Last weekend, Matt, his sister/brother-in-law, Jace and I went to Akai Hana for dinner.

848 N. State St. (Chestnut St.)
Chicago, IL, 60610
(312) 787-4881

Zagat's rates this outpost with a 25 for food, the highest of any Chicagoland Japanese restaurant, so we had to try it. (For those ratings purists, it gets a mere 15 for decor, which I will explain.)

We walked in the bitter cold to dinner and almost missed the restaurant entirely... we walked into a place that had all the ambience of a shopping strip deli or pizzeria. The specials on xerox sheets on the wall seemed to confirm that... we wondered if we were in the right place. The Zagat review did, however, mention incredible specials. The Friday/Saturday evening special seemed to confirm that. 9pieces of nigiri sushi and 1 roll for $9.99. Wow!

We sat down and ordered a spider roll while we waited for the others. It was yummy... that hard to achieve perfect balance of crisp (the tempura crab) and not crisp (the roll itself) with enough sauce to flavor the whole thing.

Our guests arrived so we all ordered... on the $9.99 menu, you can make substitutions for $1 each... I decided to substitute the California roll for a spicy tuna roll. Jace and Matt did the same. Matt's sister ordered teriyaki and I think his brother-in-law ordered tempura of some sort. We all enjoyed miso and then our lovely large dinners came out.

The sushi was good... while not the BEST I've ever had, it was certainly the best $10.99 plate of sushi ever. Everyone at the table seemed to agree. While the "cheap eats" atmosphere never really seemed to go away, it was something I could easily overlook.

Bottom line... this isn't a place to take a first date, but a good place to grab a bite or satisfy a craving. Table service was quick and courteous. The tables are a bit too close together to be comfortable for hanging out much after dinner... and there is no "bar" area except for the sushi bar itself.