Me and my boyfriend went here on our one year anniversary and it was lovely. We had to wait about 15-20 minute wait that went by really fast. The atmosphere of the place was beautiful and the service was fast and friendly. We started with two classic rolls, California and Philadelphia. They were very fresh and very well made, the presentation was very pretty. We then got entrees, I got the Chicken Teriyaki and my boyfriend got the beef chefs special and both were amazing. They came with so much food and even included miso soup and a salad as well. We got drinks as well and they were very reasonably priced, at $5 for a glass of Pinot, very worth it. Overall love the decor the food and everything about this place, will definitely go back! read more

Sakanaya - California and Philadelphia Rolls - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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Delicious! We decided to go out for sushi on a Tuesday night and heard good things about Sakanaya. The restaurant is pretty small on the inside, but well-decorated and very modern looking, I felt like I was at a fancy place downtown or something! We started with miso soup and a bokbunjajoo Korean raspberry wine. The soup was simple and good, but still nice because we got it for free by checking in on Yelp! The wine was fantastic, I've never had anything like it and it had a sweet flavor to it that separated it from western wine I'm used to drinking. I absolutely had to get sushi and my roommate was pretty set on ramen, so we ordered a Sakanaya roll and the shimp tempura ramen. My roll was superb! I believe it was salmon, crab salad, avocado, scallion and fish flake. Good feedback from his ramen too, which was a huge portion! Overall I thought the food was good but perhaps a little pricey. The atmosphere was unique but a little cramped for our (really) little table of 2. Authentic food in a cool atmosphere on campus, which is kind of hard to find but it comes at a price. Strong 4/5. read more

Sakanaya - Sakanaya roll, shrimp tempura ramen and korean black raspberry wine. Everything was awesome! - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

Would say it's the best Japanese restaurant in town. Bit pricey but would say its reasonably priced compared to other Japanese restaurants I've been to. The staffs are very friendly and effective. This place is always busy which probably means its doing something right. read more

This place is a true gem! The "best sushi i've ever eaten" from my wife, and she has has Sushi all over. The wings are amazingly good, and a disappointment that they aren't always available. Go here ASAP! read more

Sakanaya - Beef Box - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

I'm always looking for new sushi places to try out and happened to stumble upon Sakanaya. The restaurant was very nice looking, having a cool, modern vibe. It was pretty busy when we arrived, and we just managed to snag the last open table. We were waited on fairly quickly and got served our food about 10-15 minutes after ordering. I thought the Willis Tower appetizer was amazing. It looked beautiful and tasted awesome. It does run a little pricey at $12, but it's a lot of food. The sashimi and yaya roll plate combo was alright. While the sashimi tasted incredibly clean, fresh, and wonderful, I was not as wowed by the yaya roll. I felt that it was rather greasy for sushi since the roll is encrusted with tempura and then fried, and the ingredients within the roll itself just didn't go very well together. Overall, I did enjoy my experience at Sakanaya. It sells really good sashimi and sushi among other things, but I would stay away from the yaya roll! read more

Sakanaya - Sashimi+yaya roll combo. Sahsimi was very fresh, yaya roll was mediocre. - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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Though it is always busy when they open, we've always used the waitlist feature to get notified of open tables. We've been going here for years since we moved to Urbana and the quality of food has not changed (only the prices!). Friendly, attentive, efficient staff! Food gets to your table fresh or hot. Every item of the menu is worth it: sushi, sashimi, entrees, noodles, appetizers. Our favorite is the agedashi tofu and shumai to start with. You cannot go wrong with I love salmon and I love sashimi (if you want low carb). Eating alone? The chef's sashimi is a good to start with, too. Winter time is for their ramen and udon dishes. They also have space for 7+ people if you call ahead, there is space next door for bigger parties. Place is cozy and comfy despite the small space. Fast service, delicious meals! We think it is still the best place in town for fantastic Japanese food. read more

I've eaten here three times for lunch; each time ordering something different. The first time was ramen, the second was a different dish (name is escaping me) and the most recent was a sushi combo for lunch. The food was absolutely delicious - the sushi tasted fresh (reminded me of sushi I ate in Hawaii). Tables around us were ordering rolls and they were creatively displayed. If i could give a half star I would rate them as 4.5; on my most recent visit the waitress did not bother to check in on us after serving our food. The service was excellent my previous visits so I wasn't sure what was going on this time. read more

Sakanaya - Lunch combo - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

WARNING THIS FISH FOOD CAN CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY. I ordered sake don, which is basically salmon sashimi over rice. As you all know, sashimi suppose not to contain any fish bone inside; you order boneless, fileted fish and you get boneless fileted fish. But this time, they decided to care less on their food, and served me sake don with fish bone. Of course chewed the fish without any suspicion and this bone literally poked through my gum. FYI, salmon bone is notorious due to its sharpness and flexibility when they are raw. If someone decided to swallow the bone without noticing it, it might poke into your throat and NEVER COME OUT without further attention from the doctor. Imagine you chew this thing without any suspicions and the bone poke your throat. Or near it, and stuck. Yes right. You will choke. This is why other sushi chefs takes EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA CARE ON FISH BONE ESPECIALLY SALMON. None of the chefs or restaurant owners want this. This should never ever happen in restataurant especially which specialize in raw fish. This incident clearly shows that how sakanaya consider their food. It's a thing that they can serve without any care to the customers. Who knows, one day they serve outdated fish as if its freash. Rather then its food quality, sakanaya was more known for their vibe and service they provide to customers. But at some point, all of those fame seems to fade away and overrated. Now they got nothing but extraordinary food that contains hazardous object included in their prideful fish dish they carelessly serve to customers. Today, the salmon was fisher than other days, which was not like this before, and contains bone which left impale inside my mouth. Maybe they decided to give out shitty food because they don't have to serve the customers face to face. read more

Sakanaya - WARNING.THIS FISH FOOD CAN CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY. This left impale inside my mouth - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

excellent service. bomb sushi.

Love the environment here and service is always very fast! I just wish they would expand their seating more.

Every time I go there's Great food and great service! The ramen is some of the best I've had in town. The vibe is intimate and classy.

We waited for an hour but it was so worth it. Fresh menu with authentic flavors. Highly recommend the takoyaki and TonKatsu Ramen.

Love the atmosphere, friendly staff and very helpful. Food was delicious and beautiful presentation. read more

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This place is amazing!!!! I wish I can take this restaurant back to Virginia.. I was lucky enough to come back on a Monday evening and had no wait. The atmosphere is very clean and minimalistic, really nice vibe. I ordered the gyudon and it came with miso and salad. I ordered a tuna roll too and almost couldn't finish both. The portions were great, the meat in the gyudon was cooked well and marinated really well. The sushi was fresh too. The service was impeccable and Danny made the experience even better than amazing, make sure we were well taken care of. If I ever come back here this place is gonna be the first one I visit!!!!! P.S. Also, the elite reviewer that posted a one star just cause he couldn't bring McDonald's into the restaurant... That's a common sense rule and doing so is pretty much a disservice to the restraurant. So selfish. read more

Sakanaya is very small on the inside, but the atmosphere was nice. However, I wish they had bigger tables instead of making two people sit at one person table because I personally want all my dishes at once but the table did not have room for the other dishes, so that was I a little disappointment. I ordered I Love Tuna and Salmon Roll. Salmon Roll was amazing and very tasteful! I Love Tuna was okay. The spicy sauce that they added took away the flavor of tuna. I will definitely go back there but I will not order I Love Tuna anymore. read more

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Best sushi in town. More of a traditional sushi restaurant, limited roll choices. But this allows for some really fresh selection. Highly recommend this for an anniversary or any special occasion. read more

After living in San Francisco (in Japantown) with many incredible sushi options, I feel I am pretty selective of sushi restaurants. I was wary of sushi in Champaign but Sakanaya exceeded my expectations in all areas! I have to highlight I had the fatty salmon nigiri this week and it was the best single piece of sushi I remember eating. The rolls are also great (we liked the White Emperor and Playgirl) and the ramen is delicious! The staff is friendly and attentive. Expect to wait to get a table. The space is small. read more

Sakanaya - Top was the 10 piece Sushi Chef's choice; middle was Emperor Roll, and bottom was The Playgirl. - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

I absolutely loved it The restaurant itself was nice, the servers were all friendly, not to even mention about the food it might seem a little pricy, but everything was worth it after all! i'll return for sure read more

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This was my go-to place in college. Amazing and tasty rolls, fresh sushi, and really great chefs and staff. I always chatted with the chefs while waiting for a table (no reservations) and when I graduated they gave me an appetizer on the house as a goodbye. I get weird looks when I say some of the best sushi I've had was in Champaign IL but it's true! read more

Best sushi I've had outside of San Francisco - only complaint is that they seem to be out of their specials quite a bit

We went there for lunch. The restaurant is located on the busiest shopping district near the University of Illinois. Parking is not easy but we managed to find a spot in a metered parking garage nearby. The place is of medium size, modern and clean. We were lucky to get a table rightaway since the place was packed with the lunch crowd that day. We ordered Willis Tower, an appetizer, and that was good. It was a tower of fish roe, seasoned raw tuna, spicy crab, rice among other things. It was generously portion and it took both of us to consume it, definitely not for a single serving in my opinion. I ordered 2 special rolls from the lunch menu: 101 and sakanaya special, and both were still good although they were a bit too sweet to my taste. The service was great as our waiter was attentive and nice. Overall this is a great sushi place read more

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This place has good sushi. They did get rid of a few rolls that were previously on their menu. However with the current economic status I totally understand. The Willis Tower is a must have here. The seating is very tight, that would probably be my only con. read more

Good food. Definitely recommend William tower. All sushi are worth to try. The service is good as well. Also, the environment is nice.

I love this place, I've come here as well as ordered out a couple times and have never been disappointed! The ambiance is great, the price is respectable, and the servers are friendly! read more

Sakanaya - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

Pretty good sushi for campus area, but if you compare with the city or suburbs it's still a little less quality... wait times were long but I think it's with the lack of competition for the seafood market. Overall this restaurant does its job but I think there's definitely room to improve. I.e. the ramen section can be simplified and reduced in price if they choose to focus more on sushi. More options in for sushi platters would be beneficial. read more

Incredible service, vibes were amazing. I've had a lot of sushi in CU and can say they have the best and most fresh fish in town!!!

The Willis tower is sooooo good. My favorite dish. I also enjoy the miso soup. Favorite place to dine and takeout from

Their sushi is the best in town but they are expensive for student pockets. I love their garlic chicken wings and spiral potato. Goes well with their great selection of Korean, Japanese drinks. But any night, there's at least 10-15 minutes of waiting time, even more so on weekends. Service is good, food is great, but a tad bit expensive. read more

The best ramen in town and it's always busy with fast service and excellent sushi and appetizers.

For my first time going here, I had a great experience. I've tried to come before, but the wait is always way too long. My recommendation would be to use the yelp app to save your place in line if you don't want to be waiting there for too long. I ordered the Windy City roll and a classic salmon roll, along with the edamame and loved it all. The staff were friendly, were quick at taking our orders and were attentive. I will be going again! read more

Sakanaya - Windy City Roll - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

Service A+++ Food A+++ Atmosphere A+++ Some of the best, most fresh Sushi, & Nigiri I have ever had. The chicken Katsu was amazing!! If you live in Champaign or are in the area, get there!! read more

We have ordered from them a couple of times now and the quality and flavour of the sushi and sashimi are quite good. We haven't had anything that we didn't like. read more

For solid Japanese food, this is your spot. They execute their meals with consistent performance which results in a good set of outcomes. Some of their options are excellent. For example, the takosu is wonderfully done. Some of the sushi items are noteworthy. It should be noted that this restaurant is owned by the same folks who operate Miga and Naya so there are some similarities in some of the flavor profiles. It would be nice of they offered more traditional Japanese foods--- a solid curry, a decent tempura meal, omuraisu, a gyudon that is not cloying sweet, a real yakitori offering where the taste of the charcoal is apparent. You're not going to find that here. Otherwise you can't really go wrong. It will do... read more

It took a while for me to actually get around to trying the sushi. I love unagi(eel), but the problem with it is that it's either absolutely delightful or slimy and tastes like lake water. The eel here was incredible. The only raw fish I had here was the tuna in the playgirl. It was amazing! The only thing that wasn't the best about this place was actually just user error. I didn't realize that both rolls I ordered had shrimp tempura until they arrived. Both rolls were still delicious, but I didn't have that balancing factor of that clean raw fish. I ended up just picking the raw tuna off the playgirl and eating that. That's why we're only at four stars. I'm planning on heading back over there to check out their other stuff read more

Sakanaya - Right is the alligator roll, left is playgirl. Both are DELICOUS - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

The food and service was great! It's got a great environment and ambiance, and the setting is really good for a date or a small get together. It is a bit pricey but the quality of the food makes it completely worth it. I personally loved the eel but everything is good! read more

The sushi here is wonderful! I love the classic roles but the signature roles are definitely something to try as well. OMG and Playgirl are some of the best, according to my waitress. The staff here is very attentive and friendly. They are happy to help and even if one of them is not your actual waiter/waitress they will still check in and make sure everything is going well. Another thing I love is that this place is open late! Late night sushi cravings are definitely a thing, so it's perfect having somewhere delicious on campus to go! read more

The service was spectacular. Our wait was estimated to be 65-85 minutes and we were seated within 10 minutes of arriving. The host sent a free welcome dish since it was our first time and we were from out of town. Seriously a dynamite experience. read more

Absolutely the best sushi in town. Get the Willis Tower. It's awesome. We can't make a trip to CU without coming here or wishing we could come here. read more

The perfect ramen or sushi experience. Sakanaya is my destination for special occasion or when I want to treat myself. I've never had sakanaya without ordering the Willis Tower. Best indulgence. read more

Fantastic food and excellent service! The online check-in system makes things easy. Ordering online while you're at your table was a little strange, at first. But it turned out to be an incredible experience read more