I've been a fan of this place for awhile now and really enjoy eating there. As a BYOB you can't do much better, it's right up there with Tango Sur and Las Tablas as BYOB's. Overall their sushi is very fresh, tasty, and not too overdone. I personally enjoy the godzilla roll and many of the classic maki rolls. Their nigiri and sashimi isn't as good as Coast or Mirai, but it's definitely more than serviceable. The atmosphere is always bustling with people and makes it feel like it's a place to be seen but without the pretension. It's got a nice decor with a variety of seating. Usually I find it pretty easy to get a table if you time it right, but it can be a bit crazy at times. Thank goodness for the bar next door to sip on a cocktail while waiting. The only reason I don't give it a 5 star rating is that sometimes the service leaves a bit to be desired, but the food keeps me from complaining. read more

I'll start out with the bad then finish on a positive note: I asked for chili sauce, like regular siracha, the waitress brought a mini plate out with a bit on it. Everything was fine. When the bill came they charged $2 for the siracha. You can by a liter bottle of siracha for under $2. If the waitress had mentioned the extra charge prior to bringing out the siracha then I would have been OK with it but she didn't. The food was great. I was happy to spend one of my three nights in Chicago here. read more

Wakamono is just around the corner from me, so we tend to wind up there quite often. I will have to disagree with the reviewer who said this place was pretentious. It's a pretty casual place and I've been treated the same whether I am dressed up or in a hoodie on my way home from running errands. My experience with the food has always been consistent. We try to order a new maki roll each time in addition to the Yo la mango roll and the sweet potato roll. These rolls are nothing short of fantastic. This is not the best sushi place in the city, but the Yo la mango roll is now something we crave and keeps us coming back. The sashimi is always, always very fresh. The nigiri & sashimi are 2 per order and you can mix (one sashimi, one with rice). The BYOB $8 corkage fee is steep if you are bringing in more budget wine, but it is nice to have the option. The restaurant is dark and the tables next to the door suck. The décor is heavy on the wood and the 2 person tables are small. With that said, it has a great atmosphere and the attached bar is a great place to grab a pre-dinner drink. The drink menu have some fun choices, including a carbonated sake. I've always had great service here (I have never ordered take out). Occasionally there is something lost in translation (i.e. getting Pinot Noir instead for Grigio), but we've always had great service. The price is listed as Moderate here, but I've never had a bill that was under $30 per person. It's very easy to spend around $100 for 2. All in all, I am really happy to have this place in the neighborhood. read more

The food is delicious. There is a wide variety of maki rolls and every night they have a special one...which my boyfriend and I always try. Even if something is not on the menu (such as my favorite--Tiger roll), they make it for you. I have been to Wakamono at least 30 times and have taken most of my friends there--everyone raves about it and they often return for more. Their drinks are well worth the cost and the service is efficient and courteous. The only reason why I am rating them at 4 starts, rather than 5 is because we have difficulty understanding the staff at times. If the restaurant is full and you don't want to wait around for a table, I recommend that you sit at the bar and enjoy watching all the sushi/maki making craft. N'joy! read more

Delicious! After walking by several times and jealously watching the people sitting outside eating their amazing-looking rolls, I recently got take-out (Oedipus roll without mayo). It was amazing! The fish was delicious, the avocado was ripe, and the soy sauce came in a cute little bottle. I will definitely go back and try some of their other rolls soon. read more

Recently went on Super Bowl Sunday, and the place was entirely empty, which was awesome, cause it's typically crowded. We had an awesome experience, and the wait staff was excellent and attentive. Godzilla and Dragon rolls were outstanding. This place gets a 4 star review, because the host walked in on my gf in the bathroom, gotta knock! Otherwise, great place. read more

I ordered the food through Grubhub and I think the Donburi Trio tasted weird or maybe it was a fusion food. I did not expect Olives pickle should be put over the rice and fish. It ruined everything. It made the rice became more sour and fish became blunt. 6-piece fish over is a bit too pricey for this kind of gustatory perception. read more

Honestly, my fiancé and I are obsessed with this place. We live just around the corner and have tried all the places near by for sushi and no one compares to Waka. The staff is attentive and the chefs are awesome to chat with and friendly. They know who we are when we enter and know exactly what we like. You will not go wrong with this place, seriously! read more

I love the crab rolls!!!! you have to be a real sushi lover to go here. these fools that order cooked fish think that is sushi? come on you wimps you have to eat it raw to enjoy sushi (and most yummy things). i will say that the bathrooms were very clean and that is a good sign that the resturant has high standards. read more

This used to be our favorite restaurant in Chicago for sushi because the food is really good. However, food is not the only thing that matters in a restaurant. Customer service and ambiance are also important. Last night experience at Wakamono was terrible. First of all, we ask if we can sit in a both because it was four of us. The hostess refused to sit us in the booth because it was for five people. Are you kidding me? It's Sunday night and your restaurant is empty. Don't you want to make your customer happy ? Second the service was horrendous. The waitresses didn't come once to fill our wine glass or check on us and the restaurant wasn't busy at all. I tried to waive at the waitress several times but she seemed too busy chatting with the other waitress that were doing nothing at the sushi bar. And last but not least the music. The music was so loud that everyone was screaming because we couldn't hear anything. I asked the waitress if she could turn down the music and maybe change it because no one wants to hear loud rap music on a Sunday night. The waitress respond was that it was their NEW CONCEPT. I am sorry I didn't know that your new concept is to make your customer deaf and pissed off and give horrible service. Just a hint, your CONCEPT SUCKS. Well its my new Concept, to not tip you or come back at your restaurant. read more

Bumpity bump to 5 fabulous fish stars! Because I don't live anywhere near Wakamono, I haven't been back since my most excellent sushi experience in the spring, but I was at a friend's house in Lakeview last night and since I'm on this crappy diet, my dining out options are pretty limited. I can, however, have sushi (as long as it isn't the fried/cream cheese/mayo/tempura variety sushi). One quick trip to grubhub.com garnered the knowledge that my sweet, sweet Wakamono delivers! OMFG. Thank you, Grub Hub. You're off my shit list. We dove into the spicy tuna roll and the California roll. Yeah, yeah. I know. Not the most exciting options, but I know they're good and they don't have all of the "bad" sushi components I'm trying to avoid. I dug the California roll (yay veggies), but the real star was the spicy tuna roll. Just the right amount of heat combined with a most excellent, non-fishy tuna made for pure sushi bliss. Wakamono also does a great job of making sure their sushi roll slices are bite sized, so there's no issue with the roll falling apart while you're trying to eat it. Sloppy sushi? No thanks! Finally, the take-out presentation was immaculate. Our fish arrived chilled, our miso soup was piping hot, the wasabi and ginger were in cute little tin foil packages and the soy sauce came in these teeny tiny little bottles. Much easier than dealing with ripping open packets of soy sauce, eh? Wakamono - I give you 2 giant sushi thumbs up! read more

Wakamono... You walked in to my stomach, you left with my heart and yet I sit here with a big smile on my face. The raves I have heard from so many friends, (Brett D, Colleen C, Erin P to name a few), as well as this being the go to place for sushi for my girlfriend. Lofty goals my friend... lofty. Walking over we had no reservations, but we managed to score an outside table for our group of four. We had brought two bottles of wine, unfortunately since we were sitting outside, no BYOB for us. Sad face. However with their excellent fully stocked bar, the frown turned upside down. Our service was great right off the bat. Always attentive, always around when needed and patient with us as we tried to decide appetizers and our main dishes. We rolled on with our ordering, a smattering of three different starters and about two different rolls/sashimi for each of us. We started with the tempura chili calamari something I was felt slightly conflicted. The baked scallops in a lemon mayo sauce was great, the best of the three starters. The scallops were tender, the sauce was so good, the girls all asked that we keep the small bowl of sauce for their rolls later on, definitely a must try if Although the squid was well cooked, the accompanying sauce was more sticky sweet with a hint of heat then what I was hoping for more heat with a slight sweetness at the end. Good, but not great. The tuna avocado with won ton crisps was good, but something I see over and over again is the mayo based sauce, which was a little too much for me. I wish I could see this dish with some more soy based sauce as I have at other places. Although the mayo tends to bring and hold this dish together, I was hoping for a little different twist from Wakamono. Why? Because the rolls were twistedly awesome! That is all the complaining I have for them. The two rolls I had, the Godzilla roll was delicious and I was fending off chopsticks left and right. Really good flavor. Really great textures and certainly a mouthful of tastiness. You would think with the shrimp tempura, the crab, the wasabi, cream cheese and three other ingredients it would all be too much, (how they were able to roll it all together shows the skills the chefs have), but the over all flavor won me over. Then we look at the maki mexicano roll. Hmm Mexican and Japanese rolled in to one... I don't know... but I do know now it was making me roll around in heaven. Being a fan of cilantro, I was happy to see a plethora of it along with jalapenos, (aye caramaba!), along with some tasty yellowtail tuna, avocado and a sneaky hint of lime. Such a tasty unexpected combo. Loved it. I did try the simpler spicy tuna maki roll, flavorful but fairly balanced. The inside decor is low light, lovely with a splash of possible romance. The outdoor area, although right on the street, with plenty of foot and wheel traffic driving by, it was a great place to sit and have a great time with friends. I may have walked by this place many of times, but I will be walking in to this place a lot more from now on. read more

Hands down the worst service I have ever experienced at a restaurant. The first mishap was when they overcharged my delivery bill by $40. In order to be reimbursed, they made me bring in a printed-out bank statement, then made me wait 20 minutes while they sorted it out, and finally told me, "Meh, it happens." The second time was when a snide host told my party we needed to leave so they could seat other people -- on a slow night, only 10 minutes after we had finished our meal, paid a generous tip, and were still enjoying our wine. I do not recommend this place at all. The hosts are combative, and the service is absolutely appalling. read more

"The Dilemma of the Trendy Sushi Bar" by Philip K.. Once upon a time, there was a 20-something guy living in Lakeview. Having just graduated from college and having not yet found a worthwhile job, he was forced to live and play on a meager salary. Oh so often, he would walk by the recently opened and highly trendy sushi bar called Wakamono on Broadway. "Gee, David," he would say to his partner, "we should check that place out sometime." And so they saved their spare change for weeks and weeks, knowing that they would be paying not only for good sushi, but for the extra-loud pop music, fabulous presentation, minimalist and somewhat uncomfortable seating and everything-in-wood decor. Indeed, the menu prices were high and made them wonder how much sushi actually costs to prepare. As the night went on, the lights became dimmer and the music got louder, and all was trendier than could be imagined possible. But they enjoyed the atmosphere and the delicious raw fish with smiles on their faces. (Facial expressions became particularly important as the rising decibals of music made conversation more and more dificult.) In the end, they left the trendy sushi bar feeling much trendier and much happier (by societal standards) than before. The End. read more

Not only does Wakamono have fabulous martinis, they also deliver sushi straight to my front porch! It's a little pricey, but worth it. I'm a huge fan of the miniature to-go soy sauce bottles. The spicy tuna roll was really outstanding, usually not one of my favorites. Godzilla roll was good... zilla. Awesome awesome awesome miso soup, some of the best I've had. Wakamono, I wakawill be calling you again soon! read more

I guess I have to give it a star because the place is still in business. Good for them. Aside from the horrid service and blatant "I could care less" attitude from the server, which I don't understand as it was empty (crickets really), I got into a verbal argument with the manager. Well, it was verbal until she decided to walk over to me and push me in front of my children and mother. Language barrier, racism or snow, no one has a right to push patrons in a business environment. Needless to say we walked out. Oddest experience ever. I know they are super gay friendly...unless you have a family and speaking in Spanish to you mother... I guess. read more

First off, let me say the food here is excellent and my friends and I love their drinks. This is the only reason I'm giving them two stars over one. That said, their service is terrible. Last night my friends and I ate here and experienced several issues: 1) No one took our drink order until we flagged them down and told them we would like to order drinks. 2) After we received our sushi it was 45 minutes until anyone came to our table again. We seriously thought they had forgotten about us. 3) While we were asked if we'd like another drink while waiting for our sushi, which was nice, the entire 45 min we waited for someone to come back to our table we weren't offered another drink. And the kicker... My friends and I generally tip 20% everywhere we go. We feel that's standard. In this case we tipped 10% (on the entire bill, including tax and alcohol), which we thought was fair given the quality of our service. Our server immediately came to our table to collect our credit card receipts (so they did know we were there!) and cornered us to ask why we only tipped 10% when they are used to receiving 18-20%. Now, I can see if the server was asking to merely understand what our issues were, but it was obvious she was attempting to pressure us into leaving a better tip. It was uncomfortable. Furthermore, when we explained why we left 10% as opposed to 20% she simply disagreed with us. The conversation ended with her saying "Well thank you very much" and walking away while we were still talking. It was surprising, to say the least. I would like to attribute the poor service to an isolated incident, but this was really just the ending of a series of visits to this restaurant where we encountered continually declining service. But, the food is awesome... read more

Wakamono, how I've missed you! The specialty rolls make the slightly higher prices worthwhile. My favorite two are the Peter Parker roll and the Kani Chung roll. I haven't had anything like them anywhere else so I'm willing to pay the combined $30. HOWEVER, that's why this isn't my regular go-to. And why I get so happy when I do pay them a visit. I go to Wakamono when I'm eating off-hours because it's super annoying trying to eat while 15 people waiting with their bottles in the doorway bump into you. I don't know how they could fix this problem but it is definitely a problem. And speaking of bottles, we brought in a screw top last night and were still charged the $8 corking fee. Ouch! The hot towels before the meal make me feel special and the specialty rolls are just that, specialties. This place is a nice treat if you aren't dining at peak hours, don't mind giving up your first born child for the corkage fees (with or without a cork), and have some extra money to spend. read more

Been my favorite sushi in the city for years, but their delivery during the pandemic has been truly next level! Amazing cocktails, great sushi, fast delivery. We miss Wakamono and Wangs, and can't wait to return after this is all over! Will keep ordering weekly delivery in the meantime. read more

We made a $50 to $60 carry out order. The food was average to below average, the prices a little high...especially for take out. We had the Wakamono roll which was the best of our rolls. The rainbow was average. The sweet potato was very mediocre/squishy and very over priced at $8. Salmon maki was on par. And we had a spider, which they did for us off menu, it was soggy. The final nail that gets Wakamono a 1 star is that after ordering an almost $60 take out order, they wanted to charge us a dollar for extra soy sauce and another dollar for extra ginger...and they were very rude about it! Expecting a little extra soy and ginger is standard. We won't be back. I'd avoid Wokamono and its sub par food and poor service. read more

Wow, this is tough love. Since Wakamono opened only a few years ago, this was my favorite sushi restaurant in Chicago. No, in the US. Okay... it was my favorite restaurant, period. Was the 1 star a mistake? No. The following is a tragic love story... My fiancee and I found this place when we first moved to from Pittsburgh to Chicago. Living in a neighborhood (East Lakeview) where you could throw a stone from your apartment window and probably hit a sushi restaurant, it was tough to decide where to get our sushi fix with so many close to our place. Wakamono's eclectic decor (koi fountain, minimalist earthy features) drew us in. We were were greeted by friendly wait staff, even the chefs (who we eventually began to know by name) said hello and were very social. However, it was the jalapeno miso soup that made me fall in love. I could eat this perfect soup all day. It was the opposite of the bland miso you find at other restaurants: not too salty, real miso paste, fresh seaweed, and a jalapeno kick that keeps you begging for more. The music was fantastic: indie, house, acoustic, pop imports. There were cool trinkets at the bar, romantic candle lighting, and seating that encouraged conversation. Oh, and the place is BYOB (always a small corkage fee though). The rolls were fantastic. Yo la mango and Peter Parker's Spider Roll were orgasmic. The prices were always steep. BUT it used to be that the high prices were paralleled by excellence in freshness, preparation, quality of ingredients and healthy portion sizes. My fiancee and I celebrated our anniversary every month there. The chefs knew us. The wait staff knew us. We were welcomed regulars. I took my fiancee there just before I popped the question. I even took my mom there. Notice all the past tense in that story? In the last 3-4 months, this all changed. Apparently, management has shifted. The place is now very cold (figuratively). The music is now mostly oriental muzak (like in suburban strip-mall Japanese restaurants). They raised the prices by $2-4 on many items. The rolls are smaller and taste less fresh. The wait staff hustles you to order and rushes you out. Of course, this is due to the fact that the place is always packed between 7-9pm over the summer and weekends. So the place got popular, and like a band that sold out, they raised their prices. This has nothing to do with BP, or cost of goods sold. This is simply an attempt to drain a higher profit margin from the yuppies that now inhabit it. I don't expect to be treated like royalty, just because I've shelled out $50-70 month as a friendly regular, BUT I don't even feel human there anymore... even at the adjoined bar (Wang's). We sat down for a late-night cocktail, but walked out after being literally ignored by the bartender who was off to the side chatting with his friend. No joke. I like to think that we're nice, decent-looking people, but the place makes me feel like a mutant now. Part of the reason why the food quality diminished is because of the departure of lead Chef (and amazing human being) Alfredo. Alfredo invented most, if not all of the (now kind-of bland) fusion rolls on the menu. However, this story has a happy ending. Alfredo opened his own restaurant in Logan Square that blows this yuppy-fest out of the water. We now bike 4 miles out of the way to get great sushi and even better service. It's called S@kura, and it's a game-changer. If you don't want to leave the neighborhood, at least give your patronage to one of the other smaller shops--or risk being robbed by a sushi shop that got too cool for its own good. read more

i've gone here a couple times and i've had some good experiences. i liked the copious amts. of jalapenos in the miso soup, gave it a nice, spicy kick. i had the godzilla roll, eel, scallop, and some other specialty rolls that i don't remember the name, but i made sure to order the spicy rolls...good stuff. i love BYOB and the lack of a corkage fee, but the bartender told me they were getting their liquor license in a couple weeks, so go now if you like the BYOB aspect! they played tribe called quest all night and lots of other hip hop, which caught me off guard as i never before equated sushi eating with tribe, but i'll never complain about getting a chance to listen to them =) read more

After a two hour wait to be seated, Wakamono was going to really have to work to impress me. Thankfully, they lived up to their crowds, delivering fantastic sushi to our table. First, I had the spicy tuna mako roll. It lived up to his name, delivering quite a bite. Everyone at our table gave it a try and agreed that it packed a punch and was overall delicious. Second, I had the Godzilla roll. As described by one of my table-mates, it was the "junk food of sushi" It was, of course, delish. I had a bite of someone's fire dragon. It was really good but not as spicy as the tuna which somewhat surprised me. This may seem petty but I have a complaint about the host for the evening. Yes, it was busy and as I mentioned before, we ended up waiting two hours for our table. But the part that really got me was that after nearly an hour (which we were originally quoted as our wait time) I realized we had been sitting in the bar and potentially out of the host's sight line. I walked up to accomplish two things -- ask the status of our wait as it had already been an hour and to let him know we were sitting around the corner in the bar. With a very judgmental and snooty look on his face, he looked me up and down. He rolled his eyes and said "Don't worry, I knooow what you look like" in his best I'm-too-good-for-straight-people tone. I then watched him for a bit from my seat at the bar and noticed a clear distinction between his interaction with the groups of men that came in and the hetero couples and/or girls that walked in. There should be no difference, as I'm sure he expects when he goes out with his bf, but there was. And it was insulting to watch. read more

I could not agree more with the reviews that say that the service here is simply craptastic. At a few points during the meal, I almost went up to the sushi bar myself to carry my OWN food out because the waitress was so freaking useless. I thought maybe it was just an "off night" and was possibly due to the fact that Wakamono was so busy inside, but I see from other Yelpers that this was not a unique experience. Their one redeeming quality as far as service goes is that they have an excellent bus-person who kept our waterglasses filled and our table cleared of plates (which is great since the tables - at least the ones outside - are postage-stamp sized). The thing that really irked me about the service was while we were placing our order, the waitress was waving and smiling at someone at Pingpong across the street. Are you kidding me? It took about 20 minutes to get a glass of wine, 30 minutes to get our edamame and sunomono salad (excellent here, I love it), and then, of course, the food came out right away after our apps arrived. Uh, thanks, assholes. The sushi's good. I have no complaints as to the quality, and the order did come made with half of the usual amount of rice, like I asked, so props to the sushi chef. The rolls are not particularly huge, and I think this contributes to the fact that I think it's not the best value for sushi in Chicago. For two people, we paid about $70. We both had a glass of wine and were comfortably full (not 'I'm-gonna-barf' full) after our meal... as mentioned above, we had a couple appetizers (edamame and sunomono) and then split 4 rolls between us. read more

I'm not sure how to write this review. I've started, erased, and restarted about 10 times. So I'll preface by admitting that I've tried sushi a handful of times in the past and I've never really liked it and have since written it off as something I just don't enjoy and wouldn't voluntarily go out to eat. However, this weekend I was asked to try it again by someone that I can rarely say no to so I found myself at Wakamono and about to embark on another raw dining experience. The host; cold and aloof. He barely looked at us when we walked in and never once smiled or said anything I could understand. I smiled anyway and asked for a table for two and he mumbled a little more as he escorted us to our table. There was no wait on a Saturday night around 7:30 which I thought was odd but no complaining there. Our server was a little more friendly. She actually smiled and was pleasant by that was the extent of that. The ambiance at Wakamono is cool and trendy but the staff adds nothing to actually make you feel welcome there. BYOB corkage fee is $5 and we had no problems with that. The edamame (hot) is tasty and a fun presentation and we ordered four rolls (Dragon Roll, Peter Parker Spider Roll, Yo La Mango Roll, and the Sweet Potato Roll). I actually enjoyed the sweet potato and mango rolls. Both tasted fresh and had a good consistency and the mango roll had a little spicy bite to it that I really enjoyed. The dragon roll was my third favorite because frankly I struggled with the eel and unagi sauce. One of the things that always creeps me out about sushi is the texture and I can honestly say that everything had a great texture so my fears were put aside as far as that's concerned. But that's all I can really say about the dragon roll and the spider rolls because my enjoyment ended there. The spider roll was really fun to look at but I only had one piece and couldn't do a second mostly because of the roe. I couldn't get past the strong fishy taste of the roe but I'm sure they are delicious if you are a sushi fanatic. Overall if you love sushi then you would probably enjoy this place more than I did but I have no real reason to give a low rating because I knew going in that I'm not a huge sushi fan. But they still lose one star because of the unfriendly host and the unwelcome vibe that's given off. read more

I really like that their miso soup has jalapenos in it. Give it a nice kick. I'm not a fan of sitting out on the patio but it's nice that they have it. The sushi selections are really good and the environment is pretty cool. Service is quick and if you don't like waiting too long, sitting at the bar is just as good and the guys behind the sushi bar are cool and nice to talk to. I'm looking forward to going back. read more

This was a terrible experience. Initially, upon entering the restaurant, the hostess told us we couldn't sit at a table we selected. The restaurant was empty at the time of arrival. I asked the hostess if the table was reserved for another party. She responded with no. I then asked her to go ask her manager. The manager allowed us to sit there. Now let's discuss the food. We ordered the Godzilla roll. It was good. We also ordered a scallop appetizer, a couple of bento boxes and an order of udon noodle soup. The food was mediocre. We had to send our bento boxes back, due to undercooked rice. The prices were higher than expected. The food caused my entire family to experience upset stomachs. We spent that night and the next day, trying to stay close to the bathroom. Therefore, this was not a good experience, and we will not return to this establishment again. read more

We ordered the godzilla, wakamono, kani chung and peter parker rolls --- all amazing!!! Also got the the house salad with ginger dressing, green tea ice cream and heaven & earth (chocolate cake topped with vanilla ice cream) --- again, all amazing!! No complaints about the flavor or quality of food ... but we were completely turned off when the manager questioned the tip that was given to the waitress --- who was by the way inattentive and unprofessional. I would never go back. read more

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I give Wakamono one star for the stellar calamari. Although I love the stuff, its not worth the unbelievably and ridiculously horrible service. I was a devotee of Wakamono and its sister Ping Pong for the two years I lived in Lakeview. I introduced friends, hosted large dinners, and byo'ed to my hearts content. Although the service was always a little touch and go (some waiters are AWESOME at Ping Pong...others, well., ..not so much) I dealt with it because of the fun atmosphere. Thursday at Wakamono was the last straw. My friends and I decided to have a welcome back party for a friend of ours who had been away all summer and craving sushi. We brought a ton of wine and were understandably dismayed to find out about the newly implemented $5 a bottle corkage fee. (Lets just say our bottles weren't really worth it) Of course I tried unsuccessfully to broker a corkage "deal" since we didn't know about the policy change going in. No luck. When we had finally resigned ourselves to the fee, the waitress informed us that the large bottle of wine in our stash would be a $10 fee. Nowhere is this made up and absurd rule written. As I proceeded to explain that, an angry sprite lept out of nowhere and bared his teeth at me screaming "IF YOU DON"T LIKE OUR CORKAGE POLICY THEN YOU CAN LEAVE!" I was unable to speak for sheer shock. When he left the table, I tried to explain to my friends what happened, at which point he reappeard out of nowhere, screaming at us once again, a scary vision in too short cutoffs and a wifebeater. Long story short, the people running Wakamono know nothing about customer service, decency, or respect. There is no instance during which a loyal patron should be treated the way I was. If you go, do so at your own risk. Oh and make sure you get the calamari. read more

I love sushi and know many places in the city that do it well....wakamono was no exception. However, I would not recommend this place based on the following poor service examples I experienced: 1) My friend and I sat at the bar and enjoyed a glass of wine with our meal. While in the middle of conversation, the bus boy wedged his way between us and took our wine glasses ...and our bottle was 1/4 full. 2) I dropped my chop sticks and had to ask 3 times for replacments 3) We had to wait 20 minutes for our waitress to take our request for additional rolls. 4) Base on the poor service, I left exactly 15%. When the hostess realized this, she came back and said she could barely tip her chefs on this amount - I replied that my service was poor and that I don't tip on the tax. She sighed but in the end I gave an additional 2 bucks. With so many other great sushi places in the city that are willing to give much better service, I don't think a return trip to this place is necessary for me read more

Soooo good!!! But please bring back the spicy tuna specialty role!! I'm so sad it's gone and it was my favorite!

Their specialty rolls are very tasty. The price isn't outrageous, but they don't publicize their corking fee for the BYOB very well. It's a little annoying that they do not take reservations, but the bar on the side has a cool enough environment, that it's not a dreadful experience. Staff is below average, but what I go there for is the sushi and the environment. Both are above average, so my local favorite sushi place gets 4 stars. read more

This two star rating is the result of poor service. The food was good-- cucumber salad was delicious and the rolls we got were good as well (though perhaps a bit overpriced.) My sister and I went for dinner around 6:30. The small dining room was about 1/3 filled so we got seated right away. But then we sat there for at least ten minutes without a server taking our order. I finally asked if we had a server, and someone came over to get our drink orders. There were about 10 people flitting around the dining room and everyone else appeared to be taken care of, so this may have been a fluke. If i go back and the service is better I'll change the rating. read more

The sushi itself is solid, not excellent, but quite good. As many others have said, the prices are a bit steep. Which I could probably live with, if they didn't decide to charge $1 for extra ginger that we had to ask for since they skimped on it for our $80 tray of sushi. - Not cool. And yes, I get that it's a Japanese restaurant, but since it's located in the U.S. it would be really nice if the waitresses spoke English instead of some indecipherable blend of Japanese, and WITHOUT the attitude. read more

I really like the sushi here but the service is really, really bad. I've been here a ton. It's the only sushi place my husband can stand anymore, because he thinks we get it way too much. Every time I go, it's the same thing - tons of waitresses standing around talking, not taking our order or re-filling our drinks. It seems like they have some kind of system of not assigning any waitress to your table, so in the end, no one takes responsibility. I know I'll be back here but ugh, get it together! read more

I LOVE this place and I've tried them all-- yes, it's better than Coast, "Wabi", Green Tea, Kamehachi, you name it, I've been there and Wakamono is the best. The rolls you need to try are: the Oedipus Roll, Kani Chung Roll, Emerald Roll, and Godzilla Roll. I order these 4 (with a friend) every time I go and finish every last bite. It is that good. I always order what I call the "major" rolls or the specials-- they are so good I can't justify getting simply a tuna or salmon roll, you know? Recently I ordered them without mayo and it was still really tasty. Wakamono is fresh and absoloutely delicious. Sitting outside is really nice too since you are in a true neighborhood and the energy is high. Excellent people watching. It's great to eat dinner while experiencing that warm nieghborhood-y feel. If you are a sushi person, you must go here- I have never had a bad roll here. It is high quality and should be awarded #1 Sushi in Chicago. Period. read more

Excellent sushi, some of the best I've had. Get the godzilla rolls (i believe thats what they're are called) they are absolutely delicious!! Service is a little slow the two times i've been there but aside from that everything is top notch. read more

Terrible service. Horrible management (if that's what you call it there) Fishy sushi. Enough said. read more

I enjoyed myself here. Service was fast, and I thought the food was great. Prices were also reasonable. I had the (just remember I'm starting out on Sushi) "Hotel California Roll" and the Shrimp Tempura Roll. I thought the shrimp roll was awesome compared to what I've had in the past. I love the fact that it's BYOB, and even though the seating area is minimal, they turn their tables fast, and there's a few tables outside as well. My brother had the "Peter Parker Spider Roll" and said it was great (I had to mention the names as they were too cute not to!). I'll be back here, dine in, carry-out or even delivery! read more

This place is great. YUMMY! Every piece of sushi we had, we loved. The only downfall, no reservations and it was jammed but our waitress was attentive and the sushi was fresh. I will definitely be back. Plus, I didnt know it was BYOB so we went to Wang's the little connecting bar and grabbed drinks! Fantastic! read more