When I was in my early/mid-twenties, I dated a pile of hot garbage. I mean an absolute dumpster fire of a man who was simultaneously cocky and wildly insecure. You know the type, and if you don't, uh oh... *slowly lifts mirror to reader*. The one positive that I'm able to salvage from the ashes is that he negged me into trying new foods, which I desperately needed having grown up in a meat & potatoes midwest household (I am still VERY much into meat & potatoes, FYI). Throughout the relationship, I fell in love with all types of cuisine I vowed I'd never try, like what you'll be reading about today: sushi.
Me at 22: Fish? Gross. Raw fish? Why.
Me at 29: Gimme some of dat sweet sashimi.
My favorite, most accessible sushi restaurant in Chicago is Sushi+, or as most call it, Rotary Sushi.
SPOT: Sushi+ is located on Broadway in Lakeview, snuggled between a UFC gym and a defunct "specialty video" shop, which I'm pretty sure is a fancy name for porn store. It's incredibly easy to miss.
Photo Credit: Yelp
The decor inside is overwhelming. It's decorated to look like a busy Japanese intersection, and they truly commit to the bit. The walls are covered in a photo-realistic wallpaper of a non-descript panoramic view of a Japanese city block at night with blurred headlights and a city skyline glowing in the background. Overhead are fake stoplights, and the floor has painted lanes for human traffic. They've even gone so far as to add thick metal "guardrails" against the walls.
Photo Credit: Yelp
The piece de resistance is the rotary belt itself, meant to feel like lanes of stacked highway traffic. All of the booths and counter give access to this delicious roadway. It's nearly impossible to walk in here and not smile. Truly adorable.
NOTE: Not actual footage of Sushi+
VIBES: Everything about this place is clean and efficient. When you sit down, a server greets you and hands you a single-use hot towelette to wipe your hands, which of course, I love. The waitstaff is incredibly pleasant, which, why wouldn't they be? They have the best job there is: They bring you a towel and a drink, then don't have to come back until you're ready to close out. You want their attention? There's a button at every station that you can press to call them over: no constant check-ins, no getting caught with your mouth full, just uninterrupted fish time.
That being said, the place is always abuzz with activity. Your water glass is never empty. As soon as a table is vacated, it's cleared. I love it. It's like dinner and a show for someone who has OCD and loves to clean.
GRUB: It's sushi! All kinds and manner of sushi. All of your favorite raw fish standbys like nigiri and California rolls are in constant rotation (literally) on the belt, but if you're feeling adventurous, they've got some weird shit available, too. Take for instance, the Unagi Cheese Maki, which features eel, cucumber, and avocado topped with American cheese and unagi sauce. American cheese. Why. There's also a Mexican sushi sandwich that always piques my interest, but I just can't get down with it. I'm a traditionalist when it comes to sushi. And most things, really.
I love a good escolar nigiri. Clean, fresh flavor. This place really gets it right. "Lauren, it's fish. It's literally just a chunk of fish on rice." Ok, but have you ever had a BAD piece of sushi? Only then will you learn to appreciate a GOOD piece of fish. This place is always incredibly fresh and not at all full of fish funk (Hey, what's up everybody, we're Fish Funk! Can we get a suggestion of anything at all?). And the rice? Delish. It's the perfect consistency and has hints of both sweet and sour. The perfect complement to dat fresh, fresh fish.
Photo Credit: Yelp
Also a big fan of the spicy salmon maki, a tasty Boston roll, a crunchy California roll, or any single ingredient rice roll. In case you were wondering. Oh, you weren't? WELL THEN JUST LEAVE.
Not seeing anything you want on that adorable belt? THEN WHY'D YOU EVEN COME HERE, KRISTEN?! Jesus. Ok. Sorry. Listen, if you want something other than cold fish and rice, you can order any number of delicious items off of the iPad at your table. Ramen. Bento boxes. Elaborate rolls. Skewers. A whole metric crap-ton of food items. If you can't find SOMETHING you like at this restaurant, then you're AN ABSOLUTE MONSTER, KRISTEN. GIVE ME MY SWEATSHIRT BACK.
Feeling full but want something sweet? You could get some weird dessert full of bean paste (who decided this was a dessert), or you could get a piece of cheesecake. Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. At a rotary sushi restaurant. Snuggled up next to some scallops on the belt. It's absolutely hilarious to me. The best part? As if getting cheesecake at the rotary sushi restaurant wasn't enough? It's frozen. It's ALWAYS frozen. I sincerely believe that that's how they like it because it comes out ICE COLD. Ice crystals atop the dairy-filled dessert. If you do decide you want cheesecake, pull it off the belt right when you sit down and MAYBE it'll be halfway thawed by the time you're ready to eat it.
Possibly my favorite part of this whole experience is paying. Each dish on the belt is served on a color-coded plate that correlates with a price. Really satisfies that need to make every dinner a math problem. Simple 6 piece maki rolls start at just $2.50, with prices increasing with complexity up to like $6.50 a plate. Most 2-piece plates of nigiri are $3.50, and they don't skimp on the cuts.
Photo Credit: Yelp Look at all that math.
FUN SHIT: Anything you order off the menu is delivered to your table via tiny race car. It gives you tiny race car honks when it arrives and more tiny honks as it heads back to the kitchen. It's the most adorable way to get dead fish delivered that I've ever seen. Beep beep!
See the tiny race car in action here:
FEELINGS INGESTED: This place is for those times when you're coming out of a depressive episode that was triggered by god knows what and you're feeling social for the first time in two months and you want to eat a lot of something but don't want the pain and discomfort that comes from eating a whole pizza in front of another human being. Sushi is perfect for this quandary. As Mitch Hedberg once said, "Rice is great if you're really hungry, and you want to eat 2000 of something." In other words, this place is perfect for those times when you want to feel accomplished.
OVERALL: Man, that dude sucked. Hate that I let myself put up with that bullshit for so long, ya know? I feel like it really stunted my growth as a person–... oh, the restaurant. Right. If you want quality sushi with a fun atmosphere at a reasonable price, Sushi+ is a must-try.
Please note that I am in no way a qualified food critic. I'm picky and boring and really like cheeseburgers. Take my opinions with several grains of sea salt.