Sushi Kushi Too is a tiny sushi restaurant in Highland Park. Hidden away from many of the mainstream restaurants in downtown Highland Park, Sushi Kushi Too is nestled on Central Avenue right by the train tracks.
When you walk into the restaurant, the first thing you notice is how small it is. At first glance, it seems like there can’t be more than eight tables and ten seats at the sushi bar. If you walk in during their busy hours, six to eight PM, almost every seat will be taken and every table will be filled with families and people catching a quick bite before they go home from work. The hostess stand is also filled with people waiting for their various carryout orders. Needless to say, the space definitely feels snug.
The tight setting works for the sushi restaurant, however. While very small, it is cozy and warm with a large window overlooking the street of downtown Highland Park. Dark wooden tables match the shade of earth toned tiled floor. Long hanging lamps hover over the sushi bar where you can observe everything from the cleaning of the fish to the ornate plating of the final dish.
The menu does not only offer sushi. There is something for everyone; noodle lovers, dumpling aficionados, and of course, sushi worshipers. With key sushi rolls, such as the Highland Park Roll and the Chicago Roll, each recipe describing the town and city with bold flavors. They also have vegetarian and vegan rolls for the veggie lovers out there, such as their AAC roll with asparagus, avocado, and cucumber.
My three favorite rolls were the Shrimp Lover, Red Dragon, and the Moon River rolls. Each are spicy in their own right and are truly tasty. The Shrimp Lover gives you eight rolls filled with shrimp tempura and avocado topped with fish eggs, jalapeño mayo, and spicy mayo all for only $8.75. The Red Dragon is also an 8 piece roll filled with shrimp tempura and cucumber topped with tuna, avocado, jalapeño mayo, spicy mayo, and eel sauce all for $13.75. The Moon River is only a six cut roll for $5.00, but in no way less filling. The roll is filled with shrimp, cucumber, and tempura flakes topped with jalapeño mayo and eel sauce.
Besides the sushi rolls, some of the key items on their menu that are fully cooked and not wrapped in seaweed is their heaping pile of vegetable fried rice, which is only $7.95. Sushi Kushi Too also has their own version of the classic chicken nugget with their Chicken Tatsuta (only $4.95). It gives you four tempera style medium chicken nuggets. Oh, and don’t worry, they also have tons of different noodle dishes, including a wide selection of pan fried noodles, cold noodles, and many different udon noodle soups. Noodle dishes range from $5.25 to $14.75. Once again, all noodle dishes, similar to the other dishes on the menu, come in very hearty and filling portions.
Overall, the food is fantastic, and it is well priced for the amount of food you get per dish. However, I wish I could say the same for the service. When you walk into Sushi Kushi Too, they will greet you kindly, even if it takes a couple minutes for them to notice you. Once seated, you will probably go through two or three glasses or water before they finally come to take your actual drink order. By then most people are all set to order their entire meal, but, of course the waiter or waitress wants to bring you your drinks before they can even think about taking a food order. About five minutes later they are finally set to take note of your desired dishes
Luckily, the kitchen makes up for the waiters’ and waitresses’ slow motion production of how to wait a table. You do not have to wait more than 10 minutes before at least one of the dishes, if not all, come out to your table. If you do order three or more dishes I noticed that they do try to time the rest of your food arrival properly in order for the table to not get too overwhelming. Once the food came out, everything was better.
If anything, I would come back to Sushi Kushi Too for the food. While their service is definitely sub-par, they are lucky that their filling portions, well rounded menu, and spot on price points make up for it. Sushi Kushi Too is a great place to have dinner with family or friends. Also, if you want to try it once and you just don’t have time to sit at a restaurant, they offer a carry out service that, from looking at the line, is booming.
Sushi Kushi Too is located at 495 Central Ave, Highland Park, IL. They are open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM for lunch and 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM. They are closed on Mondays and open on Sundays from 4:30 PM to 9 PM for dinner only.