Sushi Samba Rio: User Reviews

I've eaten at Sushi Samba a number of times, and the last reviewer is an idiot...The food here is great. The service is almost always good. The entire place is just a fun atmosphere to eat in..,Don't make a reservation for 5 and show up with 7 and complain when the place can't give you a different table...When you dine try out sea bass entree (my favorite)...my wife's favorite is eel tamago roll...Nina fresca drink is a favorite for anyone i bring in...really strange bathroom setup at this place though

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Went their for "Sunday Brunch" which consisted of 1 entree and 3 watered down drinks. Food was OK but not good enough to return. Very poor value, not special enough to justify the high prices. There are many better choices in Chicago.

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This was my first time eating at Sushi Samba and will definitely be my last. I was excited to take my mom and friends out for a fun dinner, but the service here definitely squashed that. I made original reservations for 6 people, but changed it to 7 the day of and was told that was no problem. When we got there, however, we were told we'd have to wait "20 minutes maximum" for a table (that was reserved). The reason given to us? Because we had said the reservation was for 6 and now we had to wait for them to find a table to accommodate our 7.
45 minutes later we were STILL waiting. Even when we informed the host that one of our group members had health issues and needed to eat soon, we were still ignored. Almost an hour later, we were finally seated AT A TABLE FOR 5!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were so cramped that main course meal plates would not have fit on the table for all of us and we were constantly bumping elbows. When we asked for a manager, he claimed that it was because our original reservation was for 5 and there was nothing he could do. Completely unacceptable!
Although our waiter was very nice, it still took a while to get our drinks and food. The food was good (or maybe we were all just so hungry that ANYTHING would have tasted good at that point).
The fact that there was no appology or even an attempt to find a solution (a round of drinks at the very least would have improve this experience) makes me think that Sushi Samba management believe they can walk all over customers due to the restaurant's current popularity.
This is definitely NOT all it's talked up to be.
DON'T GO!

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OMG! I stopped in to pick up lunch to on my way back to work. I was prepare to spend bit more for lunch today knowing that I was going to buying sushi. I order from the "lunch special" which was to come with miso soup and green salad at a cost of $20.08 before tax. Where do I start.... the charge was fist wrong up incorrectly ($4 more before tax), the sushi pieces were NOT fresh fish at all, the roll was missing some of the ingredience (as discribed on the menu), my take out did not have any soy, salad or soup.

I was very, very, very VERY disappointed and hungry after this experience; I mostly will not be going back for lunch. If I do revisit the restaurant, I will be having only drinks. How back can one screw up a gin and tonic?

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I will agree with many people when they say this place is definitely not quality food. The price is too high for this restaurant when they have average chefs making your sushi. People need to stop eating at restaurant that are probably looking at you and laughing inside saying, "look at those dumb people paying an arm and a leg for my poor quality food."

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I had been to Sushi Samba Rio twice before....while I had never been overly impessed and thought that it was quite a bit overpriced, the fact that the food was pretty good and that they had a good ambience gave the place some redeeming qualities, in my mind.

However, I came back to Sushi Samba Rio a third time, a few days ago - and I have to say, they are in a pretty pathetic state of affairs right now. The service was downright awful. The prices were absurdly high - even higher than Mirai or Japonais. For example, they had a special where they would bring 4 ounces of Kobe beef to cook at your table, along with some dipping sauces....for $100! Your basic, California Roll cost $14. Yet, the expensive specialty rolls we had were small, haphazardly thrown together/falling apart, and overall, the quality of the food was AT BEST as good as your nothing-special, neighborhood sushi place in Lakeview or Lincoln Park - for example Kabuki or Edo Sushi.

It looks like the poor service and mediocre food quality at insanely high prices are finally starting to catch up to them - as my group and I were able to walk in on a Friday night without reservations and get a seat right away - half of the tables at the restaurant were empty.

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The service and the ambiance are great but their food is terrible. I've given this place a chance several times now and it’s just not worth the money. Both the appetizers and the sushi are mediocre. It’s best to come here for a pre-dinner drink or hang out at the roof top bar upstairs later in the night.

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I randomly went to Sushi Samba for brunch on a Sunday, and I was pleasantly surprised. For $15 a person, you can pick four items off of the menu, and they will give you as much food as is appropriate for the size of your group. The portions were a great size, and the steak was my favorite.

However, I will agree with the other reviews that the service was just terrible. No one seemed interested at all and it took forever for someone to actually take our order and get us our drinks.

Overall, while service is definitely lacking, its worth checking out their breakfast!

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Sushi Samba Rio was high on my list of places to try because a) I love sushi; b) it's probably the best-known sushi place in Chicago, and c) a friend kept saying how great it was and that we had to go. So we did, and I walked in with high expectations. The atmosphere of the restaurant is better suited to LA or Vegas--sexy, dark, flashy and loud. Something you'd see in HBO's Entourage. However, in my opinion, if the place was lit better, you'd be able to tell that the place could use some remodeling. The chairs we sat on were comfortable, but aged, and you could see stains all over the cushions, which surprised me, especially since the bathrooms are so flashy--I'd expect better design and upkeep. The high prices weren't surprising, considering it's River North, but as exquisite a food as I think sushi is, I wasn't blown over. The rolls are similar to what you would get at any other sushi place worth its salt, and tasting a tomatillo salsa-covered roll of rice just reminded me of something one would order at Chipotle. The fusion of Brazilian/Peruvian styles with Japanese just did not impress me, although each respective culture boasts its own great food. The bill for 4 came to almost $300--partly because of the top-shelf liquor, partly because the sushi was just incredibly expensive.

PROS:
1) Best iced tea I've ever had in a restaurant
2) "Best chicken teriyaki I've ever had," according to the non-sushi eater in our group
3) Excellent service--our glasses were never empty
4) We made reservations and did not have to wait when we arrived, which I've heard has happened to some people
5) We got two free desserts because of an initial delay with the drinks when we first arrived (which we didn't even care about)
6) Special care taken by waitstaff to make sure no calamari or octopus touched our food, because of one party member's allergies.

CONS:
1) Bathroom attendants are completely unnecessary in a place like this.
2) This place is way too expensive--the food isn't worth it.
3) Dim lighting hides the need for an interior design facelift.
4) Cramming that many people into our general eating area made it feel like a crowded bar on a Saturday night. People kept hitting the back of my chair while they were walking by, which means I'm either sitting way too far away from the table, or there isn't enough circulation room in the place. There are only a couple of really great seats in this restaurant--everything else seems mediocre.

Bottom line? Skip it. There are better places in Chicago to get great sushi and great atmosphere at a great price.

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Had dinner on the top floor. All around, the staff was pretty unhelpful and disinterested. I guess since gratuity was included in the bill (8 people) they didn't see much point in making an effort. Music was much too loud for conversation. Atmosphere was very "Night at the Roxbury." As far as the sushi goes, it's interesting but nothing special. Rather expensive for what it is, but I guess you're paying for the DJ and nice furniture.

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