especially on campus). This was a hit and actually some of the best sushi I have had in awhile. Their menu is pretty large, but my favorites are the OMG, Philly, and Shrimp Tempura rolls. All of them outstanding. Their portions are also pretty large, even if the prices are a little high. The only downsides of this place are the wait, price, and ordering. Its a small place so you might need to wait. As for prices, sushi can sometimes be all over the place. This is charging higher end prices, but since the sushi is good, it makes up. Probably the biggest concern I have is the "self service" aspect. No longer are you ordering with a server and getting their recommendations. If I were new to sushi, I would be very scared by ordering something just based on what is on my phone. I also think it cheapens the experience. In all, this place is a hit and a new find for me. If you want to get some quality sushi on U of I campus, this is the place to be! read more