Ikigai Sushi & Izakaya

I went to Chicago for business trip last Tuesday. On of our clients recommend this place. I love how fresh those sushi is. Also they serve omakase that was my favorite part highly recommend for everyone.

We really enjoyed our meal at Ikigai and would love to go back on our next trip to Chicago! The service was prompt, attentive, and very friendly, and the atmosphere of the restaurant was comfortable and warmly lit, with lovely woven lampshades hanging over the tables. Everything we ate at Ikigai was delicious. Their food was authentically prepared with excellent fresh ingredients. We particularly enjoyed the sushi rolls we ordered, several mouthwatering chicken and beef skewers, a plate of deliciously crisp karaage (Japanese fried chicken pieces), and an assortment of grilled vegetables, which included some very tasty shishito peppers. Thank you so much for a fantastic dinner!

Searching for places to eat in the local area of River North, Ikigai Sushi popped out as the one of newly opened sushi restaurants. My friend and I just wanted to catch up and Ikigai’s atmosphere is not too busy and not too quiet. We were able to savor our food and listen to our stories. We had one of their sushi setto and we really enjoyed how fresh the fish was so we ended up ordering more sushi 🍣 definitely this is a great place for the casual active sushi eater. My personal plus is the hot green tea we had available as we ate. Thank you so much for your friendliness and welcoming us to Ikigai, hope to see you again !

Loved the Chirashi bowl! Sashimi were fresh. All the staffs are super friendly and fun! We had such a great night ❤️ They have just gotten their alcohol license! Can’t wait to come back again to try more food and sake!

A must try! Amazing sushi. Friendly staff! We had nigiri and sashimi omakase. Every piece was full of flavor, so fresh you can taste it. We also ordered Ikigai Yasai and Ikigai Kushiyaki. My favorites were Hotate, Kawa, and Sunagimo. End the night with uni shooter!! My new favorite sushi restaurant!

Very very nice restaurant with fresh Japanese foods. Good place for drinking and having a talk. Very nice service, great decoration and nice taste of music. Suggest reservation though I didn't wait for a seat.

Every single plate we had from this place was so good!! Would def. recommend to anyone looking for a good japanese restaurant. Since we know its byob, we will definitely bring some beer next time to enjoy the kushiyaki better :)

This place was awesome. It’s been in my neighborhood for a couple years just tried. Was blown away. Such great rolls, sashimi A++++ highly recommend ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Such an amazing place. Wonderful service, perfect decor and atmosphere and DELICIOUS food. Had the edamame, karaage and various sashimi - all were great!

Ikigai is ichiban (#1)! The quality, value and service are unparalleled. For extraordinarily fresh sushi, nigiri, and some of the best omakase I’ve tasted (including in Japan), you will be amazed at how reasonable the prices are (BYO helps defray the cost, so you can splurge on more delicious sushi). Chicago is lucky, indeed, to have such an addition to the restaurant scene.

Tried the Nigiri Omakase and the food was amazing! I’ve been looking for a place that has some more unique fish and on this day the chef came through and made me a sardine nigiri and some other items that I have never had before. My son had a good time too. He had this carbonated drink called a Ramune and absolutely loved it.

Traditional menu with a knowledgeable and kind staff. The Strawberry mochi was an absolute 10/10 and everything else was cooked to perfection. Come here before they become popular to the point tables are available!

Excellent kushiyaki/yakatori, pork belly was a favorite! Large portions and good happy hour deals. The server was above and beyond. Lovely treat in Chicago.

I dropped in on this new establishment for a solo dinner. I sat at the bar and ordered a few small rounds of sushi and kushiyaki skewers. Everyone was very friendly and I enjoyed watching the chef craft his dishes. He was happy to answer any questions I had. Everything I tried was delicious and fresh. My favorites were the Baby Shiitake Makimono and the Shishito Pepper skewers. There was much more on the menu that looked interesting so l'lI definitely be going back.

Came for the reviews and did not disappoint. Sushi was fresh, rice was on point, sashimi cuts were flavorful. Welcome to the neighborhood Ikigai

Small restaurant that wants to keep high standard quality food. We've been really satisfied about the food and the service as well. We will definitely return also for the calm atmosphere that the restaurant offers.

Sushi so fresh and delicious. That Ramen bowl rocked my world.

This is a really solid, no frills, good vibes, great food, great service kind of place. Expect traditional Japanese fare, served with a smile. It's all really good and the ingredients are quality.

Our staff Summer was exceptional! She took care of all our needs and gave excellent recommendations. The food was phenomenal. The drink was great as well. We ordered a bottle of sake that Summer recommended. The chef gave us complimentary nigiri that was great (salmon belly). I highly recommend this place for hig quality Japanese food!

My goddaughter requested an izakaya experience for her birthday, and I'm glad i chose Ikigai. I reserved on open table and mentioned it was her birthday. Upon walking in, she was greeted with a "happy birthday" which was unexpected and very sweet. She also wanted to try sake for the first time, and we were recommended a perfect one based on what we were looking for. Food was fresh and delicious, and I really appreciate the extra step and care given to my goddaughter with the dessert. ♡ Thank you, all!

Fantastic service and staff. So welcoming and just an overall great experience. Would recommend 100 times over!

Came in with a few friends and had an incredible dinner experience. Got a mix of skewers and sushi and one dish was better than the next. The pork belly was perfectly glazed and it was clear the fish was fresh and intentionally prepared. They even made us a spicy scallop handroll upon request and it may have been the star of the show. Jeff, the owner, was incredibly personable and service was attentive throughout our meal. Highly recommend checking out Ikigai!

Just a cute little place! The sushi was so fresh and the server was so helpful and knowledgeable. We ordered family style so we could try as many things from the menu as we could and everything was tasty! The shishito peppers were crave worthy.

The chicken heart and beef tongue were very tender and delicious. The eel rice also tasted good, but the texture of the rice was just average.

We came here to eat the toro don but we actually like the skewers better (they are super delish, juicy and not dry - totally recommend. One bowl of don is a lottt of rice so you can even share between 3 people.

Pretty decent Japanese place for river north area. I do have to say their food iso n the saltier side. We loved the izakaya selection. Especially their kushiyaki selection! Strony recommended the pork belly and prawn and chicken skewers selection ! Their service was amazing too

Few, close to none vegetarian options but the non-vegetarian food was well enjoyed. Great service

My brother in law made our reservation here for Tuesday. Fish was fresh and prepared well. Waitress was kind and accomodating, but they almost forgot one of our items and we ended up waiting an extra 10-20 minutes. I don't think they are normally open on Tuesday so this might be the reason for the lack of efficiency. The overall atmosphere reminded me of cheaper sushi option. Overall fairly priced and decent fish.

Got my hopes up to try a new place out. Restaurant was rather quiet on a Wednesday evening. There was 1 sushi chef working at the moment with 3 tables of diners. Everything was overpriced for what we got. The server was very kind. Not sure if I'd come back, but here's what we got: -karaage $11: chicken was good but sauce was too lemon-y for me -Nigirizushi ($24.50) assorted nigiri; nothing special from ok quality frozen fish -NY Angus steak bento box $27.50: steak was too dry. It wasn't worth it -chirashi $30 I wish it came with uni as it did before, but instead came with a raw egg -prime kalbi $9 tasted very similar to steak in bento box -akami $12 -botan ebi $9 my favorite; flavored just right -hotate $11 Server was very kind and knowledgeable. She checked in on us just right.

Nice, hipster deco rated place serving good sushi and other Japanese fare. Worth a try. The fish was fresh, the service was attentive and the ambiance was great!

Overall experience is good. Some comments on what we ordered : The steak in prime steak bento box is a bit dry and hard. (We ordered medium rare). Tempera veggies and chicken skewers are good. Sashimi is fresh and it came with two pieces of each. It would be nice to have a bit more sashimi with the price.

Good portion for the price. Huge piece of salmon.

The Yakitori was great but the value for money of the restaurant was not that great. The sashimi was ok. But next time I go I will only order the yakitori

went for restaurant week and sad to say that our experience was underwhelming. service was understandably not the best - it seemed like the restaurant was understaffed with only one server for the whole restaurant, but the food unfortunately did not make up for this we tried: • drinks: yuzu sake bomb • course #1: shishito pepper, hamachi crudo, karaage • course #2: chili hotate, tsurai sake, butabura, harami • course #3: doteyaki, chicken katsu entree, chirashi donburi • dessert: yuzu cheesecake, mochi • extras (happy hour): sake avocado roll, amai roll the hamachi crudo and karaage were honestly quite good. hamachi crudo had citrus flavors, and karaage had lime flavor added, which made them interesting. everything else was just okay, and even their happy hour pricing seemed high ($8 for a basic roll of sushi). i wouldn’t say that i’d never come back again, but i don’t think i would come back on my own dime

Based on other reviews, I had decent expectations. However, the food wasn’t quite right during my visit, the rice split into two chunks when I picked it up and struggled to hold together. I also noticed some resistance when biting into it, which is quite unusual for Japanese cuisine.

seafood and chicken dishes were using frozen material, rice and seaweed were cheap stuff. Very overrated. Ok place.

The server was very nice and attentive. The food was okay, but I'm sure I can make better ramen at home.

The staff was friendly, but the food didn’t live up to the expectations set by the photos in the reviews. The sushi rice in the nigiri lacked the proper texture, and the taiyaki was dry and not at all moist or flavorful.

I had 2 rolls for takeout and the simple salmon came with a ton of wasabi inside :(. I couldn’t eat it and it looks intentional. If it was intentional I wish they would mention it on the menu. Will never order from there again unfortunately.

Pros: * The restaurant has a nice interior. * It offers a wide variety of sake. Cons: * The water doesn't taste good, possibly because it's unfiltered tap water, which ruins the taste of the sake. * The waiting time for kushiyaki is too long, exceeding 45 minutes. * The chicken has a strong smell. * The food is overpriced.