Photo: tank sushi
Tank Sushi (4514 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-769-2600). Sushi/Japanese.
½ (good to very good)
$$ ($30–$39 per person for a meal, without tax, tip, or alcohol)
Why should purists have all the fun? While there’s plenty of authenticity among traditional offerings here (great gyoza, straight-arrow sushi, lovely udon with vegetable and shrimp tempura), they’re not the main draw. A youngish clientele knows this is the place for a really large selection of playfully conceived (and quite tasty) jumbo maki. Desserts include hilarious chocolate chip cookie dough eggrolls and a baseball-size scoop of ginger ice cream tempura. Comfortable no-big-deal atmosphere adds to the appeal. Nice sake list.
Dishes We Liked: king crab legs ($16), vegetable and pork gyoza ($7), spring roll with seared tuna ($7.10), Kobe beef sliders ($10.10), ika maki ($12.25), stir-fried somen noodles ($5), simple udon with vegetable and shrimp tempura ($13.25), sushi matsu ($25.50), ginger ice cream tempura ($8)
New restaurant reviews, updated to reflect critics’ recent visits, appear each month in Chicago magazine, in Dine, as well as on our website. Listed restaurants are rated from one to four stars, where one is good, two is very good, three is excellent, and four is superlative. Tank Sushi increased its rating from one to one and a half stars in the June issue, on newsstands Thursday.