I enjoyed it so much during my husband's and my birthday recently. The chirashi was my favorite. I love everything there. The service was wonderful. This the best sushi place in Champaign!!! read more

Sakanaya is my favorite sushi restaurant on campus!! The fancy rolls and sashimi look and taste really good, so it's not surprising that the food is expensive. However, the ramen is not as good as expected. read more

Sakanaya - Salmon - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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I've had sushi all over the country and I've eaten at various places in Champaign the last 20 years. Some are very good, but I'd put Sakanaya up with some of the best. There are some extreme high end sushi places in big cities that would top them but top 5% for anywhere else I've eaten. My kids use to not like sushi until we started coming here and now they beg us to go. Love the people here too. read more

GREAT sushi and even better staff! Great date spot and awesome online check-in feature! 5/5.

Excellent sushi, favorite was the Miga, but all were very good. Miso ramen was very tasty too. Customer service was top notch.

Love the Willis Tower and Yaya roll! On the more expensive side but tastes amazing.

I love this spot! Very easy to order from and the customer service is amazing, the food is always fresh, and they don't charge when you ask for extra wasabi read more

Very nice interior. It borders on fancy but is still a Green St. Place (very casual). The waiters are also very friendly amd courteous. I had the salmon combo: sushi, nagiri, and sashimi, which was $21-22. It definitely wasn't the best sushi I have ever had and I found the variety and freshness was lacking. Overall it wasn't terrible but wasn't great. Exactly 3 stars makes perfect sense for this place. read more

Sakanaya - Pretty water carafe - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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A good Japanese restaurant within campus that definitely gets you craving for more. I ordered 3 Sushis (OMG, Gold Rush and I forgot the last) for 2 people and it was definitely enough to make us full. It is a bit on the pricey side, especially for this area but worth checking out if you're craving japanese food! read more

Wow! We were blown away at the freshness and flavors at Sakanaya. Super clean and the staff of great. We will definitely be returning!

I'm a HUGE fan of sushi and I got the opportunity to try Sakanaya for the first time yesterday for lunch. Everything I had was very flavorful and well presented. The spicy tuna roll was unlikely other sushi restaurants around. They actually use whole slices of tuna, toss it in the spicy sauce and roll it as opposed to other locations. The decor was great and very upscale. I would definitely recommend the "It's Seoul good" roll. I will definitely be back, probably tomorrow! read more

Sakanaya - It's Seoul good roll...Definitely a must have! - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

Most overrated restaurant in Champaign. Their sushi is at best a 6/10 if you ever eaten sushi in a coastal state. Their prices are stupidly expensive and beyond overpriced. This is the type of place you go to show someone you have a lot of money but you can't pronounce Unagi. read more

I love this place! Best ramen in the city! The restaurant is kind of small but it's well worth the wait. Customer service is very polite and the ambiance is modern and comfortable. read more

The best sushi in town and great staff. The wait time can be a little intense, but well worth it!

Sooo good. Tried about 80% of the signature rolls on the menu and have loved them all. Their late night chicken wings are so well cooked and seasoned, they're definitely worth the wait! Lunch specials are a good deal and come with so much food you might have to take some home. I have nothing bad to say about this place. If you haven't tried it already then you definitely need to go! read more

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Amazing sushi! Best in town, no doubt. The crunch munch is my favorite. Great service and atmosphere. Gets extremely busy on weekends so you might have to wait a bit to be seated, but well worth the wait. read more

Great, fresh, delicious sushi. It tasted almost as good as the sushi I had in Seattle. The servers were really busy but overall did a good job. They had to move our table for a bigger party, and gave us complimentary dumplings in return. I recommend the Crunch Munch rolls! Also, their soy sauce comes in an eye dropper. read more

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Amazing sushi! Service was superb! Loved the Playboy roll! We recently moved from Arizona and went to Sakanaya for the first time and we enjoyed it! The sushi was a great temperature and tasted fresh! Loved it and we'll be back! read more

The sushi at Sakanaya is fine; landlocked Illinois can really provide bland, mediocre sushi so for the situation, you're generally getting a good deal for what you pay for, considering our location. However, I had to knock off two stars for the miso ramen. There's no way around this, but the noodles themselves tasted just like what you'd eat from an instant ramen pack, and because the bowl is relatively light on the vegetables, I felt like I paid $13 for a "gourmet instant ramen" meal I could make at home. While miso ramen is traditionally made with the thicker, wavy noodles, Sakanaya's may have benefited from the thinner, straight noodles to avoid the instant ramen taste. Perhaps this is a preference, and for us Americans used to instant ramen will love this done-up version, but for the price, I would hope that Sakanaya could source a better quality noodle. The taste of the miso broth was okay though. If I return, it won't be for the ramen! Stick with the sushi. read more

Great atmosphere. Right on university campus but without too many students. The Sushi, Rolls and Ramen are great. I drank Korean rice wine and sparkling peach sake, both were delicious. The restaurant has a Korean twist on Japanese udon, making it spicy. Personally not a favorite. But I will go again for sushi, ramen and drinks. read more

Love their lunch specials and their special sushi is excellent. Great poke bowls too.

This place is a hot commodity in the Champaign-urbana area. It's probably one of the better sushi and ramen spots on campus. Ozu ramen has better ramen, but sakura has good sushi. I like getting the Willis tower with my friends because it's fun to smash it down and it's super delicious and unique. read more

Traveling from out of town, to the area for the first time. Had a hankering for sushi and saw the reviews and while not thinking sushi in Illinois.... figured why not. It was good but literally almost double what it should cost and this coming from a big City person used to outlandish pricing. Way overpriced for the quantity and quality. Sorry.... read more

We thought the food was wonderful. Hot, spicy flavorful Ramen. HOWEVER, the egg wa totally overcooked which seemed like such a shame. The water jars with the definition of water on the side of the bottle gave us a little chuckle so I will still give this place four stars, mainly because the food was basically amazing. The egg though. Shameful. read more

I was waiting for a ramen shop to open up my entire time in undergrad at U of I, so when I came back to visit and heard that one finally opened up (my friends tell me the one across the street doesn't count), I had to check it out. Came here for lunch with 3 friends on Saturday. Even though it was mom's weekend, the restaurant was only about half full. I ordered the tonkotsu ramen. My expectations were definitely low, but I was pleasantly surprised. The broth was flavorful and the ingredients seemed fresh. It wasn't perfect, although admittedly this is just nitpicking. The noodles were slightly overcooked so they didn't have the springy texture that ramen noodles should, and there were some noodles that were clumped together from overcooking. The meat wasn't as tender as it should be, although it was not tough by any means. The most disappointing thing was that the egg was a simple hard boiled egg rather than the soy sauce eggs you typically find in ramen. read more

Excellent! It's rare to find good sushi away from the ocean, but they've done it. Long wait but worth it. read more

This is my favorite resturant in town by far. The sushi is amazing. Their ramen and sushi is excellent. Their Willis Tower is definitely recommended. The wait time is definitely a downside but I tend to look over that. If you are looking for quality sushi at a fair price, I would say this is where you need to be. read more

Great environment, professional and accommodating servers, and amazing food. The ramen and the rolls are top notch for Champaign. Been numerous times, and will keep coming back. read more

Quality is great in Champaign-Urbana, and I really appreciate the quick service too. Always have to start with the Willis Tower before you get anything else!! I'd recommend the Sakanaya roll and the Playgirl roll! read more

The best sushi I've ever had! It's pricey, but if you're willing to spend I highly recommend this place. The Willis tower and sakanaya roll are exquisite delicacies, and the service is great as well. read more

Love this place! Great sushi and service. The space is a little small and tight but not awful once seated. The wait here is always long but if you reserve spot in line before coming it is manageable. Recommend the playgirl roll. read more

This place I don't know what to say in words. This was just amazing. The Cali Crunch was the best roll I have ever tasted in a while. The service here was also very great. The ramen was also very good. It filled me up. Usually Japanese places don't fill me up but this took the cake. This filled me up to the brim. Overall this was really good I recommend this 100%. read more

The best sushi and ramen place on Green Street. Great atmosphere, vibe, accents, and top-notch service. Lovely place to take a date!

Great service and food! I wish the place was a bit bigger. Overall good experience. Would definitely recommend.

Solid Food but just have to wait for a long time when there's people before you. The Alligator is epic! read more

Sakanaya - The alligator is epic! Nice waitress they must have selected their employee based on somewhat a good-looking scale lol - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

For the quality of food & the quality of service, I'm giving two stars! The wait time for this restaurant is ridiculous, but I understand that they have limited seating. Our walk-in wait was about 45 minutes long for three people. After getting seated we felt rushed to eat by serving staff, however the food arrived very quickly after being ordered! Now to the sushi, the sushi rice was way too hard & my california roll had some mayo mixed in with the crab, & nowhere on the menu did it say the crab was prepared that way. If you have an allergy to eggs, this would have been nice to know. Anyway, the prices were good but I guess my expectations were a little too high, based of others' reviews. read more

Ramen is horrible. I tried Tonkatsu Ramen- a soup is not a real Tonkatsu taste, and noodles got bloated. If you're finding a Japanese ramen, DON'T TRY RAMEN AT HERE. Just try a cup noodle. read more

We ordered carry out after w long day of doing work, and it took exceptionally long for our food to be ready. People came after us and had their food ready before. Only after I went in and said something, they came out with our food. Although the slow service was annoying, the food was really delicious and hit the spot. I was satisfied with my chicken teriyaki and my girlfriend thoroughly enjoyed her katsu don. I will definitely go here again and try the other things on the menu read more

Great food and ambiance. A bit pricey if you want sushi; it'll be about $20+ for a good meal. Ramen is priced better, around $13. My main gripe is that it gets super crowded during evenings, and they don't take reservations over phone.. and when you walk in to make make a reservation, if you're not there when you receive their text they will give the seats to people behind you in line (happened to me, and it pisses me off). Good food, though. read more

Sakanaya - Ramen for lunch! - Japanese Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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Food is superb! Everything I had was perfect. Only the donkatsu was a little tough in my opinoin. Other than that the rolls, sashimi, ramen were all so good. Hwe dup bab (Korean sashimi rice bowl) is even better than the bowl i had in Korea. However the portion is too small, and the price is too expensive. Need to order like 4 dishes to be full for two people, which will cost something like $80. Or just have two dishes and leave not feeling full. read more