The location is hidden in the corner of the shopping mall near the 7-Eleven and Cafe Mistiko. The restaurant has a large dining area, although when we went, it was pretty empty and it seems like several people got carryout orders. Service was decent. For appetizers, we ordered takoyaki, shrimp dumplings, and Negi Maki. I never had the neg maki before, but it consists of thinly sliced beef rolled with green onions with homemade teriyaki sauce. Not my thing. The takoyaki had a very doughy middle. Shrimp dumplings were semi warm. Entree, we got the chicken teriaki bento box. The bento box had California rolls, seaweed salad, vegetable and shrimp tempura, and white rice. All of it was OK, although definitely not a fan of the seaweed salad. What was crazy about the place was the beeping of the microwave. A microwave in a restaurant?!? At first I thought it was someone using the cash register, but you cannot mistaken the sound of a microwave door shutting, nor the humming of one. Did they microwave all our food? I dont think so, as our food took some time to come out, but nonetheless, we were all surprised about it BATHROM REVIEW: I didn't go in there, but here's the review from my boys: Floor was disgusting. The door knob was rusty and the finish was rubbed off. The sink and faucet handles were caked with dirt. Urinal and toilet was bad. Ceiling had cracks. Smelled funky. Almost as bad as a Chinatown bathroom. Sit or squat? Squat. read more

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This is one of our favorite local spots! I love supporting small businesses and especially one that has the best miso soup in town ! My son isn't a big fan of soups, but he will have 2 servings each time we do carry out. They are always very friendly and it makes it pleasure to continue coming back. We love the waterfall - gives us a nice soothing experience when dining in! My favorite roll is the crab wrapped in cucumber roll! It's served with a vinaigrette dressing - yum! read more

Wakaba - Sushi Bars Near Me - Deerfield, Illinois

While driving in the area, I saw the sushi sign and was like yay! After eating here I was like um, how does this place have so many positive reviews. First of all, my sushi was mushy and warm? Um, I'm not sure what that was about. (And not a fried roll either). The seaweed wrapper at one point got caught in my throat, and I coughed it up. I couldn't even finish my food. The restaurant was dead at Sunday around dinner time. I can see why. For the price, I would not recommend this establishment. read more

Wakaba is located in a small strip mall in Deerfield, IL. The restaurant is pretty big once you walk in. There's plenty of seating. Our waitress was extremely friendly. She was very courteous and inviting. They had a large menu of appetizers, sushi, and larger items. I had 5 sushi rolls: crunch roll, sweet potato roll, and some others. The presentation was alright, but the sushi came out warm and a mushy texture. It would have been better cold. For $94 (8 rolls) I expected better flavor. I've had much better sushi in Westmont and Naperville. Long story shirt, you can find much better. I give kudos to the friendly staff and the clean establishment, but the food is a pass from me. Sorry. read more

My family and I came here after miniature golfing. I was a bit skeptical when we walked in and no one was there. At first I thought they were closed, but an older lady came by to sit us down. We were the only ones dining there (granted it was like 5pm). We had the opportunity to talk to the server and found out that the restaurant had been there for about 30 years and she has been working there for 27!! Prices are very reasonable. We ordered a bento box, the American sushi, a noodle dish and chicken teriyaki. All of our meals were delish. Glad we found this little place. read more

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I've been eating at Wakaba/takeout for over 20 years, and it's definitely one of my favorite sushi places! Everything is delicious, but my favorite rolls are Lake Michigan, soft shell crab, and spicy tuna - but you really can't go wrong with any! I like to get the spicy combo - lots of sushi for a great price (pictured). The chicken & onion udon soup is also a favorite. read more

Wakaba - Spicy combo with 2pc of salmon instead of scallops - Sushi Bars Near Me - Deerfield, Illinois

The following review is based on experiences before the COVID-19 pandemic: Small and cozy little restaurant right off Milwaukee. Nice decor with friendly service, low prices and large portions. However, the food wasn't anything special. Here are my thoughts on the items I tried: House salad: Somewhat crisp lettuce with a lighter flavor miso, not as sweet or bright as dressings at other restaurants. Miso soup: Very standard, would have liked to have a bit more green onion and tofu was a bit more firm. California roll: Standard, fresh tasting Bento A: The cucumber was refreshing and crisp in the sunomono which matched well with the imitation crab and roast sesame, though the vinegar was a little too sour. Chicken teriyaki had a nice sear and is tender like the mall version. Bento B: Tempura was nice, crispy, and fluffy. The salmon teriyaki has a nice slight sweetness and good crisp skin though I felt it was a bit overcooked. Katsu curry: Tender pork, nice thin and crispy panko. The curry was a bit muted and not overpowering. Gyu ju: Nice slightly silky egg over slightly caramelized onion, less sweet than other preparations. Overall, good value though the food felt like good home cooking rather than something truly exceptional. read more

Amazing service!! Food is wonderful. If you're in the neighborhood highly recommend checking it out.

Great quality sushi at affordable prices.Have been going here for 25 years! Spicy Tuna Roll read more

Wakaba - Spicy tuna roll, shrimp tempura roll and Lake Michigan roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Deerfield, Illinois

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Food was excellent! Sushi was fresh and made to order. Teriyaki chicken was full of flavor. Service was outstanding. The restaurant was clean and fresh and surprisingly pleasant. It wasn't a stand alone restaurant yet very nice. read more

I used to come here for lunch and dinner when I used to work for Discover Card (Discover Financial Services) for 10 years! Just had lunch here with an ex coworker! The food was amazingly fresh and delicious! I had the Sashimi Combo, a Spicy Tuna Handroll and Salmon Skin Handroll; my friend had a California Roll and Spicy Tuna Roll! The service was quick and efficient too! Plus the interior was still very clean and cozy, just the way I remembered it! I would definitely come back again and meet up with my ex Discover colleagues here again too! read more

Wakaba - Menu 3-16-2023 - Sushi Bars Near Me - Deerfield, Illinois

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I went here for the first time yesterday, aware of the variable reviews. In short, I really liked this place, I liked the jazz playing softly in the background, my Sapporo beer was the perfect temperature, my sushi was the perfect temperature, slightly cool, not cold, the rice was perfect, and I love the wasabi placed in my nigiri. Everything was excellent. I really enjoyed my meal there and I will be returning very soon. read more

Amazing underr sushi place, lovely woman owns and runs it. Support local businesses :) Amazing food, traditional atmosephere, plenty of parking! read more

Favorite restaurant of all time! Claudia roll and spicy salmon are absolutely delicious! The people who work here are so kind! Highly recommend read more

Been eating at wakaba since I was in my 20's it's changed with time but it is absolutely still the best sushi in town! I used to eat there quite a bit during the week, then I moved got married and had kids and could never find good sushi like I had at wakaba! Now I've moved back home, gotten a divorce and find myself right back at wakaba for their yummy food!! Never disappoints read more

We have been to several sushi restaurants in the area and continue to return to Wakaba every time. The sushi chef is expert at his craft. His wife manages the house. They are a true delight. The sushi is fresh and delicious. It is a locals place, simple and clean, in a strip mall. This is definitely one of our favorite go to restaurants. read more

This is a cute little place, seems to be run by a very sweet couple. Kinda old school, no real crazy rolls or anything, The Sushi is sold, and the service is good. I have been a few times with people from work, its dependable and good. I really like the chicken rolls...ya I know I said they didn't have any crazy rolls. The Chicken Teri and Kara are very good. I've never had any rolls that I didn't like. I'm also a fan of the Ginger salad dressing. They have other things besides Sushi but I have never had them. I would like to try some of their other things sometime. They have some good looking noodle dishes that I can see in my future. read more

Honestly if i could give this place no stars i would ,horrible customer service, they didn't say anything when i walked in , i waited a whole hour for my food and no one was in the restaurant. They don't care about the people that come in and keep their business running , don't come ! read more

I've been here so many times, that a review update is in order! I absolutely love Wakaba - the sushi is always fresh and on par, I've never had a bad experience, and the service is consistently great. I usually come here for takeout, but I know the service dining in is just as great. The prices are much cheaper than most restaurants I go to and they have a good fish to rice ratio. Every time I am here, they seem to be fairly busy, which is always a good sign. It's in a great location in Deerfield, which is why it makes it so easy for me to pickup dinner anytime of the week. I will continue coming here and bringing my business to the really nice owners, who have been here for a long time already. read more

Wakaba - Lake Michigan, 2 ebiku rolls, unagi, spicy tuna, spicy scallop - Sushi Bars Near Me - Deerfield, Illinois

Over several visits I tried their entree, sushi and sashimi. I would recommend salmon teriyaki and definitely white tuna teriyaki. The sashimi starter appetizer also left a good impression on me. Chardonnay was not bad. read more

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This place is a total dive, but absolutely delish! My friend and I wound up stopping in here randomly after finding out that the place we wanted to grab lunch at was closed. What a pleasant surprise!! The hostess was more than gracious, attentive, and courteous, and the food presentation was on point . Rolls are small, but more than filling with a small salad or some soup. Can't wait to return. read more

Wakaba - Cucumber salad - Sushi Bars Near Me - Deerfield, Illinois

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I went here with my family for a birthday dinner with my wife and family and we had a wonderful time. The sushi was delicious and fresh. I spoke to the sushi man and they said all their seafood was fresh and shipped directly from sources safe to eat no radioactive fish. The interior was very Japanese traditional and very spacious. The waiter was very knowledgable and approachable. He was very polite and refilled our water about 5 times however not too disruptive to our meal. We even received some special sampler chef's favorites appetizer for free to try them out. The bill came out and it was very affordable. Not too expensive for sushi. When I'm in the area in the suburbs I would recommend and come back here again. read more

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Best tasting and freshest sushi around. The crunchy roll is a favorite of ours and the kids love their Steak and Salmon Teriyaki. The owners are such a nice couple. Lol at the 3 one star reviews from people that have clearly never been here nor written any other worthy reviews. read more

Great food, amazing ambience , excellent service Try scallops in butter sauce. It's to die for! read more

Wakaba - Sushi Bars Near Me - Deerfield, Illinois

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My daughters favorite sushi spot! Her favorite is the crunchy roll low key spot. Not pricey.

Really nicely seasoned rice for sushi. Sashimi is good quality. Tempura dash is excellent . Excellent service.

We've been coming to Wakaba for lunch for years. It's our go-to place for vegetarian sushi near the office. The food is good and the service is fast and friendly. Favorite menu items over the years include tamago (the little egg omelette), vegetable tempura, kappa maki, sweet potato roll (sweet potato, cucumber, and mayo), and egg roll. (One thing to note is that they're open for lunch but close at 2 and then reopen at 5 for dinner.) read more

Wakaba is definitely a better alternative to Blue Fish down the road in Deerfield, and much less expensive. However, I ordered the Phila Maki roll and I'm pretty sure that I ate an entire block of cream cheese. I love cream cheese and typically, the more, the better. NOT in this case. I was disappointed with my roll, but it was also the only thing I tried there. I'll write an update as soon as I return, but for now, I'd recommend staying away from the Phila Maki roll. read more

Wakaba - The Phila Maki. I ended up scooping about half the cream cheese out of each piece bc there was so much in the roll. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Deerfield, Illinois

Ordered the chicken teriyaki with vegetables and also one with beef. Came with 1 piece of broccoli, 1 slice of carrot and half a potato. It was very salty. read more

Wakaba - Chicken teriyaki dinner - Sushi Bars Near Me - Deerfield, Illinois

Wow! I'm from Philadelphia in town for business. I been to morimoto's so I've tasted the highest quality. This place is definitely up there with quality sushi. The salmon on the nigiri feels like butter melting in your mouth just for example. This is a gem of a place. read more

Wakaba - Sushi Bars Near Me - Deerfield, Illinois

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I have been here 3 times now and the food has been very good. The first two times the service has been fast and attentive. To be clear, the first two times was during Covid mandates and the majority of customers were doing take out so dining in wasn't an issue. The third time mask mandates have more or less loosened and when I came in with my party of 4 the restaurant was busy. It felt like it was a 3-4 person staff with only one person to take orders and serve. The service was very slow. When we came in she pointed to an open table and just handed me the menu as she ran off to get food for another table. We sat there for about 30 minutes with no utensils or water and still waiting to place our order. I was getting hangry. Another 20 minutes until we got our food and us asking for water. By the time I was done with my food I joked that I might as well go to the 7/11 next door to get water. We waived the waitress down to ask for water again and got it right away. Don't misunderstand, this is not me saying this place is horrible and I'll never come back. This is me saying the waitress is working really hard but very unorganized. This place needs a better system or more likely hire more people. read more

Cute little restaurant with great food and friendly staff. I like the family feel of it!

WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN!!! I was looking forward to having a nice meal after a long day, only to be disappointed with possibly the worst sushi I have ever had in my life. I can't believe there were so many good reviews...each and every single of you people that gave good reviews are responsible for my upset stomach! The sushi was horrible! It didn't even look appetizing!! I'm too angry and disappointed to write anymore! Have fun! read more

I have been going to Wakaba for about 15 years, and it's consistent and delicious. It's a good, reasonably priced sushi joint in the suburbs. Casual atmosphere, average service but good sushi. The best rolls are actually made with grilled chicken, the chicken kara maki and chicken teri maki. Both creative and delicious. read more

Wakaba - Top to bottom: Lake Michigan Maki, Chicken Kara Maki, Popeye Maki. Delicious. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Deerfield, Illinois

This was my first time at Wakaba and I was placing an order to go. They offered me a glass of iced water while I wait for my carry out order which I thought was really nice. I ordered three rolls and I thought they were okay. I think that maybe I didn't do the best job ordering the best rolls of the menu. I think next time I go here I will order the rolls that other Yelpers recommended. read more

A cute family-run restaurant with delish Japanese cuisine. This place is one of my local favorites!

mmmm...SUSHI! Very fresh. Very clean. Pretty reasonable. For a Friday night @ 8, though... PRETTY EMPTY! It is the 'burbs, and I guess that's late! Probably my favorite local sushi spot. Good stuff if you're in the area and in the need of a maki fix. YUM! read more

Worst sushi I've ever had whether in the suburbs or in Chicago! Not fresh, really small rolls where the consistency is most rice over fish. Disgusting! I would not recommend this place to anyone. read more

Wakaba is another stand-by sushi place for lunch in the north suburbs. The place itself is a tad cheesy, but reminds me of places that I've eaten in Tokyo. There are fish tank screen savers in the restaurant - I guess better to have them on screen when you are eating raw fish rather than wondering what happens if they had live fish in a tank... The music boders on cheesy elevator music - think bad "Bridge Over Troubled Water" instrumental music. Regardless, the rolls, sushi and sashimi here are typically pretty fresh and good. The sushi combination menu items for lunch are about the right amount of food for lunch (and come with salad and miso soup) for $13. The House Special roll is consistently pretty good and lives up to its name. As other yelpers have said - you pretty much get what you pay for with regard to the food. The service here is spotty. I was here today for lunch and wasn't asked if I wanted anything to drink nor had my water glass refilled. Good thing I didn't have any spicy sushi! read more

So, we've been coming here for years ... time for a review! Context for this review is that we probably eat sushi about 3-5 times a month, sometimes as a couple (whee!), sometimes with the whole family (three kids), and have been doing so for a couple decades, as residents in Chicago and the Netherlands, and tourists globally, including Japan. My point being: we are not "ooh, once a year Ravinia Rolls!" diners. Wakaba is our definite "come here for comfort and good food" selection of all the sushi joints in Chicago, and from among the 4-5 decent places within striking distance of Wakaba. You can get fancier in other places, and you can get o toro in other places (rare, for obvious reasons, at Wakaba) ... but you can't get better service or better consistency in the quality of what you're eating. The service is friendly, attentive, personable and thorough. IMO, if you've had a bad experience here, then you just happened to hit a point where they were overwhelmed briefly. That's happened to us maybe twice out of ... sixty? many more? ... meals here. Appetizers are all right on target in terms of appealing taste. Our usuals are edamame (good, crisp, right level of salt), shumai, tempura (neither here nor there -- which is probably the hallmark of decent tempura), gyoza (they have, oddly, our favorite gyoza *anywhere* ... no idea why it's so good, but it is) and wakame su (crisp, clean). The miso is good, and the udon is very good (to be fair, I don't think we regularly order udon anywhere else). The fish is always very good. Well cut to favor each individual fish, with generous portions, and a very pleasant presentation. We tend to favor sashimi over nigiri, but both presentations are generous and well cut. The selection of fish and cuts is what you'd expect from a "family/comfort" restaurant -- e.g., no (or very rare) toro, no thin-sliced or whole-fish preparations. But on the other hand, they (almost) always have uni, they don't have super-white (good thing), and they always have hirame (one cut) -- so I guess what I'm saying is that the fish is very good overall! Can't really speak to the maki or rolls, as we're not really rolls people. The sake list is pretty good, with some nice selections and a nice pour. But there are no bottles (small or 750ml), so you're by the (generous) glass. Highly recommended. read more