“Purpose is the reason you journey. Passion is the fire that lights the way”
Not many people have a chance to travel to Japan; therefore, we are bringing a glimpse of Japan to you. We offer premium delicious authentic Japanese-style tavern food and high-quality sushi and omakase using fresh seasonal and natural ingredients. We aim to create a casual and friendly neighborhood atmosphere with unique flavors of Japan where the beverages are always cold and the food is full of flavors. We design this place to be the destination to kick back and relax after a long busy day at work, catch up with friends or just enjoying a date-night. Our goal is to make you feel right at home from the minute you have arrived.
“Ikigai (生きがい)” Taking its name from a Japanese philosophy, it means “A reason for being”
To give a purpose for our lives, we created Ikigai Sushi & Izakaya to do what we love and what we are good at.
Meet our executive chef/partner
We are a team of brothers and friends with fine-dining culinary background. We have work our way through the industry in Japanese cuisine within Chicago area for more than 10 years. With the same passion in Japanese cuisine, we decided to open Ikigai Sushi & Izakaya to pursue another step in our culinary journey and to fulfill our dream. We make everything in-house from scratch. We source only the best seasonal ingredients. We take the time and care to create the most delightful, fresh and flavorful dish for our customers. We take pride in what we do and everything we do in our restaurant.
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I have always worked in a restaurant since I was a kid. Starting from the bottom as a dishwasher and worked my way up to become a sushi chef. I had many great opportunities to work with some of Chicago’s finest sushi chefs at Sen Sushi Bar (Oak Park), Sushi San and Momotaro. Without them, I will not be the person I am now. I was once given up a dream of being a chef for a while due to a hand injuries. However, I always ask myself “Can I really quit being a chef?”. My answer is always “NO”. Cooking is my passion and this place is my dream. A dream to have a place where friends come to hang out and enjoy conversation over great food and good drinks.