Wakamono

9 bucks for 6 tiny pieces of salmon avocado roll… And it’s not even that great. Please???

Came here before to drink at the bar, but never ate here until today. We ordered the Big sur, peter parker, and the gibraltar and spicy miso ramen. The sushi was good (pictured) and the ramen was really spicy. Overall good experience with good service. The bill came out to be $ 100 with a drink and a beer. Too expensive for me… could have eaten the same for less elsewhere during happy hour.

Really great sushi and cocktails!
I went here last Saturday with a friend around 6:30 and was seated right away. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the wait staff is very friendly. The menu is a little confusing but our waitress explained everything! We ended up splitting the chicken teriyaki bento box and triple Godzilla roll.
The bento box was good, a little strange as it had fried okra and potato salad in it – it was still pretty good!
The sushi roll was humongous! 10 pieces and more like 2 rolls. It had great flavor and I definitely think next time I’ll try more of their speciality rolls.
The geisha cocktail was not too sweet and really refreshing. Such cute presentation!
Overall, great experience and I will be back to try all the delicious unique sushi!

Had a great time celebrating my friend’s birthday last night. The cocktail MaiTai was awesome. Food was pretty quick and the portion size was perfect. Definitely coming back!

A girlfriend and I wandered in on a Saturday night. The place was busy but we were able to be seated straight away. The atmosphere is very inviting and chill with dim and intimate lighting, and the sushi was excellent. We enjoyed the Jalapeño Miso Soup and the Dragon Roll. The Yo lo Mango Roll was absolutely refreshing and the Wakamono Roll with its lightly torch-​seared tuna & salmon was mouth-​wateringly good. The Tiger’s Blood cocktail was also perfectly balanced and a delight. Our only complaint was the service: We were pawned off to several waitresses and we clearly asked for separate checks 3 times (from the beginning) but the waitresses made a big deal out of it and kind of punished us by forcing us to wait to check out. I like to think it was a language barrier, but how they treated other guests suggests that isn’t so.
In any case, the food and drinks were more than worth it, and I would definitely recommend and eat here again.

I’ve been meaning to try Wakamono for a while now. I’ve been to Wangs several times, and have always been impressed by both the quality and the price of their martinis.
A friend and I went on a beautiful evening night, and were lucky enough to procure a table outside after only a ten minute wait. From what I’ve observed, though, this is somewhat of an abnormality so I would definitely recommend arriving early if you want to enjoy their nice sidewalk patio.
Their beverage program was very strong, and the few specialty cocktails I tried were exceptionally made. My friend had a few glasses of wine, which were all fairly priced for the neighborhood.
For dinner, we split four rolls of sushi, which was the perfect amount of food for us. I can honestly say it was some of the best sushi I’ve had in Chicago, and definitely the best I’ve tried in Lakeview. I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I know sushi; I eat it so often that my cause of death is probably going to be mercury poisoning from all the seafood I eat.
Service this night was exceptional. We never had to wait for refills or for more drinks. The table next to us was being incredibly loud, obnoxious (I think it was a breakup but I can’t be sure), and rude to the server, who in turn handled the situation with extreme professionalism. I was very impressed.
Wakamono is more on the expensive side, but the price is easily justified. I’m excited to go back!

We have been coming to this sushi for a while now. The godzilla roll is our fave. We even celebrated some family events that we reserved tables for and had a great time.

The only reason I gave it 4 rather than 5 is because the service can be very slow. But if you go in with the mindset that you’re having a leisurely meal and you’re in no hurry, it is bliss.
I originally checked it out because I saw it on Check Please and loved the feedback from the guy who recommended it. I agreed with all he said. The prices aren’t outrageous, and the pieces of actual fish in the sushi are so fresh and so generous. It is delicious, and the ambience of the space is another plus.

I’m having trouble understanding any of the bad reviews here. This was by far some of the best sushi I’ve ever eaten. Beautifully and freshly prepared. Slow, but that told me that they really take care with the preparation near bar adjacent. Really, what’s not to love?

Good ambience !!! Good staff. Attentive and friendly. Food. has more presentation and nutritional value than ping pong !!! Less over priced too… for best seafood ramen and versatile sashimi and sushi. This is the place to go!!!

We got the Wakamono roll, the Oedipus roll, and soft shell crab tempura for appetizers
Atmosphere was great, a touch of tiki to the traditional Japanese restaurant, but the service struck me as cold and unfriendly
Food impressions:
Wakamono: crispy texture and flavorful — a nice blend of sweet and spicy. I loved how it incorporated tuna, salmon, and shrimp — sometimes I cant decide which one I want, but this rolls blends them all together for you, and the result is delicious harmony
Oedipus: a standard Salmon maki with some greens to add crunch, I was surprised by and loved the generous topping of Salmon roe
Soft shell crab tempura: delicious! Crispy and tender without being greasy, and I appreciated the bed of greens to balance out the fried-​ness. The accompanying cilantro sauce was a bit bland; soy sauce and wasabi was a much better accompaniment

Really liked this place!
The sushi was very high quality and the place felt somewhat VIP in a sense. It’s timid and dark inside and fancy.
My friend recommended the place to me and said we should go. I’m happy we did! I plan to come back soon to enjoy some more sushi again!
Nice place for some Lakeview Sushi!

Best sushi spot in the city!!! I’m from California so I have high sushi standard. Great welcoming appetizer of soy beans in a teriyaki type sauce.
The wakomono roll is great. However as odd as it sounds tempura is on key! Friend ordered Ramen and loved it. Best yet.

I went here with a few friends for the first time and it didn’t disappoint. The atmosphere was awesome, the service was great and you can’t complain about the food. Not to mention, it’s BYOB. The corking fee is only $ 5.
I started with the seaweed salad and miso soup. Both were great. I finished with a spicy tuna and soft crab rolls. I would recommend both!

Wakamono is definitely a place I’ll try again. The only reason I’m giving this place 3 stars instead of 4 is because of the service.
Our waitress must not have believed us when we said we were cool with just water because she asked us 3 more times what we wanted to order to drink. My friend and I both gave up drinking for Lent and her constantly asking what we wanted to drink must have been the devil’s way of testing us.
Food wise… everything was delicious! My favorite items from the meal were the calamari fry and the Peter Parker roll. I highly recommend trying both of these!
What we had:
Calamari Fry
Seaweed Salad
Wasabi Soba Noodle
Peter Parker Roll
Moby Dick Roll
Godzilla Roll
Big Sur Roll
Gilbraltar Roll
Kani Chung Roll

I am a sushi fanatic! I honestly enjoyed the take-​away from Wakamono.
Last week I ordered the Tuna Tar Tar. (Huge portion) with chips separate in their own container. And tried the simple shiitake tempera roll for five bucks. It is a steal.
The best part — (cause I am a bit OCD) they have the cutest little soy sauce bottle squeezers. No annoying plastic cups. Good call on packaging and for delivery «Waka-​Folks»!
The menu is extensive… like any place it is trial and error. Choose your choice.
Bön Appetite!

«Best sushi in Chicago, hands down.». If I had a nickel for every time that I heard that sentence used when asked to describe this place, I’d be a rich man. Naturally, I had to find out what the fuss was about.
I had a craving for sushi on a random Monday night, so this was a perfect opportunity to suggest this place to my sister and I to visit. Went in and got seated pretty quickly as the place was almost empty.
Started off with a bowl of Tori Ramen: Grilled Chicken, watercress & scallions in a ramen broth (this is a must for every sushi place I ever go to). The chicken was tender, but it didn’t really attract my palate. As far as the rolls go, we ended up ordering two each of their specialty rolls: the «Yo La Mango» (mango wrapped salmon, grilled asparagus, tamago, cucumber, tempura crumbs, spicy mayo, shichimi pepper flakes) and the Moby Dick (pepper seared albacore over spicy scallops, avocado, cucumber). We also ordered a Philadelphia Maki & an Unagi cucumber maki. The makis were pretty standard but good; however both the specialty rolls were unbelievable. The Mango roll was different since I had never had a «mango roll» before; the Moby Dick was good because I liked the spice on the albacore; to top that on the scallops was a bonus.
The only bad part about the experience was that the kitchen to table time was long. There weren’t a lot of people in the space but it seemed like the rolls took forever to make (at least 30 minutes by my clock). Plus we noticed that several of the waiters were running across the street to another restaurant; don’t know if the owners have both these places. The waitress (whose name was Apple, that’s cute!) was pleasant though.
Best sushi in Chicago? I’m not willing to agree to that yet. However, I’d still put this place high on my list.

3.5 Stars
I went to Wakamono this pass Friday. I called a couple of days in advance to make reservations, but they said they didn’t take reservations. It was really rainy yucky weather though, so it actually worked out. We got there at 8:00pm and were able to be seated right away. That probably wouldn’t have been the case if the weather was nicer. Espeically since Lakeview Arts Festival was going on right outside the door.
First things first we placed our cocktail order: Geisha (Tasted a little like passion fruit), Xi Gua (Light, sweet, and refreshing), and Mango Mojito (Citrusy and like the carboniation). On the table they have a little bowl of Soy Seasame Beans. They are delicious! Tastes like they’ve been doused in brown sugar.
For our appetizer we went with our usual pick of the sweet potato tempura. The oustide was nice and crispy and the inside was sweet. Whatever sauce it came with on the side was good as well.
The part I was more so disappointed with was the sushi. We ordered three different rolls. Red Catepillar (very boring, good if your non adventurous), Mango (Interesting, but a little too sweet for me. I don’t like my sushi to taste like dessert), Godzilla (My Favorite. Perfect texture of ingredients and you could really taste the shrimp).
We followed dinner up with dessert, which was also disappointing. Our waiter suggested the lava cake, which we probabaly should of went with, but we ended up sharing the pineapple upside down cake with coffee ice cream. The cake was dry (tasted more like a pound cake). The coffee icecream was delicious though! I don’t even like coffee and I was in love.
Service was great! We were there about 2 hours and had multiple people checking on us. Very friendly staff and an all around enjoyable time. I might venture back if I was in the neighboorhood, but I have other sushi places that are my fave that are closer to where I live. Not really in this area much.

Wakamono was my favorite sushi place in the city when I first moved here, and into the neighborhood. They had huge rolls for the price they were charging. Now-​a-​days though, the size of the rolls have gotten smaller, and the prices have stayed the same. I’m not longer getting as much as I used to for the price I am used to paying.
My favorite rolls were, and still are though, the Kani Chung and Godzilla. They’re the larger rolls for $ 14 but the flavoring is definitely worth it if you’re going to try this place once. The Peter Parker is also amazing, for $ 16.
The inside is also super cute and the staff is always so nice at making suggestions or sharing what the new specials are. And they have a separate bar connected by a doorway, right next door, should you arrive and there’s a long wait (which can definitely happen since there is only seating for maybe 40).
Having tried many other sushi places over the years, this is still a go-​to of mine because of the memories, but the fish isn’t as «fresh» as you can find other places. Still a nice place with great sushi and service.

It makes more sense to think of this as a delicious neighborhood eatery than an exotic Japanese food destination, but it sure is delicious. The black fermented soybeans on the table are unctuous and satisfying; the tartare and cucumber appetizers were excellent; the sushi was very good. Personally, I preferred their classic rolls over the weird special ones.
Walking by again today, my wife said «I think I could eat sushi every night.» With Wakamono around the corner, I’m almost tempted to.