The staff are super nice and lovely, and the ambiance is cool and thoughtful but not pretentious. We tried these really refreshing cucumber and yuzu sodas which were awesome. However the food was generally underwhelming. I wanted to love this place sooo much and I'm not sure if we ordered wrong... We tried the tuna tartare which was good, the mixed kaisendon which was also not bad, but the biggest let down were the hand rolls surprisingly. We tried 7 different rolls: the salmon and tuna hand rolls as well as the chefs set of five hand rolls, and all 7 hand rolls we were served were chopped up fish covered in sauces, no real bites of whole pieces of fish in any of the 7 hand rolls we tried. If they change up the hand rolls so they contain real bites of fish versus chopped fish, I'm sure it would be so much better because the quality is there!! read more

Came here for a date night and overall had a nice experience. The ambiance is great, very clean, intimate, and perfect for a night out. Service was solid, and our waiter gave thoughtful recommendations that helped us decide what to order. We ordered the sashimi sampler and the ninniku crudo to start. My husband got 6 handrolls and I had 4. We both had the otoro handroll for the premium temaki options. The handrolls came out at a really good pace, which we appreciated since it let us enjoy each one fresh. The fish itself was definitely fresh and everything was well prepared. My favorite handroll was the spicy hotate. The otoro temaki was good, but we have had better otoro elsewhere. My husband also got the sake temaki and mentioned that the salmon was a bit chewy. Overall, nothing really stood out as particularly memorable. Our bill ended up being close to $200, and while the food was good, it was not quite mind blowing for that price point. Overall, a solid spot with nice ambiance and fresh fish, just not necessarily a standout for us. read more

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Cozy, contemporary spot with a handroll bar at the front, a middle dining area, and an omakase bar in the back. We opted for the middle section to try a mixture of available items. Service was friendly and attentive. Note that nigiri is only available via omakase. I'd describe the food here as a very sophisticated and innovative take on Japanese izakaya cuisine -elevated flavours and thoughtful presentations make it stand out. Hamachi Carpaccio?: 8/10 not much to say here. simple yet refreshing and satisfying Hew Dup Bap Kaisendon: 8/10 A great way to sample various sashimi options. Everything was fresh, and the cuts were generously thick. Ankimo Appetizer: 9/10 Probably the most unique take on ankimo I've ever had. It looked like a work of art, and the (potato?) chips added a fun texture. Super flavourful and memorable. Temaki: 8.5/10 I don't remember the exact ones I ordered, but they were all really good. I loved the creative toppings, something I rarely see at other temaki spots, and they paired with the fish beautifully. read more

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I came here for a birthday and got the dinner omakase. All the sushi was delicious, and the fish tasted super fresh and wonderful. My favorite from the omakase was easily the chutoro, the fatty tuna. I also ordered the wagyu as an add-on, which was wonderfully made and seared beautifully. Dessert was also wonderful: candied sweet potato with gelato - it was super unique and didn't disappoint. The inside is super modern and comfortable, and our server was really nice and attentive throughout the meal. Everything was timed really well, with each course coming out at just the right pace. read more

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We live around the area and decided to check out Tamu on a whim! The rolls we tried were decent. Highlights from our order: Spicy Scallop: I liked this! Marinated and saucy Eel: Not bad. I wish the seaweed was a bit crunchier I also tried the tuna roll with pickled radish but the tuna didn't taste as fresh. Maybe the radish flavors threw me off a bit. I'm excited to try other items on the menu if I revisit. read more

Tamu - Sushi Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Food was awesome. We had the tuna tart edamame. Three handles and two desserts service was awesome. Ambience was cool. We loved it. We will definitely be back. read more

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All the hand rolls that we tried were excellent. The service was quick and attentive. My favorite was the ebi hand roll. I ended up ordering one more of those even though I was full. The ambience is cozy with a chill vibe and the restaurant is pretty big past the hand roll counter. read more

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2025 Chicago. Lunch review. Omakase. OMAKASE $58/pp soup salad hotate hokkaido, japan kanpachi fukuoka, japan madai kyushu, japan akami uwajima, japan zuke sake river tay, scotland sagoshi boston, usa chutoro uwajima, japan saba boston, usa temaki tamago dessert add-ons: otoro 10 uwajima, japan Overall, great value for lunch omakase. "I'm a fan." read more

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We went for the omakase experience and really enjoyed it! The salon is small with seating for about 8 people. It's oval shaped and you're directly in front of the chef. Every course of the omakase was worth it. My personal favorites were the oyster, the fatty tuna, and the Scottish salmon nigiri. There are add-ons like the wagyu and otoro that are also worth it! read more

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The best omakase! We did the 17 course dinner omakase and it was very worth it. I highly recommend adding on the Otoro and Wagyu Tartar if available. Cocktails were bomb. Our server was very friendly and quick. Thank you ! read more

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My boyfriend and I have been trying different hand roll bars around Chicago, and this spot definitely stands out for its creativity. Their temakis have a more unique flavor combinations that stands out from the other sushi places we've tried. Personally I like a more plain and simple roll, where the ingredients of the hand roll is not overpowering the freshness of the fish. This is definitely a fun twist on the classic hand roll experience. My favorite one is the uni handroll. I would totally go back just for this one! This is a great place to take your friends to try if they love handrolls. It's not too loud, the restaurant is on the smaller side. Tables are limited, so probably worth calling ahead to see if there's availability. The staff was also really great & knowledgeable! read more

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Finally tried Tamu for the first time and I was blown away from the flavors and quality. I started with the Tuna Tartare and I loved the crispy, airy chips it comes with. The tuna was fresh and was topped with small diced mountain yam pieces that brought such a nice crunch and texture. For my entree I ordered the Chef's Choice Set hand rolls that come with 5 classic hand rolls picked by the chef, which also comes with their daily soup (miso soup). I truly was blown away from the amberjack and scallop rolls!! Everything was amazing, honestly no complaints. The ambience and service was also just as great - staff was friendly and service was quick. read more

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Beautiful interior & quality hand rolls. You can opt to get a package or do a la carte. Highlights were the otoro (it comes with a cloche and is quite the spectacle) Service was not as attentive compared to most Japanese restaurants - but the staff were friendly. I ordered a spicy sake, but they gave me spicy hotate but didn't mind in the end. Would come back for a pre dinner bite :) read more

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Came back for another hand roll experience and have a new favorite. This time tried: - the crunch spicy akami- the crispy rice is amazing - the spicy hotate - great kick and smaller more manageable hand roll to eat - toro taku - pretty similar to the crunchy spicy akami except without the crispy rice. If the toro was better, which it should be, was literally lost in the sauce with all added sauce and accoutrements - chili ebi - just ok would not order again. The gochujang was overpowering Came a little after lunch rush and was the only one at the bar and service was fine and got to chill by myself. Noticed that their omakase lunch had stragglers and people who were waiting to be seated for a bit so think they're still working through their timing. read more

Tamu - Crunchy spicy akami - Sushi Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

from the chef of Mako, one of my favorite Michelin-starred omakase spots: Tamu! the highlight of the menu is their hand rolls, which were packed with fish & various toppings. i was pleasantly surprised with the kaisendon - slightly small but presentation was cute and ratio of fish/rice/veggies was great. as a light starter, i recommend the tuna tartare! i could eat a hundred of those nori rice chips!! i do wish we had sat at the bar for the full experience. overall, not sure if i'd go back but definitely enjoyed my time! what we ordered: - hand rolls: crunch spicy akami, toro taku, aburi sake, chili ebi - salmon kaisen don - tuna tartare - drinks: kool kyuri cocktail - perf if you don't like sweet drinks read more

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Ambiance - super spacious, front of restaurant for hand rolls and back section was dedicated to omakase Service - exceptional, staff was super nice, and our omakase chef was very polite Food - fish quality was decent, I wish they had more flavor pairings with the nigiri's aside from wasabi + dash of oil read more

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Delivery. Beautifully presented with care. Fresh and delicious. My new go to Chicago Sushi

We stopped by for the omakase lunch and it was very tasty. It seems the 12:30 seating is the most popular one so if you want that one you need to snag it in advance! We did the 1:30 seating and it was very intimate. I added the fresh uni from Hokkaido and it comes out as a bite size hand roll *drools* I need to go back and check out the hand roll bar! They have 3 seating options so the 3rd one is just a normal table. We also had the best tea! It was the rare tea cellar's Freak of Nature Oolong tea! read more

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Been here many times for the omakase and loved the experience every time. It's taken me awhile to write this review raving about the place! I have celebrated multiple birthdays here and love the touch they do at the end. However I just came for the normal table res this time to celebrate my brothers birthday. Sad to see the table next to us get the birthday celebration but we were sadly overlooked. Made the note in the reservation and mentioned to waiter early on. Service was also slower at the normal tables. All in all, recommend omakase 10/10, probably would avoid the table service. read more

Had the lunch omakase here on a Tuesday. The place was sadly empty except for four of us. The lunch omakase was lightning fast. We sat down at 12pm and were served our last course by 1240. That's not a bad thing, if you're in a hurry. The bites were on the small side. Everything was good to great, but I walked away hungry. $58 and they add a 20% service charge. All in for $75. Not bad but I don't think I need to do it again. read more

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This place is absolutely amazing!! Definitely wort it and I could eat here more than once in a week. We ordered all the classic handrolls and in my opinion the seaweed is top tier! The service and ambiance are definitely worth it alone!! Highly recommend read more

Came in around opening time without a reservation and was seated quickly at the sushi bar. Table seating is also an option. Fair pricing as well-good fish to rice ratio. I got the sake, kani, toro taku, and otoro hand roll, all of which were fresh and delicious. Probably would not get the taiyaki dessert again though. I was expecting the traditional soft pancake like texture with the filling already inside, but this one was more of like a chewy pastry with Bavarian cream served on the side. Definitely a place I would come back to for a quick lunch though! read more

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If I could give more than 5 stars, I absolutely would for Tamu. My friend and I had a lunch reservation and absolutely FEASTED - the omakase was incredible - and they accommodated my shellfish allergy with no issue. This is usually my reason for not frequenting these types of restaurants, despite wanting this experience. I was extremely grateful and loved every single bite. Restaurant itself was a decent space but nothing crazy - but let me tell you, make a reservation! Service was great - we got our drinks, plenty of water refills, and all of the goodies with this experience. I know I said experience in my review already, but that's truly what this is. I can't even tell you what my favorite bite was because they were all so insanely fresh and flavorful. The ice cream finish was *chefs kiss* to a perfect meal. read more

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There was a 40 minute wait on a Wednesday night for dinner but definitely worth the wait. My friends and I shared some spicy garlic edamame, kaiso seaweed salad and tuna tartare. My friends ordered the chef choice set which came with 5 classic hand rolls and a miso soup. I ordered the sake don which included salmon, zuke salmon, spicy salmon and salmon roe. Truly a salmon lovers dream! This meal set also included an assortment of assorted seasonal pickled and miso soup. To finish off we also tried the Monaco sando which is a crispy wafer filled with green tea ice cream, red azuki beans and mochi balls. I'm interested in returning to experience the omakase. read more

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My friend and I planned for lunch here but ended up having their omakase. The staff was so kind and added us to the time slot, we had amazing service from the sushi chef serving the omakase, to the waitress and waiter. Everyone was kind and attentive. The sushi was fresh with a hint of sweetness. Every piece had its unique flavor and we enjoyed the whole experience. We also ordered some add on which was the chili ebi and uni hand roll. The uni hand roll was amazing and fresh and sweet! So glad we came for lunch and we appreciated the flexibility of fitting us in on the omakase table! read more

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Was very excited to try Tamu as a lover of hand rolls. The restaurant has three different areas for three different menus, 1. The Hand Roll Counter 2. A sit down area which has more bowl style menu items and 3. The omakase counter in the back. We opted to try the hand roll counter although I would love to try the omakase menu as it seems like a very great value. The decor was really nice and it never felt too loud or crazy inside. We were the second people in of the day and the place filled up quickly for lunch after 12pm. You make your selections on a piece of paper that a server takes from you and the chefs prepare behind the counter. It took us a while to be served any food and found out later it was because we added on a tuna tartare that was meant to be served first. We just were unaware that the hand rolls would not come out until after the tartare, which the chef could have communicated a little better. The server did check on us though and was extremely nice. I honestly loved everything I ate. I expected the rolls to be small but they were even a little larger than I expected. They recommend 4-6 hand rolls a person but even after 6 myself I wasn't completely "full". I think next time I'll have to order even more. I would personally like the option to order from any menu (with the exception of omakase) and not have to sit in a particular section. Overall, I really did find everything to be delicious and would love to eat here again. read more

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1. Chili Ebi - spicy prawn, sweet gochujang, slaw 2. Toro Taku - fatty tuna, oshinko, inari, chive 3. Salmon Skin - house smoked salmon skin, masago, cucumber, kaiware 4. Spicy Hotate - spicy scallop, yuzu kewpie, masago They started us off with the regular rolls then premium rolls. The fish portion is smaller in the regular rolls and better in premium. Fish skin flavor was distinct but in the other rolls, the sauces were too much in amount and distracting flavor. I didn't like that they completely mashed up the scallops and drowned it in mayo. Although I was curious to try chili ebi, the gochujang and slaw were also overwhelming and too wild a combination. Very American style similar to ayce & rotary sushi spots which is (not my cup of tea but) good if that's what you like. No issues with service. The waitress was friendly and I like the interior design. I did a la carte which was pretty pricey per roll but there is a good chefs set deal. I'm not grading lower than 3 stars because they also do a chirashi bowl and omakase nigiri that look cleaner which I may try if I decide to come back. read more

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Had the most AMAZING experience here while visiting Chicago. We did the $48/person lunch omakase and were blown away. The quality of fish at this restaurant is phenomenal, especially given the price, and the curated menu was so tasty. Our chef was so friendly and definitely made our experience; he explained each course, enthusiastically answered our questions, and was just an overall pleasure talking to during our lunch. The drinks here are also amazing, specifically the Delicate Deiji! Everyone in my group ended up ordering it after having a sip. Such a fun place and definitely the best meal I had during my short trip to Chicago. Would definitely recommend coming here and I'd love to visit again to try more of the menu! read more

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Treated myself to a seat for 1 at the bar closer to the entrance. Ordered a few different hand rolls and enjoyed getting them one at a time at the bar. So fresh. read more

My wife and I have been looking hard for an affordable omakase place for a casual nightout for a while in Chicago. Tamu (while it is not truly a budget dinner omakase compared to the other major metropolitans like NYC) definitely caught us by surprise with its differentiated quality to its peers like Sushi by Bou / Kyoten Next Door. This place offers a 14 course edomae style nigiri with one app and one dessert to wrap the course around. The total course took 45min - 1hr. The ratio of fish to rice was pretty good. The majority of the fish was nicely prepared. While I am not a big fan of madai and sake, I really appreciated kelp curing process and how they transformed the texture. Ingredient was fresh and rice was not overly sweet/"vinigerized." They took risk of putting three blue-backed fish. Aji and Saba were very fishy and could have been prepared better. I also wish they had Shima Aji instead of aji which would fit better for the course. Sawara, however, was really nicely prepared and kept its natural flavor but removing the fishiness. The course formation was a bit different. Most omakase start with lighter flavored fish to more distinct tasting fish but the chef mixed the order that I was not able to taste several nigiri well due to the prior one having too strong of a flavor. Chef was very professional and answered all my questions nicely. Overall, I think Tamu is probably two best affordable omakase that Chicago can currently offer along with 312 Fish Market. For the cost for dinner, with tip and gratuity already included, it will cost $165 per person. Still not an everyday budget dinner BUT we will come back! read more

Stopped by Tamu after they recently opened. The interior is nicely decorated with good lighting. There are about 8 seats at the hand roll bar. The chefs were incredibly kind. We had the tuna on crispy rice, tuna hand roll, unagi hand roll, and beef hand roll. The fish was good and fresh. Although we did not opt for this, I think the chef's set (5 hand rolls + soup) is a pretty good deal! I would come back to try their lunch omakase. Excited to have this new addition in West Loop! read more

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The food here is SO delicious. Our server recommended 4-6 each. If you're really hungry, plan on ordering 6+, which is what we did. The tuna tartare and ninniku crudo were excellent too! I would say our favorite hand rolls were the Akami, Spicy Sake, Gyuniku, O toro, and Wagyu. Everything we ordered was great but those stood out the most. I can't wait to come back on my next trip to Chicago! read more

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Came for the hand roll bar experience and quite liked it! I ordered the chef's choice set and I liked the hand rolls the chef picked for me! I got spicy salmon, soy salmon, octopus, scallop, mackerel. This place felt like a mix of nami nori in nyc and katsunori in LA! I would want to try the lunch omakase set next time but recommend the hand roll bar as well! read more

Tamu - Sushi Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I love the concept of this place. There is the handroll bar, the a la carte middle seating section, and the omakase in the back room. The service and staff were great but the food was unfortunately underwhelming. The hand rolls are so tiny, they're not fully wrapped like typical hand rolls, and they aren't "melt in your mouth" quality. The drinks were okay but not memorable. read more

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Still does what it does well, and that's provide fast casual omakase at a reasonable price and speed. read more

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Tamu is genuinely an under the radar omakase spot. I will say the ambiance is amazing. The service and the quality of the food is the best I have had. I will say that the omakase really is worth every penny. And the interaction with the sushi chef made it even better! The quality of the sushi will keep making you want more! read more

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Have been wanting to try this spot out since it opened as I love hand rolls. Stopped in for a quick bite and was greeted by lovely hostess. However was extremely disappointed in the hand rolls. For $6-8 a piece I was expecting a little bit more fish to rice ratio. Spending $30 for 4 small hand rolls was a bit much for especially how tiny they are. The salmon hand roll did not have much taste but the scallop one was a little better. The lunch omakase option did look good but was already booked up. read more

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Tamu has solidified handrolls as my preferred sushi vehicle! I've brought three different friends here on three different occasions, and am planning on bringing another today. Don't skip the signature temaki section, the Aburi Sake, Crunch Spicy Akami, and Unagi are my favorites, and I make sure to order them every time. The service is great, especially at the handroll bar, and it has a very chill ambiance. read more

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Awesome new handroll spot in west loop. I always love the sushi bar, it's so fun having the chefs hand you each piece directly, but will definitely have to come back to sit at a table to try the full menu. The hotate scallop and the toro handrolls are a MUST! read more

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Back here again for the quick and casual dinner. Loved the ambiance and the workers are amazing as usual. We got to the dessert this time and it did not disappoint, the matcha ice cream was rich with the red bean and mochi toppings read more

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