Great little restaurant. We were warmly greeted as we entered as were asked to grab a seat of our choosing. We sat down and were promptly offered water and they asked to collect our drink order. After looking through the menu we opted for Beef Udon and Bulgogi. We also elected for a couple rolls. It was all excellent. And a place I would definitely return to. The service was very polite and it was a very relaxed atmosphere. read more

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Delicious sushi, jazzy music, attentive service, calm and lovely atmosphere. We were just driving through going from Indiana to Kansas, but in the event we take a similar trip again, I'm making a note to remember this place. :) read more

Sakura Japanese Restaurant - Interior bar area - Japanese Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

As a vegetarian, I can't say much about the sushi itself but damn if the tofu dishes aren't the best I've ever had I could live off of the spicy tofu steak forever and die happy. Also the ambiance is excellent. Love the warm lighting and charming decor. Thanks Sakura for a lovely dinner! read more

While the service was good, this place is a miss. The quality of the food is very low. The "California rolls" are stuffed with a seafood salad. There was no cream cheese in sight, no cucumber. The hot green tea was some form of cheap off brand Lipton bagged tea. Not at all a good cup of jasmine. The fish definitely seems like it might have been left out. The boat (which is a bit unnecessary given how little we ate) was packed full of room temperature "sushi". They served egg sushi on a plate with 4 different types as if they needed to cut cost any further! read more

Sakura Japanese Restaurant - Strange plating choice. The egg sushi, imitation crab and California roll were very low quality. - Japanese Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

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I like this restaurant. The staff is always pleasant, friendly and professional. The lighting on s soft and dim, making this restaurant nice and cozy. Good for date night read more

Sakura Japanese Restaurant - My teen loved the special touch added to the plate. #CrunchMunch - Japanese Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

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Worst sushi I've had in decades. One roll was dry and the other was pure mush. Neither one had much flavor other than fishy. The miso soup was good, but small portion for the price. The decor and music was nice. read more

It's crap. The service is extremely slow and the food is all premade. They don't allow for any modifications. Even for something as basic as a spicy salmon or tuna roll, they couldn't prepare either without scallions as I had requested. Never stopped by to see if I needed a refill on my glass of wine. This is my fifth time coming here and being disappointed so at this point I'm the idiot for expecting anything different. read more

A newly opened restaurant in downtown Urbana. Super close to campus so it's convenient to have some food there. I ordered a Teriyaki Salmon combo with side salad; another choice of side is miso soup. The service was quick and the food was delicious. The salmon was tender. The side salad tasted fresh. However I think it would be better if they could give me more rice; also the tea was too hot lol. Everything else was good, including the decor. Considering this restaurant was open for only less than a year there is still lots of possibilities. Will try more foods later. read more

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My friends and I went to grab food and I forgot to grab pictures so I apologize in advance! Appetizers: Sushi sampler: it was okay. I wasn't too impressed. I was more thrown off because it was nigiri, not sushi. And when I brought this up the waiter assured me it was sushi. So just keep that in mind. Gyoza: this was pretty tasty! Gyuniku: the beef was seasoned and sauced well. Had a great texture to it too. Probs are favorite. Dinner: We wanted ramen, but they didn't have any which definitely was unfortunate. Ended up getting unajyu. Again, this was fine. There was not much eel given at all. Was disappointed in the lack of meat for sure. Overall the meal was fine. I personally won't be rushing back. read more

This buffet has so many good food options. The help is always pleasant and the food is always fresh and hot.

Fantastic. Our dinner at Sakura this past Saturday night was our first Japanese cuisine experience since moving to the area about 3 years ago. We had heard great things from my sister-in-law and her little ones who eat their sushi rolls on a regular basis. We dined inside and were impressed with the classy decor. Their bar is a sight to behold. Service was very kind, attentive, and helpful. Portion sizes were impressive and leftovers were brought home. As for what we ordered, appetizers included both their Karaage and Veg Croquettes that were absolutely incredible. The Karaage was probably the best chicken tenders dish I have eaten in years. For entrees, my wife had their teriyaki scallops and I their Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen. Presentations of each were aesthetically pleasing; my Ramen bowl had a smiley face. My wife did notice a grittiness to the scallops, but otherwise enjoyed her meal, and I was on cloud nine diving into my bowl, which was extremely tasty and seemed on par with the best Ramen to be had in Boston, MA. Considering this is Urbana, IL, Sakura is especially outstanding. read more

I was very pleasantly surprised at how amazing their food was! We ordered the katsu bento, mackerel, the special salmon roll and spicy tuna roll. We also had miso soup that came with the mackerel. The soup was fresh and not too salty. Everything in the bento was perfection and the sushi rolls was super flavorful! This is my new favorite place for Japanese/Sushi! My husband and I were also impressed at how their plates and bowls were super high quality made of heavy ceramic (I think) and not those cheap plastic ones lol. Definitely will be going back to try their other dishes. Highly recommend! read more

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Okay so we were planning to visit Oozu Ramen our usual spot for ramen in Champana. However based on our friend's recommendation and overall good ratings in yelp and Google, we decided to visit Sakura. We ordered Shrimp Tempura roll, Spicy Tonaktsu Ramen and Pork Katsu bento. Shrimp Tempura roll Shrimp tempura in the Pork Katsu bento was good, so I am assuming it would have been better as an appetizer over the roll. The roll reminded you of the supermarket rolls and was too chewy. 3/5 Pork Katsu bento. Pork was too dry for the bento box. The tempura sides were a let down especially the veggies. Sweet potato and probably a cucumber were disappointing. The batter on the tempura was good though. My wife liked the powedered seasoning on the rice. Portion size was a bit small for one person. 2.5/5 Spicy Tonaktsu Ramen Ramen was over cooked and was too chewy. Broth was good but the toppings could be better. The pork slices were good and had a nice bite to it. 3.5/5 Even though the plating and service was good, we were a bit disappointed overall. For Ramen, I would suggest checking out Oozu Ramen and for Sushi, there are other spots like Sakanaya. read more

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Good service, the food was eh though. Takoyaki was decent with quite the distinct ginger taste. Got a gyudon; portions could be bigger. Overall not a bad experience but also would not be eager to come back. read more

Sakura Japanese Restaurant - gyudon - Japanese Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

yummy! i really liked the crunch munch and the california roll. our server was very kind

Update... this place got so much worse! The bulgogi is literally a bowl of white rice and just a few pieces of meat.. it was also very dry and wasn't as good. I was the first review of this place when it opened and loved it but now it went downhill. So sad to see how it's gotten. read more

Sakura Japanese Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

After moving here from Southern California, I have been disappointed by the lack of good Japanese good. You can find all kinds of great Chinese, Korean, Thai restaurants in Champaign but I could never find a Japanese restaurant I really liked. Well finally I found one! Sakura Japanese Restaurant has a great ambiance inside and is a comfortable place to enjoy lunch or dinner. They have a large variety of sushi options that look excellent but as I did not have any I won't be mentioning it further. The Gyoza was perfect, a great texture and the filling was nice and savory to go with the dipping sauce. The yakisoba was also perfect, vegetables were crisp, chicken had a great flavor and the noodles were just right. All in all I highly recommend making the trip in to eat here, you won't regret it! read more

Sakura Japanese Restaurant - Yakisoba - Japanese Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

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Unfortunately, Urbana-Champaign lacks a good sushi place. Sakura rolls are ok, but nothing special. The food is 3 stars and I have ordered takeaway multiple times from them. However, after dining in, the whole experience is 2 stars: the decor is cheap and I was seated in a table that I could see through the next room's bike storage! What?!? read more

This was the second time we've gone here. The first time was deep during pandemic and we ordered to go. This time we decided to eat in. The inside decor was pleasant and nice. The wait staff was attentive but the food was what really stood out. We ordered chicken karaage appetizers and I had the tonkatsu ramen and cherry blossom roll. The presentation was fire! My roll was actually in the shape of a cherry blossom flower. All the other rolls we ordered were also well laid out. Of course this doesn't matter if the food isn't good. The karaage was wonderful. Light slightly crisp batter with juicy tender chicken inside. The sushi was equally great. If there's one slight disappointment it was the ramen. Don't get me wrong. It was still very good but did not have as much of a pork flavor as I expected and the egg needs some work as a true ramen egg. However overall the dine in experience was much better than I anticipated. The best part is now I have another option for sushi in central Illinois. read more

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We have been to Sakura multiple times, and always happy with food. Usually we get many rolls to eat family style since we have between 4-10 people. Sushi and sashimi are fresh. Very good prices. Today is was just two people and tried the tonkatus ramen and bulgogi bento. Both were quite tasty and filling. read more

Sakura Japanese Restaurant - Tonkotsu Ramen, Bulgogi Bento, Sashimi Sample (empty after eating the 3 pieces: tuna, salmon, yellowtail) - Japanese Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

Delicious! The sushi was great, the dressing on the salad was delicious and we loved the shumai. The service was also lightning fast. Only thing I could say is the scallops were over cooked but it's still absolutely worth going back for the other dishes, the atmosphere and the service! read more

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I don't get to have Japanese food very often so this was a real treat. My entree, a Bulgogi Bento box was amazing (and huge). We also ordered some sushi which was equally delicious. We will be back!! read more

Sakura Japanese Restaurant - Sushi - Japanese Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

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Possibly the best sushi bar in CU. They have a handful of good vegetarian rolls, and a large variety of traditional sushi. Their outdoor seating is always nice when the weather is good. This is definitely one of the best places in downtown Urbana. read more

Ambiance and service are 10/10 at Sakura. Excellent experience. However, we have been on the search to find the best sushi in town, and sadly this wasn't it. It was ok. We had a party of six and ordered a couple of bento boxes and several rolls. I have to be honest, I am not sure what oil they use for their cooked foods, but it is not the highest quality. Everything tasted off, like old oil, and once you tasted it, it made everything else taste "off". Sushi was ok, nothing stellar. Maybe it was a bad night. Would I go again? Probably not. At this price point, there are better places in town, and being such a small community, I don't mind driving in another direction. This might be someone else's jam, but for us, it wasn't the win we wanted it to be. read more

Bento was fantastic. Wife had sushi and enjoyed it as well. Would definitely come back again.

Great sushi spot. Very clean spot and tasty sushi and bento boxes. Highly recommend to anyone

This was our second time eating at Sakura. The first time was acceptable, so we decided to give it a second try. Tonight was really disappointing. We ordered an $8 tofu appetizer, a $55 sashimi combo, and a $12 sushi roll, and left hungry. My husband had to prepare a second dinner for himself after we got home. The quality of the food was fine, but for $95 (with tip and tax), we want to be FULL! Also, the servers did not offer to refill our water, and did not give us plates to eat our appetizer, so we ate over our place mats. We won't return. read more

Love their gyoza appetizer. Had sushi there last week-- very good-- and just tried their teriyaki salmon--two nice size pieces and excellent flavor, with mixed veggies (a bit heavy on the green pepper strips) and a a oops of white rice. Very good food and nice ambience. read more

Went for lunch and was pleasantly impressed with the service and the quality of food. Enjoyed the Salmon Bento Box meal. A generous portion of all things that make up a good lunch box. Would highly recommend. read more

We were visiting this weekend from Florida for my daughter's graduation from UIUC. She loves sushi and heard this was a nice new restaurant. We had no wait at all on Friday night and the service was great. I thought the food was amazing. I had Teriyaki Chicken with delicious vegetables and salad with the most amazing dressing I have ever had. My daughter was very happy with the sushi and my other daughter loved the Ramen dish she had. I would make Sakura a must stop when I come to town again. read more

the presenration was decent and the staff was friendly but unattentive to refill our drinks even once.. the food was edible and everything tasted the same no different flavor notes. read more