Sumi Sushi — Restaurant in Chicago

This is the second time I've had the AYCE dinner at Sumi. The first time I would have put it at three stars, because I thought the roll I ordered just wasn't to my personal taste, so I didn't want to write a bad review just because I personally didn't think mango on top of the roll was a good addition. I went back to try to redeem my experience because I live in the neighborhood and desperately WANT there to be a good sushi place in the neighborhood. I'll stick to Kai from now on.

Since I knew this was an AYCE place, I was already mentally prepared to accept the following points: be prepared to finish everything to avoid extra charge, rice will be a tiny bit more compressed than usual on the nigiri, fish to rice ratio will be a tiny bit heavier on the rice, fish may not be quite as fatty and succulent as other places.

What I can't accept is objectively bland rice -- sushi rice is supposed to be seasoned -- soft tempura, and all around mediocrity. I don't know where they get their wasabi but it is somehow worse than the typical green tube you would get from a supermarket. Same with the ginger. I had just eaten dinner at Sushi+ Rotary Sushi the previous night (yes I know it's insane to eat sushi for dinner two nights in a row but this is how dedicated I am to the cause) and their wasabi/ginger was noticeably better quality (I won't go so far as to say it was "much better") even though I squeezed it out of a packet.

The final nail in the coffin was the ambience and the gnats. During my meal four or five gnats hovered around my table and occasionally alighted on my food. After a while I stopped trying to defend against them, and started killing them. After I killed two as proof I requested the check. I tipped 15% because it's not the server's fault and hightailed it out of there -- after pointing out a large dead bug in the corner.

I'm leaving this as 2 stars because that's what I think is accurate for this place after they fix...

First time here, surprised that BYOB isn't mentioned at all.

Came in with some beers and got the AYCE lunch. Started out with some Octopus Salad, which to my surprise was very good. The Grilled Squid was okay. A bit heavy on the seasoning and salty, even with the beer.

I ordered some nigiri pieces, which took a min to come out since they were a little busy. Then I added on some rolls, a miso soup, and a seaweed salad, so I could finish the Grilled Squid..

Long story short, the nigiri pieces were a miss. Too much rice to the fish ratio (it's AYCE, yes, but even with that expectation, it was a bit much).

But the rolls are where it's at. Because of the fact that their goal is to fill you with every single bite, their rolls are filled to the brim with veggies, which actually makes the rolls worth the price. Even when the rolls are a bit heavier on the sauce, you get mouthful of cucumber with them, making them quite filling and balanced.. ish.

The Wasabi that accompanies the sushi is old and dried out, and dark in color, but the ginger at least isn't the pink kind. The ponzu is quite heavy on the soy sauce, so not worth the extra dollar, but all in all, Sumi is quite great for their ACYE.

Just skip the nigiri and stick with the rolls, and you'll leave...

This is a prejudice establishment. I have been here now twice and each time have had a bad experience which is unfortunate because I really wanted to like this place. I went to eat here with my sister, and yes, we are Black. After waiting on our food for a long time, another black woman who had been waiting on a take out order for 20 mins asked us how long we had been waiting. Looking around at other Black customers, we realized we had all been waiting for our food for a longer time than our white counterparts who came in after us already had their appetizers and their entrees. It wasn’t until I spoke up that 5 mins later they brought my sister and I’s food. Another Black woman who was there before us still hadn’t gotten hers, either. We had been there for a while.

Another time I came with a couple friends and the whole time the manager kept hovering over us (walking back and forth past our table, watching us from the kitchen/hostess area) and keeping a close eye on us, out of all the other people in the establishment. We were the only Black people that day too. It’s not fair and it makes the experience very uncomfortable which sucks because I like the food but I will not be back and I’ll be sure to let others know of how the staff and management treat...