EJ Sushi

This has been my favorite sushi spot in Chicago because of the quality, price, and atmosphere. The rolls are creative and use a good amount of fresh ingredients, and the space is intimate yet modern. As is the nature of sushi restaurants in Chicago, after a few visits the quality has gone down, and I really want the best for this spot as it’s great sushi!
I do have some suggestions for management–
when we bring wine because of your BYOB policy, please do not awkwardly point out you now carry wine and insist we buy something off your new list instead of acknowledging and accepting we already brought wine as soon as we are seated. You said you are going to impose a corking fee soon and that’s fine, but insisting we buy wine when we clearly came with wine and being visibly upset we brought wine made us uncomfortable.
Also, my friend ordered the tonkatsu ramen and we were first clearly served a miso ramen-​the broth was watery and plain. Instead of acknowledging this the hostess/​owner nervously insisted the ramen was «japan-​style» and grudgingly took the ramen away and replaced it with another bowl which was thicker with miso but just as plain. I KNOW this was not tonkatsu (pork bone/​fat) ramen because we took some home and it did not thicken or solidify once refrigerated!!! And the wasabi balls we were served with the sushi were dried out on the outside and clearly pre-​made and stuck in a fridge for some time before being served.
Finally, when we told the hostess/​owner we had a groupon she became upset and told us that they have discontinued using groupon, that groupon is making more money off itself than she is, and that the groupon is only for new customers. She kept asking us when we purchased the groupon and despite showing her the groupon expires months from now she was reluctant to use it. However she did eventually cave and I think ultimately the owners are just unaware of using social media and technology and would benefit from better knowing their customer base and focusing on customer service.

Was not as good as their other location in the French Market.

Have been here before and enjoyed it, so we decided to get take out when we had visitors in town tonight. After driving to pick it up and get home, we realize one of the rolls is missing from the order. We don’t live too close, so called back to ask for a refund on the roll instead of coming to pick it up. The woman on the phone did not understand and kept telling us to just «take it off the order», even though we already picked it up and paid! After going back and forth about this for a bit, she then hung up on me.
After eating the rolls we did get, I was also incredibly disappointed in the quality of the food and it was definitely not some of the better sushi I have had. Sad to have had a bad experience and still hoping we can get that refund on the expensive roll we paid for and didn’t get to enjoy!

I went to this location three times after they changed ownership in 2014. The first couple times we had a good meal with efficient service. We chatted with the pleasant wait staff, who hail from Mongolia, and enjoyed the BYOB. EJ Sushi relies on mailers and coupon sites to draw people in, so we always enjoyed some kind of discount on the check. My third dinner unraveled when my dining partner pulled a Groupon. The waitress must have remembered that I myself used a Groupon a few weeks earlier and loudly announced that we could not use the offer because one of us redeemed a Groupon in the past.
Now think about this for a moment. You finish a good sushi dinner and are enjoying your mochi alongside some chilled sake and you have to enter into a discussion about Groupon terms and conditions, while all the tables in the small space turn and listen in. We had to insist that there was no such rule and that we had happily patronized the restaurant several times prior. But that night, the waitress seemed to be on some kind of personal mission to ruin our meal.
We eventually prevailed and redeemed our Groupon but the experience was embarrassing and completely unprofessional.
We have since been enjoying the sushi and BYOB at nearby Tsukiji Fish Market, where you don’t yelled at after your meal, even if you produce one of their frequent mailers.

Great sushi at a great price. We had a Groupon deal for $ 40 worth of sushi for $ 21. Chicago Fire roll was delicious. They also nailed the spicy tuna and shrimp tempura rolls. Overall, excellent experience, especially if you like Michael Bublé.

First time ordering from EJ Sushi. I ordered for delivery as I am at the office and it’s not far from me. Excellent food, high quality, fresh, tasty, great temperature sushi. Ordered seamlessly online and delivery was here at 12:13 (I requested 12:15)
Will definitely order again!

EJ sushi is the best sushi place in Chicago! It’s comparable to Coast Sushi in Bucktown, but without all the Americanized sushi roll options. Get the ocean roll!

Excellent sushi, low-​key place, AMAZING banana dessert. Highly recommend :)

This place is amazing! Great prices, amazing quality food and a phenomenal waitress. I can’t remember her name right now, but she was fantastic. The ambiance is relaxing and intimate.
This restaurant is BYOB with an excellent liquor store right next store. Try this place out, you won’t be sorry.

Great food and service! Our waiter was Zoro and he was very attentive and friendly. We had the Firecracker, Texas and the Super Crunchy rolls and they were all delicious! We topped it off with a very tasty Banana Tempura dessert. Will definitely be back soon!

Good place for lunch and dinner friendly staff.

I eat here because it’s the closest place that serves Ramen close to my apartment. It’s good, not great. If it’s not in walking distance, it’s not worth getting.

Ordered a couple rolls to pick-​up.
Fresh and tasty.
We ordered the caterpillar and the dynamite rolls.
The caterpillar had the right amount of crunch with the cucumber and smooth creaminess of the avocado.
The dynamite has a kick — too spicy for my bf – but perfect for me. The shrimp tempura in the roll was still crunchy when we ate it.
My bf said he hasn’t seen too many people inside whenever he’s passed by, so I thought it was unexpectedly good given that info. I figured either the freshness or taste would be compromised, but neither were lacking.
Yummy neighborhood restaurant. Since it’s BYOB, I think I’ll stop by again and more often.

LOVE IT! My girlfriends came for girls night out. BYOB no corkage fee!!!
Quick and attentive service, amazing fresh sushi and sashimi !!! LOVED the rolls too.
Specially, Green turtle yum!!!
Really reasonable too!!!
It was awesome :)))

I did Mongolian food take out.
Food did not taste as much as I was expecting, please try to use fresh meat and no cheap meat.
I am just disappointed for wasting my 10 $ like this.

My shumai and sashimi to go left me sad and hungry. For $ 30.26 I would have expected at least average fare…

My new fave chi sushi spot. Fresh, byob, not a lot of rice on their maki, and great value. Get the firecracker (seared salmon on top, seared anything … yum) and the mexican roll. Basic maki ~$ 6, special maki ~$ 11. Yummmmm.

Worst delivery ever. So bad. Don’t do it. Trust me. I moved from nyc, have patience and this place is not good. Order elsewhere. Called and drive was «lost». Manager needs to get «lost». Owner should be ashamed. Your product defines you. You… lose.

I love this place! Food was delicious and cheap. The firecracker roll is great if you like spicy. The dynamite roll is good too. Definitely coming back. And I also like the decors and the Ikea light

We came here for lunch during the work week and it was empty. There is a reason for that. We ordered bento boxes and they were no bueno. It was probably the worst tempura I’ve ever had. The batter was thick and very heavy and it was served room temperature. My boyfriend couldn’t even eat it. The terriyaki sauce was watered down and mediocre. To top it off, service was extremely slow (serving no one?) and we were late getting back to work. Never going here again.

My boyfriend and I have been in here twice already and we definitely will be back for more! He loves sushi and i’m new to it so I’ve been slowly introducing myself to it. I always get the bento box and it never dissapoints. The rolls are delicious too! I suggest the firecracker rolls, philadelphia rolls and the jalapeño bombs.

Neighborhood place. No trek necessary. Ordinary menu. Lunch specials and Bento Box are better value.
Dine-​in customers get cucumber salad and orange for dessert.
WHITE SWAN ROLL ($ 12.95) — a tad heavy on sauce. I thought it was good value due to ingredients Soft shell crab, cucumber, topped escolar, and jalapeño mayo sauce.
SASHIMI (2 pcs per order) — decent thickness, quality and portion.
SERVICE and VENUE — clean and decent.

I had an amazing scallop, crab, tempura shrimp roll! I would just come back for that! Cute place and it’s byob!

It was just us in there when we went. Restaurant was clean. The sushi was fresh and tasty. We also tried the Yaki Soba which too was really good.
For dessert we had the banana tempura. Also good — It’s not too sweet.

Just had lunch at this hidden gem and I am so glad we tried it.
I found the restaurant on Groupon and decided to give it a try. The food is fresh and made to order. Nothing tasted like it sat around to be served.
Awesome and friendly service!
We’ll be back very soon for dinner and bring own bottle of wine. This place is BYOB!

This place opens at 2 on Sundays, and that means exactly at 2. Not 1:55, not 1:58, 2. And because it opens right at 2, and is completely dark until 2, if you get here at 2, you’ll have to wait a very long time for your food as it only has two people working, a server, and a chef. And before the server gets there, the chef has to be a server too, although we seated and served ourselves in the beginning. Do yourself a favor and get here at 3 or 4 instead.
Once we finally got our food, the rolls were flavorful and I enjoyed them, but I’ve had a better –and bigger– Dragon, especially for the price. The Sunshine was quite unique– warm and almost with a BBQ sauce on top? If not for the groupon, I wouldn’t have come here, and I will likely not return with so many sushi options around town.

I was pretty shocked that this place was really good! The prices were really decent and the food was delicious. It might not look super fancy, especially from the outside, but I care more about food than ambiance and it’s nice enough to cover both categories.