Coast Sushi

Coast is our favorite sushi restaurant in all of Chicago, and we have tried many! The best part is that you can bring your own wine, we always pack our favorite bottles, that way you know you are going to love your wine for the night.
The quality of the sashimi and maki rolls is fantastic. I can't get enough of the crunchy spicy tuna rolls! Everytime we dine there we find something new to try, usually reccomended by our waiter.

Pros: BYOB, atmosphere, and quality

Cons: you may have to wait for a table, make a reservation early

Posted 11/02/09

I don't know how this restaurant be famous!
The fish is not fresh at all and the service is really poor.
The servers don't care me at all and I have to wait for more than 30 minutes to be served with the damn fish!
Cut my head me if I have to go back again!!!

Pros: Good location and that's it!

Cons: Worst food and service

Posted 03/05/09

My wife and I dropped in to this place last night. Fantastic. I eat a lot of sushi . . . a lot and I thought the freshness here was bar none. We started out with the kampachi carpaccio. (The server incorrectly identified it as tuna, it's not tuna, it's its own type of fish. However, almost everyone makes this mistake about kampachi. But a sushi place should be on its game!) We also had the seafood soup and the miso. I highly, highly, highly recommend the seafood soup. (I think that Americans tend to forget that traditionally, Japanese cuisines are always supposed to start with soup and small plates in order to reduce the amount of $$$ sushi that one consumes in a sitting.)

Service was very nice. (Young brunette female with short hair, closely styled to the scalp.) She was very tolerant of me. I was tired and cranky and she did not react to this, instead she anticipated my wife's needs and asked her if she would like soup as well which she did and hadn't thought to order it--truly the mark of a great server. She also checked in often, which I like, but did not bother us with idle or personal chatter.

No complimentary fruit for dessert which is generally characteristic of a sushi meal. Ah, but that was my only complaint. I thought the price was great we had 2 soups, carpaccio, 2 pieces blue fin nigiri, and 5 maki rolls for only $79. I will be back.

Pros: freshness, service, ambience

Cons: parking, no hot towels pre-service, and no fruit post-meal

Posted 10/20/08

Ahhhhh, where to begin. I feel like the whole experience was bad from the moment we pulled up to the curve and were ignored by the valet (really?). The hostess seemed rather apathetic as we walked in; promptly followed by an abrupt waiter who asked us "this is it"? We were seated and presented with a table rendering a Chinese "all you can eat buffet". Our despondent waiter took our orders with complete ambivalence to our queries.

The food was marginal. Seaweed salad; not good. I don?t understand how they can legitimately refer to their "Ceviche Maki" as that, seeing how there is a relative absence of "ceviche" in the maki. See aforementioned for my opinion of the "wasabi roll". The Unagi was over as cooked as our waiter was rude. The mochi was good. No complaints.

In regards the BYOB; make sure that you bring your own wine glasses a well. We were forced to drink an 01 Cab out of Japanese rocks glasses; what a crime.

Bottom line, only go to Coast if you are looking for phenomenal quality Sushi. The fish is fresh and clean.

Pros: Sshi

Cons: Everything else

Posted 09/10/08

I live just a few blocks from Coast and I have been dying to try it. I put my name in and was told it would be a 45 minute wait. After 45 minutes, I checked in with the hostess and was told we were the next table to be seated. AN HOUR LATER we were finally given a table. The wait was unacceptable!!! Once seated, it was another 15 minutes before our server corked our wine. The glassware was dirty and our server was never around. If I am going to wait that long for sushi, I would much rather drive across town to Toro Sushi, where a 45 minute wait means 45 minutes--not 2 hours.

Pros: food was fine

Cons: disorganized hostesses, terrible service

Posted 05/18/08

I thought the sashimi was excellent. large fresh pieces. The guy who took the order was very nice and so was the delivery guy. So, I can't comment on the restaurant it self. I have never been. The sashimi on the other hand. I would definitely recommend it.

Posted 12/03/07

I have been to several sushi places in Chicago and Coast is by far the best-- not to mention that it is BYOB! The food is fresh and innovative-- but there are also basic rolls and sashimi for sushi purists.The seseme scallop appetizer is unreal. Great scene too. It can get loud and there is usually a wait, but nothing out of the ordinary for a good restaurant on a weekend night. Overall, fabulous restaurant!

Pros: food, atmosphere, location, BYOB!

Cons: service is nothing special

Posted 09/23/07

I have no complaints about the food at Coast. Very fresh and inventive. And the service is often excellent. The only downside is the crowd. It always seems like you have to be under 35 to enter the place (and in the hippest fashions of the seasons). Nothing wrong with hip, young crowds mind you!!! But it may just not be some folks favorite scenes - esp. if you like chronologically and sartorially diverse diners.

Posted 09/08/07

We were missing an item from our order and called to see if our credit card was charged. Erin, a part-time worker, accused us repeatedly of lying. It was an appetizer! I will never eat here again. This place could care less about customers. The way we were treated is inexcusable and insulting. There are real Japanese restaurants in Chicago that serve good food. Take your business someplace else!!!

Pros: None

Cons: Customer Service

Posted 08/28/07

How can ANYONE like this place? It's SO pretentious there, and their food isn't even good! Not to mention it's also very dark. Maybe they turned down the lights so no one could see how much of a terrible job the chef was doing! I couldn't believe how overpriced everything was, considering how the sushi tasted bad and how our waitress treated us like we were the plague. Ugh. I have a bad taste in my mouth just thinking of coast sushi.

Pros: none

Cons: snobbiness, overpriced not-so-good food, bad waitress

Posted 08/20/07

Great place for sushi. Plus the specials are always fantastic. We have been here twice, once for Vday, and once just for a date, and each time we had an excellent server. Great sushi, always fresh.

cons: sort of loud and can be pricey.

Recommend to everyone

Pros: Service, fresh sushi, and byob

Cons: Loud and very cozy

Posted 06/15/07

We went here based on such great ratings from everyone else, and the fact that it was BYOB I thought would be fun. All I can say was that it was quite fun, and the food was good, but the portions were small, the restaurant was loud, and the bill was more than I expected. That pretty much sums it up. Again, I liked the sushi we had, no complaints there, but it was a little small. We each ordered a sushi dish, and ended up ordering a third because we had so little. Compared to other places in the city we've gone, we were a little disappointed. Oh, and it was very very loud. Maybe it was because it was Friday (or Saturday, i forget) night, but it was so hard to talk, it was not a good place for conversation.

Pros: Nice setting, BYOB, tasty dishes

Cons: Expensive, not exceptional food, service was kind of slow, very loud!

Posted 03/07/07

My girlfirends and I (a party of 5) called on Firday for a reservation the following evening at 7:00. We were told to "just come in". I wasn't really sure what that meant, so we decided it might be safer to arrive at 6:30. We were seated right away, but told that the table was reserved at 8:30, so if we could try to be courteous and keep our dinner at around 2 hours it would be appreciated. I thought that was a nice way to put it. When I asked why I was told to "just come in" when they do take reservations, she explained that they reserve half of the restaurant and leave the other half open for walk-ins. Nice!

We brought 2 bottles of wine. The only other BYOB place I had been to was more of a diner looking restaurant and I wasn't sure what to expect. WOW! THe lighting was just perfect to set the mood for a fun night wiht friends or a romantic evening for 2. The section we were in was half bench, half chair. Plenty of room. We brought 2 bottles of wine which were tended to by our server all evening. I was afraid I would be drinking my wine out of a pop glass, but they immediately arrived with stemware asking how many would be having wine. Not a bad deal!

Our server was wonderful! Very fun, knowledgable and attentive. It was a Saturday night and we never waited for anything. Plus we never felt rushed to get us out by 8:30.

The food was awesome. We had a scallop appetizer that was so good we actually ordered a second. The maki was very flavorful. The Dragon and White Dragon rolls were our favorite. I tried the wasabi maki...awesome. They had a hamachi carpaccio appetizer that we should'v gotten, but didn't. We ordered so much and wanted more. They had a lot more "specialty" maki than most places I've been ($12-13 each). Most of the time when I order a "special maki" it comes and it is rather large, which I expect. These were still rolled small and tight. Not necessarily bad, just unexpected.

5 girls BYOB $50 each with tip. Great!

Pros: Service, BYOB, ambience, excellent sushi

Cons: parking (no valet), a little more expensive than usual

Posted 02/18/07

Honestly, this was once my favorite BYOB sushi spot. The food and atmosphere was, and still is incredible. Their volcano roll is spicy and crunchy and presented beautifully...my fiancee raves about the beef and asparagus appetizer. In spite of the wonderful food and sleek space, I will never go back. On two important occasions, once while family was in town, and once for a friend's birthday, we have been the unfortunate victims of incompetent hostesses. After calling two weeks in advance for a prime dinnertime reservation on a weekend, and securing a table for 5, I was called 1 day prior to that reservation by the hostess to tell me that they would be unable to fulfill my request. Then, a month later (after begrudgingly forgiving Coast for botched reservations), we again tried to dine there. We called to make a res., and were told that they never accept reservations for a table larger than 4 on weekends between 6:30 and 9:00. So we took our chances and decided to walk-in. When we got there, we were asked why we didn't make a reservation!!!!!!!! And that my friends is why I will never go back. (But, if you must go, please save yourself a headache and go on a weekday.)

Pros: ambiance, selection of house maki, BYOB, white dragon roll

Cons: lack of cabs, long waits, incompetent hostesses, unreliable service, inattentive staff

Posted 01/16/07

Coast is one of my favorite sushi places in the city. The sushi is really creative and fresh. It is such a fun atmosphere too. Definitely make reservations because it gets really crowded though. I love that it is BYOB so you can bring your favorite bottle of wine to dinner. All around this is a great spot!

Pros: Great sushi, fun atmosphere, BYOB

Cons: If you don't have reservations, be prepared to wait

Posted 01/07/07

Coast has a great modern atmosphere, yet still feels unpretentious. The food is excellent. Come hungry because there are so many different types of rolls to try! Very fresh, interesting combinations, and reasonably priced. Bring your own wine!

Pros: Fresh, Ambience, Selection, Service

Cons: Parking

Posted 11/15/06

The food here is amazing and this is s great place to dine out with friends or a date but the hostess at the front door is horrible! I don't know if she's the owner or manager or what (she's ALWAYS there) but she is so rude and NEVER welcoming! I dread having to get past her to get a seat but will deal with it because everything else about the experience is so great!

Pros: Food

Cons: Horrible woman at the front door!

Posted 11/05/06

Good location for meeting your blinddates. Dim lighting and you can bring your own wine. The food are so so, I would go to blue fin if Im hungry for sushi. But you wanna come here if you wanna impress your date who doesnt eat sushi. The place is chic and cool and my pupils are dilated.

Posted 10/24/06

Their seaweed salad and the rolls we ordered tasted bland and moldy, as if they were left out in the smoldering heat for days. To top it off, the staff was extremely rude, you'd think they're working at Coast Sushi to earn their community service hours. I went there with a friend who has Down Syndrome and the waitress wouldn't even speak to him. When I complained to management about their snubby attitude towards my disabled friend, they basically told us to leave the restaurant. This is the worst sushi place I've ever been to.

Cons: Terrible service

Posted 08/17/06

Best sushi in Chicago hands down! No other place is as fresh or as creative. Prices aren't outrageous as I had expected. Plus with BYOB policy can add a little savings too. Staff is very attentive. Atmosphere is a lot of fun. Great music. Good for large groups or the small intimate dining experience. If you haven't tried this wait no longer. FYI you'll need a reservation, especially prime weekend nights. Enjoy!

Posted 08/10/06

Coast Sushi is located in a hip part of Bucktown, has got a great scene with lots of young people, a classic decor with a modern asian twist, and great servers. The Nigiri was so fresh, especially the hamachi. The basic sushi rolls were delicous as were the more creative rolls, my favorite of which was the Sunrise Roll (mango, mint, ginger seared tuna). The best part of it was that it is BYOB, so the cost of dinner is really inexpensive, it is the best sushi that I have had in chicago thus far, but hoping there are still even better spots out there.

Posted 07/24/06

Coast is expensive for average/below average sushi. This place is way over-rated. We had a terrible experience w/ the sushi that was delivered to our house.

Cons: terrible sushi

Posted 07/08/06

I had heard all the rave reviews about Coast Sushi and thought I would try it since sushi is my favorite and boy was it a disappointment. I had an appetizer that was ok and a salad that was drenched in dressing (peanut), sashimi that was fresh and 2 rolls that were well, a DISAPPOINTMENT! I ordered a spicy tuna roll that had avocado, cuc,spicy mayo and tempura crunch and a rainbow roll. The spicy tuna roll had no spice, no flavor and it was like they had made a baby food out of the ingredients and rolled it in rice. The rainbow roll had the typical ingredients but was very skimpy. All in all, the fish seemed fresh, but there wasn't much of it in the rolls and there was no flavor to any of it. I would most likely not order from this place again, sorry to say.

Pros: Good location

Cons: Skimpy rolls and no flavor

Posted 06/09/06

Hipster type decor with dim lighting, it's nice if you are into that. A nice date-scene. However, food was average. I had the Unagi-don and the eel was not so tasty. I also tried the specialty roll, the white dragon roll and it was creative but not especially memorable. The other specialty rolls on the menu looked interesting with the use of mango, but I don't think I will return for the taste test. I can find mouthwatering-delicious sushi at Japonais instead.

Pros: service, atmosphere

Cons: food, sushi

Posted 04/22/06

The atmosphere was the selling point the moment I walked in. Good vibes from the music, nice crowd, dark lights and loungey decor. The food was great too! Not the cheapest but certainly not the most expensive in Chicago. The Coast Crab definitely set me off at a good start! We ordered the food and brought a few bottles with us and chilled well into the night. Had such a good time we made it to the clubs late.

Pros: Ambience, Signature Dishes, BYOB

Posted 07/19/05

This is my favorite sushi place in Chicago. Service is good. Atmosphere is relaxed and intimate. But the best part is the food. My favorites are the spicy miso soup and the coast crab roll - amazing!

Pros: BYOB, good value, creative dishes

Cons: crowded

Posted 06/11/05

I think this place is way overrated. Not sure how fresh the fish was, pretty questionable!! Maybe would give this place another try, but probably not!

Pros: close by, drinks

Cons: expensive, overrated, snobby

Posted 05/15/05

If you are looking for excellent service, deliciously fresh fish, and cool ambience in a neighborhood restaurant, you will love COAST! This is a Bucktown fave and I tell all my friends who dont live around there to check it out. Its right off the expressway too. They just redid the decor and it looks great. The other reviews about bad service must have been at a different place, the service is always stellar everytime we dine there.

Pros: service, food

Cons: none

Posted 04/26/05

Found this place on citysearch and what a pleasent surprise. High quality fish at a decent price. The environment and service are good. Definitely try it out but its not that romantic cause it may get bit loud on the weekends. This is now the hot spot where my gf and I go to when we crave sushi. Its BYOB so haul a keg over and enjoy it when your buddies.

Pros: Price, Sushi, Staff

Posted 11/02/04

I thought I had lost a dream sushi restaurant when Shushido closed and then found out that Coast had opened with the same chefs! I highly recommend this sushi restaurant. Prompt service, excellent quality fish and desserts are nothing to sneeze at! I highly suggest the spider roll, the rainbow roll , the dragon and my favorite of all THE VOLCANO! My partner had the shashmi platter which was filled with delicious cuts of fish, while I had the teriayki chicken. I was quite full but could have easily been forced to eat more! The desserts were quite chi chi but very delicious.
My only complaint was that its a little too dark and chilly for my liking but I suppose if you're there for a romantic evening where you don't want anyone to recognize you this is the place.

Pros: wonderful service, great food, great desserts

Cons: too dark, street parking

Posted 10/27/03

We live nearby and go to Coast at least once a week. From this perspective, I can say the sushi is consistently fresh and their standout selections for the price make it a great value. The minimalist surrounding and byob status lends itself to a more casual and inclusive eating place...you don't have to dress up and go to Nobu or one of the scene sushi places to have great sushi and a great time. It has had a pretty full house every week night I have been there. I've seen lots of small groups show (LP Women, Wicker Park tattoo set, married couples, etc.) I highly recommend it.

Pros: Atmosphere, Crowd, Sushi

Cons: None

Posted 09/21/03