We've been enjoying Umai for years now, and it's consistently fabulous. I love that they don't take reservations, so you can decide to show up last-minute without being told they don't have any tables. Pro tip: don't wait in the small lobby. The hostess will take your cell phone number so you can simply walk across the street and have a drink or two at the fantastic bar at Sociale while you wait. We've perfected this over-the-top meal thru the years: the tofu, eggplant, and squid hot apps, the octopus cold app (it's no longer on the menu, but they'll make it!), white tuna, sea bream, sweet shrimp, and sea urchin (the freshest I've had) nigiri, and the spicy pork ramen and beef sukiyaki. Wash it down with a Japanese beer or cocktail. The service is consistently superb and the atmosphere cozy and youthful. Love this place! read more

I came here before with a few friends and got sushi. I wasn't much for the sushi but I think the traditional bread and butter of the business is anything don. Their katsu don is spectacular and exceeded my expectations. The mushy egg encapsulating the dish gives the katsu a tenderized texture and a chewy burst of flavor in your mouth. I love the space and it has a modern take on what a japanese pub may look like granted I've never been in Japan so it could be extremely Americanized. Regardless i think the don has a good price point relative to other items on the menu read more

Umai - Katsu Don - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Authentic Japanese food! Their winter ramen is some of the best ramen I've ever had. The udon are also amazing; a friend of mine said they are similar to the curry udon he had while in Japan. My favorite sushi roll from there is the spicy tuna roll. The service can be a bit slow sometimes, which is the reason I took off a star. The food, however, is simply comforting when it is chilly outside. read more

Umai - Winter Ramen with Ribeye - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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My friends and I visited this place last week when we were in Chicago. A mutual friend recommended this place and it did not disappoint. The omakase was good, however, it's plated so you aren't served it individually like some places I've been to. My friend really liked the fatty tuna and ordered more. The menu has a lot of different items so my friend who didn't like raw fish had something they could order as well. The service was good and quick, atmosphere was also very casual. A great lunch place near downtown. read more

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We were craving for sashimi with fresh wasabi. The 4 Japanese restaurants near us didn't have it. Umai was the only one we weren't able to verify. We took a risk and walked to the restaurant. We were seated right away and found out they didn't offer fresh wasabi. We stayed and order appetizers. Service was good and fast. read more

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Five stars for the salad and sushi! Started my meal off with the spicy edamame. SO good. If you like SPICY, get this as your appetizer. Ordered the garden salad and fell in love with the ginger dressing. In fact, I'd go back just for the salad. I chose the spicy cajun soft shell crab roll and the california roll for my meal. Both were very good. The atmosphere at Umai is super cute. The place was packed and service was good. I would choose this place over and over again. read more

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Solid Japanese food. Generous portions and great price. The black curry with pork cutlet is great as is the black garlic ramen. Sushi and salads are solid as well. Definitely a go-to in south loop. read more

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Overall 4.5/5 for quality/price and service. Portion is decent and sushi is fresh. We got charishi bowl, multiple rolls, sukiyaki, beef donburi and salad. Overall I would come back. read more

Cute vibe. Very big entree portions. The katsu kare had a lot of flavor and was not a bad price!! read more

Umai - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Amazing!!! Service was perfect. Our new favorite place in all of Chicago. A ton of different options and it's very fairly priced. The atmosphere is really cool, will have to come back in summer for the patio. read more

This place was okay considering that I am a vegetarian and my partner is pescatarian. Not many options for our diets, I tired the ugdon and it was served cold, wasn't a hit for me. The sushi was really fresh and tasty. Only thing was there were little nets flying around near our table which was annoying. read more

Umai - Dynamite and Dragon roll - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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We ordered a lot of food and the service was very attentive. The fish: the nigiri pieces were very large and flavorful. The sashimi was good too - served on ice. Try the toro - though expensive, it is worth it! It has a pretty unbelievable texture. We also got the orange sea urchin. I although that wasn't to my taste, I can really appreciate that dish too. Other dishes like the tempura have a good crispiness to them, and come with a great dipping sauce. The portions are a good size too. One thing that I think that I think umai does especially well is the presentation of the food. Each dish has a very nice and unique plating style that makes the food very appetizing. I would say this is one of the best japanese places in chicago! read more

We are actually a regular customer here. My husband and I love this place for our lunch date since its not possible for us to have a proper date night Anyways, back to the review. The place is amazing. Service is a hit and miss. If you get a nice server, she/he will check if you need anything else from time to time. If you get a not nice one, they will totally forget about you unless it's check time. The food is definitely delicious. We always get like a couple rolls and one/two appetizers to share. So far, we like all the sushi (we tried all the special ones). For appetizers, we definitely recommend the beef tataki and the agedashi tofu. They are to die for! Ambience is casual. Just don't come during rush time or you will have to wait. Anyways, keep up the good work! read more

Umai - 3 types of sushi rolls - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Been going there for years. 'Food and service' is always consistently very. The restaurant gets crowded fast, so keep that in mind.

Umai was a quality date night pick! Tucked into Printer's Row/South Loop on a bustling corner, we were served by a friendly and accommodating staff. The service was attentive from the moment I sat down; I so appreciate getting waters poured right away. Also, it was nice to be seated as a party of one, so I could wait at the table for my fiancé to get there. The server did not rush me to order any drinks until he got there which was very nice. Like I said, a kind waitstaff. We both got Japanese beers, and they paired well with the cuisine. A sashimi bowl for me with yellowtail, and a bowl of garlic ramen for him. I have to admit I tried to lick his bowl clean it was that good. A very unique and umami filled bowl of ramen. Mine was great too - the fish was very fresh, and I would definitely order it gain. It came with a bowl of miso soup, which I normally don't like, but I loved it here - great flavor. Fun fact: they have heated booths! Literally I was sitting on a heated seat and loved having a warm tush on a frigid night, lol...but really Chicago, you are dang cold girl. read more

Umai - Garlic ramen - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Umai was a delicious and lowkey spot located conveniently in printers row chicago. I enjoyed their chicken wings very much, while my friend enjoyed the raw aspects of the menu. Overall, sushi lover or not, there is something for everyone here! The atmosphere is calm but interesting at the same time. read more

Ordered takeout. Had several sushi rolls, that were uninspired. I had tempura shrimp and veggies. Shrimp had no flavor and tempura isn't the best taste cold. Appetizers of spicy edamame and veggie Goyza were ok. Wouldn't order again. read more

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My son and I ordered Tempura plate appetizer ($12) - very good. My son ordered Sukiyaki ($19) - good. I had Omakase sushi plate ($28). - very goof and fresh. Finally, I went for a Naked roll. It's hard to do riceless rolls and they didn't make it right: cucumber layer was too thick read more

One of my favorite sushi places! All of the rolls I've tired are delicious and the quality is always on point - I recommend the spicy tuna, salmon skin, and Chicago rolls. However, the ramen was maybe 2 stars at best... I dined in and had the Winter ramen. It was not hot (temperature) and way too salty. The meat was also too fatty and flavorless (other than the extreme salt). Another thing that bothered me was the that waitress grabbed our soy sauce container after I used it and gave it to another group without sanitizing it. I will still takeout sushi but will probably not dine in again. read more

Having lived within walking distance of this place for a decade, I'm surprised I never tried it. I went for lunch one day and sat at the bar. One complaint is no wifi. But the service was fairly quick so you don't miss it as much. I ordered the tonkotsu lunch special. It was a decent serving and came with gyoza and a salad. What a great value. The gyoza was just okay but then again, it is included so I couldn't complain. The salad was the same but both were welcomed additions. The pork belly in the ramen was great. I also liked the broth quite a bit. It wasn't the best I've ever had but memorable. The noodles themselves were too dense for me. However, if you're in the area and craving ramen and in a hurry, I would definitely go back. read more

Umai - comes with lunch ramen...gyoza and salad - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Yet again another successful dinner at Umai! We sat at the bar and this place did not disappoint. We had an assortment of sushi and some wine to go with it! read more

Umai - Yummy sushi! - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The sushi is always fresh and the service is great! The ambiance is casual and great for family dinners or date nights.

We came in with reservations for 7 and were seated promptly, they are pretty good about getting you situated accordingly! Our server was attentive and even helped us split the check as well as he could on a busy Wednesday night. I got the Winter Ramen and also a Fresh Philly roll, both were delicious and the Winter Ramen was the perfect amount of spice for the beginning of the cold winter nights! My friends were also quite happy with their meals... That is until later in the night. I ended up feeling extremely sick and eventually throwing up after dinner (which has NEVER happened to me before! No alcoholic drinks accompanied my dinner!) I'm chalking it up to the ramen because my friend also had a bowl and she also complained of a major stomach-ache the next day. I enjoyed the experience I had at Umai because it was lovely, I really just wish I hadn't gotten sick from their food. That is the main reason for my stars taken off. read more

Umai - Winter Ramen - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I have to say this was the best ramen I've had in Chicago! I ordered the spicy garlic chicken ramen and 3 rolls (Chicago maki, Spicy Tuna, and Mexicana maki). The ramen was delicious with excellent broth and the noodles were perfect. The ramen had delicious toppings and was generous in portion. It's perfect for the cold weather in Chicago. The Rolls were 8-10 pieces and absolutely delicious. This place is a excellent sushi restaurant to eat at in south loop. The place has great views of the city and has excellent service. read more

Went back to Umai for the first time in a few years and it was much better than I remember. The menu has expanded significantly and there's a great selection to choose from between sushi, udon, ramen, teriyaki, and other Japanese delights. There's something for everyone here. I stopped in for a quick lunch and the place was surprisingly full at 1pm on a Thursday. I sat at the sushi bar and started with the spicy garlic edamame, a half roll of the white truffle tails and a naked roll. The edamame was great, super garlicky with a kick (and I asked for a side of sriracha to dip it in). The white truffle tails was heaven. Torched hamachi on top with the right amount of truffle flavoring without being overkill. The naked roll was simple and tasty. It was wrapped in cucumber, sans rice with a great ponzu sauce and healthy chunks of fish. The egg wasn't my favorite and I would have preferred something else but overall still a good and filling roll. I wouldn't make a special trip for Umai now that i live in Logan Square but if I'm in the area again and craving sushi, Umai is the best in the neighborhood and definitely worth your time. read more

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Great sushi, service, and drinks! Their menu has such a wide selection to choose from, has easily become one of my favorite spots.

If I could give this restaurant 4.5 stars I would. Efficient service and fresh sashimi. Noodle dishes (we got the spicy pork ramen and sukiyaki) were excellent, the flavor really popped. Agedashi tofu was just okay. This place is reasonably priced which is a plus! read more

Umai - Spicy pork Spicy Roasted Garlic Pork Ramen - delicious and has bomb chashu - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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GO GO GO GO GO. EAT HERE! Best sushi in South Loop, and great Japanese food in general. The tuna here is the best tuna I've ever had, it's such a deep dark red color, super fatty tasting. The shrimp shumai was great, hot on the inside though. The lollipop chicken (karage) is dope! The tempura was alright, nothing special, but my god the sushi nigiri was wonderful and the rolls were too! Price is a little steep for my taste, but not too bad overall. Definitely come and eat here if you're in south loop. It's worth the trip down! read more

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Have a great dinner there. Restaurant is quite busy but overall is great!!!!!!!!! The food is amazingly

This is one of my go-to restaurants in my neighborhood. However, when I ordered my favorite dish last night, I noticed the portions were much smaller. My salmon was half its normal size and the vegetables were half the normal serving. Everything was tasty, but I was disappointed in the smaller portion sizes. read more

Umai is without a doubt one of my favorite restaurants in Printer's Row/South Loop. I can't recall a single time I've had anything less than a good experience! I have been ordering for pickup and delivery and they have consistently prepared their food really quickly and their portions are pretty generous. Of the things I've ordered there, my favorites have to be the Katsu Don and their ramens. I do have to say the website can sometimes be a bit finicky, so I'd recommend calling to place an order instead. read more

This is a pretty generic, run of the mill place. It's not bad, just look elsewhere if you are looking for an authentic Japanese restaurant. The food is ok but nothing special, just mediocre. The sushi is a step above what you'd get at a supermarket. Service is prompt. Prices are reasonable. read more

Pros: - great skewer food - great cooked foods. katsu is not greasy. curry is flavorful Cons: - service. unfriendly & refilling water is a struggle. they forget things frequently - ramen is just ok. not good, not bad. not a destination - sushi is fresh but very bland. it's under-seasoned -- conclusion: would make my way here for skewers & katsu. would not go out of my way for anything else... which is unfortunate, since this place is known for ramen & sushi recommended: skewers & katsu read more

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Umai is actually one of the first places I visited when I came to the city, and I'd say it's a pretty good place to get your typical bowl of ramen. The place was pretty nice about walk-ins and we were seated right away. Not knowing what to order, I played it safe and got the Ton Katsu Ramen, which I believe is a popular choice. The broth was savory and the presentation was nice, but nothing too stand-out. I liked how tender the meat was but was a bit disappointed by the egg, which other than being soft-boiled, was just a normal egg - not marinated nor flavorful. While there was nothing unique about this place, I did enjoy the simplicity of it and thought the service was good. read more

Umai - Ton Katsu Ramen - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

There was literal plastic in multiple pieces of my sushi. Yelp is forcing me to write a longer review, but there's not much else to say. There was plastic in my food. There shouldn't be plastic in my food. read more

Hands down the best sushi spot I've ever had. I'm so glad the other restaurants we were planning to go to before we found Umai didn't work out. We called a little before 9pm to see if they were still taking walks in and what was the wait time for a party of 3. Surprisingly there were open later than other restaurants with NO wait time. We got there around 9:00pm and we were quickly seated. Within 5 minutes our server came over to inform us of the phone accessible menu through a scan code. We quickly ordered our drinks but it took forever for it to get to our table. In the meantime our server came over to take our order down. Our server was speedy and knowledgable. We were all pretty impressed at the fact that she didn't need to write anything down and relied on her memory. We ordered a lot... I love the fact that this place does half a roll. I've never seen this before. Giving us the option to do a half roll gives us the option to try out other rolls on the menu rather than ordered a whole roll and not liking it. I wish more restaurant would follow this genius idea! We ordered the following: -sake- $9 -mojito- $8 -patron soda (they can customize anything you like) -spicy edamame- $6 -spicy chicken wing (comes with 5 pieces)- $9 -seaweed salad- $7 -dragon roll- $13 -umai crunch roll- $12 -half Chicago roll- $9 -half goosebumps roll- $8 -spicy roasted garlic pork ramen- $15 -tuna nigiri- $7 -sea scallop nigiri- $7 We ordered another half roll pictured, but we do not remember what it was called. The drinks were awesome. Either the bartender was a bit slow or the server forgot about our drinks, but either way drinks were still good when we got them. We ordered 3 appetizers for us to all share and all of them were delicious! Every single bit was so flavorful and we were just SO happy with our choices. The spicy edamame had a lingering spiciness but not too overpowering. This was easily tamed after a bite of the cooling and refreshing seaweed salad. I've never had seaweed salad with cucumber at the bottom and this honestly made it 1,000 times better. The wings were so juicy and flavorful and house-made sweet and chili sauce was BOMB! I ordered a dragon roll and Umai crunch roll and each and every bite was just perfection. If I can bring this sushi spot back home with me, I would. I would have this everyday if I could. My boyfriend had the spicy roasted garlic pork ramen since it was one of their most popular dishes and he said it has to be the best ramen he ever had so far. The broth itself was delicious and had so much flavor even without the pork or noodles. He also had the tuna nigiri and sea scallop nigiri and they were all so fresh--the freshest nigiri's yet. I highly recommend this place and will definitely be coming back the next time we come to Chicago. Our highlight from our entire Chicago trip was the food from Umai! Service can be better but the food is phenomenal. There is outdoor seating but it didn't look 6 feet apart so we opted for indoor dining. Every table was occupied but looked like it was roughly 6 feet apart. read more

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Found this place last minute on our way to Indiana and it did not disappoint! The lychee mojito was delicious as well as the sushi. Yum! must try read more

I am reviewing based on one visit, about one menu item. I was in Chicago for a visit mid-June 2023 and decided to give this highly-rated place a try. I ordered the sukiyaki, and it was the worst I had ever had in my life. The beef was like rubberbands. I chewed and chewed and could not break it down. My mouth got tired and I just gave up. Umai is a highly-rated restaurant, and they put out a menu item like this? Based on this one experience with one menu item, I will not return. The rest of you must have had much better experiences with its food. I sure didn't. Shame on you, Umai! read more

Slightly pained to give this place only 3 stars because I had high hopes for it. But it just didn't wow me. I'd say 3.5 is more adequate if given the option. MAKE A RESERVATION. We made the mistake of not making one on a Thursday night & the hostess told us it would be about 20 minutes. Not too bad we thought..... Yeah, no. We waited over an hour. My stomach was eating itself by the time we got seated. There's really only a few tables and a few seats at the bar so space is very limited. Anyways, I went with a small group so we shared a ton of items off the menu. Started with the spicy edamame & pork gyoza. And that was honestly the best part of the meal. So delicious! We actually ordered a second order of the gyoza because it was just too good. For rolls we all shared the the mexicana, naked, sloopin, Chicago, goosebumps, white truffle tails, dynamite & white tuna & jalapeño roll. Mexicana & dynamite were my favorite if I had to pick. Naked roll is very fresh & clean tasting. The sweetness to the Chicago roll wasn't working for me, white tuna & jalapeño was bland & the seaweed it was wrapped in tasted too fishy, the truffle oil (on the white truffle tails) is pretty odd paired with fish... & the fish atop the goosebumps roll was too chewy. Honestly nothing blew me away. All of the rolls fell apart so easily. And I didn't find myself in that flavorful, melt in your mouth sushi heaven you desire when you go out for sushi. I've had much better in the city. My fiancé ordered the spicy pork ramen which was our first real ramen bowl we've ever tried. That was pretty good... but it is NOT spicy. Like, at all. I'm not sure why "spicy" is even in the description. But he did say the pork belly in it was amazing. Big menu & insanely good prices for sushi in Chicago... but like I said, I've had better so I don't think I'll return. read more

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this is one of my favorite date night spots. intimate atmosphere and great food at good prices. my all time favorite rolls are the chicago and the sloopin. also love the wasabi shumai. miso soup is a classic. can't go wrong here!! read more

Umai - Umai Crunchi - Japanese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois