Dotombori

Been meaning to try this place for a while and finally did the other day. They have happy hour specials which had a decent selection, but I went with the regular menu, as I wanted to try the bento boxes. There are several options of bento boxes. You pick the protein, whether it's chicken, beef, etc and select the tier of roll you want. They have either simple rolls or the chef specialty rolls, which are a few bucks more. I went with the chicken teriyaki bento box, which came with a small mound of rice, vegetable and shrimp tempura, yellowtail roll, salad, and miso soup. Pretty good overall, and a decent value.Service was good overall. The dining area was spacious and there's a back area as well. Would come again.BATHROOM REVIEW: located in the back, the bathroom was single-person bathrooms. There was a women and mens. The men's was OK. Everything seemed clean. Sit or squat? Squat.

Dotombori feels like it wants to be good. Maybe it even wants to be great. Unfortunately, on this day, it was neither. Don't get it wrong, it wasn't a horrible meal overall. Some of it had potential, but over half of it was a regrettable experience, and the other half was middle-of-the-road at best.We visited because it was on one of our lists to try. The venue was almost totally empty, but it was also earlier in the day (but not astoundingly so, perhaps 5:30). We were greeted professionally and seated quickly. The restaurant itself does little to have a true identity, but it checks the boxes you'll likely be looking for. Despite sitting at the sushi bar, no interactions with the chefs were had, nor did they attempt any.The worst offenders (which I would absolutely recommend you avoid) were the uni spoons (vinegar was the only taste, and the pieces of uni were diminutive) and the oyster shooters (the oysters were absolutely disgusting).Otherwise, the rolls were fine. Nothing special, nothing awful. If you don't expect too much, you can probably have an okay meal here.

We walked in after 9 and they were accommodating. It wasn't super busy when we went so we got our food fairly quickly. The food did taste delicious. The restaurant had a nice vibe, but I wasn't too fond of the music. It was pop music while trying to have a nice dinner in a Japanese restaurant. However, that didn't take away from my experience. I will definitely be returning.

Been back twice since my original review and this has become one of our favorite places. The tempura and ramen are amazing and my SO loves the smoked salmon nigiri, but it's the people that make this place - so warm and welcoming.

Came to this kind of small place for sushi in Des Plaines downtown. Dotombori is one of the long time favorite around here. It's another one of those sushi restaurants that closes between lunch and dinner and has a few cheaper lunch specials. Has only a few tables inside. There's also seating at the counter where you can watch them make rolls. Anyone who wants something besides sushi can also find something to get. It has a pretty surprisingly big menu. There's a list of cocktails including many made with sake. Last time here at lunch it wasn't that busy. This place is pretty small so if there's only a few people in here it will seem busy though. For lunch we got the Rolls Combo. It's about $13 for a choice of two rolls. The Cucumber And Avocado is the only one we know of with no meat or seafood. Even so, it has good flavor. This may be kind of small, which is the other bad thing Has a good variety for those not wanting just sushi but also other Asian cuisine. It also has ramen and other noodles. The prices are pretty good on most things, and if you're bringing a big group it's good to call ahead because room is limited but there's usually been no problems getting enough seats or whatever.

Where do I start. Id like to go back even tomorrow if my schedule allowed it.They were able to accommodate a party of 8 quickly! The service was impeccable! The food was so delicious I forgot to take more pictures! The owner and the waitress were both so friendly. They were able to accommodate our kids and their meals to be served first and quickly since they were hangry. They even provided kid friendly plates and utensils. I truly appreciated this type of customer service. You really can't go wrong with any of their dishes. We tried their lunch specials along with other rolls and dishes on their regular menu. We loved their spicy tuna appetizer with house made chips! The salmon and hamachi Kama were both cooked so perfectly. The best fish I've had in a long time. Both were delicious, flakey and juicy. I'd definitely order both of these again! We also got three different rolls which were all delicious! One came out and was set on fire to heat up in the wrapped foil. What an experience! Definitely one of the best sushi restaurants in terms of quality of the rolls and fish served with amazing customer service! Look at the cuts of fish in my pictures! Can't wait to be back and hopefully soon!

We had great sushi, and poor everything else. The interior decor is long overdue for an update. The table was sticky and I was greeted by a spider lowering himself down. I was able to kill it with a napkin. It didn't feel like a clean space in which to eat raw fish, because it wasn't. Our app and first drink came out promptly but then everything went off the rails. The sushi took 40 minutes to travel the 8 feet from the open kitchen to our table. During that time the server did not come back with any "your food will be out soon" or "sorry for the delay" or "would you like another drink" or "is everything ok?" nothing. I decided to start waving to our sever like I was hailing a taxi, and it took three rounds of that to get her attention. Very poor service contrary to the feel good reviews we read. Try getting the food delivered or pick up and skip the unmanaged unprofessional staff inside. Delicious sushi. Get your act together.

I would love to give 5 stars for this place because the food was really good. The sushi was fresh and delicious but unfortunately, communication with the server is a little difficult. But the worst thing about this place is the smell. It hits you really hard the minute you walk in. Thankfully I had family with me and made me stay. But I couldn't get over the smell. It smells like there were moth balls everywhere. Hopefully they can do something about it because the food is really good.

We returned here for the first time in 5 years and had a very enjoyable and delicious lunch stop.   They still have good value lunch specials and that is what we returned for.  The wife had their chicken katsu bento box for $14.95 and I had their bulgogi bento box for the same price.  We shared selected favorite portions with our older grand-darling.  She devoured a couple of shrimp tempura, green bean and pumpkin tempuras, and a portion of both of our main proteins. Our young Korean lady server was friendly and attentive and also proactive, bringing out a small plate for our young lunch mate.  We all left happy and satisfied. I pass by this convenient corner restaurant often and we also often consider visiting and it was finally timely on this particular Friday.  In fact, our last outing was with this same threesome but they had a somewhat darker decor back then. I chatted with the Korean owner Stella who has been there 15 years now and I was very happy for her that she and the business survived the awful Covid era.   I learned that the place was remodeled just a year ago and is now bright and inviting with more colorful Asian decor.   Business has also picked up with the reopening of the renovated Des Plaines Theatre just right at the other end of the same block, and yaay on both counts.   There's usually easy street parking right out front, but also a free garage a block away.  We'll most certainly be back to support this local business!

Delicious food and atmospheric decoration. Service was excellent. I really enjoyed my ramen there. Plan to come again soon.