Koya Japan 508 Old Elm Road, Highland Park, IL 60035

"The food is quality and consistent, owner and staff are warm and welcoming, if you’re looking for your new favorite sushi place Koya may be the place for you!"

"I came here this week to try as I’d read very positive things online. We arrived around 6:40 on Friday, the restaurant was moderately busy. We were seated quickly and given water and offered drinks. Ordered cold house sake, hot sake was brought out - not a huge issue. We ordered appetizers, the golden shrimp and gyoza, as well as our main items, nigiri and a roll. About 10 minutes later our waitress brought out edamame and shrimp instead - again, not a huge deal, I chalked it up to another simple mistake. At this exact time, several other people entered the restaurant, a group of 3 people who were seated right next to us. They ordered drinks and food, and were fully served in 15 minutes. I waited another 10 or so minutes until my +1 pointed out how much time had passed, and to get the attention of our waitress. After attempting a couple times to flag our waitress, we were told she would check with the kitchen to see what the hold was. It was pretty evident our order ticket had been lost, and we received our food another 15 minutes later. Our total wait from order to food was about 60 minutes. They offered us mochi ice cream on the house after our $100 tab was delivered. The food itself was good, but nothing groundbreaking. As an aside we were really put off by the fact that salmon was placed on a large piece of cardboard and cut barehanded on one of the dining room tables (some pieces actually touched the tabletop). All things considered it wasn’t worth the time spent. The service was friendly, but we were never checked on from the time we ordered our food, and the overall experience was lackluster. I’d like to say we’d love to try it again, but we likely won’t be back any time soon for another try."

"I cannot say enough good things about Koya. I was so happy to find this restaurant. Everything we ordered, tempura, tempura udon soup, kids bento boxes, and sushi was incredibly good. Can't wait to go back!"

"Yummy veggie spring roll; sushi: we had the green dragon, volcano, mushroom asparagus, sweet potato rolls. Service was great and the complimentary mochi and cookies was a nice surprise."

"Excellent fresh sushi… a much higher level of quality than the other places in the area. We’ve enjoyed everything we’ve ordered and come regularly. Staff is extremely friendly. This is a real neighborhood, local place."