Kawa Japanese Restaurant

This place is an absolute gem. The sushi is phenomenal. Fresh, thick cuts of fish, fantastic service, and amazing value. I would wholeheartedly recommend this place to anyone!

So, full disclosure I lived in Japan for almost 4 years, and of course compared to that this is just not on the same level. That being said, I think for the middle of Illinois this place is great. The variety is awesome, service is always good, I like everything I've tried. My faves are the sweet potato rolls and ebi sushi. There's never a wait, parking is easy, prices are good for sushi. No complaints here.

It was my first time trying this spot out and omg I will definitely be going back. The sushi was amazing in flavor and presentation. We got the California roll, the volcano, the dragon roll, and the spider. The tonkotsu ramen was absolutely delicious as well and was my first time having an authentic Ramen. I was not disappointed and neither will you. The portion sizes are generous and you will not leave hungry, garunteed. We plan on visiting this restaurant again and will recommend to any looking for a new spot to try.

Ramen was not different from microwave noodles and the broth some appalling tasteless pink water. Worst dinning experience of my life. Save yourself the trouble and the money

Look at the number of reviews in the last year.....not many. Decided to try this restaurant for the first time through Doordash based on the Doordash rating. I simply was not impressed. Ordered grayslake roll (terrible would have sent back at first bite), tiger roll (serviceable but still not good), volcano roll (I wouldn't have sent this back but by no means great).

Very expensive for small rolls (little over an inch in diameter. I'm used to 2+ inch at their prices. The volcano roll did fit that bill but only 6 pieces.

I know everything is tough with COVID but my go to place

We ate there for the first time. Love the place. You can pick and choose your raw food on the buffet line. Then the cook takes it from there. Cooks it to my liking. Hot, fresh, cooked to my satisfaction. The best of the best. My food was reasonably priced. And cooked hot. Love this place.
I recommend this place to everyone.

Was told to give them a second while the bartender washed cups. Understandable but odd there was no greeter. He left, we then waited for 10 minutes without anyone acknowledging our presence while we stood around. Very poor customer service. Ended up just walking out.
(Edit) A response to the reply: Obviously not. The bartender told us to wait but left and never came back in the 10 minutes we waited. A server also responded to someone seated at the bar saying she was the only one on shift. Horrible management if that is true. Also an inappropriate reply to my review with saying what happened is

The rolls were decent. We enjoyed them and have had them before. We had the kamikaze, cherry blossom and dragon. They did smell a little fishy--more so than normal (I know it's sushi), they were ok at best. The Mongolian bar is still good. The only option for the base is egg noodles though. The "tonkatsu ramen" is a bowl of disappointment if you've had good ramen before. Anyone who's had chashu in ramen knows the difference between that and the red bbq pork common in Chinese food. I wasn't upset or trying to get a refund when I brought up the chashu to the waitress

I'm a vegetarian and all their veggie roles are absolutely delicious. I've had the avocado cucumber, asparagus, and sweet potato!!! The sweet potato roll is one of the greatest things I've ever tasted. If you're on the look out for good sushi, come here!

I would’ve loved to give this place way more stars because the food was great but the customer service was just Awful, the cocktails were watered down, and as a person who goes to a good amount of Sushi restaurants the prices were more higher than the quality of the food. My waitress made us feel like we were not welcome, and just wanted to get us out as quick as possible and the funny thing is they weren’t even busy they had 1 other table so how does it take 15 minutes to bring waters out then when our appetizer plates stayed on the table the whole time we were eating even after our main meal

We stopped in last night to get some sushi on a beautiful summer evening. Kawa was always our "go to" for sushi but unfortunately, I think that is over.
We always loved the "all you can eat" sushi but we told it was off the menu. The quality of the rolls was also disappointing, they came apart and were padded with more rice than was needed. Our go to "all you can eat sushi" was the big reason we came to Kawa and with that gone, it's simply another sushi place. There are better available in the area.

I hadn't been here in about 4 years and was beyond saddened to see how much prices have increased and how it is not reflected accurately on their website. I know covid hit everyone hard, but this will no longer be my cheapest go to for good quality food. I wouldn't mind paying the extra price but the quality was poor this time around.

I ordered the chow mein noodles with tofu which I had asked to include veggies and all it had was 3 small shiitake mushrooms and a bunch of green pepper which I cannot eat since it makes me sick. The tofu pieces were rubbery and not fresh. There were barely

When it comes to sushi, Kawa Japanese Restaurant does a really great job!

We picked up from here one evening and I was very pleased with the quantity and quality of the sushi. For the cost, we had bellies that were full and wallets that were not that much lighter than when we started. And, to top it off, the service was rather quick and the staff was friendly - our take-out order was ready when we arrived and served with a smile.

When in the area next, which occurs from time to time, I certainly won't be forgetting about this place.

The worst dining experience I have ever had. 3 TIMES IN A ROW. Awful food. Worse service. This place just wants to take your money and then push you out. Worst resteraunt I've ever been to.

Kawa is my go to spot for mongolian grill and asian food in the grayslake area. My favorite dish is the pad thai. Shout out to the chef for always making this dish so so good! Dine in and try some Sake!!! Its a fun buzz lol! This place has a dish for everyone, so many dishes to try. I have never been dissatisfied with Kawa! Thank you Kawa for the great tasting food!

Not the best place I've been to for sushi. I was introduced to the place by my friend. So I gave it a try but the sushi was mediocre at best. And the service wasn't that great. We walked in and no one was really there to greet us. Once we were seated and after ordering the first few rolls it took forever to get a server back over at our table. There were only 2 other tables with maybe 2-3 people. We won't be coming back to this establishment.

The sushi is amazing especially the veggie rolls. I have had the avocado and cucumber roll most. They use the freshest ingredients.

Worst service ever! You have wait around 20 to 30 minutes so they know you are there even if the places is almost empty.

This place used to be good not anymore!

Do not eat here. This is some of the worst sushi I have ever been served in my life. H-Mart has better sashimi. The rolls were all ghastly - disgusting sauces, very fishy/briny aftertaste to everything I ate today. I am likely going to induce vomiting when I leave the restaurant. I hope you read this and take it to heart. The pictures lie. This is not good food. Stay away.

UPDATE: I got sick and had severe cramping and diarrhea for two days.

This is a large restaurant in Grayslake, serving both Sushi, as well as a Mongolian Grill. The servers are super friendly and try to accommodate but they are always busy for dinner and they always seem one server short. So be prepared to wait once you are seated.

We went to dinner this weekend and did wait for over 10 minutes just for water and then the waiter seemed rushed taking our order. I wouldn't be surprised if a waiter/waitress called in sick. He was very polite but it was slow going and rushed.

I usually start with a cocktail, as they have a full bar. Not a huge selection, but

Tried them out for the first time tonight and I was simply unimpressed. In a nutshell, it's not clean and the food wasn't hot. Won't be going back.

Would much rather email them directly than post a negative Yelp review; but their website doesn't work. It wasn't horrible; it just wasn't very good.

The main thing being poor cleanliness. The acrylic table tent holder was grimy and greasy. The plates and dishes had a grimy film on them, and the glassware wasn't very clean either. Even the way they cleaned the tables wasn't very clean. If you're going

Why four stars...

Well, upon entry you are greeted and seated. They take your orders and wait. While we waited for our apps, we noticed how clean the place is and how friendly the staff is. Food came out in a reasonable amount of time. House salad I was not a fan of, it was way too cold and I could tell the salad was not cut fresh.

The rolls and sashimi came and I must say they were tasty, tight and good looking rolls. For a AYCE choice, I must say this was very good food.

A suggestion i must put out there will be..

1- clean the kids high chairs after use. The one I got for my baby was dirty

I'm very picky when it comes to sushi. Not to much rice wrapped up in the rolls, thick cuts of fish and service was great! I've never tried mango on a sushi roll but their Hawaiian roll was fantastic. Plus the Volcano roll actually looked like a volcano!