Shiso

Sushi is always on par. Cozy little atmosphere with very friendly servers. Love this place!

a very cozy sushi place. decent food. nice environment

I visited Shiso for my birthday and it was great. They quickly accommodated six of us and serve us rather promptly. When they noticed we were taking advantage of the BYOB option, they brought over glasses for our beer. We were charged a $ 3 corkage fee for each person that was drinking but it was still a huge money saver. I got the rainbow roll and it was delicious, not very filling but that’s sushi for you. I will definitely be visiting again with the BYOB option.

The food was pretty tasty, although I admit I wish there was a higher number of more basic rolls on the menu. We split 3 signature rolls between 2 people and it was just the right amount of food. BYOB is also nice, although if I’m being charged a corkage fee, it would have been nice to have the wine poured into our glasses and topped off for us.
When I made my reservation, the hotels said I’d need to finish eating by a certain time — first time I’ve heard that, but thankfully they didn’t hold us to it. They seem to run a tight ship with booking tables, which was pretty fascinating.

Visited shiso for the first time this evening for date night! The food and service was great. I ordered the Sears tower Miko, Miso soup, and a beer (didn’t BYOB). The miso soup was great although I don’t like tofu or spinach I ate around it. The Sears Tower Miko was stacked like a tower and beautifully plated! It was delicious especially with the sauce and was very fresh. Our waitress was very kind and helped with any questions we had regarding the menu. Very small restaurant but got a table right away! Definitely will be returning to try more!

The absolute best sushi place in old town! BYOB is a plus! My faves:
— hamachi app
— spicy miso
— mango tango roll
— pumpkin roll
— all the sashimi is amazing

Adorable BYOB ($ 3 flat fee for corkage per person) sushi place that takes reservations. Also, rolls are well-​priced/​lean to the cheaper side. The food was good, service was quick and all of the staff was super friendly! I just wish the place had more seating– but definitely good for a date or a girls dinner out before hitting the bars, especially since it’s right next to old town social.

Great sushi in old town. Pretty average prices. Byob. Cute, trendy interior. My favorite is the Mexican roll but all their sushi is very fresh and top notch. I will return no doubt.

I was brought here by the Unilocal reviews, but I got to say I am a little dissapointed. The fried calamari appetizer was delicious! Crispy and great sauce! When it comes to sushi it was average… It was missing this «yum» moment and I will definitely forget about it soon.

Nice quaint sushi restaurant on North Ave. VERY small space, but was cozy instead of cramped. Very friendly and attentive staff.
The sushi was above average and better than what I was expecting. We ordered the fried calamari, miso soup, seaweed salad, a few rolls and sashimi. The fried calamari was great, crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. It’s very easy to overcook so was very impressed when it wasn’t. Miso soup was basic, not great, not bad. The seaweed salad was good, but a bit too sweet for my preference. The rolls were good, the crispy salmon skin was actually crispy!
My personal gauge on how good a sushi place is is based on the freshness of the seafood. I always get the Ikura (salmon roe) and the maguro (tuna). The ikura was nearly tasteless, which to me is a sign that it isn’t fresh. The maguro was good, but still not the freshest I’ve had.
Overall, it was better than I would have expected from a small neighborhood sushi place. Can’t be too hard on the place since this isn’t the Bay Area or LA, but definitely good for the money and location. Will be going back to check out the Katsu Curry!

Tried this for the first time and it was not busy around that time. Affordable bento box prices and the katsu curry was the bomb

We order from Shiso all the time but last night was our first time eating in the restaurant. The staff were friendly and the service was fast. It’s a nice, cozy atmosphere inside. Ordering in has its advantages since you get free edamame or house salad for orders of $ 30 or more. You get a free california roll or spicy tuna maki roll for orders of $ 50 or more. You also get 10% off all cash orders. Just check the website to confirm the offers are still valid.
I would recommend the spicy miso soup, fried calamari (with a honey wasabi dipping sauce) the chicago roll, and the unakyo roll.
While they serve alcohol in the restaurant, remember that you can bring your own for $ 3 per person.

Just stopped by as we were walking by very nice spot with good service… definitely try the Sears tower maki and the house saki!

Hidden Gem. My favorite go-​to sushi spot in Chicago. I live across the street from RA but will still go slightly out of my way for Shiso.
The spicy crunchy tuna and the fried soft shell crab are so delicious that I have cravings for them. I can’t say that about a lot of dishes.
Best part is its BYOB!!! How can you possibly go wrong with that?

Visited Shiso on a Saturday night before a Second City show and was a perfect location for that. It was busy when we arrived without a reservation, but they took our number and gave us a call when the table was ready so we could grab a drink next door while we waited, which was nice.
We were seated at the sushi bar, which ended up good bc there were some larger really loud parties doing saki bombs and whatnot, so glad we had seats away from them where we could hear each other.
Food was overall pretty average, nothing bad, but just fairly standard decent sushi. Rolls were pretty small, which wasn’t bad for the standard roll price points, but their speciality rolls were probably a bit pricey for the size. They also had a lot of rolls with cream cheese and smoked salmon, which are really the only two ingredients I’ll never order in sushi.
Perhaps would be back again if I needed an easy place before a show, but definitely wouldn’t go out of my way if I wasn’t in the area.

We really enjoyed our meal at Shiso.
Started with the Spicy Miso Soup and the Shiso house salad. Both were pretty good. My soup came out a few minutes before her salad which was a bit annoying but it wasn’t too big of a deal.
Next we had the Crispy Calamari appetizer and our first roll was a special Mango Roll topped with Himachi they had that evening. The Crispy Calamari was a good size appetizer for sharing.
We followed up with the Spicy Tuna Roll, Shiso Signature Roll, and the Sears Tower Roll.
The Special Maki rolls were really good.
Next time around I’ll probably stick with the Calamari and Sears Tower and then explore the menu a bit and try some new things.

Hidden Jem of Chicago sushi! This is my absolute favorite place to go for sushi and its fairly close to me which is a huge plus. I’m not that adventurous with sushi but I still enjoy it none the less. I’ve tried various Maki rolls here and they are all wonderful! I recommend the dragon roll.
The only sad part is that they have added a corkage fee– except for on Sundays.
Shiso, I love you and I will be back again and again!

A hidden gem in the North Avenue barren strip from Clark to Halsted. The only sushi in the area. Open for lunch on Sundays.
I LIKE…
BYOB on Sundays and NO corkage fee.
Drinks List (less than $ 10) — Red, White, Beer and Cocktails.
Spring Summer Role ($ 12.95) — all my favorite ingredients for nourishment and healthy eating. Greens. Avocado. Fresh Fish. Rice. The sliver of mango is perfect for just citrus taste to maki.
Wasabi Shumai ($ 6.95) — wasabi adds a kick and dimension to the sometimes bland and boring Shumai. Overpriced.
SKIP…
Sake ($ 7 – 21) — it seems like retail pricing plus markup, not bulk rate.
Soft Shell Crab ($ 6.50) — the price is right but the single serving crab is itty bitty. Overcooked.
Banana Tempura + Green Tea Ice Cream ($ 6.95) — wrong kind of banana for frying. Overripe mushy banana. Eek. A baseball size serving of pre-​molded green tea ice cream that was re-​frozen.

Sincerely my favorite sushi place in all Chicago. SO good!
Tucked away on North Ave in Old Town, Shiso can comfortably hold about 30 guests. It’s a BYOB restaurant, which is always fantastic. If you forgo bringing your own bottle of wine, you can order one for a reasonable price ($ 20) at the restaurant.
Shiso makes super yummy and creative sushi rolls. My favorites, in order:
1. Sears Tower– OH MY WORD. I could eat like five of these in one sitting. The whole has cream cheese, crab, clinator, asparagus, and unagi. Then it’s deep fried, stacked up to look like a tower, and then drizzled with sweet sauce. Seriously, heavenly. A MUST TRY.
2. Mexican — deep fried shrimp, avaocado, masago, jalapeño, and cilantro, covered with unagi sauce. I am not a fan of spicy food, but this is amazing.
3. Tiger — deep fried soft shell crab, cucumber, avocado, cilantro, masago mayo, topped with tamago and unagi sauce. So yummy.
The waitresses are always super friendly and nice. They don’t mind if you’re there for a long, just hanging out and catching up with friends. The bill is always pretty decent too! If you’re going with a group, I’d recommend calling ahead for a reservation, as space is tight and it’s usually pretty busy.
BONUS — they also deliver!!!
Whenever I’m in Chicago, I always stop in at Shiso!

I’m not sure why this place has 4 stars. Nothing I tasted here was worthy of that, including the Sashimi Set, the Spicy Udon with Chicken, and the Sunset Roll.
Sashimi Set — Average, nothing special. Not especially fresh.
Spicy Udon with Chicken — The spicy sauce, drenched all over the noodles, was too creamy for my taste. It made the consistency almost like an alfredo spaghetti, which was weird because I always expect (and prefer) Japanese udon to be much lighter.
Sunset Roll — Meh, very average. Also, It took us forever to even find a roll amongst the Specialty Rolls that didn’t have cream cheese in it… clearly indicating that this is not a traditional Japanese restaurant — cream cheese in sushi is one trend I’ve never understood.
Definitely go elsewhere for Japanese food… Sunshine Café, Uni Sushi, Union Sushi, Arami, etc. There are a ton of better options!