We went here the weekend after 2/14. The food was amazing, esp the lamb, uni, raw shrimp, and soup courses. However, I found the pricing to be deceptive/scammy and it wasn’t enough food. Firstly, on tock the tasting menu was listed as $185 when we booked, but when the bill came it was suddenly $215pp (they probably didn’t update it at the time, but they should’ve). Most importantly, the chef offered a salmon piece with king oyster mushrooms in the middle of the meal and asked if everyone would like to “try it” as if it was a complimentary piece. Everyone in the room said enthusiastically, sure why not, and accepted the extra piece. I believe others assumed it was a complimentary piece as well. I didn’t think it was not complimentary esp given it wasn’t a special or memorable piece at all. Then when the bill came it was an extra $60 basically, $26 per piece. We felt like we were baited. There are many ways to convey this course wasn’t complimentary. The most obvious way would have been for the server, not the chef, to let us know in the beginning or towards the end of the meal that there would be a special item on the menu and ask if we wanted to partake, not just the chef casually asking if we wanted to “try” a piece. Being a fine dining establishment, they should have known to convey this better. With the bill being with all these unexpected curveballs, the $350 pp total felt not worth it for just one Michelin star. I also was only semi full at the end of the meal (I’m less than 110lbs…) as the nigiris were small. I’d think with $350 they could make the pieces normal sized?? Maybe I’m used to food in ny but there are many places for Michelin star or high quality food for less than this price tag with better experiences and more food. Side note was that it was really cold inside for some reason, the other guests around and I were freezing and had to ask them to turn up the space heaters. TLDR: great tasting food, gorgeous interior, but deceptive pricing, left semi full
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Hsiaoming Wang (Sam)
A decent Japanese restaurant serving delicious foods.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kendall Hostetler
I came to Mako with my fiancé and friend for the tasting and wine pairing. Overall, food was very good! We recently traveled to Japan, and the quality was similar (though sizes were much smaller). A few things to note:We were extremely rushed throughout the courses and wine pairings. The 23 courses and pairings were served in an hour. There were multiple times in which we had barely started a glass of wine before the next one came out…and times in which two courses were served within minutes of each other. We weren’t able to sit back and relax, rather we we spent an hour tripping through the courses.The sommelier sounded extremely scripted and unconfident in the wines he was pouring. For the price of this experience, we were hoping that this would have been very fun, instead we felt as though the mix of an unsure sommelier and the rush of each course was not worth it.The food, while good, was extremely small. We left and within two hours were sitting in a pub eating chicken tenders and waffle fries.Every restaurant is allowed to have off-nights, but when you are in the Michelin-Star realm, it’s an eat or be eaten world. All in all, it was a fun experience…that we probably won’t repeat. There are so many other wonderful restaurants around Chicago that, unfortunately, we would love to try before coming back.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
sean nguyen
Speechless. Wow at every
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mo Fahim
While it might be one of, if not the most, expensive omakase in Chicago…it’s absolutely the best sushi in town.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ryan Hampton
This experience with food was not just good, it was life changing! My gf and I went for our anniversary and were treated exceptionally well. The sushi was out of this world in both flavor and presentation. I've been eating sushi since I was 3, all over the US and in Japan and to experience it so uniquely after all other experiences was just magical!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sushi, Nigiri
Steve Ray
Highly recommend the Chefs table omakaze. The wine and sake pairing was a perfect accompaniment.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ayelet Gneezy
Food was tasty. Service implacable.The prices...:that's a whole different story. I've had omakase in several top restaurants, and all were pricy. Mako's prices were much much higher than the next most expensive one (and they mandated a 20% tip).Bottom line? Tasty, pleasant, but not sure it's worth it.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Bonnie
Waited for a while to gave review. Me and my husband went there for our anniversary. An Asian guy waiter made me feel very uncomfortable. Taking my plates without informing me. I got startled a couple of times. Not sure how to get their service with a star.
I went to Mako with my friends and had a great culinary experience. In addition to the food, we also tasted several varieties of wines from several continents. The way in which the food is cooked, the way of presentation and the design of the restaurant make Mako the ideal choice for a perfect experience.
I would leave 2 star review but the service and atmosphere made up for some of the food short comings. The Omakase was fine nothing spectacular for the price you pay. You have to deposit $150 per person to make a reservation to then get hit by another charge of another $150 - $200 after your dinner. For a family of 4 we ended spending close over $1,500. Paying this much for a dinner you would expect to feel satiated but you leave feeling not hungry but not full after 25 dishes. The pieces of nigiri are comically small. The other omakase experience I have done was $195 all-in at reservation and you also got 25 dishes, and you left feeling full & happy. Overall, the experience is fine my only recommendation is that restaurant makes me clearer that the deposit does not cover the actual dining experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Zach Kerekes
A fantastic experience through and through!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tiancheng Zhang
The price is $195 per person + tax and gratuity. It is challenging for a male not to be hungry after the meal. Every slice of sashimi is so thin sometimes it is hard to taste the flavors of it. The price is very competitive to many other Michelin restaurants, so I am quite disappointed.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Nick Hwang
We made reservations for Christmas Eve dinner and mentioned very specifically that it was also a birthday. Not only were we seated in the corner at the very end near the entrance with everyone walking past us, but there were no accommodations or even anything mentioned for the birthday. Somehow the food was good but nothing was memorable. It was just high-end sushi. But considering that this was a 23 course meal, the pieces of sushi are tiny and I have never been not full after an omakase experience. I literally was hungry again by the time I got home. Maybe the terrible experience I had diluted my memory of the food with negative emotions. We also made the reservation through Tock and they specified that it would be 215 dollars per person. Somehow our bill came out to be 700 even with the 205 dollar reservation fee that I had put down. For a high end Michelin one star omakase, this was an absolute disappointment. Food was good but with all these factors, how could anyone say that this met Michelin standards in any way? Absolutely disgusted with my experience here.
Inventive, delicious Japanese! Great views!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We went here the weekend after 2/14. The food was amazing, esp the lamb, uni, raw shrimp, and soup courses. However, I found the pricing to be deceptive/scammy and it wasn’t enough food. Firstly, on tock the tasting menu was listed as $185 when we booked, but when the bill came it was suddenly $215pp (they probably didn’t update it at the time, but they should’ve). Most importantly, the chef offered a salmon piece with king oyster mushrooms in the middle of the meal and asked if everyone would like to “try it” as if it was a complimentary piece. Everyone in the room said enthusiastically, sure why not, and accepted the extra piece. I believe others assumed it was a complimentary piece as well. I didn’t think it was not complimentary esp given it wasn’t a special or memorable piece at all. Then when the bill came it was an extra $60 basically, $26 per piece. We felt like we were baited. There are many ways to convey this course wasn’t complimentary. The most obvious way would have been for the server, not the chef, to let us know in the beginning or towards the end of the meal that there would be a special item on the menu and ask if we wanted to partake, not just the chef casually asking if we wanted to “try” a piece. Being a fine dining establishment, they should have known to convey this better. With the bill being with all these unexpected curveballs, the $350 pp total felt not worth it for just one Michelin star. I also was only semi full at the end of the meal (I’m less than 110lbs…) as the nigiris were small. I’d think with $350 they could make the pieces normal sized?? Maybe I’m used to food in ny but there are many places for Michelin star or high quality food for less than this price tag with better experiences and more food. Side note was that it was really cold inside for some reason, the other guests around and I were freezing and had to ask them to turn up the space heaters. TLDR: great tasting food, gorgeous interior, but deceptive pricing, left semi full
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
A decent Japanese restaurant serving delicious foods.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I came to Mako with my fiancé and friend for the tasting and wine pairing. Overall, food was very good! We recently traveled to Japan, and the quality was similar (though sizes were much smaller). A few things to note:We were extremely rushed throughout the courses and wine pairings. The 23 courses and pairings were served in an hour. There were multiple times in which we had barely started a glass of wine before the next one came out…and times in which two courses were served within minutes of each other. We weren’t able to sit back and relax, rather we we spent an hour tripping through the courses.The sommelier sounded extremely scripted and unconfident in the wines he was pouring. For the price of this experience, we were hoping that this would have been very fun, instead we felt as though the mix of an unsure sommelier and the rush of each course was not worth it.The food, while good, was extremely small. We left and within two hours were sitting in a pub eating chicken tenders and waffle fries.Every restaurant is allowed to have off-nights, but when you are in the Michelin-Star realm, it’s an eat or be eaten world. All in all, it was a fun experience…that we probably won’t repeat. There are so many other wonderful restaurants around Chicago that, unfortunately, we would love to try before coming back.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
Speechless. Wow at every
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
While it might be one of, if not the most, expensive omakase in Chicago…it’s absolutely the best sushi in town.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This experience with food was not just good, it was life changing! My gf and I went for our anniversary and were treated exceptionally well. The sushi was out of this world in both flavor and presentation. I've been eating sushi since I was 3, all over the US and in Japan and to experience it so uniquely after all other experiences was just magical!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sushi, Nigiri
Highly recommend the Chefs table omakaze. The wine and sake pairing was a perfect accompaniment.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food was tasty. Service implacable.The prices...:that's a whole different story. I've had omakase in several top restaurants, and all were pricy. Mako's prices were much much higher than the next most expensive one (and they mandated a 20% tip).Bottom line? Tasty, pleasant, but not sure it's worth it.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Waited for a while to gave review. Me and my husband went there for our anniversary. An Asian guy waiter made me feel very uncomfortable. Taking my plates without informing me. I got startled a couple of times. Not sure how to get their service with a star.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
I went to Mako with my friends and had a great culinary experience. In addition to the food, we also tasted several varieties of wines from several continents. The way in which the food is cooked, the way of presentation and the design of the restaurant make Mako the ideal choice for a perfect experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Wagyu, Salmon Sashimi, Sushi, Nigiri
I would leave 2 star review but the service and atmosphere made up for some of the food short comings. The Omakase was fine nothing spectacular for the price you pay. You have to deposit $150 per person to make a reservation to then get hit by another charge of another $150 - $200 after your dinner. For a family of 4 we ended spending close over $1,500. Paying this much for a dinner you would expect to feel satiated but you leave feeling not hungry but not full after 25 dishes. The pieces of nigiri are comically small. The other omakase experience I have done was $195 all-in at reservation and you also got 25 dishes, and you left feeling full & happy. Overall, the experience is fine my only recommendation is that restaurant makes me clearer that the deposit does not cover the actual dining experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
A fantastic experience through and through!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The price is $195 per person + tax and gratuity. It is challenging for a male not to be hungry after the meal. Every slice of sashimi is so thin sometimes it is hard to taste the flavors of it. The price is very competitive to many other Michelin restaurants, so I am quite disappointed.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
We made reservations for Christmas Eve dinner and mentioned very specifically that it was also a birthday. Not only were we seated in the corner at the very end near the entrance with everyone walking past us, but there were no accommodations or even anything mentioned for the birthday. Somehow the food was good but nothing was memorable. It was just high-end sushi. But considering that this was a 23 course meal, the pieces of sushi are tiny and I have never been not full after an omakase experience. I literally was hungry again by the time I got home. Maybe the terrible experience I had diluted my memory of the food with negative emotions. We also made the reservation through Tock and they specified that it would be 215 dollars per person. Somehow our bill came out to be 700 even with the 205 dollar reservation fee that I had put down. For a high end Michelin one star omakase, this was an absolute disappointment. Food was good but with all these factors, how could anyone say that this met Michelin standards in any way? Absolutely disgusted with my experience here.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1