Tomo Sushi

I had a hard time deciding on a rating for Tomo Sushi simply because the service and value are excellent but the food while not bad is not really up to level that it should be.
SERVICE: We dined here on a cold Friday night. We had made a reservation but we didn’t need one. We were warmly greeted when we walked in by both the waiter and the sushi chef. We chose our table and the waiter kept apologizing for taking so long. It wasn’t long at all. He explained that one of the waiters called in sick and that they were short staffed. He did such a good job we wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t told us. On top of providing great service he was friendly, outgoing and enthusiastic.
VALUE: Keeping in mind that we only ordered one sushi roll and the rest was hot dishes from the kitchen, with one order of sake, our total bill was around $ 40 for two. This even included an offer of refill on the miso soup.
FOOD: Though nothing tasted bad the complexity and level of flavor just wasn’t there. The miso soup came with our meal and it was good miso soup. Tasted and felt good going down on a really cold winter night. For an appetizer we order the Agedashi tofu, deep fried tofu, green onion, tempura sauce. This was good but the sauce didn’t cling enough to the tofu so it left it kind of flavorless. There were big pops of flavor from some strips of ginger mixed in but when you got one of those in your bite it overpowered everything else. For my main course I had the lava ramen. I like spicy but this wasn’t great spicy. Really just very hot and not in a particularly pleasing way. All I got was heat and nothing else. Also, the menu doesn’t mention that the dish has any meat in it and I was surprised when it was delivered with pieced of pork floating about. I have been trying to eat less meat recently, so while not a vegetarian I was disappointed to find some in there.
The sushi and maki that we saw delivered around looked appealing. With service and prices so good I think that we will be back to give that a try.

I called in to get a to-​go order of Lava Ramen. They didn’t have the lava sauce which is what makes the dish. I hate it when restaurants are not properly prepared.

One star for a really pleasing atmosphere with generous outdoor seating when weather permits, including a tented area for those less than perfect midwestern summer moments. The menu is diverse and interesting (so worth another star) featuring many unique specialty rolls and plenty of offerings for those who prefer their food cooked.
The service was fine. Our server was very friendly and had a nice smile, but seemed unfamiliar with the drink menu and seldom filled water glasses. More frequent visits would have been nice.
The appetizers and blue ocean specialty roll were REALLY nice (another star) and I would recommend those for sure, however the nigiri was a little troubling. Normally escolar is my favorite with its watery melt-​in-​your mouth texture, but tonight it was quite rubbery and not at all what I expected. It wasn’t a fluke because the second piece was the same. I also had two pieces of kani but I only ate one because it was not sweet and juicy as it should be, rather it was fishy and dry.
I would definitely give this spot another try, maybe it just wasn’t a great shipment of seafood?

Sushi was not very tasty. Nori was dry and fish not great. Service was less then mediocre. Waited forever to get a glass of water. I doubt this restaurant will survive in highland park.

Putting aside the fact that the sushi was very average, this place should be avoided based on the rudeness of the manager/​owner. My son and I popped in, partly because they have half priced rolls on Mondays… or so we thought. The menu stated, ‘signature rolls are charged at the half-​roll price, all other rolls are half price’. When we got the bill, only one roll was half price. The waiter agreed that the menu was misleading but the manager hadn’t changed it. One manager came over and agreed that it was wrong and immediately took all the menus and crossed out the statement. He was then going to adjust my bill but another mgr came by and said that its a mistake but I should pay full price. There is no defense for such flagrant dishonesty and rudeness. Why change the menus if your position is defensible? Truly offensive treatment that required a post!

The ramen hit the spot. I’m not much of an expert on non-​instant ramen, but this one had good flavor and the pork belly was really good, a tad dry, but tasty.
My son had the Cal roll and unagi, his usual sushi order, and he said it was really good.

Been eating sushi for 30+ years including in japan. I don’t understand this place. Bland rolls. Ordered sashimi plate. Pieces were 2 – 3 times thicker than they should be. A big part of sashimi is the texture and mouthfeel. Impossible to enjoy either when you put a slab of fish in your mouth. Pieces were also placed on top of shaved ice. Wound up with pieces of ice in my mouth. Added to the wrong mouthfeel and watered down the fish. If I ate the sashimi with my eyes closed, I would not be able to tell one fish type from the next. Barely an apology. Poor excuses.

Wow! Some of the best sushi that I have had on the North Shore and it’s even open on Mondays. Everything served was top quality and super fresh. The service and atmosphere was excellent. This place will become a regular for us.

Amazing service! The waiter that we had the past two times was truly remarkable! We would go back just for the service, but the food is wonderful as well! The sushi is delightful and fresh but the ramen is to die for. Best we have had on the North Shore! Definitely go and taste their soups!!!

This place is fantastic! Not sure why the word hasn’t gotten out. We had soba noodles and maki rolls and all was delish!

I feel like okay Sushi just isn’t going to cut it in Highland Park. The service was very good. The waitress was nice but the food just is okay. Nothing special about it. The fish was decent but a good Sushi place should blow you away.
I probably won’t go back.

Well it’s a Korean owned Japanese place that seems to have a few kinks in its service. Good sake selection, but I wanted to order an uni shooter (which is listed on the menu but they were out) then I ordered the An Ki Mo (monkfish liver) which if done right is amazing — but here –meh– it has no ponzu sauce and it was not even prepared as described — it was missing black Tobiko– when I pointed this out they brought me a side of green Tobiko since the black they said they were out of. I ordered the agadashi tofu with bulbogi and it was without any kimchi. They don’t have kimchi for their bulgogi which is listed as a main course as well.

My wife and I decided to have a quiet evening without the kids. We ordered an appetizer and then I ordered chicken teriyaki and she ordered sushi. My chicken teriyaki came out within 15 minutes and my wife’s order was no where to be found. We had to wait an additional 20 minutes to get her sushi. So at that time, my teriyaki chicken was pretty cold and we asked to speak to the managers (who also happen to be the owners). No response for thirty minutes. After 30, we asked our server again and we were told that the managers were too busy to come see us.
When the managers state to their staff that they are short-​handed and can’t see their guests, perhaps they shouldn’t be in the restaurant business? The staff apologized for their managers and say that they had some new servers and that the managers needed another sushi chef. Excuse me, I don’t want to hear your restaurant’s drama – I’d just like a great meal in a timely fashion.
So, I made my wife go in and see the managers with me after our meal who half-​heartedly apologized to us but did not provide us with any reason to come back. No offer of dessert, no discount on the meal (not saying that I would have taken it, but I would have thought they would have tried to offer something if anything?). I honestly don’t know how this restaurant can make it if the foundation of customer service isn’t there.
We dined on 8÷5÷2014 at 6:18 PM (a Tuesday night) and ordered 2 Philadelphia makis, 1 alaskan maki, ½ order of double spicy, an edamame and a chicken teriyaki with brown rice (came with white rice). We left after 8 PM!

Great food & service, but they have to ditch the awful music. Wow. Almost ruined dinner having to listen to some Korean disco music followed by a Disney musical theater soundtrack. All played super loud. The waiter was nice enough to ask management to turn it down on the open-​air porch… And then they jacked the volume up a little later. Ww were the only patrons at the time on the patio. This was a sure-​fire way to get us to leave. Too bad.

A girlfriend introduced me to this new place a few months ago, loved the food & service, and been coming here every few weeks for girlfriends’ lunch & drinks. I love sushi, but even more sashimi, and I can tell you this place has fresh seafood!
Tomo is less than a year old, I think, so the place is going to be clean. Today was my fifth visit, and noticed the outdoor seating open. I’ll definitely have to sit outside next time. We usually sit at the sushi bar and order Omakase, which means Chef’s Choice or Chef’s Special. For $ 50~60 per person, you’ll get the day’s freshest selections, including a plate of sashimi, oysters, uni, frois gras (monk fish liver, actually) if available, maki (rolls), more sashimi, some vegetables, etc. Like I said, Chef’s Choice, and the chef will continue to plate your food until full! This place isn’t cheap, but you won’t be disappointed in the quality of the food. Tomo is no Sushi Station. :P
We wrapped up our scrumptious Omakase with a few pieces of crispy & light shrimp tempura ($ 8 for 4 huge pieces) to finish the rest of our sake and shared an order of ramen ($ 12 for two separated bowls). The ramen was so good! The broth was rich with flavor, not too greasy like other authentic Japanese ramen places, noodles perfectly el dente! You must try Tomo’s version if you like ramen.
Tomo also has an excellent selection of Japanese beers, sakes, and wines at reasonable prices. Ask the head chef or your server, if you’re not sure which sake or wine would best accompany your order.
Free parking for up to three hours in the underground garage accessible from Greenbay Road, knowledgeable & friendly servers, delicious food, what more can a sushi lover ask!?!

Awesome! They have a great outdoor seating by the fire which makes summer night dining experience great. All their servers are very knowledgeable of the menu and can recommend rolls that you’ll like. Andy was our server and I couldn’t have asked for a better server. One of the sushi chefs, Kevin, came out to check on us to make sure everything was good. The special rolls are pretty large in size. They also run a special half priced on special rolls on Mondays. House sake is pretty standard. Can’t go wrong ordering few rolls with house sake and a bottle of Sapporo.
Overall, great food, great atmosphere, great service which all makes it a great time! Check it out when you are in the area.

I was so excited to try this place, but unfortunately, it’s definitely not going to be my new go-​to sushi in HP. I got take out, so I can’t really speak to the quality of the service, but I can speak to the flavor of the food, which was… not great. I had several pieces of sushi and some small rolls, and was disappointed all around. Everything was so salty, but not flavorful. Soy sauce made the salt issue worse, but was still necessary for the flavor issue. One of my favorite parts of eating sushi is the contrast of the slightly sweet fish and rice with the sauces and added vegetables, and I just didn’t experience that at all. It was a shame, too, because this fish was gorgeous. Really beautiful, high quality fish, that just was lacking in taste.

Anticipated the opening of a new restaurant in Highland Park and went there this evening only to be disappointed. My husband was served soup and then his meal and I did not receive my meal for over 15 minutes (Not an exaggeration). The waiter barely said anything and when asked where my meal was he responded, «Sorry, we wanted to get the hot dinner to you first and the chef is working on your sushi platter.» We asked the hostess to check on the meal and she never returned to let us know why service was so slow.
If this place could not handle a Friday night with only half the tables filled, we could not imagine what the chaos will be when the outside dining is opened.
Would never return as this was the time to show new customers how they will be treated. I ate my meal after my husband was done dining and the waiter brought the check and did not say anything regarding the meal.
The manager and staff focused on a few tables and customers who walked in and acted as if we weren’t there.

Very nice new restaurant! I went there for a take out lunch. The service was friendly. The food was very yummy and satisfying. (two pieces of pork chop in Katsudon XD) Soup, veggies, and even rice was nicely made. Music and decoration was in very neat Japanese style, which I like. I recommend this place to people who like Japanese food. I didn’t try the sushi there but I’m sure I will next time.

Hmm, sad to report a disappointing first, and likely last, experience. The ambiance is rather sterile & cold. When it was not crowded we felt we had to whisper, and the staff did too? Terrible, old fashioned, overly dramatic, not at all joyful, traditional music was hard to handle. & Unfortunately, you will hear a lot of it because the service is very slow. One sushi chef on a Friday night?! The food came in waves and there were a few items missing from our order. (But not missing from the bill) At the end of the meal no traditional token of hospitality in the form of orange/​apple slices or a small sweet. Although the food was generally good and fresh, nothing to make me want to go back. No personality. I would prefer to support the other nice family owned businesses around that offer charm, hospitality and neighborhood appeal.