Cocoro Restaurant

First time trying and pleasantly surprised. The food might look uninteresting but the tastes are great. The ramen is good with delicious charshu (the sliced pork) and yummy bamboo shoots. The avocado tuna roll is really good 😋😋 Overall is great, just a tad pricey.

This may be the most authentic Japanese restaurant that offers a unique menu other than the typical sushi or ramen in Chicago. Plus it's actually managed by Japanese staff which is rare to see in the city. Favorites were chawanmushi, agedashi tofu and nagasaki champon noodles. Black sesame pudding is a great cherry on the top. Still thinking about it everyday so will definitely go back for more. I wouldn't come here looking for the best sushi or ramen in town. Try the atypical menu items!

Good friendly service BUT food wasn’t worth the price at all. It taste like a step up from the sushi you get at a Chinese buffet… udon was bland. the spicy scallop did taste fresh though. Green tea cheesecake was good. I regret not going to another sushi place 😑

Some very tasty and unique sushi! I come here alone and it’s so comfortable and relaxing Service is pretty good, friendly , and patient! I love this place! Must try the takoyaki it’s the best in downtown !!!

Firstly. I might have a new favorite Japanese restaurant In Chicago. I loved visiting Cocoro restaurant. There was moments I felt like I was back in Japan. My gf and I had hot sake, fried tofu with baby 🍄 mushrooms on top. Then had a pan seared mackerel fish. Then some 🍱 sushi. It was fresh and tasted just like I had in japan, excited to come back in the near future. 👍

Enjoyed the shabu shabu set which included salad, shabu shabu, rice, and ice cream. I also really liked their sesame dipping sauce. There was a lot of food for two, I wish the soup had more flavor and more variety to the ingredients. It was also on the pricer side. Service was great, a very nice and homey restaurant. Would definitely come back to try other items on the menu.

We had the Eel Seiro and a Rainbow Roll. The Rainbow Roll was pretty good. The Eel Seiro was okay, but I didn’t understand why they serve rice in a box like this (see photo). Half of the rice fell onto the plate, which made it very inconvenient to eat!

Best Japanese food I have had outside of Japan. Can't wait to come back and try all their offerings!

Food: The combination of tender slices of beef and fresh vegetables simmering in the hotpot created a symphony of flavors that was both comforting and delicious. Drinks: The meal come with a bowl of salad, dessert and green tea! Service: The service at Cocoro was impeccable. The staff were attentive and knowledgeable, guiding us through the hotpot process and ensuring we had everything we needed. Their warm hospitality and efficient service made our dining experience seamless and enjoyable. Ambiance: The ambiance at Cocoro was warm and inviting, with a cozy and intimate setting perfect for enjoying a hotpot meal. The stylish decor and comfortable seating added to the overall charm, making it a great

Comforting Japanese food. Overall, very decent. None of the dishes are necessarily a stand out, but it is like a real teishoku-ya where they have a wide variety of comfort foods that will hit the spot. Katsu-Curry and Katsu-Don are such items that let you get a sense of comfort in your busy day. Kind service, good location, and comfortable dining area. I'll stop by whenever I'm looking for something down-to-earth and warm.

Great service, ambience, and good food. The Gyoza was fresh and nicely flavored. The sushi roll was fresh and they had good quality sushi rice. Lastly, for entrees we had the Tempura udon and Beef w/ Rice. The Tempura in the udon was a little greasy, but that's about the only negative piece there. The Beef was a bit on the salty side, but a good portion.

In a word Magnificent. One of the best Tonkatsu Ramen ever. Flavorful porky broth, perfectly cooked noodles. Great service.

Cocoro goes far beyond sushi and ramen with an extensive list of Japanese dishes not as commonly found in Chicago. They advertise their products as authentic cuisine, so I was really looking forward to visiting. Unfortunately, this experience really missed the mark for me. The restaurant was pretty quiet at 6pm on a Saturday night, and after perusing the menu I opted for the Nabeyaki Udon which was advertised as a house special. The dish arrived with the broth still boiling. Although it was presented beautifully, my heart sank a bit as I saw the tempura batter on the shrimp and seaweed immediately fall off and turn to mush. I heftily blew on a small spoonful and burnt my lip after an unfortunate underestimation of the temperature. Most of the meal was spent icing it and waiting for the udon to cool down. By the time the dish had cooled enough to eat, the noodles were limp and chicken quite tough. I found the broth to be very bland, as if the dashi stock was hurriedly steeped. $33 and a blistered lip later, I left hungry and disappointed. I'd really hoped to find a new favorite in this restaurant and its interesting menu. Hopefully, some of these points will be addressed as I would love to see this local spot succeed.

My friends and I went here for dinner and loved this place. One of my friends called it possibly his new favorite restaurant in Chicago. We already want to go back because their menu is so big and there are so many interesting things we want to try. It's also such a beautiful space - I can say it looks not like many of the other Chicago restaurants I've been in and something about being here felt like a portal transporting you to another space. For drinks, the table got the melonpico (beautiful green color) and the yuzu highball. For food, we got the smelt tempura, agedashi tofu, tuna tataki, 2 pieces of sashimi (mackerel and I'm blanking on the other one), nabeyaki udon, and the tonkatsu. My personal faves of what we got were the agedashi tofu, smelt tempura, black sesame pudding, and the sashimi. My friends really liked the tuna tataki and the staff also recommended it. The entrees we got were just okay, but I would def try more of their raw fish because what we got was fresh. I also want to get their shrimp tempura next time (one of the apps the staff recommended). I also think it's impressive that this place has been around for a while and seems to serve members of the Japanese community (other customers spoke Japanese with the staff which at least in my experience is a bit of a rarity in Chicago Japanese restaurants I've been in). TLDR: great place, we will definitely be back.

Super cozy spot in River North! Feels and tastes more authentic than the other Japanese restaurants in the area. The energy is homey and comforting too Dine in to share a pot of sukiyaki, cooked right at the table. It's big with fresh veggies but probs better if they used fattier cuts of beef. Sushi & makis are yummy too! Sukiyaki (for two) $78 Crunchy spicy tuna roll $15 시카고 일식은 2프로씩 부족한듯. 그나마 여긴 퓨전이 아니라 재대로된 느낌의 요리들이 많아서 좋다 분위기도 따듯하면서 아늑해서 밥먹으러 혼밥하러 오기 편하다. 2인용으로 준비되는 스키야키가 양도 많고 야채도 다양해서 추천!

I've been here once with friends. I ordered a Japanese curry with katsu. It came with miso soup. Portion size was great and has generous amount of food. Quality was good. However, the price doesn't sit well with me. It's currently $26. After examining the other items on the menu, I'm not a fan of the price gouging. I suppose if you only lived in the city, with no car, and was virtually clueless, this would be okay with you. If you head out to the burbs like the Arlington Heights or Elk Grove area, you can find this exact dish for under $20. Tensuke Market has it for $11. The quality is exceptional. This is about a 3 for me since I know you can get great, authentic Japanese for less.

Great place. Quiet. Very fresh food no matter what we ate. Great service. Loved the cut of the fresh sashimi

We walked in on a Monday night and were able to be seated quickly. Food: I ordered the nabeyaki udon. The noodles were tender, the broth was light and refreshing. The pot it came in also maintained the temperature of the soup well. Interior: warm and welcoming; lots of seating Service: I dock it one star because the kitchen service was quite slow, I waited a while for my food to come out.

Japanese food quite good, very good service with really nice servers, nice ambiance. Also some excellent sake options.

Have walked by Cocoro hundreds of times and have not given a shot. Curb appeal is a little tough - on the block between Hooters and CVS on Wells St, but give it a try!!! No reservations, but you can check an estimated wait time online! We were seated immediately and ordered beers, edamame, gyoza and two rolls of sushi (dragon & I'm forgetting the name, but spicy tuna) and everything was amazing. Highly recommend giving it a try and we'll absolutely be back!

Until coming to Cocoro, I had never had sushi before. My friends thought that this had to change, so we made our way over here for dinner. In order to get a taste of everything, we got the sashimi plate as well as a dragon roll (apparently that's a good starter sushi roll). I honestly had some mixed feelings about the sashimi for my personal taste palate, but it was still delicious. Also, I understand why people buy expensive bottles now because we ordered a nicer bottle of sake and I've never had a smoother drink in my life. I highly recommend getting one to pair with your dinner.

Just got back from several weeks in Japan and was craving authentic Japanese food and reviews pointed me here. Late lunch crowd was decent and a lot of fellow Asians which is reassuring. I got the tan tan ramen based off her recommendation since I like spicy broth. It was delicious and a healthy size but there could have been more protein, could have been spicier and broth could have had deeper flavor. This could be biased since I just got back from Japan. Was debating getting some nigiri but she couldn't tell me if the salmon belly was chuturo or Otoro so passed. But those around me who got sushi boxes seemed pleased and the cuts looked nice. Service was fast and will definitely be back to check out the rest of the menu.

Great food and great service! The people working are so kind and try to get reservation and non-reservations seated as soon as they can! The food is delicious!!!

The real deal. Like eating in a small restaurant in Japan or Granada ma's kitchen. Great place.

Amazing food!! Love love love the sushi. I recommend the super crunchy roll. Was not a fan of the fashion roll. The shrimp shumai was so yummy. Service was great.

Third time rates a review. I've tried some maki rolls and I've had a bento box. There's so much more to try. I've never been for dinner and there's even more to try on that menu. The sushi is very good. I'm not an expert but it's better than some I've tried around town. The bento box was very good. You have to be hungry because the box is huge. I couldn't finish it. The staff is really nice and the ambiance is comfortable. Strangely played Latin music last time I was in. There was only one server but she easily handled the 6-8 or so tables that were sat when we had lunch. Definitely worth a try.

Very traditional Japanese restaurant! Great atmosphere and the food was delicious! Lots of different food options like ramen, sushi and other dishes. Nice staff, would recommend!

If you're looking for likely one of the most authentic Japanese restaurants in the city limits of Chicago, look no further than Cocoro. They are probably one of maybe two in the city that actually offer Sukiyaki, where Chicago seems to be lacking in that department. The two ladies that we had the pleasure of interacting with were very nice and took care of us well. We went with the Sukiyaki dish which was $70, and did not include eggs (which I found to be interesting). Their cocktails were yummy, and although I've had better Sukiyaki in LA, this is truly the closest you're gonna get to the best in Chicago. Their menu is fairly extensive so I know I'll be back to try some other items as well. This place has been in Chicago since the mid-90's and is still whippin' up some great Japanese meals. Keep supporting these places y'all. We need to keep them open!

Had been craving Hayashi Rice for some time now. From my search, I saw this place has it thought it didn't show up on their menu. Decided to give it a try anyway. GLAD I DID. Fabulous place. Big and ultra high ceilings. Has a beautiful small bar you can order food off of which seemed more comfortable than your typical bars. I found out the owners are Japanese. That got me super excited as most of the Japanese restaurants in the US I have been to are typically owned by Chinese or Koreans. I was able to speak to them in Japanese which was just nostalgic. I've tried yakitori in many many places in the US but none of them come close to what you get in Japan. I had to try it over here when I saw it on the menu. The sauce was as close as you can get to the ones you get in Japan. If you've had them in Japan, you will know what I mean. The chicken was about 10% overcooked but the flavor of the sauce compensated that for me. We ordered some scallops that were from the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Mmmmmmmmmm, absolutely delicious. We also ordered the Beef Teriyaki box. I didn't realize how hungry I was till I nearly finished this meal. Beautifully served in a traditional Japanese divided box/plate. The beef itself was ok. I've had better. The tempura was right on and perfect. The sushi was pretty good. The pickles you can't go wrong. The one thing that took me by surprise was what I believe is called Ohitashi; it's the green piece in the picture with loads of soft spinach rolled with some seasonings and some kind of liquid seasoning. Never had that but was DELICIOUS (Maybe not for everyone cause I know a lot of Americans don't like spinach. I LOVE spinach). The star for me was what you will see on the lower right hand side. I don't know what you call those but I've had those in Japan growing up and I kid you not, hadn't had them for over 20 years. I think this is going to be my new favorite Japanese restaurant in Chicago.

This neighborhood cozy Japanese restaurant has been my go to for years. I always feel so welcome here by the "aunts" working here! Today was a night I craved Shabu Shabu and hot pot. So glad to have authentic Japanese that serve it here. I took a video of it, so no pix but my fiancé and I also shared a few apps and a tonkatsu. All so delicious. I love having this place close!

Visiting from Texas, I wanted something Japanese that is rare in Dallas scene. Recommended by my old Japanese friend who now lives in Chicago, I was excited to come to Cocoro. I could definitely see Japanese customers filling up the space to have meals or small dishes for some beer time. We were more drawn to try their infamous Sukiyaki which was huge at first sight and the lady in a cute accent explained how to enjoy this dish very thoroughly. 3 girls left that place 200% full. I have tried sukiyaki in Japanese friend's house and since this is restaurant version, it seemed to have more variety of vegetables and greater quality of beef. Although $75 value was little overpriced, given the fact that this dish is intended for 2 people. Tamago Yaki was also pleasantly good. Sushi was not as significant experience for me, so I recommend coming for home-made like dishes. When I come back to Chicago, I will give it another try with other awesome looking choices!

Came here for a late dinner and enjoyed their chicken teriyaki, which was cooked well and came with rice, miso soup, and edamame. The dish was large and I was definitely full by the end of the meal.

What a gem we just found!! The sukiyaki for two was amazing. It was loaded with beef, Napa cabbage, mushrooms, glass noodles and carrots. Staff were super friendly and we also ended up ordering a side of udon which was very soft yet chewy!

I really wanted to like Cocoro more after being so excited to find a more authentic Japanese restaurant in the downtown Chicago area, but unfortunately I think there were some issues that prevented Cocoro from being great. I called in to make a reservation right as the restaurant opened and I would highly recommend doing so or reserving in advance since this restaurant gets very crowded. Additionally, I would recommend eating here closer to opening hours rather than later in the evening since the orders can get extremely backed up. For dinner, my friend and I ordered the following items: -Agedashi Tofu: nice, light dish to start things off. The sauce that it was served with was also pretty tasty. -Chawanmushi: also another appetizer on the lighter side. I liked chawanmushi but the portion was quite small for the price. -Uni Nigiri: definitely skip ordering the uni nigiri. The uni had a bitter, fishy aftertaste and was not worth the price for the one piece of nigiri. -Eel Seiro: the eel was nicely seasoned and I liked the lightness of the miso soup as well (it was not overly salty). This dish came with way too much rice for the amount of eel provided, however. I wish the portion of eel was a bit larger so I could eat it with more of the rice. -Chicken Box: this bento order actually came with a surprisingly large amount of food. The chicken itself was a bit too dry for my taste, but it was nice that there were lots of side dishes and items that came with the order. The California rolls would probably be the thing that pushed you over the edge at this point if you were already feeling full since there was so much rice in them...but let's be honest, California rolls are never really great to begin with anyways. I was surprised to see how large the menu was at Cocoro so it was nice to be able to choose from a huge variety of dishes. Unfortunately, the service here like many other reviewers have stated was quite slow due to the lack of staff. As the night went on, it looked like the restaurant was having an increasingly difficult time accommodating all of the tables. The food at Cocoro was decent, but the service time is something that definitely needs to be considered when dining here.

Been only twice, but the food and service is amazing. I highly recommend dining with a group of people and doing family style- this allowed us to try more dishes! My friend ordered for all of us because she frequents and has eaten so many dishes here. Everything that was ordered was perfectly prepared and tasty. Presentation was nice, too. Don't be fooled by the basic photo of the katsu curry- it was good. I'll gladly be back!

I've gone a few times now, and though I enjoyed the food overall, I think the price is quite high for what you get, though it's to be expected with Chicago downtown prices. More recently I got the tonkotsu ramen and it wasn't remarkable. My friend who is a Japanese international student really enjoyed the Aji fry set though. I've had the eel seiro in the past and though it was good, I was still a bit hungry and again the price was high for the amount of food.

Love this place. Best Japanese food I've had since I left Japan in 2019. Everything is authentic in taste and presentation, the pricing is reasonable, and the service is great. I highly recommend checking this spot out and getting a calpico chu hai

We got a last minute reservation with 5 hungry kids in tow. The service is slow actually extremely slow ... we ordered a whole bunch of stuff from apps to sushi and Ramens. Everything tasted ok but they forgot one of our orders for main course and my poor friend had to wait for her soba noodles for a long time while rest of the hungry hounds finished up dinner. Overall nothing wow about this place except it's family owned and so they probably care what diners feel

Starting off, the quality of the food was very good. I had the unagi (eel) sashimi and I could tell that the rest of the meal would be very appetizing. Following was the shabu shabu which was just simply amazing. The vegetables were fresh, with my favorites being the mushroom and bok choy. The select ribeye came in good quantity and I couldn't ask for anything more. The vegetable quantity was a bit too much for us though. The noodles that came with the dish were amazing and along with the sauces made me feel at home. Finally, the green tea ice cream was the best send off. The place itself is pretty cozy , which matched that of the food. The reason I rate low, however, was that I think the service could have been much better. At times, it seemed like the waitress forgot about us.

Very authentic Japanese food with the most welcoming owner. One of my favorite mom and pop shops in Chicago

We came here at around 9 PM on a Saturday and had to wait a bit to be seated. The service overall was pretty slow, but I think they might be understaffed unfortunately We ordered, a Nuki Udon, Tempura Udon, Tempura Soba, and a Dragon Roll, and it took about 40 minutes for our food to be ready. We were so hungry that we basically scarfed everything down, but the broth for the udon was pretty light in my opinion. Soba was pretty good, and so was the tempura. Really enjoyed the Dragon Roll as well. The staff was quite nice and courteous despite the long wait time, and it definitely filled my craving for Japanese food.

The food was delicious and authentic! From the beginning I was helped and offered water! Our server was very attentive and kind! The ambiance was calm. Would definitely go back again!

This is the most authentically Japanese place I have been to in the city. It has the vibe of a "mom and pop" shop and has all the great home-cooking-style dishes you might find at an izakaya or restaurant actually in Japan, going way beyond sushi. I ate here on my own during a Christmas shopping journey, and was able to sit at the bar and read Japanese local newspapers while munching on my food. - Tendon (tempura donburi) - yum, you get a lot of big honking pieces of shrimp (and other delicious veggies), over a nicely seasoned bed of rice. I do wish the tempura was a little crispier, but this still really hit the spot. - Takowasa (tako wasabi) - this is small pieces of raw octopus, marinated in a wasabi sauce. It's slimy but addictive and a great beer snack. It's sort of hard to come across (because you'll mostly just find it at bars) and this was such a good app to snack on while reading the newspaper. This is definitely going to become one of my go-to spots. The menu is huge, with so many things to try. And the atmosphere is so cozy! If you wanna feel like you're stopping by a random house for dinner in Japan, eat here!

Great food, the most efficient and friendly waitstaff. Centrally located and reasonably priced. Will surely be coming back!

I couldn't have had a better Japanese style meal than this one! My boyfriend and I were looking for a nice Japanese meal and landed on this place. At first we were a little hesitant because it seemed a little pricey, but glad we decided against our first judgement! The lady (I wasn't able to get her name) was extremely kind and was very quick to make sure we had enough time to look through the menu but to help us as soon as we were ready. I ordered the tonkatsu curry and my boyfriend ordered the Unagi bowl, and we both decided to share the pickled veggie plate. We were both pleasantly surprised with not only the food quality but also the amount of food that we were given! Both of our meals came with a small bowl of miso soup and my boyfriends unagi bowl came with soup, salad and pickled radishes (our favorite!) Not only was there a plentiful amount of food, but both of our entrees were under 20 dollars. To me, for the amount of food that we got, I felt like our meals should have been closer to or even a little more than 20. Seeing how affordable this whole meal was, was probably the icing on the cake! My boyfriend and I are moving into Chicago, so one this is for certain: we will definitely be back here for our next Japanese fix! Can't wait to go back and try more of this menu!

Pretty authentic Japanese home feel foods. Making reservations would be recommended and the service is good. It feels like one of the last Japanese home cooking feel places left in Chicago unfortunately. Keeps me going back.

The food here is so good! The bento box has massive portions and also comes with miso soup. I'll definitely be getting that next time. The food is fresh and super delicious. Authentic Japanese. The roll was light and the fish was fresh and the salmon in the bento box was delicious. The service is 100000% amazing, and the lady who works here is so sweet. I will definitely be coming back.

Cocoro is AMAZING. Delicious, authentic japanese food right in the heart of Chicago. Service is stellar, ambiance is cosy and makes you feel right at home. I ordered the off menu sweet potato roll with unagi sauce, which was flavorful, delicious, packed with japanese sweet potato and crunchy tempura. My dining partner had gotten fish nigiri as well as an egg dish, which he commented was very superb with great quality fish. The servers were very attentive, and made the experience that much more amazing. I would recommend reservations on a Friday night as we had to squeeze in at the sushi bar. Definitely recommend Cocoro to anyone seeking amazing Japanese food in Chicago!

A cute Japanese restaurant, kind of a hidden restraint but I had a great experience. The service here is very good our waitresses were very helpful and attentive. We had the fried tofu appetizer, salmon avocado roll, and 2 ramen dishes. Everything was tasty and I was pleased with all of the things I ordered. I'd definitely recommend this for anyone in the area that isn't trying to break the bank but wants some good Japanese food. The shoyu ramen was my favorite!

A hidden gem. Delicious Japanese cuisine. The Katsu Curry has perfectly cooked breaded pork and delicate curry sauce it transports you to Japan. I tried the A la Carte Sushi and it is beautifully prepared and it tastes fresh. They have more dishes to check out definitely for next round.

Upon sitting down and cracking open the splintery, low quality chopsticks, I knew this was not going to be a good experience. We ordered a couple of what we thought would be good items from other reviews: shishito peppers, agadashi tofu, tonkotsu ramen, and katsu curry. The shishito peppers were lightly charred without any oil, and didnt taste fresh. Tofu didn't have much flavor. The ramen was one of the worst I have ever had. The broth tasted like it came out of a bag. Katsu curry was uninspiring, lacking flavor. Don't know how this place is still open and receiving crowds on the weekend when it is one of the priciest and worst Japanese restaurants I've had in the city!

I absolutely love Cocoro! The food is delicious, fresh and so tasty. The people are so kind and friendly as well.

Cocoro is an extremely rare case of Japanese authenticity in the city of Chicago. I've visited a handful of times and look forward to continue doing so unless they decide to leave me... Some of the items that I have tried are: 1) Shio ramen 2) Grilled squid 3) Salmon nigiri 4) Curry Katsu - breaded pork with curry sauce and rice 5) Katsu ju - fried pork topped with an egg, onions, and scallions 6) Nabesaki udon - a huge bowl of hot broth with udon and seafood 7) Eel Seiro - eel with shredded eggs and shitake mushrooms 8) Horse Mackerel - fried mackerel 9) Sansai Seiro - steamed rice with five kinds of mushrooms and shredded eggs Thus far, there has not been an item that I disliked at Cocoro. In fact, #4-9 are my usual go-to's and #7-8 are my favorites. Two [major] personal pros: 1) Children-friendly 2) Bathroom with a changing table

I really liked this unassuming Japanese restaurant in River North. It totally fit the bill on what I was looking for, authentic, traditional Japanese entrees (offerings besides sushi), and a place where I can hear and engage in conversation. We ordered an una-ju and oyako don and takoyaki. Everything was good. Service was friendly. Would return!

Our absolute favorite Japanese restaurant in Chicagoland! I haven't written a 5 star in almost a year (usually negative reviews because I have strong experience). If I can give 10 stars for Cocoro I definitely would! Our go-to are takoyaki, nabe udon, eel on rice (una ju), toro and dynamite roll. We sometimes order katsu-don, don katsu, citrus breeze roll. They are ALL VERY GOOD! After finding this place last year my bf and I went almost every day. The waitress started recognizing us and gave us free ice cream once :) I was little hesitant to write this review because this is a small family-ran restaurant and I was, selfishly, worried too many people would start going. Even during covid foods sometimes took more than 40 min to get prepared. But this place deserves to be recognized.

Came here on a Wednesday night and it wasn't super busy. It seems like a pretty authentic Japanese place and the food was quite good as well. However, the food came at quite a slow pace- we waited around 20-30 min until our first dish arrived. The takoyaki and sushi roll that we got was really good while the Katsu-ju could use a slight bit more flavor. Overall, I would recommend this place!!

In a downtown area full of Asian-fusion restaurants, Cocoro stands out with a more authentic and traditional menu. I think the food is good by Chicago standards, but just decent compared to what you'd get in Japan or a coastal city, so keep your expectations reasonable. Still very enjoyable though. Sushi and sashimi are good, and the katsu curry is a must try. The restaurant itself is quiet, low-key, and not trendy. Apparently in business since '96. Feels local and family-operated. I've only been for lunch, but haven't had a problem getting seated (parties of 2-5). It's generally not crowded. Prices are about what you'd expect from a sit-down river north restaurant. I flip flopped between 4 or 5 stars. The food in general is good, but not amazing. However I decided to tack on another star for experience and ambiance. Feels calm and chill eating inside, have not had problems with service, and there's really no wait or lines (things I hate). A nice change of pace from the general river north vibe.