I really really WANT to like this restaurant. But real authentic Japanese food is crisp, clean and beautiful. I was there on a Saturday night, the place was empty. The sushi was fresh enough, though portions were small. I had the chef's special which consisted of chefs choice 5 pieces of sushi and a choice of one roll. Miso soup and a small salad.
ON PAPER the roll sounded excellent spicy tuna, avacado , and crab. In reality it was engulfed in some sort of thick gooey sweet , syrupy sauce, with thick ribbons of mayonaise and corn syrup covering any semblance of flavor of the actual ingrediants.
The ambiance is geared to a young hip crowd but none were present. They are pumping house or dance music, which is extremely repetious and annoying. Also steel chop sticks along with a fork , authentic Japanese use wooden chopsticks , steel has no grip. The ingredients of real Japanese food is in there , unfortunately it is smothered in high fructose corn syrup and fat. I will drive the 10 miles to Yokohama in Westmont even though Kitaro is one mile from my house.
Don't try to Americanize the Japanese food and experience, that's what I go to sushi bars to get away from !
A sexy little gem hidden in a strip mall. Tasty sea urchin shooters!
I discovered Kitaro after having to come down to Lockport to pick my husband up from work (motorcycle accident, long story, yadda yadda). We had intended to go to somewhere else, but after getting lost from bad GPS directions and with some serious food rage coming on, I pounced on Kitaro after seeing it while turning around in the strip mall's parking lot.
The interior was totally unexpected; very smooth, cool and calming. Nestled in a booth towards the back we indulged in some really nice sea urchin shooters. The octopus salad was tasty, and enough for two people. When it came to maki time, we were totally blown away. Â The spicy tataki was really well balanced with just the right amount of heat. Loving me some tobiko, we had the scary spider. We cleaned up with a Mexican roll, again well balanced and not too spicy.
Overall, the roll size was nice and packed with fish. Really fresh and tasty fish. I was quite surprised, and if I ever haunt Lemont again I'll come back to Kitaro.
I've waited until I went a few times before I submitted a review.
Title: Never fails to underwhelm.
Best: Zen-like atmosphere of decor
Worst: very un-Zen-like vibe of most of the staff. Hurried/harried. All niceties out the window. Wait times looonnng.
Best: consistently good sushi. Better than the Orland alternatives.
Worst: they always seemed pricey, but not anymore. Hmmmm.
After 4 visits: great food but expect service issues.
Visited for the first time today for lunch with my sister. Â
It was just before 1 pm and the place was empty which is  shame.
The atmosphere is sophisticated and  romantic (dark and intimate)
The presentation is wonderful
Quality and price really good.
My sister had a lunch special that comes on white plates and includes soup or salad, tempura, rice, and her entree --- lovely and delicious
I had a 2 maki classic roll special with miso soup ($2 extra):  included  a Clafornia roll and a shrimp crunch tempura roll for $10.
My only disappointment was a stingy amount of white ginger.
The service was adequate but not overt.
I am a fan and will return!
This is probably in the top 5 sushi places in the south suburban area. Â My partner and I frequent this place every couple months. Â The Kobe Beef and Pepperjack rolls are definitely worth a try. Â The pricing here competes with any decent sushi bar I've ever been to... so not sure where the price complaints are coming from below. Â They have a great Sake selection and the wait staff is always courteous and attentive. Â As with the last commenter, I do appreciate the John Legend music selection.. every trip here that's what's been on.... adds a nice touch to dinner. Â The decor is something straight out of the city... you wouldn't expect this to be in a strip mall next to a Jewel.
Review Source:Over priced for the quality and quantity of food! Service was OK, but the food was a great disappointment. Ordered hibachi steak and received a small narrow strip of meat with sides that was barely warm. The soup was marginal and salad left much to be desired. Bill was over $60.00 for two with NO drinks! Better value at Fuji's in Orland.
Review Source:I'm not very adventurous when it comes to new food so when my family first suggested taking my husband and I to Kitaro I was kind of hesitant. Much to my surprise we fell in love with it and now are weekly customers. The atmosphere is relaxing and the staff is always great. The menu choices are much better than some of the other local sushi places. Every time we come it seems they add to it. Â The lunch specials are very reasonably priced for the amount of food you get. It's a great local restaurant that I hope stays around for a long time!
Review Source:I returned to Kitaro tonight to celebrate my birthday with family. This restaurant gets better and better every time I go! Everything was wonderful, from the service to the food!
I ordered the Bento Box A which came with a tasty little thing called Gecko, which was spicy soft shell crab  wrapped in avocado and topped with spicy mayo. We also ordered the Fish Tempura which I HIGHLY recommend.
Kitaro is such a nice little spot right in Lemont. It is really great to have such a wonderful place so close to home!
Really good sushi and a nice atmosphere. Â Our favorite rolls are the Ocean Drive & Godzilla. Â The only better place we've been to in the suburbs is Kiku in Naperville. Â We wish they had an actual hibachi table, this would really add to their popularity among those who aren't sushi fans.
Review Source:Kitaro was a huge surprise to my girlfriend and I!
Atmosphere: I loved the decor here. Very elegant and very soothing. It made my eating experience very enjoyable. And the to top it off, I love John Legend, and hearing a collection of his songs was a huge +
Service: The GF and I had Erica (or was it Ericka?) as our server and she was beyond helpful! She recommended several dishes that blew our taste buds away, and what made her even better was her attentiveness. Always a good thing in my book!
Food: Our appetizers, the super white seared tuna was out of this world! My GF never had a thing for tuna, let alone almost raw tuna, but she absolutely loved it! The tuna had very subtle taste and it was packed with this vinaigrette and pepper sauce, topped with avacado. Delicious! The King Kong Roll and Salmon Obsession maki rolls were phenomenal and a great twist on classic sushi rolls.
Price & Portion: Compared to all the other sushi joints I have eaten at, this place was very reasonable with the prices and the portions were nothing to complain about! We  had our fair share of food for about $70 and it was more than enough to put me in a near state of food coma.
Overall: I would not hesitate to come back here if they were located closer to the city to where I work! I would definitely be a regular here for lunch and dinner take-out! 5 stars! boom
I was very excited to try this place out once I heard Lemont was getting its own sushi bar. Â Aesthetically, Kitaro delivers. Â It's cool and lounge-y looking with a modern relaxing, zen-like vibe.
The food is quite tasty and the presentation is beautiful and inventive. Â Portion sizes are a little on the smaller side than I have come to expect in other sushi bars in the area (i.e. Ichiro in Orland Park and Blu Coral in Woodridge). Â
What shocked me about Kitaro was the price we paid for dinner. Â A dinner for four (where only three people ordered sushi and the 4th only had a seaweed salad and miso soup) without any alcoholic drinks came to $180 plus tip.
Finally, service was sub-par. Â While I think this might be because our waitress was young and seemed very inexperienced, I think part of it was also due to her disinterest in actually doing her job. Â The restaurant was more than 3/4 empty, yet it took close to 10 minutes to get a cup of green tea while we waited 30-40 minutes for some of our rolls to be delivered even though the plates were standing ready for 15 or more minutes.
I hope the service improves as the restaurant continues to work out its opening-month kinks; however, if service remains as it was during my visit and prices remain this high I see little chance of this establishment lasting through to year-end.
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