Sushi Taiyo

My fiance and I have been coming to Sushi Taiyo for two years now, and it's been our regular (twice a month or more) for at least a year and a half. Having visited other "trendy" sushi spots in River North/Gold Coast (Jellyfish, Union Sushi, etc.), Sushi Taiyo is vastly superior in terms of both value and ambiance.

We have tried every every specialty roll on Taiyo's menu, and we've been hard pressed to find a subpar roll. Among our favorites include the Oyshi Maki and the Yuzu Maki, which creates a great rich versus light flavor dynamic. I'd venture a guess that the perceived service issues are one-off (people are more inclined to complain about bad service than praise good service), as we've always had very attentive servers and have even gotten to know a couple (who are all very friendly) since we stop in so frequently. The atmosphere in the restaurant is suitable for anywhere from a romantic dinner for two or a bigger outing with a group of friends - we've done both and had great experiences under both circumstances. The decor would definitely fall in the realm of trendy but is not overwhelming by any means.

In terms of price, signature rolls typically run in the neighborhood of $10-$15 per roll, and a typical ticket for my fiance and me usually includes a beer, tea, the Sunomono Salad and three rolls, which usually comes out in the $60 range, so it's conceivable to dine here for around $50 for two. The quality of the sushi is, at the least, on par with the restaurants listed above, if not better, and at a fraction of the cost.

I have to give this five stars...but just barely.

I stumbled on this after not being able to squeeze into David Burke's, and was I ever happy with it, so I came back twice more with friends.

The Highs: wonderful cuts of fish, especially for a non-coastal city. Attentive service. Good sake list. Some innovative rolls, although I usually do nigiri (try the roll with Rasberries on it!).

The Lows: the servers do not know their sakes well at all. I was disappointed by this. I expect servers at sushi restaurants to be able to make sake recommendations.

I enjoyed the quiet, swank atmosphere at this place. They have the most comfortable dining chairs ever and the decor just gives off a vibe of sophistication.

I visited twice and had the rainbow maki sushi roll and alums maki rolls. The rainbow maki was not only delicious, but also very pretty :-) I have a weakness for tempura rolls containing cream cheese and avocado so I have to suggest trying that one.

Service was fair... The first time, After serving my sushi, the server disappeared for quite a while which kind of sucked because I was desperately in need of a fork :-( otherwise he was very polite and there were no other issues and I had the same server the second time as well.

All in all I had a decent experience. I would definitely recommend and hopefully visit this place again to try some of their other sushi. They offer a very appetizing menu :-)

I went here with a couple of my friends! It was 3 of us total.. We ordered a whole
Bunch of food and thought we over ordered but the portions are really small. We had three rolls, sashimi appetizer which had like 5 pieces on there, sea bass ( best dish there, it was a very small dish) , pork belly dish with rice( which was really good) the food came out rather quickly! Maybe it was 10 and they close at 11.. Haha bar is available. Place is dark and intimate. Upscale sushi place

We arrived in Chicago and were starving so we started out along Michigan to find a spot to eat and everywhere it was an hour to a 2 hour wait. Too Hungry for that. So using the trusty Yelp app we found this place and we could walk right in at 7:30 on a Friday night. Woo!

The menu was very large and the cocktails were spot on. The miso warmed us up since it was an abnormally chilly May night, but really $4 for basic miso? We split an appetizer of seared veggie gyoza and they were delicious. For rolls, we had the Zen (loved the pickled oshiko), the honey roll...and one other that I can't remember. We enjoyed all of our food. And really the price was fine considering the location, but still $4 for miso...

Service was attentive but not looming and the space was inviting and warm.

Meh. Not bad really, but I remember it to be better some time ago, before it got merged with the wok place maybe?

Anyway still very reasonable sushi, not too costly.

Service not terribly fast.

Decent spot for sushi, slightly offset from the bustle of Michigan Avenue. Both times I have been here, I have sat at the sushi bar, as it is always fascinating to watch the sushi chefs craft the rolls and see the level of detail that goes into plating the dishes (all the better to mentally file away what rolls I should order next time). Coming here around 7:30 there was no problem being seated, and the service was efficient and seamless, without any hovering (side note to sushi servers: when I have a piece of sushi poised in chopsticks, en route to my mouth, is not the time to ask me how my meal is!).

All of the ingredients are fresh and the rolls themselves are simple, yet elegant without any over-the-top selections). The only slightly jarring note was the slight whiff of a blowtorch, though I think that I would not have noticed had I not been seated directly at the sushi bar, with a ringside view of all of the action.

Decent food at a convenient location. Sushi Taiyo is only a block away from Michigan Avenue, and it is next to Trader's Joe, T-mobile and Starbucks.

For me, Sushi Taiyo is a chameleon.

Sushi Taiyo is a nice place to come and dine alone, since the waiters don't mind you working on your laptop and chilling there for hours.

It is also a great take-out place. You can get the food within ten to fifteen min.

I have also celebrated several friends' birthdays here. They all loved this place.

A great restaurant to chill!

Food: 4
Decor: 3
Service: 4

I preface this by saying that I'm not a coaster and have come to know sushi in Milwaukee.

The price is reasonable for where it's located. I had the Zen Roll (Vegetarian) and the Mexican Maki. The cut of the fish was excellent, I am new to sushi and I had no questionable moments (As I have had at other places, you know...Where all of the sudden you're like "I am eating raw fish").

They have a fun cocktail selection with some great ginger infused options like mojitos and martinis.

It's a small place, but has a sushi bar and a regular bar.

Not super fancy, perfect for a casual dinner on a budget.

I thought our food was fantastic! We came in with a big group. We called ahead and they were able to accommodate us with no problem. We were a quite busy and stressful group, but our server was fantastic. She offered her suggestions and kept calm. I had a fantastic roll, but I can't remember the name. It started with a y or an o.... I will add a pic, maybe it will help if you want to try it (I highly recommend it!!!) the ambiance was semi-casual and very pleasant to the eyes. The restrooms were clean and the food did not take Long to reach our table. The seating was really cool against the big windows. I would definitely eat here again!