RFK Cuisine · Omakase · Chicago
Best Omakase Restaurants in Chicago 2026
Omakase · Chicago · 5 counters ranked · Updated June 2026
Reviewed by Daniel Whitford · Visited Q2 2026 · Senior Editor, Restaurants for Kings
Five counters, fewer than seventy seats between them, and one Michelin star: that is the size of serious omakase in Chicago, and it is enough. The city does not have Tokyo's depth or New York's volume, but it has a tight bench of chefs who learned the Edomae grammar and apply it to fish flown in twice a week. The range here is real — from a West Loop counter trading in Miyazaki wagyu and smoked tuna to a fixed-time speakeasy seating you can book on a whim. This is the honest field, ranked on the fish, the hands behind it and what you pay, with how to get in at each.
1.Mako
Chicago's only starred omakase counter that takes bookings; reserve a month out for the wagyu nigiri and smoked chutoro.
Mako, at 731 West Lake Street in the West Loop, is B.K. Park's Michelin-starred counter and the most polished omakase in the city. Park runs a contemporary Edomae menu of around twenty-three courses for roughly $215, leaning on luxury cuts the traditionalists skip — smoked chutoro brushed with burnt-scallion ponzu, Miyazaki A5 wagyu nigiri with sesame-pepper soy, line-caught aji and a fish-bone consommé between flights. Twenty-two seats, two services, a room that runs quiet and exact. Park trained the city's best sushi chefs before opening here, and the star has held in the current guide. Choose it when you want the city's top knife work and can plan around it. Seats drop on Tock about a month ahead; the Friday and Saturday slots go first.
Book on Tock ~30 days out; take the full omakase and let the kitchen run the wagyu and the smoked tuna.
2.The Omakase Room at Sushi-san
A ten-seat hideaway inside a busy sushi bar; book the eighteen-course menu with the Nikka whisky flight for a special night.
Tucked behind the always-packed Sushi-san at 63 West Grand Avenue in River North, the Omakase Room is a ten-seat counter run by master chef Kaze Chan, who has cooked Japanese food in Chicago for close to thirty years. The set menu runs eighteen courses for around $250, with a deposit taken at booking and an optional Nikka whisky pairing that suits the room's clubby, low-lit mood better than sake does. Chan's style is precise but warm, and the small counter makes for one of the city's most personal omakase experiences. Choose it for an occasion when you want the chef talking you through each piece. Book two to three weeks ahead through the dedicated reservation page; the deposit holds the seat.
Reserve 2–3 weeks out with the deposit; eighteen courses and the Nikka whisky pairing.
3.Sushi Juno
B.K. Park's original Chicago counter and still the smart-money omakase; book Lincoln Park for around twenty bites near $150.
Juno, at 2638 North Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park, is where B.K. Park made his name before Mako and Kyoten, and it remains the best-value serious omakase in the city. The signature is the omakase itself: roughly twenty meticulously built courses — sashimi, warm plates, nigiri and a dessert — for about $150, a chunk under what the newer counters charge for comparable fish. The room is plain and the focus is entirely on the sushi bar, where the rice is handled with the same care that earned Park his later stars. Choose it when you want real Edomae craft without the special-occasion price tag. Book on the restaurant's site, often available within the week even for weekends.
Book direct, usually a few days out; the full omakase is the order, not the à la carte list.
4.Sho Omakase
Mari Katsumura's playful, music-themed counter; go to Old Town for a ten-course menu at the city's friendliest omakase price.
Sho, at 1533 North Wells Street in Old Town, is the counter from Mari Katsumura, former executive chef of the one-Michelin-starred Yūgen, who opened it in 2025 as a looser, vinyl-soundtracked take on the format. The ten-course tasting runs about $145 — the gentlest entry point on this list for a chef-driven menu — and weaves composed hot and cold dishes through the nigiri rather than running straight Edomae. The result is more personal and less reverent than the West Loop counters, which is the point. Choose it when you want a chef with serious fine-dining range but a room you can actually talk in. Book on OpenTable; midweek seats are usually open within days, and premium course upgrades are worth it.
Book on OpenTable; take the ten-course menu and add the premium supplements where offered.
5.Sushi by Bou
A fixed-time, twelve-course seating from around $60; book Fulton Market when the serious counters are full or new to omakase.
Sushi by Bou, with Chicago counters in the Emily Hotel at 311 North Morgan Street in Fulton Market and the Claridge House in the Gold Coast, runs omakase as a fixed-length seating rather than a leisurely sit-down — a twelve-course signature menu from around $60, with seventeen-course Bougie and Reserve upgrades for more luxury fish. The format is loud, fast and fun, with graffiti-style art and a vinyl soundtrack at the Fulton Market room. It is not the place for hushed reverence, and the fish does not match the top three, but no other Chicago omakase is this easy to book or this cheap to try. Choose it as a first omakase or a same-day fallback. Reserve a timed slot online; same-day seats often exist.
Book a timed seating online; the twelve-course signature, or upgrade to the seventeen-course Bougie.
How Chicago does omakase
Chicago's omakase scene is small but unusually concentrated in one lineage. B.K. Park is the gravitational center: he built Juno, then Mako, then the two-starred Kyoten, and trained a generation of the city's sushi chefs along the way. That is why the counters here feel coherent — they share a grammar of careful rice, twice-weekly fish orders and contemporary Edomae cuts that lean into wagyu and smoked tuna rather than rigid tradition. The newer rooms, Sho above all, push against that with composed courses and a lighter mood.
The practical reality is that this is a reservation game, not a walk-in one. The two top counters, Mako and the Omakase Room at Sushi-san, want two to four weeks of lead time and reward planning. The middle of the list, Sushi Juno and Sho, is bookable within the week and is where the value sits. Sushi by Bou exists for the night you want omakase without the wait. For the wider city, the Chicago dining guide maps every neighborhood, and the best sushi in Kyoto shows what the tradition looks like at source.
Where not to look for it
Skip these when you want real omakase
The conveyor-belt and all-you-can-eat sushi rooms that advertise "omakase" as a menu line. Omakase means the chef chooses and builds each piece to hand across the counter; a printed "omakase platter" delivered to a table is a different, lesser thing. Every counter on this list seats you in front of the chef for a reason.
Mako or the Omakase Room if you want a quick, casual sushi dinner. These are ninety-minute-plus set menus at set prices — wonderful for an occasion, wrong for a Tuesday craving. For that, the lively à la carte room at Sushi-san or a neighborhood bar does the job at a fraction of the cost and commitment.
Frequently asked
What is the best omakase in Chicago?
Mako is the critical pick. B.K. Park's twenty-two-seat counter in the West Loop holds a Michelin star and serves a contemporary Edomae omakase of roughly twenty-three courses for about $215, built on luxury cuts like smoked chutoro and Miyazaki A5 wagyu nigiri. The Omakase Room at Sushi-san runs it close on polish under Kaze Chan. Beyond those two, Sushi Juno, Sho and Sushi by Bou cover the rest of the city's range, from veteran value to a fixed-time speakeasy seating.
How much does omakase cost in Chicago?
The serious counters cluster between $145 and $250 a head before drinks. Sho Omakase is the gentlest at roughly $145 for ten courses, Mako about $215 for twenty-three, and the Omakase Room at Sushi-san around $250 for eighteen. Sushi Juno sits near $150 for its full omakase. Sushi by Bou is the outlier: a fixed-time twelve-course seating from around $60, the easiest way into the format in the city. Sake or whisky pairings add $60 to $100 at most rooms.
Which Chicago omakase has a Michelin star?
Mako is the omakase counter on this list holding a Michelin star in the current Chicago guide, earned under chef B.K. Park. Chicago's wider omakase field is strong but largely unstarred at the counter level; Park's own flagship Kyoten and Omakase Yume also carry stars but are not covered here. For a starred sushi experience that takes bookings rather than a lottery, Mako is the reliable answer, and the West Loop counter is worth planning a month around.
How far ahead do you need to book omakase in Chicago?
Plan on two to four weeks for the top counters. Mako releases seats on Tock about a month out and the prime Friday and Saturday slots clear fast. The Omakase Room at Sushi-san takes a deposit at booking and books two to three weeks ahead. Sho and Sushi Juno are easier, often bookable within the week. Sushi by Bou sells timed seatings online and can sometimes seat you the same day, which makes it the fallback when the others are full.
What should you order at a Chicago omakase?
At a true omakase the chef decides, so the move is to book the full counter menu rather than à la carte. At Mako, let the kitchen run the wagyu nigiri and the smoked chutoro; at the Omakase Room at Sushi-san take the eighteen-course menu with the Nikka whisky pairing; at Sho add the premium supplements. If you only want a taste of the format, Sushi by Bou's twelve-course signature is the low-commitment way to learn what omakase actually means before you spend $215 on it.
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