50 Best Japanese Restaurants near Harwood Heights

“Excellent food and service!! Highly recommend!“

“Quick friendly greeting and seating on a cold, wintery evening. The place was busy but the service was prompt and accurate. Excellent quality food and large portions. And you'll probably never be short of soy sauce per your taste.“

“This place is the perfect dining experience in my opinion. It's casual, yet intimate, and the atmosphere is chill hip hop. I got the Beef Bulgogi and the KFC and I am at odds with myself in choosing a winner between the two. I am 100% coming back to try the Tomago and Tonkatsu! The pièce de résistance was the Ube and strawberry dessert sandwich, it blew me away. However, what made this a 5 star experience in earnest was our server Calvin, he gave us so much knowledge and made us feel very comfy and welcome ? he is a G and I look forward to coming back to tell him how I feel about the rest of the menu!!!“

“Wonderful service and excellent rolls!! Overall great experience“

“Nice and cozy sushi bar. Great food!! Recommended“

“Amazing sushi... unique offerings, and ultra delicious. i seriously think about my next visit waaaay too much...“

“Love this place! The food was delicious with amazing presentation. It's very clear the chefs put careful detail into every menu item and is one of the best veggie maki rolls I've ever had from a restaurant. The service was great and staff made my experience enjoyable along with the amazing food prepared, I highly recommend trying this restaurant!“

“Ora is a fantastic sushi restaurant with FRESH fish and excellent service. Definitely a go to for date night.“

“The Sushi was absolutely delicious .“

“I believe this place is a sister location to The Sipping Turtle, that being said the food is so good. I love the freshness of the ingredients, it truly is fully customizable. Only thing I wouldn’t recommend is their smoothies, I just don’t think they have a lot of flavor (super bland smoothies, taste like a lot of ice)“

“I really like this place! I had the Tantanmen ramen and chicken karaage and both were bomb. Great service too. We were seated quickly and our food came out in under 10 mins. 5/5 stars in my book!“

“Excellent Ramen. Excellent bartender in Helen Try the Mango Tango Vegi Roll.“

“Manooben is the cutest little hole-in-the-wall! It's cozy, homey, and owned by the sweetest Korean mama and papa. The kind of place that makes you feel at home. The name of the restaurant is an acronym for maki, noodle, and bento lol. So cute.

I tried the hand roll combo. Two massive hand rolls, packed with fresh ingredients, and a bowl of homemade udon that hit all the spot. The broth was simple but flavorful. It was clean and refreshingly light. The hand rolls were absolutely perfect. I'd go weekly for this combo if this place was near my workplace.

I also tried the spring train maki. The texture and flavors were solid, but those rolls are so fat and hearty, it will fill your whole mouth with every bite. You can really feel the love from the papa chef with those fat cuts.

Lastly, I tried the sashimi rice (Hwedupbap). The bowl was massive, and I wanted one at home so bad. This dish is also very simple, fresh sashimi over rice, drizzled with their homemade sauce. I love a good homemade sauce. I ended up squeezing that sauce onto every bite cause I love my food saucy.

Such a small place, full of love! I can't wait to go back.“

“California man says Yes, and highly recommend here“

“Delicious poke bowl! Fast delivery!“

“Amazing freshest sushi , best in the town , great service , and nice ambiance.“

“Folks, this is the real deal. All the food was great. I'm pretty sure the chef is Japanese. I say so because they have authentic items like Nira Tama and Kampyou Maki (both fabulous, by the way) that you won't see on the menu at other places. They also had Iichiko (wheat shouchu (think vodka)), and they were happy to make me an oolong wari. Loved it!“

“Great food, fresh ingredients… worth every penny!“

“So much to love. Many tasty options and it's BYOB!“

“First time here! Everything was delicious.“

“Wonderful, authentic, beautiful Japanese sushi & food with a fantastic, hands on owner & exceptional service.“

“fantastic tiny place but the food sushi huge selection and ramen are great. I have such a nice experience Everytime I go there. The owners Akira and Kathy are THE NICEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. REALLY PLEASANT! I go next door for a pedi and I just feel so relaxed and nice going in this mini strip mall. I really recommend both. if your having a crappy day go get a pedi and enjoy some great sushi or ramen. it's a counter place but it has its own charm and coziness. they use to own the restaurant in Wilmette but downsized. so help keep this gem and go often.😀“

“The widest selection of Sushi grade seafood Ive seen on a menu in a Long time- all very fresh and very generously portioned! Octopus and salmon Sashimi were the dessert orders from our kids 😂 We will definetly be returning, and highly recommend. Servers, Host, Owner, entire staff was extremely attentive- and to top it all they were happily and safely able to accomodate my childs severe dairy and peanut allergies (first sushi experience for him, and we Love seafood, so huge win for the whole family 🙌🏼)“

“First time visitor. The food was exceptional, getting the takoyaki and route 66 rolls. Takoyaki was very hot and fresh, and extremely tasty. And I wasn't expecting the portion size of the roll to be as big as it was. Decently priced for the entire meal. I would definitely recommend eating at this place.“

“We had a fabulous dinner last night at Chicago Kalbi with Cummins Peru, Komat'su, and the VPs from Antimina copper mine.

Such a great place, where you cook the wagyu & kobe beef at your table. The food was delicious ?

Isao Tozuka, the chef and his wife Chiyo-san, are fabulous hosts, very friendly, and really happy to help and show you how things are do e.

I would definitely recommend coming here. It's a unique place. Make sure you book though ad it can be busy.“

“have eaten here for many years. I am aware of the new management but we will continue to come to the eat at RengaTei“

“I will say this was a 3.5/4 out of 5. I’m rounding up my overall rating to a 4.

It’s a very nice ambience inside with various seating options (bar, high stool, regular seating). When we went around 7pm it was practically empty and not sure if because it’s a new restaurant or it was a week day but I recommend going on a weekend when it is a bit more lively. Despite it not being packed, service was a bit slow.

Food wise - the food tasted really good however the portions were tiny for the price. We ordered the cucumber salad, mushroom skewers, and chicken sandwich. All were really good. Mushroom skewers were seasoned very well but were a bit dry (no sauce or anything). Also, chicken sandwich was very good but the chicken was a bit dry. We asked for more honey mustard because it was so dry and then saw that they charged us for the additional mustard which was a bit penny pinching. The sandwich is very flavorful and chicken was thoroughly cooked.

There’s also not a lot of vegetarian options.

All in all the food was good in my opinion however do have these few suggestions.“

“We liked very much. We strongly recommend“

“My family and I got several bowls from Koya. We loved all of the customizable toppings it offers as well as the complimentary miso soups and cookies that come with the bowls. The ingredients were fresh, and portions were pretty large. The food was very reasonably priced.“

“perfect foods...great decorations.. nice price...“

“Awesome vibe, the atmosphere is spectacular and the service is exceptional! We got ramen which was very nice. You can add or take away from any of your choice ramen. We also got a cucumber salad, their fried chicken and kimchi, all very good.You order everything via an iPad, even order water. Very cool services. We will definitely be coming back for the sushi next!“

“Good food with good asmosphere. I really recommend this restaurant if you are in a mood of craving yummy food!“

“Sakura was a cozy restaurant with really good Sushi, we enjoyed our time there! 😊🙏🏻“

“A light evening at this relative central location. Great sushi pleasant store , very colorful but chill, one thing I didn’t expect was the floor was a little slippery , but looked clean may just be the type of tiles used or my shoe . Staff was pleasant and welcoming. Love the anime’s/gaming theme to store and names for the type of rolls, you could tell it was thought through and deliberate. Time between order and receiving the meal was quick …. I loved the Mario roll and crab Rangoons were more ish (would go back for this) .

Ultimately a Great experience and left comfortably full but not stuffed worth the spend??

Parking: It really depends on on time you go but the seemed to have a bunch of street paid parking relatively easy to access“

“I am not local, this is a regular go-to place for a friend, so when I visit with her, she wants to bring me. I had a Chinese Eggplant with chicken dish, flavorful and spicy. Also had some nigiri sushi, all very good. The Black Tobiko was plentiful and fresh. The Tamago and Inari, which are types of sushi that are deceptively simple seeming but really show a chef's knowledge and artistry, were excellent. I'm sure I will go again.“

“Warm, cozy, and slightly upscale. The izakaya has karaoke rooms available for rent, but the vibe of the place is great for ordering a few beers, some karaage, and whatever's on special (check their Instagram).Don't forget to bring something to read. They use great coffee beans and have good pour over technique if you get a cup of coffee to cap your meal.Haven't checked out any of the live Jazz or classical music but it sounds interesting!“

“Really cute Japanese place close to the airport, our actual plan was to get Halal pizza from Girodano’s but had to change our plans and the wife picked this place at a walking distance.

Her favourite thing was the “spicy fire” appetiser, which is made with cream cheese, jalapeno and salmon. We also had the spicy ramen noodle soup and the yakisoba (another noodle dish but stir fry).

Cozy ambiance inside and the service is really good too. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to have sth asian“

“Best kosher sushi in Chicago.“

“Good food for a great price. Service was fine, not friendly, not rude, but very quick and competent.
Trust me on this, get the noodles, oh yes yummy. And add veggies, very satisfying. Hubs agrees.
I was happily surprised by the amount of well made food for the price. And made quickly.“

“I absolutely LOVE this place ! I love the staff . They make me feel welcomed every time I come and the food is delicious! Best sushi , noodles and soups I’ve ever tried. Even the smoothies are amazing. This place deserves more than 5 stars.“

“Yummy food and good service.“

“First time going here was amazing, staff was great and very respectful, and don’t even get me started on the ramen, everything about it was amazing from the taste to the look. But yeah honestly great place to grab ramen.“

“Fresh, Fresh, Fresh Seafoods! Great Service! Tasty foods.“

“I’ve come here a few times now since they opened and I can confidently say it’s some of the best Japanese food I’ve ever had. There takoyaki especially is the best in the city, probably in the Chicago area in general. I’ve had both their spicy tonkatsu ramen and black garlic ramen and the black garlic is my favorite of the two but they’re both very good. My wife tried their lunch special recently and was a huge fan. I’m hoping to come here for years to come so do yourself a favor and give them a try.“

“Love this place, the food is delicious! Anything I’ve ordered has been amazing and my friends say the same!“

“Akai Hana has been in business for over 30 years, and the steady traffic means the sushi is fresh and safe, offered at a good price. However, the ambiance is lacking, with an outdated, cafeteria-like vibe and cheap-looking menus. It’s a solid spot for a quick, no-frills sushi meal, but not the place for a special dining experience.“

“I just ordered from Morikawa Bento and let me just say I love the goma chicken,it’s my favorite and I also ordered gyoza & karaage they are literally really good. It was also my first time ordering food from there.And I heard that they opened another Morikawa Bento I’m also planning to order from there but,as my first time experience It’s incredible!“

“Great place. The Onigiri and takoyaki were great to start with and then all the rolls were the perfect thing to split for the table. Our consensus was our favorite was the black ranger with orange and red close behind. We also tried the pink and green and while they weren't top 3 for us, still delicious and we finished them all. Great spot and BYOB was fantastic too.“

“Great, good service good food, no complaints“