Sumi Robata Bar

We had a terrific dinner. The servers were friendly, attentive, and very helpful with menu selections and beer options that nicely complimented the variety of food items we ordered. We started at Charcoal Bar for a cocktail before dinner. There were only 3 guests at the bar and yet the service was terrible. Matt was completely uninterested. I had asked for some help with the saki menu and he did little more than point to where they were listed on the menu. We asked only a few questions--he was rude and inattentive. This happened a few months ago and I'm still angry about the terrible "service" we received there. The fantastic food and service in the restaurant turned around a really bad start to the evening.

I have been to Sumi probably 8 times this year. I am rarely a repeat diner to this degree. It is a testament to not only the food and variety of the menu, but to the the owner and his wife, that make us feel at home every time we dine. I love that I can get amazing sushi and then dive over into the robata grilled items. The hamachi is something I crave. Mix and match on the robata grill menu, but make sure you try the skirt steak and the lamb chop! The nice thing about Sumi, is that you can go back many times and have something different on each visit. A gem in River North.

I loved this place. It is truly different than other restaurants in Chicago which is great. It just opened on Saturday so there is certainly some understanding going in that it is a work in progress but personally, I didn't see any issues with the food or service. I am going to try and remember what we ordered because it was a lot. Every dish was great, there were no misses. Steak on lava rock, skirt steak, chicken soup, king crab, lobster tail, shitake, peppers, romaine, sliders, big eye tuna, chicken thigh, fried chicken, tea duck, apple pie, doughnuts. I think I may have missed a few dishes but everything we ordered was great. The place is small, a mix of Avec meets Arami (but this isn't a sushi place). We sat at the bar which I would highly recommend. They make the food in front of you like a sushi bar. It was recommended to get 4-5 cold / hot dishes to split for the 4 of us and then 5 robata dishes per person. We also checked out the bar downstairs. It is very small, seats about 12 people and geared towards groups of 2. It is hard to sit down as a group of 4. Craft cocktails so it takes a while to get a drink but they were worth it. A favorite was the bourbon drink with a hand carved ice cube. Overall - I would say keep in mind that it JUST opened and keep in mind that the place is small and a different format that other Chicago restaurants but I think this is a great addition to the city.