This place is amazing! Very small inside but they fit so many tables and seats in the space! We sat at the sushi bar and watched Mitch the owner make all of the dishes! I ordered the Alaskan and the Super White Tuna Crunch (that may or not be the correct name)! They were both great and so full of fresh fish! My friend got the So Fresh So Clean and Nigahana rolls and loved them! They were also stuffed with so much fish! They had tons of rolls to choose from! We did have little bit of a wait but it was worth it! They called when the table was ready! The restaurant is also BYOB but no hard liquor! read more

My favorite sushi in chicago. The workers are soooo friendly and nice! The sushi is high quality and good portions. My favorite is the California crunch (no seafood) which has a delicious sauce that goes on top. All of my friends love this place too! Highly recommend for a great sushi spot. read more

I have found my sushi home! (Please don't overcrowd this amazing place!) That being said if you like quality sushi with great service and amazing chefs...go here. They're a small BYOB (no hard liquor) place and do to go orders. Definitely a busy place. That said they don't wear incomplete parties but the staff don't cut the quality service as a trade off (they're super knowledgable and personable). Had an agedashi tofu, they hit the broth just right (I've seen places that add sugar...). Crazy horse roll, which was a server recommendation blast of flavor and fish (the cilantro was a nice touch). Salmon, Boston, and A SPICY TUNA. As you can see very traditional roll choices that highlight their quality...but I need to rave that they make real spicy tuna that isn't detracted in flavor with mayo, their sesame chili oil base won my heart as it reminds me of my home sushi place in Orlando (see Orlando--Sushi Tomi). Honestly this place isn't over hyped--it's represented with the quality they put in that so many people see. I cannot wait to come back!!!! read more

Toro Sushi - Crazy horse (left) Spicy tuna (upper) Boston (middle) Salmon (right) - Sushi Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Service 5+ stars Sushi 3.5 stars I have an addictive personality. Fortunately, all of my addictions (sushi, Jamba Juice, etc.) are pretty harmless, unless you count the effect they have on my wallet. So tonight, after a hard day of hitting the books my sushi jones was going into overdrive; enter Toro... I called in my order from the bus, but I was told it wouldn't be ready for over 45 minutes. Since I'd planned on picking it up on my way home this threw a wrench into my plan, so sadly I decided to cancel my order. The woman on the phone was fantastic and told me they'd get it out ASAP, not to worry. Sure enough, when I got there 15 minutes later it was ready and waiting. My sushi was good, but not the greatest I've ever had. I got 3 rolls: spicy tuna, spicy salmon and negi hamachi. The fish was fresh and they didn't skimp on it. The negi hamachi was light on the scallions and the spicy tuna was almost too spicy for me; I had to take a break and come back to it because my mouth was burning. Bottom line: The food was solid and the service I got stellar. I will probably back when I'm in the neighborhood. TIP: If you plan on dining in it's BYOB, but be forewarned that this place is TINY! read more

Ok I have to be a little bit of a snotty spoiled Californian... ready? Here we go: this place is good, for Chicago. I haven't had the most luck in terms of sushi here so far, but this place was decent. Yes there is a looong wait and the location is small, but coming from San Francisco I expect that. The wait for 4 was an hour and 20 mins. What's good: My fave was the Super White Crunch Roll My friend loved the Tipsy Trixie roll, I thought it was good too. Decent: Kamikaze roll Oh My God Roll Spicy Tako roll (you better like octopus) I wouldn't rush back to this place, but I wouldn't mind going if someone was dying to try. read more

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Really wanted to get my fill of Chicago restaurants on my short 4 day visit, so I stopped in here for an in between meal snack They are BYOB, so of course I brought in my 24oz. of beer. Food: Uni nigiri - my first time trying and I am not a huge fan, sadly. Chock that up to my taste buds, not the restaurants fault. Spicy tuna hand roll - 5 stars. The tuna was so good and left in good size chunks as opposed to the tuna paste you sometimes get with other places in spicy tuna. Tempura handroll - 5 stars. I've been craving more of these since I had it. Fried and fresh at the same time, I really enjoyed this. Service was quick and the location was perfect to have lunch. read more

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Would give zero stars if I could! This place is ridiculously overrated. I came at 5:05 to insure I'd get a table, and was one of the first tables here. Fast forward to almost 50 mins later, I've had excuse after excuse why my simple order hadn't arrived (2 hand rolls, 2 pcs nigiri, and one small roll)... even after I asked the server to please stop making excuses, and just bring my food when it was ready. She ignored me, and just repeated, at length, the same excuse, 3 or 4 times: somehow a hand roll can only be rolled by the main chef, but 4 people work on the rolls, which was, of course, not mentioned when I made my order. Though I didn't say so, that doesn't even make sense: then have these four guys do the myriad rolls being delivered, and have the main chef do only the things only he can! After all this, I was treated as if I was the problem for not being satisfied with the situation and the excuses. Lack of listening & customer service were the issue, but she was completely oblivious. Meanwhile everyone around me is happily eating. When my order finally came 5 minutes later, it wasn't even correct: I ordered mackerel nigiri and they gave me salmon. I was done... I just asked them to bring the mackerel I ordered, a box, and the check. They couldn't even do that right... bringing a box that would hold barely one hand roll. When I protested, they took my food, packed it up, but didn't correct the incorrect nigiri. Now I had no nigiri in my box, had to reorder it and pay for it separately, adding further to my negative experience. I waited tables for years, and would never treat anyone the way I was treated! I guess they don't care, because this place is packed, but it would have been nice for someone, anyone, a manager perhaps(?) to try to make my experience better. Guess that's just not in Toro's DNA. Went home and am glad I have my own chopsticks, because there were none in the bag. See my pics of the broken looking mackerel and falling apart negi maki... nothing tasted fresh, it even smelled fishy, and I live right around the corner. I will never never eat here again! SIDE NOTE: After I left I couldn't shake the thought that the Escolar they were touting as "Super White Tuna" on the menu was something I'd heard about on the news... a quick Google search confirms it: several sushi places have been outed in Minneapolis for passing Escolar off as Super White Tuna, however it is not, and those in the know call it the "ex-lax" fish... Even the non-GMO regulating FDA warns about eating Escolar, as it contains a non-digestible compound that can cause "nausea, diarrhea, and cramping..." Thanks but no thanks! read more

Toro Sushi - Broken up mackerel - Sushi Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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On the cheaper side. Good service. Nice atmosphere. Nice for a quick bite during the week, good sushi!

I guess you have to judge your food by appropriate location and categories. For Chicago, I think this place is not bad but a little over hyped so a little over priced. I think we ended up eating $70 here for both the bf and I and the food wasn't amazing enough to warrant $70. Interestingly, the head chef is from Sunnyvale, CA! A stone's throw from where I live. He came to Chicago because of his wife's family and decided to stick around to start this restaurant. He was really friendly which made the whole experience great. We sat at the sushi bar and the chef continued to feed us things he thought would interest our palette and even showed us the catalog of $5000 knives that sushi chefs do buy. The service was prompt but a bit messy, they brought out some things immediately and other things not when it didn't make much sense (i.e. raw versus cooked..) and generally speaking the food was good but not great. And compared to some of the sushi places here on the West Coast definitely falls in the 3 star or so category. But the whole place is fun, the atmosphere is good and its BYOB so you can't complain. Great choice for casual sushi in the Chicago area. read more

Amazing date night! Fresh sushi and service is prompt and the food is superb. Also it's BYOB!

This place is amazing!! I've been to a lot of sushi places in Chicago and Toro's quality is comparable to those charging double. Recommend trying the eel! read more

Yeah...I'm a fan. I was hesitant at first; 4 & 1/2 stars on 500+ reviews? I was trying to figure out what people were smoking that got Toro to such baller status, because I've walked by it many times while in the neighborhood and wasn't impressed. But I guess I shouldn't judge a book by it's movie. As many have said already, Toro is a small place; it can seat approximately 20-25 people max. With that said, prepare to wait. But the nice thing is that they take down your name and number to call you when your table is almost ready. That gives you time to have dessert first [a la Molly's], because if you're like me, you eat too much during dinner and skip out on dessert. My party of four waited about thirty minutes [we were quoted an hour] on a Wednesday night at about 7:30 PM. Not too bad considering we were prepared to wait a while. We ordered a good amount for four; five rolls, one hand roll, and a dinner entree. Based on a very scientific experiment, the ranking of rolls from best to not-so-best is as followed: OMG: The name says it all. There's actually so much going on with this roll, but somehow everything comes together like symphony. Kamikaze: The sauce is boss, though I wasn't sure about sunflower seeds and sushi...but it added a new texture to what would have been a regular roll. Volcano: It came out with sparklers. SPARKLERS. And it's deep fried. I think that says it all =) Three Musketeer: Three types of fish...and they were very fresh. Trixie: I think there was a little too much going on. If there was one or two fewer ingredients, it would've been great. The chicken teriyaki was aight. Nothing to order more than once. The California hand roll was consumed by one person in our party, and it wasn't me. So I can't give any suggestions about it. I'm going to guess that it was good because it disappeared in but a few minutes. Service was on point; can't really complain. They didn't complain when we paid with four different credit cards. Cost for the four of us was about $85, not bad considering the quality and quantity of food (we were all full). You can't beat $20-$25/person for quality sushi. You just can't. Had the wait been less and the hot entrees been on the same level as the rolls, Toro would've easily gotten to that five-star status. But that doesn't mean I'm not returning. Oh, I will return...and you shall too. read more

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Toro sushi is a neighborhood (and beyond!) favorite for its intersection of tasty sushi at an affordable price point. I have been there a handful of times now, and I've never seen the place NOT completely packed. My friends and I love this establishment as it's BYOB (beer and wine only!) and there is an alcohol shop situated right across the street. Honestly, you can't go wrong picking anything from the specialty rolls, and my favorite include the Volcano and the Red Dragon. For a table of four, 3-4 of the rolls along with a soup or two should suffice, and will set you back $15-$20. The restaurant is very cozy, and I don't think they take reservations. They have about a dozen or so tables, squeezed together, with seating at the bar. The staff is impeccable, and I've never had to wait for my check, or for my water to be refilled. The staff isn't big on pleasantries, but that's understandable when you're trying to work a restaurant this crowded and ensuring that tables are turned over quickly. Swing by, get a bottle of wine, and see what all the buzz is about! read more

The Best. Expect to wait at any time or any day of the week, but put your number down, they'll call you, and peruse Lincoln Park. Hop over to Trader Joe's and grab some wine, beer, or sake and walk back. Belly up and fist bump Mitch (the one in the bandana). Order some miso, edamame, pop open the booze. Discuss options with who you're dining with and choose a few rolls to share. Try "O", Spicy Tako, Kamikaze, Tipsy Trixie... I haven't had anything that is not phenomenal here. Everything is fresh, everyone's nice, and there's a reason why this place is full when there's 5-10 other sushi spots in walking distance! BYOB, fresh fish, cheap prices, great atmosphere...doesn't get better than this. Come often enough and earn your chopsticks! read more

Toro Sushi - spicy tako - Sushi Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

With plenty of stellar eateries in Chicago's rustic Lincoln Park area this hidden gem is easy to miss to the untrained eye. But once inside, senses are overwhelmed with a sense of comfort and welcoming. I entered on a snowy day and was greeted warmly by the waitress and exuberantly by Mitch himself. I sat at the bar and enjoyed soft shell crab which was fresh and moist inside yet perfectly tempura outside. And the sushi...OMG. Beautiful, creative, and amazingly tasty. Mitch took the time to personally make sure me and my girlfirend picked rolls perfectly suited to us! This place needs a neon lit sign! I am a tourist but I will definitely be back and I thank Mitch for such an amazing dining experience. P.S. Please bring this to ATL! Sincerely, A happy black sushi enthusiast read more

Toro Sushi - Chef Mitch! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Arrived around 6pm and was able to get a table set up for our 6 person group. ( I was surprised because it's a pretty small place) However there was only two of us there at the time and they wouldn't seat us until we had the full group. This is understandable but there is not any room for people to wait for the remaining people in their party. We ended up clogging up the entrance having to awkwardly shuffle around as new people would come in and also be waiting for the rest of their parties. It seems to me like it may have been to their benefit to seat us when we had at least 2/3 of our party there. Eventually we all got there and then we're seated right away. It is byob so the opened our 3 bottles of wine right away and brought us glasses. I started off with a sunomono salad (cucumbers and Kani in ponzu sauce). Although this good I wouldn't get it again. A lot of cucumber and only two strips of kani. I then had the Alaskan roll and the yum yum yummy roll. Both were really delicious. Fish tasted very fresh and salmon pieces were pretty big. Other well liked rolls at the table were the Arizona and coco read more

Toro Sushi - Alaskan roll and yum yum yummy - Sushi Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Everything people's reviews say is true: 1. Mitch is awesome and unbelievably nice. He fist bumps guys bc he doesn't want to touch people's hands after he's touched all the fish. He "tickles the rock" for girls bc he doesn't believe it's right to hit a girl in any way. (Melt.) 2. This place is SMALL. Come early during the week and be seated, but be prepared for a very long wait on the weekends! My suggestions for rolls, in order of preference: Super White Crunchy (probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite roll out of any sushi place in the city) Crazy Horse Sunny Volcano Southern Galz (wasn't a huge fan of this one, but I'm not a big spicy food eater) I will update with my other favorites as I frequent Toro more often! Best sushi in Chicago, hands down. read more

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Toro is my favorite dinner spot whether it be with friends or the bf. This place never fails to provide a great meal and Mitch always treats everyone so well. As for the wait....think of this place as the Hot Doug's or Kumas of sushi. Except, they actually take your number and call you when your table is ready! They have a new liquor policy that limits the tables to a bottle of wine or 6-pack per 2 people which should help lessen the wait. It's a mom and pop business trying to do their thing, so please understand. One time there was a couple who sat at their table an hour after they had paid out. They're lucky I was already in the restaurant eating and not on the wait list. Their salmon sashimi or nigiri is to die for! It's like butter in your mouth. I would recommend sitting at the bar because it's first come first serve. I normally prefer tables and it took me about 5 visits until a friend convinced me to try it out. It's whole new experience because Mitch really takes the time to chat with his patrons despite the chaos of trying to whip out a gazillion rolls. He'll usually throw in some free pieces of fish too! read more

I was really hungry and ordered from this restaurant for delivery. Attached is the picture for 80 dollars worth of food. The quantity is laughable. Everything is also stale. If I can give it -5 stars, I would. read more

Toro Sushi - Apparently 80 bucks worth of food. Laughable - Sushi Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Sorry Chicago, I'm going to be a brat. When you are from San Francisco...you take a lot of things for granted. Running along the Embarcadero in February. Amazing coffee roasters. Hot new restuarants. Dolores Park! And of course....fresh sushi. My husband and I went to Chicago a few weeks ago and when we asked for a good place to grab some eats, my friend recommended Toro Sushi. A hidden gem in Lincoln Park, she said that although there was no sign above the door this place often had 45 min waits for it's delicious sushi. Sounded like a Mission hot spot to us, so we were excited to go. We ended up not waiting for a table at all (awesome; the foursome next to us had to wait the requisite 45 mins and were none too happy) and were seated promptyle with waters. Since we were still recovering from the prior evening we did not bring any alcohol (BYOB, awesome) and instead had the iced green tea (delish). We ordered edamame (can't screw that up) and then the sushi..... It was good. Solid. But not "amazing" like we had heard. And it's not Toro Sushi's fault. We're just spoiled Californians. read more

Toro Sushi - melnunez photo - Sushi Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I was so excited to check out Toro last night since I'm a sushi fanatic and I've read so many great reviews about it on Yelp. It lived up to expectations- such a cute atmosphere (although the entire restaurant only sits about 20 people so call ahead for reservations), fresh sushi, cheap prices, and BYOB! We got the O roll (a special for last night), the three musketeers, and the kame kazi. Not sure if I'd get the kame kazi again, but the other 2 were fantastic (and very big as well). They also had yummy seaweed salad! I'm very excited about finding a new sushi place in Lincoln Park! Edit 1/10: Now that I've been to Toro at least 50 times I should probably share more of my favorite rolls. Like everyone says the service here is absolutely awful, but the amazing sushi keeps me coming back week after week! I still love the O Roll and the Three Musketeers, but other musts include the Volcano and the Oh my god. And skip the Park West roll (ick!)...but can't go wrong with anything else. They also have an incredible SPICY seaweed salad. They don't always have the spicy sauce available, but if they do you have to try it! Now if only they'd expand the restaurant and get some decent waitresses.... read more

Mitch: AWESOME Food: Delicious! Service - ...meh. Like really below average. Overall: 4.5 stars! Mitch asked me how I heard of his restaurant. Thanks to communal seating, I had overheard people saying how this is the best sushi place in Chicago. He said he wasn't the best (how humble!) but he says what they do there is try to have the fish be as fresh as possible. I mean, that's what sushi is all about! So go for some reasonably priced sashimi. But they also have a huge menu of creative rolls, though Mitch insists they aren't the best in that regard. The three rolls he picked for us that highlight fish were: Crazy horse, cherry blossom, and spicy tako. Crazy horse was probably my favorite. The ahi tuna roll makes for a great appetizer, because even though the fish isn't the star, it's super clean tasting - lots of greens, the ginger dressing that every Japanese restaurant uses, and a touch of tuna on top. It's what you'd have as an appetizer to a meal like this, except in roll form. My only complaint is the service. Really awkward, and a bit negligent/rude. It was probably the one day in the year that they wouldn't be busy, too... so I wonder what it's like normally when the wait is 1hr+... But the best part is that the price isn't outrageous for the quality you find in this city. I've looked at the menus of some comparable joints in the city and gawked at how much money I'd have to spend to have a satisfying meal, and Toro is a fraction of that. I definitely walked in with some reservations about the hype over this place, but I think it's pretty justified. I'd wait the hour nearby (I mean, it's Clark St. for goodness sake, not like there's nowhere to go) to eat here again! read more

Why 5- stars ? Because at the end of the day, the fish is so darn fresh and tasty that the annoying niggles are overcome. I swear that my studio apt in Chicago was bigger than the dining area. Also, I would recommend coming here on a weekday and early b/c it suffers from popular restaurant syndrome- i.e insanely popular+ tiny interior. Groups larger than 4 may find it difficult to get seating. The fish is VERY fresh and melts in your mouth like butter. I've had the Spicy Tako, OMG, and Crazy Horse. All excellent IMO. Service is decent, but nothing to write about. They have BYOB like so many Chitown restaurants. This is a few feet from Molly's Cupcakes, so it makes it a special end to your night in Lincoln Park. This is a restaurant where you would bring someone who HATES fish and watch them convert to the Synagogue of Sushi. It's moderately priced too which is nice. :) A Chicago staple. Run, don't walk to this gem. read more

Terrible service, subpar food, and dirty. Waited in a half empty restaurant for nearly 30 minutes to be served. Sushi wasn't anything special either. read more

Quite a small space, but the sushi is decent! The Spring Blossom roll was good, but had a little too much rice. Good if you live nearby, but no place I would break my neck to get to. read more

By far the BEST sushi place in the city hands down. Never had a bad experience when ordering from here. I've only eaten in one time though as they don't take reservations until day of, there are very few tables, and and its a small place. My advice would be to go early and put your name in, go home, and come back around 3 hours later. Oddly enough, the time I actually ate in there was no wait on just a random Wednesday. read more

Just went here for dinner w/ the bf, i really like toro sushi..they have some interesting maki rolls that are super "oishii" (delicious). =) We ordered the 1. ahi kani salad roll super fresh & refreshing (tuna w/ mango, sunflower seeds, salad wrapped in soypaper topped w/ "tiffany sauce"); 2. Tuna lovers (crab meat w/ avocado topped w/ tuna); 3. Park west (shrimp tempura topped w/ yellowtail baked w/ tiffany sauce). The prices are decent & the sushi is fresh! The last time we went here we also ordered some uni (sea urchin) it was so fresh, buttery and oooh so tasty. Toro is definitely a great sushi spot where you can choose different types of maki that don't include "cream cheese" in every roll. The place is a bit small, but if you come at the right time you won't have to wait very long & they let you leave your number and they call you when your table is ready. read more

Pretty big fan. Went here for the first time a couple weeks ago. Figured we could take advantage of a night when most Chicagoans were at places with tvs to watch the Blackhawks beat on the Bruins!! WOOOO WOO! Back to food, I am normally a Sushi Para guy and love getting my money's worth...(55 pieces is my PR). But I will always be willing to spend the extra money to get the delicious tasting Toro sushi rolls! Once you put the piece in your mouth you can instantly taste the difference in quality. The sushi melts in your mouth! The menu is loaded with different types of rolls and the selection is quite appealing. There were so many choices and the combinations all sounded mouthwatering. I will definitely be back to try other rolls. BYOB! No corkage fee. The wait was 20 minutes and the hostess was nice enough to allow me to keep my six pack in the cooler while we strolled down to the bar to get a drink and even during our entire meal. Awesome service! What more could you ask for? read more

Toro Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Toro is a great neighborhood sushi restaurant. My reasoning for the three stars have nothing to do with the food. I think the sushi there is great. However, the rolls are small. I recently spent 26$ on a California roll, Philadelphia, and a super white tuna roll with mango. I was still hungry after I ate it but it was exceptionally fresh. The restaurant is SO small. The service is great but the wait for seating and for take out is always close to an hour. Toro should consider expanding so I don't elbow the table next to me when diving into my caterpillar roll. For the amount of food that you get for the price, it's hard to not justify going to a restaurant with a little more "oomph" to it like sushi X, sunda, or butterfly. Zero points for ambiance at toro. Yes, it's Byob, which saves some $$ but the rolls are over priced. read more

Toro Sushi - Caterpillar, California, and super white tuna... Delicious but not enough food for 24$ - Sushi Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Go to Toro, sit at the counter/bar, and meet Mitch! Mitch is the Head Sushi Chef and he is so fun to talk to. His story is truly wonderful, and you can tell he is super passionate about what he does. I recommend going right when they open for dinner at 5, as they do not take reservations, and go with just one other person so that you can sit at a two-top or at the counter easily. (This is a great date night spot.) It's BYOB, so bring some wine/beer/sake to round out your meal. The fish here is fresh and delicious, and the creative/specialty rolls are tasty and a lot of fun. My favorite things to order are the spicy tuna hand roll, Arizona roll (comes shaped like a cactus!!), and salmon crunch roll. Plus miso soup, of course. The only reason I'm giving Toro 4 stars instead of 5 is that the service isn't always amazing. Sometimes you have to flag someone down to have your order taken, get more water, get the check, etc. But I still love this place -- it's really a great hidden gem, no-frills sushi spot, and I highly recommend it. read more

One of my girlfriend's favorite sushi restaurants in Chicago is Toro! We were craving some good sushi. So we decided to get some Toro. We ordered two orders (four per order) of green mussels (baked in spicy mayo sauce and simply delicious). We had an order of Namesake Nigiri (salmon), one order of Negi Hama Maki (yellow tail), and one KamiKaze hand roll. All were fresh and delicious. We sat at the sushi bar and Mitch the owner/head sushi chef threw in a few extra pieces of yellow tail sashimi on the house! Because it is a tiny restaurant and with it being so popular and all there is almost always a long wait so we usually go after lunch to dine-in or order take out. Every time we come here, the sushi is awesome. It never fails to keep us coming back for more. read more

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I've been meaning to write a review for Toro Sushi since March 2010, when my one and only visit to Toro changed my life. My boyfriend and I took a road trip to Chicago from NY for our last college spring break. I am proud to say that we ate our way through Chicago during the 4 days we were there. Because I am the anal and organized type, I wanted to make sure we had a set plan for each day (which helped us do so much in so little time). Toro, however, was a last minute find on yelp and to this day, I am thankful. We were starving after our 14 hour drive and luckily found Toro on yelp. For a weeknight around 8 pm, the restaurant was packed! I think we had a 30 minute wait so we walked around the block - poked around a coffee shop, walked by a bike shop, and tried an empanada next door. So why did Toro change my life? This is where I took my first bite of sushi at age 21. My family was always big on sushi (ordered those huge sushi boats from Korean sushi restaurants) but I always sat at the edge of the table away from the stench of fish, eating my bowl of udon. We got seats at the bar and met Mitch, the owner and sushi master of Toro. You can tell right away tell that Mitch has a special relationship with his regulars. I saw him exchange a special handshake/bump with a few customers who stopped by to greet him. Right after my boyfriend told Mitch that I was a sushi virgin, Mitch cut up two generous slices of super white fish, yellowtail, and salmon (complimentary). He told me to eat them in that order. After a few minutes of hesitation, I finally had the balls to take that first bite of the super white. It was cold and just melted in my mouth like butter. There was no fishy taste because it was so fresh. It didn't take me long to move on to the yellow tail and then to the salmon. Mitch is the wonderful genius of a man who took away my sushi virginity. He said he's converted a handful of others (so if you've never tried sushi, I recommend you to Mitch who will cure your disease). I think my boyfriend was relieved to see that I liked the sushi because that meant we could go ahead and order our meal. I don't remember which rolls we ordered but I'll post photos. We DEVOURED each plate, including the bed of salad one of the rolls was sitting on. Mitch also gave us a free plate of the tempura green tea icecream. Very good but a bit too heavy for me. I probably slurped up all the ice cream though. We got the check and was shocked and happy to see our bill was no more than fifty or sixtyy bucks (including a generous tip). We left Toro happy and full. We took a picture with the sign outside that says "Sushi Makes Better Lovers" (which originally said "Sushi Make Better Lover" - I assume the grammatical error of a Korean was corrected by a customer. I think sushi did make us better lovers hahaha how cheesy but I believe that. Thank you, Mitch, for giving me this life changing experience. read more

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I've had their food twice, once for takeout for lunch and once for dinner. The takeout lunch was great! I ordered the Oh My God & Kamikaze rolls and they did not disappoint. Takeout as well, they were still fresh when I got home and I loved the Oh My God roll more than Kamikaze. The second time I went, I got about halfway through my roll, walked into the freezer, ran to the bathroom and threw up. It was awkward and awful. The food tasted fine! I had the sashimi appetizer, the red dragon roll and the el fuego roll. Both were phenomenal! The sashimi tasted so fresh but something did not agree with me. I gave 3 stars for both experiences combined. The prices are a bit high, but we had 9 pieces of sushi per order about which was generous! Ambiance is casual, our green tea was not good. Had no flavor. Service was great! Place fills up fast even on a Wednesday ! read more

Toro Sushi - Red Dragon in the back/top and El Fuego in front - Sushi Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place is the absolute best in the city. Mitch the owner/head chef is a legend. He is friendly, inviting and has impeccably high standards when it comes to the ingredients he brings in. I love this place. I come all the way Belmont and Cicero because I love it so much. read more

Best carry out sushi in Lincoln Park! Great job Mitch. We love the creative Maki rolls, and even offers a variety of veggie options

In the heart of Lincoln Park, Toro is an above average spot for sushi. I've been there a number of times and have always found the fish to be fresh and the prices reasonable. Now, the single drawback to Toro is their seating policy. Not taking reservations and instead relying on a first come, first served list is troublesome. They do offer to take your cell phone number and call you when you name comes up, but on several occasions their time estimates were COMPLETE NONSENSE. In fact, one time they told me the wait would be an hour and half, and they ended up calling me 20 minutes later. This is super annoying if you and some friends have just settled into a drink at Duke's down the street when you get a call from Toro telling you that they are going to give away your table if you don't march your ass over there immediately and claim you table. Other than that the food is good, prices are reasonable, and the BYO element rocks! If you're willing to put up with a little hassle, you're in for some good sushi. read more

On a Wednesday night at 6:40, there was a 1 hour wait for a table. ONE HOUR!!! That's how popular this little "hole in the wall" joint is! (It's a pretty small restaurant) After a good hour walking around the neighborhood and picking up some tasty Molly's Cupcakes next door to Sushi Toro, we were finally seated! TWO HUNGRY DINERS! RATINGS Overall: 4/5 (Mitch's special rolls are just too special and too tasty) Taste: 4/5 (You can't beat fresh fish!) Originality: 4/5 (Mitch's special rolls are just...too unique!) Plating: 3.5/5 (The kamikaze and futo fell flat, but everything else redeemed them!) Value: 4/5 (A good deal for a sushi joint serving high quality fish and sushi!) Service: 4/5 (Hard to complain about anything but the wait! The waitresses were polite, quick, and got all our orders right) Final Words? We may come back just to try all the other rolls on the menu!! The long wait was worth it, but it really is TOO DARN LONG! read more

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BYOB!!!!!! I have to share that because my boyfriend and I didn't catch this on their yelp page and he ended up heading to a liquor store for a bottle of wine while we waited for our sushi I've been to a few sushi places in Chicago and this has been the best one! The sushi was exceptional. It's a small nicely decorated place but nothing fancy. It's one of those Chicago gems you'd only know about because you live in the city. read more

After reading all of your great reviews I finally gave this place a try. You guys weren't lying. The food was delicious!!! The "Oh My God Roll" was amazing! The fish was very fresh and the servers were courteous. The one downside was the wait. We didn't get there until 7:30pm and didn't get a seat until about an hour later. You have to try this place! *I have one side note. There are only about 10 tables in the whole restaurant. There was a group of two girls at the front of the restaurant who finished their meal at about 7:45 and sat there chatting until at least 9:30. There were loads of people outside waiting for a table while these two just carelessly sat there. Don't be that inconsiderate ever! read more

Before this past weekend I've tried coming here twice before only to be dissuaded by the wait. Showed up at 7pm on a Saturday night and waited an hour. I understand the hype. Higher quality seafood, good location on a busy strip of Clark in LP, BYOB, and decent service. Other than that I'd say this place is a tad overhyped. The best things we had were the Mussels Josephine - broiled in Tiffany sauce (sauce was delicious!!). Only $5 for 4 of those yummy mussels- we had to get another order. Tuna and salmon sashimi and nigiri were incredible. Fresh, perfectly cut and buttery. We also ordered 2 maki rolls- the Best of Both Worlds and the spider roll. The simpler roll was better than the speciality roll. You could actually taste the ingredients when they aren't all smashed together. So go for the quality of simpler sushi. Service was fine. BYOB option is great. The decor and ambiance could've been a lot nicer. As in a bigger space, dimmer lighting, some semblance if decor. And honestly, you don't know to hear the details of a conversation between swingers couples so having tables further apart would be terrific. I'd say Toro is ok. Yuzu and Coast still win out over this place. read more

Toro Sushi - Mussels broiled in Tiffany sauce - Sushi Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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