Kuni's Japanese Restaurant

Kuni's Japanese Restaurant at 511 Main Street in Evanston has been a cornerstone of authentic Japanese dining in the Chicago suburbs since 1986. Founder Yuji Kunii began his sushi training at age 15 in Tokyo under a master chef, worked for seven years in Chicago, and then opened his own restaurant, becoming one of a handful of truly Japanese-trained sushi chefs in the Chicagoland area. After Kunii's retirement, his nephew Jun Chung — who trained under him since 2004 — took over the kitchen, continuing the tradition of nigiri served with freshly grated wasabi, housemade dashi, and fish cut with Japanese precision. Regulars and Japanese expatriates consistently describe the experience as the closest approximation to a neighborhood sushi restaurant in Japan found anywhere in the Chicago area.