This is one of my favorite restaurants in Evanston. I love their Szechwan green beans, California rolls, Vietnamese spring rolls, bbq pork chow fun, spicy basil noodles/chicken and steamed dumplings. I don't think I've ever had a bad meal here. It's great! read more

Spotted this place from the street driving past it a few times and stopped in for a quick lunch. What a cute little place! It was warm and cozy and we were greeted promptly. Our waitress was super friendly. It was lunch time so we ordered the lunch special with tea. My husband had green tea and I had chamomile tea. They have a great variety on their menu, from traditional curry, pad Thai, and other noodle dishes but they also had some sushi rolls that looked delicious. With the lunch specials for $8.95, however, it was a deal that couldn't be beat! Miso soup, salad, appetizer and entree were included. I chose the crab Rangoon and the pad see ew, my husband chose the curry and the potstickers. It was just the right amount, fresh, fast, and tasty! I would definitely come back here to try out the sushi. The prices also seemed pretty reasonable. Street paid parking is available and it's great for a date but definitely smaller groups no larger than maybe 4 people. It was pretty low key, with low lighting and I don't remember if they had any music playing, so I would say it was pretty quiet inside. Then again, it was a Tuesday afternoon. Great find! read more

Great Asian restaurant ... menu is extensive to sushi, noodles and rice dishes. Kids menu also available and we love the BYOB set up. Excellent service. read more

We have been very pleased with Bonsai Cafe. We have only carried out items from the sushi menu. The people taking the order over the phone were very knowlegeable and understood what I was saying. The sushi/sashimi portions were larger than some other popular Japanese restaurants in the area. read more

Absolutely terrible service. Took over fifteen minutes for someone to take our order. The server was actually flagged down by someone at the table next to us who noted we had been sitting unacknowledged for some time. Waited for food for nearly forty-five minutes. Never brought the water we requested - which was even more frustrating because my daughter absolutely scalded her tongue when the soup finally came forty five minutes later. We were not given utensils, once again had to get up to flag a server down after several minutes. Food very average. Then.... no surprise..... had to get up again to flag down the server for the check. Waited some more.... finally ...ten minutes later brought it to the table. 2 1/2 hours later, out the door. Frustrating because I really wanted to like this place. This was our second time there (the first was only marginally better). Definitely won't go back. . read more

Delicious. Kungpao beef with green beans was amazing. So good I ordered it tonight too. Great egg rolls. Very pleasant lady on the phone. Nice ambiance and its byob. My new favorite place. read more

I'm surprised by the negative reviews here. I ate at Bonsai with friends on Friday night; it was fairly crowded but we were still served in a timely fashion. Everything was delicious - fresh, well-prepared, and attractively served. My friends had the Szechuan green beans and said they were the best they'd ever had. My spicy peanut noodles were great, as were the individual sushi. Prices were extremely reasonable. We'll be back. read more

I just had lunch with a friend at Bonsai Cafe and could not have been more thrilled to find this tiny piece of heaven. We both had one of the lunch specials that has a little bit of everyting; miso soup, pot stickers, jasmine rice, sushi, chicken terriyaki. The food was delicious and the service was wonderful. The restaurant is cozy and pretty and makes you feel like you are some place special. I will definitely recommend to friends, family and co-workers. read more

Food is average but the service is really bad. I've tried dine in twice and carry out once. All three experiences had bad service. The most recent time we walked out because it took over 35 minutes for our food to arrive. Many more asian options on Central Street in Evanston. read more

This is Katherine's friend here to write a review about Bonsai! This was so so good! This is the reason I love sushi! And the chow pork fun is so good! overall clean, nice, fast, and goof food! read more

Please ignore the negative reviews of this place...I can't understand them. We live in the neighborhood and eat here (and do take out) frequently and it's consistently good food...both thai and sushi..and reasonably priced. Family friendly too. My daughter loves the kids boxes, and I love that they don't dumb down the food for the kids (and I mean by that, they actually offer them sushi and not pizza or mac n cheese). We hope they stay for a long time to come. read more

I cannot understand the negative reviews. We go here once every month or so and have never had anything but delicious and fresh Asian food. We think this is the best Asian restaurant in the area. Particularly good is the sesame chicken and kung pao beef with green beans. My family (kids included) LOVE this place. The service is good, it has a nice ambiance, and it's BYOB with no corking fee. And the prices are very reasonable. read more

My family went there this evening for the first time. The food was good but I think a bit overpriced for the quantity of food. They seemed to have only one server on a Sat night and she seemed overwhelmed, basically dropped the food on the table and never came back. Never asked how the meal was, if we needed anything, a water refill, etc. Doubt we'll be back. Royin down the street is tastier with much nicer staff. read more

Great sushi and Chinese dishes. Always welcoming when we eat there with great service.

Overpriced, underspiced, not so nice. The worst excuse for Thai food I have experienced to date. We ordered Pad Thai. Spicy Basil Noodles, Tom Yum soup, and sushi. Bland food, small portions, overpriced, undercooked onions. Who messes up Pad Thai, for goodness sake? Sushi was passable. Will never order from here again. read more

A good solid neighborhood place. Love that it is here, and love that it is BYOB. We do take-out and we also eat in, maybe once every month or two. Sometimes I with the selection was a bit larger, with more vegies in the dishes, but they are responsive to our requests (like, ordering rice instead of noodles with certain dishes). We haven't had anything less than delicious here. I wish they had some outside tables in the back. read more

Good neighborhood pan-Asian that offers better quality and more interesting flavors than most delivery options. Prices are somewhat higher than typical for delivery restaurants of this type, but it is worthwhile because the quality is actually better. The kung pao chicken is very good, with more flavorful chills than most other places. Szechuan green beans are also excellent and a good value. Curries are decent. They will do a variety of dishes gluten-free. read more

One of the only options available for delivery through GrubHub at the time I ordered, so I decided to give their lunch special a try. Lunch special was very small, Siam Pasta gave more in comparison. Overall, food was satisfying, but it was not filling. read more

Once you find your groove and know what to order this is easily one of the most reliable spots in the area. The people are super friendly and the food is far better than many reviewers have noted. The portions are just right ... so many places like this over feed and Bonsai gets it just right. Don't ever change, Bonsai. read more

We are sushi fanatics and we gauge a sushi restaurant by the term "sushi momentum," meaning how fast the sushi flies off the shelf or the fresh factor. The sushi at Bonsai has always been fresh & served at the right temp - not cold and certainly not warm. So the momentum is good (i.e. they don't hold product too long). But if you ever went to Matsuya on Clark, there was NO better bare bones just great sushi at great prices anywhere else in the city. The sushi at Bonsai is nice, but its 2x the price. We used to have Matsuya 1x/wk at $35 for 2. Bonsai is $60/2 for same portions. Yes you can bring wine which is FAB, but they ding you for tea (zero cost) and some faint miso soup at $3/bowl. Those were always complimentary at Matsuya. We'd eat at Bonsai more often if the prices were better, since its a short walk for us. For $60 I can get a load of sushi myself at Sea Ranch in Wilmette, a pound of sticky rice & make my own dinner for 4 (and we've done it!) All is good but the $$$. read more

Have had great luck with this place for two years, now. I am addicted to their sesame mustard and always order extra. Love! So far things have been good. read more

fantastic food with great service !!!!!!!!!!! i ll order from them again and again. :)

I live in Evanston and decided to try this local Japanese restaurant. I was so impressed with the california roll!! I have been to several japanese restaurants in the city and even to the one that was rate to have the best sushi in lincoln park, but I think the california sushi here is AMAZING!! The seaweed is not chewy at all which is the problem I have with most sushi. I think when you bite into a sushi, it shold break into pieces easily like the one at Bonsai cafe did. I ordered the chicken teriaki lunch special and it is such a great deal--it comes in a bento box, with two gyoza, pretty much a nice roll of california maki, a side order of jasmine rice, a nice size portion of teriaki chicken, and a miso soup. The food is really tasty, clean, and not greasy. I totally recommend the lunch. Also, their coconut shake with tapioca is really great too!! The tapiocas are really fresh and doesn't taste stale like Joy Yee's sometimes. read more

I really wanted to like this place since it's within walking distance of my place. My husband and I ordered the calamari, a salmon maki roll, kung pao chicken, and a curry dish for take out. The calamari was inedible. The breading wasn't even cooked all the way and the squid was so chewy that I had to spit it out. The roll and kung pao chicken was good but the curry was so hot and we couldn't even finish it. I understand that curry is hot and we like our spicy food but this was over the top. If they serve it that spicy, it should be noted in the menu. I called back to say that we couldn't even eat the calamari. A note was made in my account to credit me the next time we ordered. The next day we ordered a few more rolls. I asked about the credit and I was told that the credit was for another calamari. I didn't want to order the same crappy dish as last time! It took 5 minutes on the phone for the women taking my order to finally ask the owner if they could apply the credit. Then, when I picked up the order I gave her the coupon I received the day before for $5 off my order when I spent $25 but was told I couldn't use it since the credit from my calamari put my total bill to $24. Geez! Summary: Food, okay. Service, terrible. Go to Royin down the street instead. We won't be coming back to Bonsai. read more

We ordered delivery. Asked for extra sauce. When she reread the order back to me, she said extra sauce. When we received the food, not only was it cold, but there was not the extra sauce I asked for. I called back and when the same woman answered she asked if she could put me on hold and didn't even wait for me to respond when I heard the beep. I was on hold for over 20 minutes and I called from another phone when they answered. I asked what the wait was and they said it was busy... I told her my complaint and she said she sent the extra sauce (which she didn't). Then she said if I wanted extra sauce it would be $2.00, and I said fine, I ordered the extra sauce. Overall, she was very rude, and even when we go in to eat there, they aren't friendly and unwelcoming. I will not be going back to Bonsai Cafe or ordering delivery from them. Most restaurants acknowledge complaints from their customers. She was very stubborn. read more

i wasn't expecting much, as i love pinto thiai and didn't want to be a traitor...but this place was fantastic. we ordered the fried calamari for an appetizer w/ cilantro...everything has cilantro, which i think is the best added twist. for the main dish i ordered the steak salad, which was amazing. must go! read more