Tampopo

Sad to hear that it closed but it was a great ramen place while it was open. Seems like I went when Daniel was the owner. I loved their mackerel.

Why this place is one of my fave sushi spots in the city:
1) Sushi is always fresh
2) Portions are worth the money
3) Unpretentious in every way

This place is a wow! Some of the best food and service I’ve seen in Chicago. I especially loved the crunchy California roll. You will not be diappointed.

Daniel! Where did you go? :(We miss you! this place is definitely not the same.
It is not the same without you. We went last weekend and was disappointed when Daniel did not greet us! Nor was he behind the sushi bar! We were about to leave but it was already too late… already got our water/​tea. We ordered some sushi rolls, sashimi and a lunch combo (from new menu). Sushi rolls and sashimi are thinner. do not plan on coming back…

NOOOO!!! Daniel is gone!
Opened up my to-​go order to find tiny little rolls of sushi. What a crushing disappointment.
The «new» place isn’t bad — but it’s not even remotely as good as it was.
So disappointed.

Daniel WHERE ARE YOU? Daniel and his mother (previous owners) are gone!
I’ve been going to TAMPOPO religiously for the past 5 years after scouring Chicago’s North side for the best sushi.
Restaurant name changed from TAMPOPO to TANPOPO!
Your old customers are all missing you. The sushi is not the same. The salmon handroll is not the same (the new owner uses ground salmon — yucky). I loved the handroll with small cubes of salmon.
The prices are the same but the rolls are smaller and the quality of the fish doesn’t seem to be the same. The slices of salmon are not as thick as you used to cut them.
The rolls don’t have the same exquisite appearance and attention to detail, not to mention the taste.
I will go there one more time and give the new owner another chance, but things are not looking good for the new owner.
Daniel, we love you and miss you! (I hope I can speak for the rest of Daniel’s loyal customers).
NEW OWNERS, if you want to stay in business and retain Daniel’s old and loyal customers, please bring Daniel back so that he can teach you how to make the same sushi he use to make.
Daniel, if you are reading this, I hope you will come back in the sushi business and do what you do best and make the MOST DELICIOUS SUSHI IN CHICAGO!

Danny… where are you?
That say’s it all — I can’t believe that Chef Danny and Mom are not there anymore. The food is not the same– ordered crunchy california maki and it’s was more like LIGHT crunchy california maki with so LITTLE on it that I am glad I’ve ordered two.
Where oh where has my little Dan has gone!!!
This sucks, it’s like starting all over again to find out the best sushi restaurant in Chi-​town!

I’ve been going to Tampopo for close to ten years. Daniel was a great guy. He appreciated my business. I’ve been travelling a ton for the past six months and have not been to Tampopo for at least two months.
I just learned about his departure tonight. I arrived to pick up my order and Daniel was not behind the counter. I’m seriously bummed out. This is an example of change being a bad thing.
I asked the waitress, the chef and the new owner where Daniel was. I never got a straight answer. The chef did say that he has had many people ask him where Daniel was and assumes that he was a really nice guy. He’s right.
I walked out of the restaurant going back to my car just repeating, ‘This sucks’ over and over.
Daniel, please come back!

Yikes! Daniel (owner, head sushi chef) is gone — his wife and Mom with him. One of his servers is still here, I didn’t notice at first till she told me. The new chef (who pointed to a middle-​aged woman and said «she’s the new owner» & she heard that but just wandered off without a word) said that Daniel «just got tired. Needed a break.» But no he’s not coming back. Yes he and family are still in Chicago, he said.
I ordered my usual carry-​out but they were out of yellowtail (!) for the rainbow maki and ika (octopus) salad.
When I got home I was relieved to see the same 3 freebie side dishes included, so many other sushi places don’t bother with that for carry-​outs but Daniel always did. The goma-​ae (cold spinach salad with sesame seed dressing) looked the same, taste was definitely different. more bland. Bummer.
The rainbow maki had a drizzle of spicy mayo sauce on top, which I liked, but the amount of fresh fish was WAY less than what Tampopo is known for. Ditto the shiitake mushroom maki … smaller chopped mushroom pieces that rained out as we lifted the sushi (like they had been diced) and the maki pieces themselves were about 30% smaller in circumference and width.
I was accustomed to driving 20 minutes there and back after my Thursday early evening class for take-​home sushi, it was worth the trip. I have been doing that most Thursdays for about 4 years. Now… I might try once or twice more, give the new owners a chance to catch on to what made Tampopo special. If it continues like this time, though, it’s just another middling sushi place, not worth the trip (for me).
This really feels like I lost a longtime friend. I missed getting a chance to say goodbye to Daniel. I am sad.

What a cute name, my roommate wanted to try this place because she was craving ramen, so we order the tampopo ramen to shared. We also order the sweet potatoes roll, spicy tuna roll, and tempura app. She loved the ramen and I was not a fan, I thought the ramen texture was over cooked, the broth was blanch, and the seafood in the soup had a freezer burn taste, it was not fresh but she loved the blanch broth. I on the overhand really like the sushi rolls, and was hooked on the sweet potatoes roll and spicy white tuna roll. The tempura was ok.

Perhaps choosing a Japanese place in K-​town was our bad judgment, but… it seemed like a good idea at the time.
We started with a salad, which came with a tiny bit of yummy dressing. When we asked the waiter for more, he apologized and explained that he didn’t speak english. So he became a waiter. In Chicago. Makes total sense. Eventually with some pointing and facial cues we were able to acquire said dressing, although he still took his time bringing it out.
I had the zaru soba… my weakness. probably one of my favorite dishes in the world… and it was ok. Not the freshest or most flavorful ever, but it was all prepared correctly.
M had a stir fry udon dish and didn’t like it until he covered it in soy sauce. Usually a bad sign.
Once we were done eating, it took about 20 minutes to get the check, and we only managed because the sushi chef lady was watching us struggle to get the waiter’s attention. The food may have all been fine, but a 1hr «quick» japanese meal isn’t.

Per the quest of good ramen… Your quest does not end here. Turn around, run the other direction Northwest towards Sountouka in the Mitsuwa marketplace. This place is not for ramen!!! Our seafood ramen was bland, and the fish in the pot didn’t taste so fresh. If you want a good seafood hot pot, go about 2 miles down Lincoln to Hoang Long.
Come here for their sushi, as they are fresh, inventive and plentiful. We had the Tampopo Dragon roll and it was spicy and had 8 hefty pieces which was a decent amount for 3 people.
I’m giving this place a 2 star because with many sushi places Chicago has to offer, this wouldn’t be my first choice.

This is a decent sushi place and the ramen is ok but the prices are pretty high considering the area.
Waitresses are friendly and there are plenty of tables.

My family & I were planning a trip to Chicago so I researched for ramen places on Unilocal.I saw that Tampopo had 166 reviews & 4 stars. I figured this place would be good. I was so wrong!
We walked in at 9pm on a Thursday night. Only 1 other party was there. Bad sign. Since we were already here (and starving) we decided to stay.
We ordered the California Maki, Philadelphia Maki, Chasu Ramen & Yaki Soba. They brought out small dishes of sprouts, macaroni salad & broccoli — similar to Korean BBQ. These were OK; nothing special. They also brought out miso soup. Again, nothing special, just your average miso soup.
My husband described the Yaki Soba as salty & boring. He thought the Philadelphia Maki was pretty good. The California Roll, just like the other dishes were pretty average.
Out came the Chashu Ramen and I immediately knew I wouldn’t like it. The noodles were just OK — thin and slightly overcooked. The bamboo shoots were too sweet & mushy. The broth was way too salty and the pork was way too dry.
If you guys really want awesome ramen, visit San Francisco and make a trip about 20 miles south and go to Ramen Dojo in San Mateo. You’ll never want to go back to Tampopo again.
(We should’ve just gone to the Truckin Thursdays we saw as we were driving around…)

I finally got to try «Tampopo Japanese Restaurant,» it was good. However it is very pricey and I thought the person who took our order wasn’t very good at it, because we were missing one of our orders.
Anyhow, we had the bento boxes, a couple of Maki Rolls and we thought the food was pretty good, and the sushi I had tasted fresh. Would I return to this eating establishment perhaps, but not any time soon, because for one it is very far from where we live, and this place has to be outstanding for me to bring more friends to this place. Don’t get me wrong I felt the service was decent and good but not the best.

A Japanese restaurant run by Koreans? Yes please.
Our overwhelming meal here was pretty fantastic. We started with miso soup and the hiya-​yakko appetizer, the latter of which was fried and deliciously gingerly. We ordered a salmon maki and the Fire Dragon roll, both of which were generous in portions (especially the fish) and crazy delicious.
Everyone at the table each ordered an entrée: katsu curry, tonkatsu donburi, tempura udon, and sashimi with rice. All of the dishes were excellent, and we understood why the dishes were pricy: they’re enough to feed a grown man, and then some. I’m only mildly disappointed in my tonkatsu donburi, since the pork was a little tough to eat.
The highlight of the evening was switching my bowl for my friend’s sashimi with rice, which was basically bibimbop with sashimi. Pure, unadulterated crack.
The service was pretty good, even for a Friday evening. We definitely overordered, but we were just too excited to try all the dishes out. We’ll all be back again, for sure.

Still one of my favorite sushi places in Chicago! Not only are you affordable but quality sushi and great service. I don’t think that I have had a bad roll here and always hit up
for their gift certificates here. You get the small panchan plates, complimentary tea/​water and miso soup.
My son loves their gyoza and tempura here and we even let him eat their California roll. Some must try rolls are: Boston Maki, Caterpillar Maki, Chicago Maki, Crabby Dragon Maki, Dragon Maki, Fire Dragon, French Maki, Spider, Sweet Potato, and Tsunami Maki. We’ve been here at least every other month every time we have a sushi craving and tried almost everything on their menu with no complaints. Prices are very affordable and make it a regular dining spot for our family.

We saw Tampopo on Check Please and wanted to try it. We were seated right away but waited about 45 minutes for our food. The food was bland and came with an expensive price tag. Its not horrible… but its definitely not worth the trip or the money.

I was in the mood for some sushi so we decided to give this place a shot. The atmosphere is unassuming and friendly and there seem to be a lot of regulars. All good signs.
We sat down and ordered away. Not five minutes later, my bf received an urgent call and had to leave. He thought he’d be right back so I chose to hang out and wait for our food. Right after he walked out the door, our miso soup and some little snackies arrived. It was a really nice touch, I love snacks!
It turned out that the urgent call was an emergency so we had to get out of there fast. The entire staff sprung into action to get our food packaged up to go and our check processed. They were so nice and quick and we were very thankful for their concern.
When we finally got the chance to eat later on, we noticed that they had packaged up everything, down to our soup and snacks! Hooray! My bf had the teriyaki and I had the uni, spicy scallop roll and godzilla roll. They definitely do not skimp on the fish. These were seriously the largest portions of fish I have ever had at a sushi place. Love it! And that godzilla roll was the biggest roll I’ve ever seen. Ever. I couldn’t even come close to finishing it and that’s a new one for me.
Delicious sushi, friendly people and the price is right. I will not hesitate to return.

Came back for lunch today, lured in by the 25 dollar
coupon I had. As usual everything was good and plentiful. I had the beef teriyaki bento box today. I must admit, the beef was really dry. In my mind this is a 3 ½ star review, but I really didn’t want to drop them all the way to 3 stars, because it is overall a good place, but there is just no magic here for me. It is reliable, but not exciting.
I know we will be back, because it is so close. I think next time will decide for me if it is a 3 or 4 star place. I am never this indecisive. I think Lawrence Fish Market has ruined me for sushi restaurants!!!

What DIDN’T we order when we came here?
So, I went with my family and they went a little insane with how much they wanted to order. Seriously. First, my dad ordered sake. Why he did that… I still have NO idea. Then, the tempura and mussels and tofu. In addition, we got the Korean sides and miso. We were definitely on the way to a food coma!
I ordered two rolls (crunch unagi and dragon, i believe) and was impressed by the freshness. Delicious. Oh, the tamago was so so so good. My family ordered various hot dishes (katsu don, spicy pork, stir-​fried beef) which all came in a little bento box. I think our waitress gave us a complimentary order of tempura. I mean, honestly. The food was awesome.
Loved the service — it was such a homey, cozy feel. I want to come back and try the different ramen or more rolls.
Thanks to the reviews on Unilocal,I ordered a $ 25 gift certificate from
for a mere $ 10! (Minimum purchase is $ 40 if you want to use the gift certificate! Also, 18% gratuity is added in and THEN the $ 25 is deducted from the bill.)