Their food is top notch. Â The ambiance inside is quite pleasant and the music is authentic. Â The sushi bar is neat. Â Place is great for blind dates...seriously, who doesn't like sushi? Â One day, I,myself, hope to bring a nice woman here and swoon her with fresh sushi, a warm bowl of noodles, and the most expensive sake on the menu.
Review Source:Another favorite sushi restaurant!
The new owner is also the sushi chef. Â Very nice guy. Â The first time we came here, the restaurant was packed on a Friday night. Â After our 5-star experience, I understood why the restaurant was packed! Â GREAT SUSHI, GREAT STAFF!
We sat at the sushi bar. Â The chef talked with us about different kinds of sushi and recommended new sushi rolls I thought I'd never try. Â THEY WERE ALL DELICIOUS!!! Â I can't decide on a favorite sushi roll in this restaurant yet because they were all good!
+ DELCIOUS and FRESH SUSHI!
+ Super friendly service!!! Â The second time we came in, the sushi chef/owner and the head waitress remembered us and thanked us for coming back. Â Wow! Â Talk about getting to know your customers! Â KUDOS, MINAMI RESTAURANT!
+ Prices were justifiable because of the quality of sushi you're getting. Â Affordable!
+ Clean restaurant
+ Free parking lot
+ DELCIOUS and FRESH SUSHI!
+ DELICIOUS and FRESH SUSHI!
+ Did I say DELICIOUS and FRESH SUSHI?
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
What a great local hidden gem this place is. Imagine a sushi version of Cheers. Sure it's not some pseudo-fancy wannabe contemporary joint with ear screeching techno blaring through the speakers causing a person to eat an unnecessarily fancy maki roll at a meth induced pace but the plain homely feel is just what I was looking for. Â Yup, the sights have been set on Sushi Ya. Minami is here to show you how it should be done.
The place was packed at prime time on a Friday evening so in hopes of a little separation from conversation din of the main dinner crowd, we opted to plop ourselves right in front of the sushi chef. Min, the sushi chef, is also an owner and took great care of us. Mind you, he's Korean and my general opinion of Korean owned/run sushi restaurants are typically dismal at best but they are also almost impossible to avoid so I decided to give it a shot. Â I was never happy with the service and food quality at sushi Ya so I was looking to fill the void of local casual sushi joint for my pedestrian sushi needs and Minami certainly seems to be filling said void very well so far.
It's important to note that there is really nothing fancy about MInami. Min serves up some great fish without the pretentious notions that seem to surround so many other establishments these days. Â They have PLENTY of seating so although I saw a few larger parties waiting for a few minutes there was generally very little wait time at peak hours. I've got a feeling that this may change in the future as others discover this quaint little corner of a strip mall and all the goodness it has to offer. Great for large groups as they have a separated area that I assume is there for just this purpose. Â
While Chef Min was furiously rolling maki, I carefully inspected the quality of the fish in his cooler and was happy to find that the quality appeared visually to be very fresh and consistent. I was even happier to taste the fish that he cut generous and beautifully shaped portions of for our sashimi combo. No frozen BS here. Everything tasted fresh and the texture and temp was right on.
We also ordered a soft shell crab as an appetizer and although presentation was a little plain (as is all the dishes here) the breading was just right and the dipping sauce well crafted. We were just in for a few drinks and a light dinner but my wife being the occasional maki fiend that she is decided to order one of those monstrosities covered in something like 16 different sauces rolled to heroic proportions. I think it was called the King Kong roll and I have to say that even though I'm not really a fan of rolls, the King Kong was an explosion of flavors that rounded off our meal quite well.
The service that we received was attentive but not intrusive, which is just the way I like it. Observing that we were having a long and leisurely meal, Sarah who seems to be the head server/manager came over to chat with us after we were done eating. Although she seems young, she exuded charisma and a sense of hospitality and experience that extends beyond a superficial greeting and smile. She chatted with us and gave us another round of the fancily cut oranges my wife liked so much.
While viewing the menu I spotted some decently priced lunch special items and made a mental note to stop by for lunch sometime. Â In fact, most of the pricing on the menu items are either fair or downright cheap considering the quality and portions. This is truly an affordable every day type of sushi restaurant.
I wouldn't be surprised if they remembered us the next time we come because that's just the type of personal service that people seem to receive here and that is exactly what I am looking for. I'll be back soon to sample more of their menu.
Came to eat here on a sunday. I'm so happy that their hours are from 3pm-9pm on sundays. It was also easter, so that means NOBODY WAS THERE, but me and my boyfriend. It was an awesome experience.
I like that it's clean inside and it looks like you're sitting inside of a korean or japenese home. All of the tables are nicely distributed evenly away from each other so you don't have to worry about hearing someone else's conversation. They have a decent waiting area too.
I am in love with the type of music there. It's almost like Nujabes playing the entire time it's so cool listening to. PERFECT SUSHI MUSIC.
Service here is good. The waitress was attentive, informative, and sincere.
The sushi here is amazing! Actually all of the food. Number one thing I was afraid of was the sushi having too much rice because I hate that the most and from the looks of it (through the yelp pictures) seemed as though they rolled their sushi with tons of rice which in the end has you feeling full quicker.
What was ordered:
Baked mussels - 4/5 taste was good, but some of our mussels were broken :( but hey it's alright because the taste made up for it!
Super white tuna
Spring (Tuna Nigiri) - I can't really speak about these because I didn't eat this
Alaskan roll- 5/5 I don't usually like masago on my rolls, but they smother it inbetween the rolls instead of ontop for me to scoop it off so I was bound to eat it either way. It was still tasty and I didn't even mind the masago. The roll tasted exactly how I like alaskan rolls to taste. FRESH. This is the reason why I always order it.
Hell roll- 5/5 They weren't lying when they say it's SPICY. I'd say it was a good spicy though. It is a mouthful though.
Dragon roll- 5/5 OMG, this is so damn good here. I'm really impressed by the flavor it had. It wasn't doused in that sauce and you could still taste eel.
Udon w/shrimp and veggie tempura- 5/5 comes with salad and the boyfriend & I shared this. It wasn't overly salty tasting and they give you the shrimp and veggie tempura on the side! *BING* That's a big plus. I love that they do that without us having to ask.
The hot tea cups are bigger than normal compared to other sushi restaurants and I love that. At the end of your order you get to have orange slices. Fruit as your dessert is always a healthy plus.
Overall this place gets 5 stars because it's close to home, fantastic tasting sushi, AFFORDABLE!! good music = good vibe, and great service.
Hopefully next time you guys have mackeral though. I was down that they didn't have that because that's initially what my boyfriend wanted to order.
TIP: Take advantage of their yelp coupon deal. I did and saved a load. Our end total for this great meal was only $49? or like 40bucks.
The food was good and I was excited when the chef made a veggie roll to my specific order, even though it wasn't on the menu. The staff was friendly but weren't as attentive as I eould have hoped (check on order, drinks, clearing away dishes). Â I would definitely go back, and have already referred to friends.
Review Source:Went to try it for the first time. Lunch specials were cheap and had variety of entrees and sushi. I thought the food was great especially with not many Japanese restaurants in the area to choose from. We had the tonkatsu, shrimp tempura, nigri, and maki rolls. All was good, no compliants here. Just wish they had an udon lunch special too.
Service was good. The waitress was very friendly and the food came out in a reasonable time and at the right temperature. We definitely will be coming back.
Amazing chirashi! The rice was seasoned in a way I had never seen before and it was very very good. New owners are very sweet and welcoming. Weather was bad and I was the only one in there. Don't let that deter you from going in. Fish was very fresh and I could not stop ordering the salmon nigiri. Please support this great new place!
Review Source:I have been here twice this week and the food was great both times . Â I have heard they changed owners recently . If that is the case I think they should consider making a new yelp page or something . The new owners deserve much more than a 3.5 average .
Minami had everything you could as for in restaurant ; it was very clean , great service , and wonderful food .
We had tried the baked muscles , TNT roll , Hell roll , Rolli Rice  & Plum wine . All delicious .
Came here with a family of 5 because we had a $50 gift certificate... ended up paying over $100... it was worth it! the food was good, well mostly the sushi was. Â Kids were all over it... we tried funky names like TNT, Hell and Fire cracker... two thumbs up!
The restaurant itself is lacking in ambience... when we walked in at 1:30p on a Wednesday (day after Christmas) there were only two other tables occupied. Â
The server was a bit sassy off and on... she would give you a backhanded courtesy reply if you say "can I have a box to go please"... she'd be like "yes, you May"... showing you that she knows her English grammar. Â The only reason I gave the restaurant a 4-STAR rating. Â well, and the lack of ambience.
We would definitely go back with or without restaurant voucher. Â 8-)
Excellent sushi, friendly service, reasonable prices. Â My husband and I have been coming here for over 10 years. Â This is the third owner we've seen. Â There were a few problems the first time we went there under the latest management (wrong order, no little soy sauce dishes on the table, etc.) but the important thing was the wait staff and the sushi chef all pitched in to correct the problems. Â I'm happy to say that subsequent visits have been problem free.
The inside has been freshened up a bit and looks brighter. The sushi is a step up in quality with this new owner and the presentation/arrangement is even more attractive than before. The complimentary edamame at the beginning and the fresh orange slices at the end are a nice touch. If you like sake you can get it quite reasonably priced here. It's kid friendly too; it's not unusual to see a family with very young children. Older children are kept busy with the free Wi-Fi. Â All in all this is a little gem in a strip mall.
I have been here twice since the new management has taken the restaurant over. Â The first time was carry out, the second I dined at the sushi bar. Â Both times the food was very good. Â
My carry out experience was excellent.  The food was ready for pickup almost immediately.  I live about a 5-10 minute drive away so I just called and left my house, and the food was ready by the time I arrived.  We ordered a variety of maki (California, spider, spicy tuna/salmon) which was  all very good.  They gave us plenty of accouterments for the meal as well.
Dining in was nice as I got to talk to the new chef/owner and watch him prepare my meal.  I prefer to get sashimi.  I ordered the Sake Dom (all salmon sashimi over a bed of rice).  I was pleasantly surprised that the chef had included a few more pieces that were not on the menu description.  One of which was the tamago (egg) that I had never  tried before, and it was really good.  The salmon was of very high quality and well prepared.  When you eat sashimi as much as I do you get an idea of who has the better product.  Hey if a sushi restaurant can't get the sashimi right, what can they do right? The meal was preceded with a soup and salad offering that I enjoyed, and ended with some fresh orange slices.
Minami has it all. Â A fantastic menu, large dinning room for eating in, and quick carry out service. Â Why fight for a small table at a place like Sushi-Ya! when you can come here are get the same (if not better) quality, along with exceptional service. GIVE IT A SHOT.
Went there last night for the first time. We have been to many of the area sushi places and think we found our new favorite. Â Service was excellent, ambiance was great, the place was extremely clean and the food was delicious. Â You can tell the difference between good quality fish and this place has done it right. Â Unique rolls with plenty to choose from. Â Prices were great for the quality. Â The chief also sent over a sample of a roll for us to try. Â It was awesome. Â We will be making this place a regular date night.
Review Source:I am changing my review to five stars. If I gave the previous owners four because I liked the secluded atmosphere; with you being the only one in the restaurant, then the new manager/owner get five!! The sushi is beyond fresher and more flavorful. This has turned into what use to be gorge yourself on sushi kinda place to lets enjoy every delicate bite! The staff is very welcoming and accommodating to their patrons. I have been there twice since under new ownership, and it has been busier than I have ever seen in the last eight years I been going; word of mouth I'm sure. We did have to wait a bit for our food, but the staff accommodated our wait with complimentary appetizers to keep us happy; that says more than any other restaurant. Point made, happy to see one of my favorite local eats turn into a diamond in the rough.
If you want cheap crappy sushi to gorge yourself go up the street to that buffet place, but if you want fresh, handmade food expertly made; this place is a must try. For my husband and I for five rolls to split with alcohol the bill was around $50, not bad in my book.
Omg soooooooo good!! Amazingly fresh! Just moved into the area and were seeking our new sushi spot, and we found our home :) everything was perfect from the miso soup, to seaweed salad, you have to try the sushi sandwiches and the who likes salmon roll, it is to die for!!! Super friendly service from Sarah lead us to find out that our favorite, fantastically talented sushi chef Min and her own this place!!!! Wow small world :) they have cheap lunch specials Monday thru Friday!! Check them out! You will leave with a smile on your face :)
Review Source:My husband and I eat here often. We dine in and sometimes do take out.  When we walked in today were greeted by a new friendly waitress. We noticed some changes in the dining room. Everything look fresh. We received our drink orders and food quickly. The sushi was delicious  and we noticed a difference in the taste and quality of the sushi.  Portion size was generous. Prices are reasonable. The atmosphere is very relaxing.
Review Source:We went here on Friday night after deciding not to plow through crowds of people at Ipic. Â Surprisingly i choose the opposite of bustling crowds and wondered into a deserted restaurant. Â It was strange to walk into a completely empty restaurant at 7:30 on a Friday evening, but whatever I was here and why not. Â We were seated and offered drinks. Â Our drinks came to us in glasses but I definitely heard the distinctive sound of canned pop being opened. Â the sushi was very good, fresh, with lots of meat on each piece. Â I ordered a pork and rice dish and found the pork chop to be really dry and not a lot of flavor. Â I don't think the pricing reflects the quality of the food. Â At one time this restaurant used to be great.
Review Source:Sadly, even though my previous reviews have been positive, this one is probably gonna be my first lower rating ones.
So, went here on a Lenten Friday, so, I couldn't get my usual tonkatsu, which is STILL good, btw! Â This review is for their sushi.
I had reviewed their sushi before and it was good then, but....a year or so later.....and....
I got their sushi combination of about 18 pieces, when I should have gotten way less! Â I was expecting great things from Minami as far as sushi, but today the sushi was not very good. Â An off-day maybe? Â I dunno.
The sushi looked pretty, but some of the pieces smelled fishy (red flag #1), and the ebi (shrimp) was rather dry (red flag #2). Â Afterward, my stomach didn't feel that great and thankfully I didn't have any more issues than just a bit of an grumbly stomach, but sadly that turned me off to Minami's sushi.
After going to other actual sushi bars like Sakuma and Nozumi, Minami's sushi fails in quality, taste, and texture. Â One of the pieces of fish almost made me retch as it had an "off-texture/flavor" that told me, "Ya know, Maria, perhaps you shouldn't be eating anymore of this." Â Suffice to say, even though I brought home the leftover sushi, I ended up tossing it in the trash for fear of possible stomach issues if I ate anymore of it.
*sigh* Â I'll have to agree with other reviewers as this isn't an authentic Japanese restaurant. Â As people have said, most if not all of the staff is Chinese and while I'm sure Chinese can make decent Japanese food, the quality is just not up there. Â It passes and it is decently priced to go to if you want a quick fix.
I still enjoy their tonkatsu dish and other dishes of that sort are still good in my opinion.
But, I am gonna stay away from their sushi from now on. Â I can get better elsewhere. Â
The service, while friendly and attentive, was slow as when my family came in, there was no one in the restaurant. After we came in, at least three groups of people came in and the SINGLE server who is ALWAYS there was overwhelmed. Â She was doing her best, but they REALLY need to get a second person as back-up to help her out. Â We had to wait a while to get our check and then get it paid.
Overall, while this is a good quick fix psuedo-Japanese restaurant, it fails in the sushi department.
Small Japanese restaurant in Streamwood. Â This place has a large selection of very fresh sushi. Â The pricing is decent not the cheapest, but you do get your money's worth. Â The reason that I'm giving this place 4 stars and not 5 is because they have changed owners a few times. Â Their sushi has changed. Â It is not as great as it once used to be.
My favorite things to get here are:
- Â Dragon Roll
- Â Rainbow Roll
- Â Spider Roll
- Â Yellowtail Sashimi
- Â Yellowtail Roll
- Â Laura-Abby Roll
I feel sorry for this restaurant; their sushi is never first quality; they don't have a large selection; their menu is written for people who would rather look at a coloring book; their service is never top shelf. Too bad. I've been in there several times, hoping against hope that it would get better. Sadly, my last trip in was when there was a big function across the street and the waiter practically refused us service, thinking we just needed a place to park before the event started. We were offended and no apology was offered. We ordered anyway. It was not good and we will not be back. There are other "fish in the sea" or sushi restaurants around, some with actual Japanese chefs!
Review Source:I have visited this establishment about 3 times, and each time I have been greatly disappointed with their sub par rolls. Â The rolls are dry and flavorless, except for the taste of the old fish. Â The quality of fish degrades with time, thus I assume that they don't really get that much business. Â And they will lose me as well unfortunately , since the place is overpriced for the quality and the service. Â The only time I would recommend this place is if you were really desperate for sushi and all other places are closed.
Review Source:Very good for a small, strip mall location. They give you very large portions and always fresh. Service is often a little slow but worth it. This place usually surprises first timers because it is so plain. Looks more like a takeout place. Try it, you won't be disappointed. Very casual.
PEACE
I always order take out sushi from Minami, but recently I tried to dine in. Â I think I'll be sticking to the take out. Â Their service is painfully slow. Â So slow, we got bored. Â So slow, we went to smoke outside only to pass the time. Â
In the meantime, they prepared about 4 to go orders. Â We were one of the two tables in the restaurant, so clearly their focus is on the to go business.
Been here a couple of times, and have enjoyed the food. Everytime I see spicy tuna on the menu, I need ot have it (yes yes I know it's totally americanized .. but I LIKE!! ) The service has always been less than great, the staff is not friendly, just very matter of factly.
Unfortunately, the last time I went I left with a sour taste in my mouth. My date and I have been to this place a number of times before, and 1) they don't greet us as old customers 2) we ordered a tofu dish and it wasn't the usual fried tofu appetizer we normally ordered. I don't know if we messed up or they did, she wouldn't show us the order list again, nor did she offer to exchange the dish for us.
I have never had that happen before, normally if a dish prepared isn't the one we have in mind, either 1) it's exchanged or in most cases 2) comped and the dish we want would be served as well. I am not a miser, but I felt rather out of sorts and it certainly made my date feel very uncomfortable because he thought he had messed up the order.
The more I think about it, I am more than a little rubbed the wrong way from the service of that place. We spent more than 50 dollars there, I do not believe I will return, simply due to the lack of common sense service of this place.
The place is an average sushi restaurant. It looks small from the outside but its definitely bigger inside. The place seemed clean.
As for the sushi itself, it was average. We order a few rolls and the only one that really stuck out was their Treasure Roll. This roll consisted of a soft shell crab, cucumber, avocado wrapped in eel and tuna. It was really tasty and pretty. This roll would be the only reason I would come back here for. The other rolls you can find at any decent sushi restaurant.
The price are on par with the food. The Treasure Roll set me back about $16.95.
The only reason I went here was out of curiosity and because of the whole no meat on Friday thing. Wife is Catholic and she wanted sushi but without driving too far.
They have a waving cat on the counter as you walk in. Classic Japanese restaurant. And it's clean. Just little character otherwise (not that clean should be a character or anything other than a given).
Located in a strip mall, the restaurant is much larger inside than I expected. Service is extremely slow (more than 5 minutes for them to ask what we wanted to drink, and another 5 to bring out 2 bottles of beer).
We got the tatsuma age (sweet and sour chicken appetizer), which neither of us cared for. I thought it was dry (and very hot temperature-wise), and not very flavorful.
I ordered the avocado and cucumber rolls. Both tasted ok, but were loosely assembled. (They fell apart as I dipped them in my soy sauce.) The avocado was a more brown than I'd have liked.
But it was reasonably priced. I just wish the service was better. They do have a kids menu and seemed a lot of people were ordering take out.
I'm sticking with Daruma in Schaumburg from now.
I'll be honest, i've had better sushi.  in fact, i've had better down the street at Daruma (<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/daruma-japanese-restaurant-schaumburg#hrid:NYrYY_ODE9k1KozH12uocg/query:daruma">http://www.yelp.com/biz/…</a> .) If they weren't closed for the week, i'd have never tried minami.
The food was good, not great...but good. Â I got two staples of any sushi restaurant, the spicy tuna roll and the spicy salmon roll. I also got Ebi. Â My wife and i split the Tatsuma Age as an appetizer. Â None were remarkable, but none were horrible either.
The price was the one thing that i truly enjoyed. i think that everything was priced very fairly.
If you live anywhere in the area and crave sushi- this is your best bet. Â Not a lot of sushi options to choose from around here- I'm thankful this one's so good...
The food's fresh and is well-prepared and doesn't break the bank. Â This isn't ground breaking inventive sushi here, but it's a solid one-a-week dinner place for me. Â The softshell crab is outstanding- whenever they have it, I get it. Â
When I lived in the area I got to know the staff pretty well- I'd phone 'em up for carryout and they knew what "the usual" was and got it together for me in no-time. Â I still get out this way to visit my parents and often stop in when I do- it's just plain good.
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