Sushi heaven (Sushi Para Too)

Check out my lunch order at a sushi place this weekend:

6 pieces fresh salmon sushi
3 pieces fresh tuna sushi
2 pieces whitefish sushi
1 American Dream roll (salmon, cucumber, avocado, etc)
1 order of gyoza (4 pieces)

TAB: $12.99 + tax (I think it's $16.99 for dinner)

I must say that the quality of the fish was very good and service was prompt and friendly. Other items on the all-you-can-eat menu include a house salad, miso soup, other sushi and rolls (ranging from the standard california and spicy tuna to some pretty exciting, creative ones). It's a hidden gem! Of course, the catch is you have to finish whatever you order (including the rice) So check it out!

Sushi Para Too
2256 N. Clark, Chicago
Tel: (773) 477-3219

We've eaten at Sushi Para II a few times; Was first introduced to Sushi Para I up in Palatine - thank goodness Para II is so much closer. We've gone for dinner ~2-3 times at that location. We like the spider roll, hamachi, spicy tuna and tuna avocado rolls. Their nigiri are fairly good albeit with huge platforms of rice; The rolls actually contain less rice AND while sitting at the sushi bar we observed that the fish they use in their rolls is the same cuts used in their nigiri (seldom the case in other places). Run by Mandarin-speaking Chinese; All the sushi chefs are likewise Chinese although the dialects spoken are different. The wait time between submitting your order and receiving can be exceptionally long, however the chefs work fairly quickly - it's the large amount of orders which bogs them down.

A couple weeks ago was our first visit to Sushi Para II and we totally agree with you on the experience. We will definitely return. The service was prompt and the food and delicious. The fish was fresh and the all-you-can eat listing was large. However, I hate to give it too much praise, otherwise I won't find a table there for myself. I know, I'm selFISH!

Anyone been here recently? Hows it been?

Thanks!

J

Due to the economical nature of the place and it's proximity to Landmark Century Cinema the fairer half and myself ate eat there regularly. The sushi was always at least fresh from the high turnover and we thought it adequate to good, in fact we turned a few friends on to the place over the last couple years.
However, recent experiences have been sub par and my lunch their last week pretty much knocked Sushi Para too out of my sushi rotation no matter how much food they will give you for 16 bucks.
The service has always been very basic at best which doesn't really matter when it is BYOB and we tend to order plates of sushi that keep one occupied for a serious time interval after which a little respite is appreciated.
The last few times I have thought the sushi and even nori to taste less fresh and the service to be just plain poor.
Worst of all it seems the mayonnaise content of the rolls has been upped to the level of low quality Korean storefront sushi.

So - Goodbye Sushi Para Too, we had a lot of great times together but I must bid thee farewell. - You never had extra fatty Toro available anyway.

Ended up here for the first (and likely last) time for a friend's birthday last night. Servers were attentive, but we had numerous individual pieces of sushi never make it to the table in two rounds of ordering. Our group was large enough that each half of the table was filling out their own form. Our side requested 3 pieces of squid both rounds, and never received any. Which I would just chalk up to possibly being out of squid, if the other side of the table didn't receive some that they had requested with their second round. Some other pieces went missing as well.

Rolls were often way too heavy on the mayo, and our second round included a number of rolls that were far too large to eat comfortably. They were also the worst constructed rolls I have ever seen, with 1 out of every 2 falling apart in the process of being picked up no matter how carefully they were handled.

Sushi Para is BYOB. I'm going with a party of 16 tonight, hoping we have a much better experience than ucjames !

I've never had service issues there and it really is pretty fun to see huge boats of sushi hit the table. It's a lively atmosphere and all you can eat with BYOB for $25 including tax and tip is pretty affordable I have to say. It's not destination sushi, but it's fun. I'm sure your group will enjoy it.

turkob wrote:I've never had service issues there and it really is pretty fun to see huge boats of sushi hit the table. It's a lively atmosphere and all you can eat with BYOB for $25 including tax and tip is pretty affordable I have to say. It's not destination sushi, but it's fun. I'm sure your group will enjoy it.

Spot on description of what our group experienced. I really didn't expect much in terms of quality but was very pleased. (only correction is that it is $24.45 per person including tax/tip )

I was part of Sweet Willie's group, and echo his assessment. The sushi was very satisfactory, and we ate until we could eat no more, which is not something one can say very often of spending no more than $25 at a sushi restaurant. Viewing pictures of the restaurant on line, I wondered how they'd fit our group in, but we were given a private space that worked well for the 18-20 or so of us, and the service seemed prompt and cheerful to me. I'd be happy to visit Sushi Para Too again.

Katie wrote: The sushi was very satisfactory, and we ate until we could eat no more...

Ha !
I am planning ZERO seafood in my near future, at least a week, as a result. I'm fished out.