RFK Rankings · Chicago
Best Counter-Only Restaurants in Chicago 2026
Counter seating · Chicago · 5 counters ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 3, 2026 · Updated June 3, 2026
Otto Phan moved his omakase counter from Texas to a narrow Logan Square storefront in 2018 and promised, loudly, that he would earn two Michelin stars on the first try. He did not get them, but the ambition reset what a Chicago counter could be. The counter is the city's most honest format: no dining room to hide in, the chef's hands a foot from your plate, the seat itself the entire meal. In Chicago that almost always means omakase, where the best rooms hold a dozen seats or fewer and run a single nightly service. These five are the counters worth planning an evening around, ranked.
1.Mako
B.K. Park's twelve-seat sushi bar is Chicago's only Michelin-starred omakase, 23 Edomae bites for $215; reserve weeks ahead.
Mako is the city's only Michelin-starred omakase, a distinction chef B.K. Park earned within five months of opening on West Lake Street in 2019. The counter seats twelve at a graphite-walnut bar, and the meal runs up to 23 Edomae bites for $215, with an optional sake and wine pairing at $95. Park trained for years before this passion project and builds a more varied progression than most pure-Edomae rooms, folding in seasonal and cooked courses between the nigiri.
The room is small and reservation-led, the seats sell out, and the counter is the whole experience: there is no menu, no choice and nowhere to look but the chef's hands. Book several weeks ahead through Tock, take the sake pairing, and sit at the center of the bar facing Park if you can choose your seat.
Reserve at exploretock.com/mako.
2.Kyōten
Otto Phan's L-shaped Logan Square counter pours a $440 omakase of aged tuna and nothing else; commit to it once.
Kyōten is the most uncompromising counter in the city, Otto Phan's tiny L-shaped omakase room in a Logan Square storefront that he opened in 2018. The omakase runs $440 to $490 as of early 2025, among the most expensive seats in Chicago, and Phan's reputation rests on his rice and his aged tuna, which Chicago Magazine singled out when it declared in 2019 that the room lived up to its considerable hype.
There are only a handful of seats and a single nightly service, and a more affordable nigiri-only counter, Kyōten Next Door, sits beside it for diners not ready for the full splurge. This is a destination meal for a sushi obsessive rather than a casual night out. Prepay the omakase, clear the evening, and come hungry and on time, since the pacing is exact.
Book direct; prepaid omakase, counter only.
3.The Omakase Room at Sushi-san
Kaze Chan's eighteen-course counter behind Sushi-san runs $250 with a $100 deposit; book the early seating.
The Omakase Room is the hidden counter tucked behind Sushi-san on Grand Avenue in River North, where master sushi chef Kaze Chan runs an 18-course omakase for $250, with a $100 deposit due at booking. It is a Lettuce Entertain You room, which gives it a polish and consistency the smaller independent counters cannot always match, and the contrast with Sushi-san's loud, hip-hop-scored main room is the point: the counter is quiet, focused and chef-led.
The seating is intimate and reservation-only, prepared and presented entirely by the chefs at the bar. It is the most accessible serious omakase on this list, a good first counter for a diner stepping up from a sushi-bar dinner. Book the early seating through OpenTable, arrive on time for the deposit, and let Chan pace the eighteen courses.
Reserve at theomakaseroom.com.
4.Kikkō
Julia Momose's ten-seat basement counter pairs a $130 menu with James Beard's best bar program; snag a stool.
Kikkō is the ten-seat omakase counter hidden in the basement of Kumiko, the West Loop Japanese dining bar from Julia Momose and the team behind Oriole, whose Kumiko took the James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar in 2025. The counter runs a prix fixe at $130 with an optional beverage pairing at $65, built around Momose's precise Japanese cocktails and a tight progression of bites that blur the line between drinks and food.
What sets Kikkō apart is the pairing: nowhere else in the city builds a counter meal around cocktails of this caliber, with house syrups, sugar-nori rims and a sense of Momose's Kyoto upbringing in every course. The room is intimate and books out. Snag a stool through the reservation list, take the pairing, and treat it as a counter built on the bar rather than the sushi case.
Reserve the counter at barkumiko.com.
5.Kasama
The two-star Filipino counter serves chicken adobo to a daytime walk-in line, no tasting menu required; line up early.
Kasama is the counter that breaks the omakase pattern on this list, and the most decorated room on it: a daytime counter-service bakery in East Ukrainian Village that holds two MICHELIN stars, the first Filipino restaurant in the world to earn them. Chefs Genie Kwon and Tim Flores run the counter Wednesday through Sunday, where the menu of chicken adobo, longganisa, a breakfast sandwich and Kwon's pastries is ordered standing at the counter, most of it under $20.
The discipline here is the queue, not a tasting menu: there is no table service by day, the line forms down the block before the 9am open, and the counter is genuinely the only way the daytime room works. The two-star dinner tasting is a separate, reservation-only seating. For the counter experience, come by day, wait in line, and order the adobo with a pastry.
Walk in for daytime counter service, 9am to 3pm Wed-Sun.
Avoid for a counter night
Right instinct, wrong room
Au Cheval. Au Cheval has a counter, and it is a great seat for the cheeseburger, but it is a diner with tables rather than a chef's-counter ritual. Go for the burger and the no-reservations buzz, not for a quiet, chef-led progression at the bar.
Sushi-san. The main Sushi-san room in River North is a loud, hip-hop-scored sushi bar and a genuinely fun night, but it is a full restaurant with tables, not a single-seating counter experience. For the counter ritual, book The Omakase Room hidden behind it, not the main floor.
How to book a Chicago omakase counter
Chicago's counters are small and reservation-led, which means planning ahead is the whole game. Mako's twelve seats and Kyōten's handful sell out first and need booking weeks out through Tock; The Omakase Room takes a $100 deposit at booking and Kyōten prepays the full omakase, so a reservation is a commitment, not a hold. Kikkō's ten basement seats at Kumiko move through the reservation list and reward flexibility on the night.
Kasama is the exception that needs no booking at all by day: its counter is walk-in only, so the strategy there is the early line rather than the reservation. Weeknights are easier across every counter. Because these rooms suit a solo diner better than almost any format, they anchor our guide to the best restaurants for solo dining, and the omakase rooms also appear in the best sushi restaurants worldwide.
Frequently asked
What is the best omakase counter in Chicago?
Mako is our top counter, chef B.K. Park's twelve-seat West Loop sushi bar and the only Michelin-starred omakase in Chicago, running up to 23 Edomae bites for $215. Kyōten in Logan Square is the pricier, more uncompromising alternative at $440 and up. For the most accessible serious counter, The Omakase Room behind Sushi-san runs 18 courses for $250. Book any of them well ahead, since the seats are few.
Which Chicago omakase has a Michelin star?
Mako is the only Michelin-starred omakase in Chicago, a star chef B.K. Park earned within five months of opening on West Lake Street in 2019. Despite its early ambition, Kyōten has not received Michelin stars. The two-MICHELIN-star Kasama is a Filipino bakery and tasting room rather than a sushi counter. For a starred sushi counter specifically, Mako is the answer, and it books out weeks ahead.
How much does omakase cost in Chicago?
Chicago omakase spans a wide range. Kikkō at Kumiko is the most affordable serious counter at $130, with a $65 pairing. Mako runs $215 for up to 23 bites, plus a $95 pairing. The Omakase Room at Sushi-san is $250 for 18 courses. Kyōten sits at the top at $440 to $490. Set your budget by the counter first, then book the room that fits, since prices exclude tax and service.
Are counter-only restaurants good for solo diners?
They are the best format for it. A counter puts a solo diner in front of the chef rather than alone at a table, which turns eating by yourself into the intended experience rather than a compromise. Every room on this list, from Mako to Kikkō, is built around the seat at the bar. Kasama's daytime counter is the easiest to do solo on a walk-in. See our guide to the best restaurants for solo dining for more counter-first rooms.
How far ahead should I book a Chicago omakase counter?
Book the small rooms two to four weeks out. Mako's twelve seats and Kyōten's handful are the tightest and sell out first through Tock, and both take prepayment or a deposit, so a reservation is a firm commitment. The Omakase Room holds a $100 deposit at booking. Kikkō's ten seats at Kumiko move through a reservation list and can open on shorter notice. Kasama's daytime counter is walk-in only and needs no booking, just an early arrival.
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Browse the full Chicago dining guide, compare the world's best counter-only restaurants, see where these rooms place in the best sushi restaurants worldwide, find a no-reservation seat in the best walk-in restaurants in Chicago, or open the full RFK rankings index.
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