Ari Sushi in Des Plaines: The Strip-Mall Spot That Quietly Got Really Good

Des Plaines, IL · Sushi · $108.78 for two, before tip

Vika and I went out for date night and picked Ari Sushi in Des Plaines. On the drive in I realized we’d been to this exact address before — except the restaurant inside is now a completely different place. The old tenant was Oba Contemporary Japanese; about four years ago a new family took over, rebranded, and rebuilt the menu. Same building, new restaurant. After this dinner, it’s worth knowing about.

Not sponsored. We paid for everything ourselves, and no one at Ari Sushi knew we were coming.

It’s a small strip-mall spot on Elmhurst Road, the kind of place you’ve driven past a hundred times. Inside is the surprise: a modern dining room, red walls and red leather booths, a checkered floor, woven pendant lights, and a wall of food photos. The owner’s son walked us through the menu and made suggestions based on what we usually order — the kind of service that turns a strip-mall sushi spot into a neighborhood place. One good sign: the room was empty when we walked in and full by the time we were halfway through. The people who know about it show up.

The beer: Baeren Classic

I went with a Japanese craft beer, a bottle of Baeren Classic from Iwate. Honestly just OK — a little too malt-forward for me, and probably not a re-order; next time I’ll try a Sapporo. That said, it came out properly cold on a hot day, and that first pour hit the way you want it to.

The app that converted Vika on uni

On the owner’s son’s recommendation we got the Unitoro Tartar: tuna and yellowtail tartar in a wooden bowl, a quail egg yolk in the middle, scallions, a pile of red tobiko, and toasted nori on the side. You mix it, scoop it onto a sheet of nori, and eat it like a hand roll. Here’s the part I didn’t expect — Vika isn’t normally a uni fan, and she loved it, then went back for more. The uni was creamy, the tartar clean and well seasoned, the quail yolk pulled it together, and the toasted nori gave it the snap at the end of every bite. This was the dish of the night, and we both agreed. If you go and skip it, you’re missing the reason to be there.

The rolls

We ordered the Spicy Tataki, the Fire Bird, and a smaller Spicy Salmon. What we noticed right away is how fresh the fish tasted across every roll — clean, balanced, no roll leaning on sauce to carry it, the rice-to-fish ratio fish-forward. The Spicy Tataki and Spicy Salmon were both solid, well built, nothing we’d send back. The Fire Bird — thinly sliced fluke draped over the top with a stripe of red tobiko (we ordered it without the citrus mayo) — had great flavor; our only note is the fluke was sliced almost translucent and would carry even more with a slightly thicker cut.

The two rolls we ordered after we were already full

Here’s the moment that tells you the most about the place: we finished the app and three rolls, and instead of asking for the check we ordered two more. Vika took the Half Alaskan (salmon and crab, spicy mayo that was actually tasty rather than just heat — minced beautifully, she loved it). I took the Half Ocean Drive, extremely fresh and fish-forward, very clean; it reminded me of a roll I used to order years ago at House of Sushi and Noodles in Chicago. Halves on the menu are a great touch — they let you keep tasting without committing to a full roll. Every one of the five rolls was something we’d order again.

What we ordered and what it cost

One Unitoro Tartar, a Spicy Tataki, a Fire Bird, a Spicy Salmon, a Half Alaskan, a Half Ocean Drive, and one Japanese craft beer. The total, with tax, was $108.78 before tip. For this quality of fish, that’s a fair price for two — not cheap (good sushi never is), but very reasonable against a comparable date-night sushi dinner in the city.

The verdict

Fresh fish across the board, a Unitoro Tartar that turned a non-uni person into a uni person for the night, a roll lineup with zero misses, warm service from a family that clearly cares, easy parking, and a fair price ($108.78 for two with tax). I can’t really say anything negative about it. Ari Sushi is now the spot we recommend when friends ask where to get good sushi in the northwest suburbs.