Sushi Loop

Have been going to this place for several years. Sushimi is always fresh and tasty and the owner is great. Always so welcoming. The sushi chef Jay is one of the kindest people I ever met and you will most likely be greeted at the door by his wife Stella also very sweet. Every time we come in Jay comes from around the sushi bar to say hi, greet us, give my girl friend a hug and me the «Hand Sandwhich» handshake and always with a genuine smile. Although his English is hard to understand he always makes an effort to welcome you. This is the charm of this place. It’s décor is decent but nothing to write home about. The Sushi is always good and the prices are very reasonable.
Standout roles are the Ben’s, Dragon, and The Mountain #2 roles.
The Ben’s is incredible. Order this every time. It is a soft shell crab stuffed role with a creamy spicy tuna pâté like topping. Ton of flavor. Very savory.
Dragon Roll: The flavors of the Unagi, masago and avocado are really sensational. Sweet, salty and creamy. Really delicious.
The Mountain #2: This role is not for the someone who came for a light meal. This role is filled with lobster and topped with scallop, Tobiko, Masago and quite a bit of butter. Very rich but really a flavor explosion. Kind of like Glutton sushi.
Delivery is always fast.
Bottom Line:
It is refreshing to know that you can go out to eat somewhere in Chicago where you are truly WELCOMED and APPRECIATED as a customer and not just another dollar in their pocket. I am somebody that goes somewhere for the entire experience and service is something that I see lacking in many of the establishments I visit. The owners are the charm of this place and I will continue to be a customer of their’s for as long as I live in Chicago. Stop in and say HI to Jay and Stella. They are the best.
Can this place be compared to a Toro, Yatsu, Japanais? No, but you aren’t going to go to Spiagia every time you want Italian either. This is a great neighborhood spot where the Sushi is always fresh, the Maki’s always tasty, the prices are affordable and most importantly the service IMPECCABLE.

I ordered delivery and we were not pleased at all with the food. I made sure to tell them about the coupon and they did not make good on that, the yakisoba was salty, and the rolls tasted like mayonnaise. I have never had such crapy food in my life and I won’t order from them again.

I just joined Unilocal to level-​set some of these reviews. Where are these 5 stars coming from? Paid mafia 5-​star bribes?
I was desparate for sushi this summer and didn’t want to go far from home. I might as well have bought some ‘fresh’ gray-​colored, metallic sheen tuna from Dominicks and wrapped it in a tortilla.
For a comparably-​priced West Loop sushi alternative Sushi Pink (albeit, not great either) is a better bet. Oh Sushi Wabi… why did you close?!

So it’s really hard for me to give them only 2 stars because they were so nice, but I really justify giving them any more.
My fiancé and I found this place by our hotel and decided to check it out. It was probably around 7pm on a Saturday and the place was empty. But we figured maybe not a ton of people go out to eat around this area and maybe explained the emptiness. We ordered several rolls and some miso. The miso was delicious, probably the best part? The salad is like any salad at a Japanese restaurant, nothing special.
We ordered the Spicy Tuna, Rainbow, Unagi, and Eagles roll. The Spicy Tuna which did pack a punch, but was tiny in size and didn’t have very much tuna. The Rainbow tasted about average — nothing special. The Unagi was probably the best roll we had in my opinion, had a nice sauce and good amount of eel on it. The eagles roll was different, I wasn’t sure I was a fan of the flavor combination, and had a slightly fishy taste.
While the the service was good, it was also very strange. At one point in the meal, the sushi chef, possibly the owner as well (?) came over to our table with a camera. Then without asking, he took our photo and mumbled something about putting it on their wall, possibly their website.(!!!) It was strange indeed.
In conclusion, good service, rolls were sub par, and you may get ambushed sometime during dinner by a staff member for a photo for who knows what.

My favorite sushi place. Jay is great and used to make me «super white tuna don» off the menu (he has since added it to the menu).
Food is delicious, service is friendly, Jay and his wife (I am sorry I don’t recall her name) are very personable. I like that is feels quiet and unrushed, much more like a neighborhood gathering point than a yuppie sushi bar.
Prices, for the area, are quite reasonable.

This is one of those places I signed up for on Unilocal just to give Bob and Ben the credit they deserve!
Location is weird (next to Subway in Greektown), but it’s real close to the Fulton Fish market and Bob tells me they buy fish every day. The owners are great people and I spent a lot of nights sitting at the sushi bar talking to Bob (not his real name). Once you get to know them they will get you lots of awesome cuts. On my first trip to Japan I felt fully prepared for a «real» sushi experience after coming here for years.
I don’t ever get those rolls with all the mayo and craziness on them. There’s plenty of places to get that kind of food — get to know Bob and Ben and expand your taste buds a little bit.
By the way this is the only place in the city I know where you can get Fugu Kawa! Five stars just for that!

I’ve been here several times. The staff is always nice, everyone from the chef to the greeter/​servers, and they are attentive. I like the plum wine! If you like sweet wines, it’s a great way to go. I also like the «combo platters» for lack of a better term. They just bring you a big tray/​plate with several different things on it. Yum. :)
Parking can be a pain.

DON’T GO HERE. SERIOUSLY, IF U KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SUSHI PLEASE HEED THIS WARNING.
Yesterday evening, even before walking in though I noticed that the place was completely empty. not a good sign considering sushi has a very short shelf life. The owner in chef jacket who greeted us with a genial disposition, and well… that was the only thing that turned out to be pleasant.
We ordered the «hae dup bop» which is a sort of salad/​rice bowl with sushi on top that suppose to be tossed in a spicy sauce. IT WAS TERRIBLE. the dish itself was small… very small. The sushi itself was definitely the past its due date. Rather than being plump with a slightly chewy texture and vibrant fresh bite, it was flat. The fish was downright disgusting! (and i don’t usually get this upset because i love sushi so much). The texture was like a stiff miso paste that was mushy and just sorta found its way to smearing onto the roof of my mouth.
Another thing I noticed was that the sushi was not cut into cubes but actually almost minced and chopped into such fine pieces it was like a ground beef, really terrible that I’ve never seen this kind of «hae dup bop» anywhere. I can only surmise that this was done in an effort to mask the horrible «bits and end pieces» he decided to serve us instead of throwing it out. The person I was with refused to finish his plate and a few bites.
And the worst part– It was $ 20 EACH!!! $ 16 for the bowl and $ 2 extra for brown rice substitution (which was no bigger than ¼cup)
I don’t do this often, but please save your money and go elsewhere (KOHAN Japanese restaurant is nearby and actually decent!)

Do not order Korean food here.
Having an emergency Korean craving, we ordered several dishes, including bibim bap and soon dubu jigae for take-​out. We drove there, double-​parked, picked up the bags of food, and drove home — only to discover that they forgot the soon dubu jigae.
It was ten minutes til closing but we called them anyway — esp. given that they already charged us for the food. They said they’d have it ready in ten minutes. We drove all the way back and picked up the food (they apologized).
When I opened the container of the «soon dubu jigae,» I discovered it was a bucket of luke warm water with specks of red pepper and globs of tofu. Clearly they just threw a bunch of ingredients in a pot before closing and hoped it would fly.
Despite my craving for Korean food, I could not finish it because it was disgusting. The other dishes we ordered were overpriced and mediocre at best.
Yes, we realize the restaurant is called «Sushi Loop» and therefore does not constitute a Korean restaurant. But for a place that is run by Koreans and offers Korean food, it was a huge disappointment.
Never again.

Went there last night (Friday) with my wife.
Besides the fact that it is walking distance from home, the nice thing was that the sushi chef was very welcoming!
We asked him to make a special roll for us, he did it with a huge smile!
For a seaweed salad, a customized roll, 6 sushis, a bi bim bap, a large beer, we paid something like $ 40 for the 2 of us. Yes it was happy hour, but the taste stay the same!
We officially have a new place for our weekly sushi fix! No need to drive to Lakeview anymore!

I love sushi, but because I’ve had the best I can’t rate this place at more than a three out of five. But, three stars for sushi coming from me is rather good! I’m aware that not every sushi restaurant can be Mizu on North Ave, but hmmm my standards are high since, sushi is one of my favorite foods!
1) I foolishly ordered the catipillar roll not paying attention to the fact that it was made with shrimp at Sushi loop. I’m allergic to Shrimp, but since I always ordered it from Mizu and it was made with eel I just thought that it would be made the same way. I was silly for not paying attention, but the Chef was nice enough to send the delivery person to my house with the dish made with eel FREE of charge! It was great! I appreciated that he was nice enough to re-​deliver the food when the error was all mine!
2) The menu seems quite limited in comparison to other places in the area.
3) The sushi is fresh, but it has a watery frozen taste at random times.
4) The customer service at this place is great!
5) They have a wide delivery area so, enjoy.

NOT WORTH IT. Really, really, really small portions of sashimi and only one piece of nigiri per order. $ 2.50 for a couple of quarter-​sized pieces of sashimi or one stingy piece of nigiri, no way!!! What we got was decent, but not only were the portions miniscule, they messed up our delivery order: instead of 4 orders of nigiri and 2 orders of sashimi, we got 4 sashimi and 2 nigiri.
Rolls (sake avocado and spicy tuna) were fine, but heavy on the rice and a little messy.
BOTTOM LINE: Save your money, or better yet, use it to go someplace better and more cost-​effective like Toro.

Pros
Cute place
Nice décor
relaxing ambiance
not to stuffy
very friendly sushi chef (He was amazingly nice!)
chicken dumplings were pretty good
Cons
Tiny pieces
not a very exciting selection of rolls
overall the sushi was bland — no taste
Overall, it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t as exciting as I wanted it to be. Based on the reviews I had high expectations. Unfortunately it was a major letdown. Maybe I ordered the wrong things?

Who knew there was a great little sushi joint smack dab in the middle of Greektown? Well, not me, until a friend turned me on to Sushi Loop.
We walked in and were warmly greeted by Jay, the owner who remembered my friend and who made me feel like I had been going there forever. We took a seat at the end of the bar and ordered a beer and a perfectly made mixed drink. They also have a range of sake that they would love to tell you about. The décor is simple and the feel is neighborly as the staff and owner know most everyone who walks in the door.
No need for menus for us. We just told Jay to make us something and he began to craft our dinner. Within minutes, our first maki roll was in front of us. Some type of delicious roll topped with eel. Lovely. Next up, the «mountain». I still don’t know what was in this artful mound of sushi but it was a bit spicy with slight fish taste and was beautifully presented on the plate. Our final roll was some type of shrimp tempura roll which was also quite tasty!
Rolls are reasonably priced (actually cheaper than my regular sushi place) and they are bigger! Street parking is a bit of a challenge on the weekends but you can usually find it within a block or two.
I found it strange that for a place with such excellent food and service that it was pretty empty on a Saturday night, although there were plenty of take out orders being picked up.
I guess people don’t think about going to Greektown for sushi. But they should. For Sushi Loop, with it’s simple interior, friendly staff and terrific food is there, just waiting for you to show up!

I’ve gotten takeout from Sushi Loop a few times.
Chicken donburi aka oyako don — It was good quality stuff… but it was absolutely tasteless. Good if you’re on a strict diet, but awful if you crave flavor.
Bibimbap — Good sized portion and tasty standard bibimbap. Could maybe use another banchan or two thrown in the mix but overall it’s good and cheaper than Seoulfood Café.
Unfortunately, their Grubhub platform is phone-​only. When I called, the lady didn’t speak great English and they had some problems with the address (north of the river) so that was the last time I tried.

I would give this place two stars if it didn’t make my date sick.
Even without the vomiting episode a couple hours after eating here, it’s just not a great place. They used low quality ingredients and the maki rolls looked like they were put together by an amateur. Also, the miso soup came out far too hot (probably microwaved). The atmosphere was ok, but nothing special. Prices were decent, but I’d rather spend my money on food that doesn’t make me (or worse, my date!) sick.

I love this place, been coming here for years. The mountain roll is great and unique give it a try. The oyster shooters here are spectacular (especially when they are ½ off during happy hour). The spicy salmon here is also spectacular (made with a home made house spicy sauce). The owner is truly a gem and this is the friendliest place to go get your food. Service here is great but because there’s only one sushi chef most of the time be prepared for a small wait if the place is busy.
We had a going away luncheon here and they got 12 of us in and out in a flash (we did pre-​order most of our rolls though).
Give this place a try, you won’t be disappointed!

I like joints (no, not that kind). Small, sometimes shabby and semi-​forgotten places that have delicious food and an unpretentious atmosphere.
This place. Happy hour, all rolls discounted and beer and sake half price every day? I’ll be here for dinner every day I work downtown!
Delicious rolls, the best I’ve had in awhile. Frosty beers — $ 4 during happy hour! Charming waitstaff and a cool sushi chef.
Working AC and a spotless environment. Yes, GO after work! Tonight!

If you have a must-​have craving for a spider roll and you don’t want to travel to the north side of Chicago for it, then I guess sushi loop would be your place to go, however it is not the best sushi in town. I would say far from the best sushi in town. I didn’t dine in there I decided to order take out.
I had the spider roll, and spicy tuna roll, and I wasn’t happy with it all. The spicy tuna had a very orange like clear color to the fish, and it was mashed up pretty well. And the mashed up orange color tuna tasted very mild and it had very little flavor. The sprider roll was al ot of rice and cucumber and little soft-​shell-​crab.
This place is a few blocks down from my building, and I don’t think I’ll be walking to that place for sushi, because it didn’t leave me with a good impression.

On a snowy January day, I trudged through Greektown seeking some solace from the cold and some food to fill me up. Surprisingly, I found myself looking into a small refined restaurant with Asian décor, and was curious…
Walking in, I was greeted with an «irrashiemase!» (welcome) from the chef and a gentle bow from the hostess. Sitting down, a hot towel was provided to clean and warm my hands as I skimmed the menu for what to dine on. And that evening, I had likely one of the best sushi experiences in my life, because they took me in like family.
After some conversation with both the chef and the hostess (who is his wife), I learned that they had just opened up the business this week. I fail to remember what I ordered (over four years ago), however what sticks out is the excellent conversation and great treatment I receieved.
For the next two years, I brought all my friends to Sushi Loop, showing them not only what good quality sushi should taste like, but also what its like to be treated well by the chef and hostess. Many rolls and many enjoyable meals later, I would find myself no longer within walking distance to Sushi Loop and it would ultimately no longer be as accessible as before…
Which brings us to last night… two years later, I find myself, my fiancée, and her roommate in the city nearby, and we decided we had to stop in for a good sushi meal and to see how Chef Jay and his wife Stella were doing…
From the moment I walked in, they remembered me by first name, gave me a hug, and wanted to hear how things were going in my life (married yet? how’s the job?) They even remembered my girlfriend at the time (now fiancée) and gave her a hug as well. The chef joked with me and said «No more having too much fun now Derrick! You have a good girl to marry and take care of.» It felt like being with family you hadn’t seen in a long time. Which just made me realize how much I’ve missed Sushi Loop…
So sentiments aside, I do want to tell you that Sushi Loop has great quality fish, and is an excellent combination of a Korean/​Japanese restaurant. In my two years there, I’ve tried so many different roles and eaten new things there, that I want to point out some of my favorites that really stand out:
Mountain Roll 1 and 2 — Both very innovative dishes that I have not seen elsewhere. I highly recommend it.
Ha Dup Bap — I may be partial since this is the first place I ever had Ha Dup Bap, and I really hadn’t seen this dish elsewhere until about 1.5 years ago… but it’s an excellent mix of rice, salad, and fish with Gochujong sauce.
Tiger Rolls — Again, a chef specialty that is phenomenal.
While I would rate the food four stars, the fifth star comes from the care that Chef Jay and Stella provide every one of their customers. I’ve found that Chef Jay often goes to each table and introduces himself and wants to learn each guest’s name, and if you’ll let him, he’ll recommend different things to try based on your level of sushi experience. And as customers leave, the chef often stops what he is doing and along with his wife, walks the customer to the door to see you off. This is the treatment they offer all their customers.
Verdict: Make the trip out to Sushi Loop if you want some phenomenal customer service and some good sushi. My recent trip down memory lane only has me interested in going back again and again in the future.