Conveyor-Belt Sushi

I would like to eat sushi that comes to me on a conveyor belt. Does anyone know where in the city I can accomplish this?

[I did find one reference to it in an old LTH post:]

If you just want to test the waters and aren't sure about committing to sitting in front of the chef for a whole meal just in case, try Sushi Station. This is a nice 'kaiten' (conveyor) sushi place in Rolling Meadows. The sushi is placed on a small conveyor belt that passes one side of the table. If you see something you like - you can pick it up. You are charged by the plate (the color of the plate codes for cost - $3-5), and so you can get up whenever you feel like without feeling obliged. I think there is a guide with pictures of what is what on the conveyor. You can always ask the waitstaff for items (like rolls) not on the conveyor. The quality of items, in spite of being on the conveyor, is very good.

At one point Hey Sushi had a conveyor belt. I'm not sure if they still do.

Be warned that it's a gimmick, and generally these places aren't as good as their non-kaiten counterparts.

Hey Sushi
2630 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60614
773.248.3900

Kampai in Mt. Prospect does not have a coveyor belt, but does have a floating sushi bar which you can pick what you want off little boats. I have not been there in years . www.thekampai.com/floatingsushibar.htm

gleam wrote:Be warned that it's a gimmick, and generally these places aren't as good as their non-kaiten counterparts.

That's generally true. Also the choices will be not be as much as sitting at the sushi bar. That said, my experience at Sushi Station was excellent. There quality and selection very good. You can also get items off the days specials list (some apparently flown in from Japan) or specific items or rolls that you want by asking the waitstaff or better still itamae. It helps to be able to sit where you can see the prep behind the counter and conveyor (though on busy night you may not have much control over that) and pick up the dish. Some 'special' rolls and nigiri (including from the days specials) are also made to order and 'extras' are placed on the conveyor.
You can also get cooked items from the kitchen.

I went for the novelty but I'm happy to go back for the sushi.


Sushi Station Inc
1641 Algonquin Rd
Rolling Meadows, IL
(847) 593-2450

I've had some good meals over the years at Kampai. For the most fun and the best sushi, go at a peak time, so the sushi that floats past is fresh. If you go when they're not busy, you'll wind up ordering your food as at any other sushi bar.

Hey Sushi does have a conveyor but the same applies. The day I went, they weren't busy, so they just had little menu cards on the conveyor. I was underwhelmed by the food.

Kampai's prices are also discounted during the lunch hours with the most expensive boats being $3.75. They have three colors for boats with the least expensive at $1; the other at $1.75. During lunch boats change fast;grab the fatty tuna quickly-it may not make it back to you.
I'm impressed with the volume and freshness. I always make a special order of uni (sea urchin) first. It's extra and more expensive, but they always have it, which is atypical of many sushi places.
I like the place because of the communal atmosphere, the quality of the food, and the reasonableness of the price.

As threatened, we took Sparky to Kampai for an early all-out faux-Japanese dinner and it did not disappoint. Not that the sushi bar was faux-Japanese - it was actually some of the better sushi we've had lately. I was amused to see that the most visible tenant of the strip mall where Kampai is located is a video store, prominently advertising adult videos - it felt very LTH. However, despite the somewhat gritty surroundings, the two restaurants are quite nice, even upscale, inside. Sparky was delighted - we had appetizers at the sushi bar, and then dinner at the teppanyaki place (there is no longer a corridor connecting the two, you have to access them from outside) I snapped a few blurry cell-phone shots of the more casual sushi bar:






We had a delicious octopus salad, some excellent fatty tuna sashimi, and a couple other rolls I don't particularly remember - though Sparky special-ordered tamago and Ikura, which he enjoyed. I was impressed with the quality of the fish, especially the sashimi, considering the Disney-esque surroundings.

As we turned to head over to the steakhouse, he suddenly started laughing and clapping his hands excitedly - behind us was a miso-soup-dispensing machine - his favorite soup, soda-fountain-style! Needless to say, his excitement wasn't lost on the proprieter, who amusedly informed him there was a "little man inside making the soup." Going directly from one restaurant to the other, it was amusing to note the contrast in customers at the sushi bar and the steakhouse: the sushi bar's crowd was weighted heavily towards Asian, whereas there was not one Asian customer at the steakhouse.



The Teppanyaki bar distinguished itself only by having actual Japanese people working in it; otherwise, it was like taking Sparky to a movie he had memorized: "Look, Mommy, he's going to toss the shrimp into his hat!" "Now he's going to make an onion volcano!" "Look, he's going to crack the egg on his spatula!" The food was unremarkable, though good for what it was - exactly the same as we've had every other time we've been to a Teppanyaki bar. That being said, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. I doubt I'd go back for Teppanyaki - just because it's only fun once in a decade or so - but we will probably stop in for floating sushi again, especially early in the evening, which seems to be a good time to go.

Kampai Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar
Colony Square Shopping Center
2330 S. Elmhurst Rd. (at Oakton)
Mt. Prospect
847-640-6700

There is now another sushi station on Randall Rd in Elgin, a little north of I90. I assume its like the Rolling Meadows one--a long winding conveyer belt in a plastic tunnel. Numerous choices at one time, usually about 4 plates of each thing which you lift one of the lids of the cover and take a plate when it passes by. Desserts on it as well. As it gets busier in the evening there are different and more varied selections. There's also a small menu of appetizers and soups you can order. I think there's about 5-6 different plate color (price) varieties.

I haven't been to Kampai in a long while, we used to ge frequently when we lived in Wheeling, pre-children, I loved the little floating sushi gimmick.
I thought their sushi was always good,
and I'm glad to hear it didn't dissapoint...
Miso soup from a machine, how fun!
We may have to make a field trip.

One minor thing - Sparky is hopeless with chopsticks. At Korean Garden, one of the nice ladies kindly made a chopstick-lever widget with a chopstick wrapper and a rubber band. I found him a set of very nice trainer chopsticks at H-Mart, but they're unweildy and I hate putting dirty chopsticks back in my purse, even if they're rinsed and wiped.

Kampai offers kids (and I assume anyone chopstick-impaired) a chopstick-connector: Funchop. I now carry this around in my purse, and Sparky can use it whenever we're eating out. I know there's another widget that does the same thing, but these are tiny, made especially to work with disposables, and work well. Nice touch.

aviva5675 wrote:There is now another sushi station on Randall Rd in Elgin, a little north of I90. I assume its like the Rolling Meadows one--a long winding conveyer belt in a plastic tunnel. Numerous choices at one time, usually about 4 plates of each thing which you lift one of the lids of the cover and take a plate when it passes by. Desserts on it as well. As it gets busier in the evening there are different and more varied selections. There's also a small menu of appetizers and soups you can order. I think there's about 5-6 different plate color (price) varieties.

Yep, it is owned by the same people as the Rolling Meadows location. The conveyor belt wraps around every seat/table in the place. I've found that the variety is quite good--two types of smoked salmon (the silverhead is great), quite a few interesting rolls (a fair amount on the spicy side, which is good by me), and some nice vegan rolls. If you go in there starving, though, the price can add up very quickly, as you find yourself grabbing more than you probably really need (at least that's my experience) .

The concept of conveyor-belt sushi is irrevokably linked in my mind to the Willy 'n' Ethyl restuarant I think was called "The Trough". At the Trough the concept was a trough where food was placed with a high end in the kitchen and a low end in the dining room. Diners sat on either side with utensiles picking at the food as it goes by. Willy noticed that the prime spot was right by the kitchen (thus you get first dibs on the food as it slides past.).