Shorewood Welcomes Cho Sushi Near Route 59

JOLIET, IL — I need to be upfront with you from the start. I am not a sushi expert. In fact, I'm not even a sushi lover. My wife and my oldest daughter know way more about sushi than I do. That said, there's a brand-new restaurant that just opened six weeks ago near the Route 59 Target. Cho Sushi is in the Shorewood Commons II at 309 Vertin Blvd.

That's the same commercial strip plaza as Asian Express, where we frequently order takeout.

In the interest of informative community journalism, I decided that I needed to check out this new restaurant first-hand. After all, some of my most popular restaurant features are ones located along Route 59. Plus, Cho Sushi is new. That makes it especially newsworthy.

But is the restaurant any good? That's what I wondered.

I stopped by for a late lunch Wednesday. Like most of my food reviews, I did not initially identify myself as being a food columnist for the Joliet Patch. I don't want the restaurant staff to give me special treatment. If the place is any good, I reckon, it will be evident without the staff knowing I'm from the Joliet Patch. If it's not, I don't write about it.

It's that simple.

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However, I did inform my waitress as soon as she gave me my menu that I was probably the stupidest person she's probably waited on when it comes to eating sushi.

She smiled. And she was very polite, but ultimately, I took the bull by the horns. I surveyed the large menu and made up my own mind. I went with one of the lunch specials. The lunch special has plenty of selections including 19 "Well Cooked Items" and 10 "Raw Fish Items."

One lunch special is $8.95. You get miso soup or a house salad plus any two rolls. For $11.95 you get the soup or house salad, plus you get any three rolls.

I went with the $11.95 selection and went with the soup.

For my three items, I went with two raw fish items: the Philadelphia Roll and the Alaskan Roll. For my third selection, I went with one of the Well Cooked Items, the Snow Crab Roll.

About 15 minutes later, presto, my food arrived. The first thing I realized was that I didn't have any forks, no knives and no spoons. But I had a pair of wooden chopsticks. I managed. I did OK, actually, better than I thought.

None of my food landed on the floor.

And for someone who isn't fond of eating raw fish, I actually liked what I had.

I thought I made some good choices. One of the reasons I ordered three selections was to bring some leftovers home. My wife and kids devoured my leftover box.

Would I bring my wife and kids back to eat at Cho Sushi in the future? Absolutely.

If you're a fan of sushi and live in the Joliet area, I think you'll be impressed.

But I can't say for sure, because I'm not an expert on all things sushi. What I can say is this: the inside of the dining restaurant is impressive. It's a beautiful little restaurant. The servers, the cooks and the owner, Jay Cao, are especially knowledgeable and know what they're trying to accomplish.

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Once I squared up on my bill, I introduced myself to Cao. He told me that he's from Chicago's Southside and this marks his first restaurant opening in the Joliet area.

He also told me that he realizes not everybody likes raw fish. Hence, that's why he added several menu selections that include "well-cooked items."

Plus, he's also proud to offer eight different options on the Ramen Lunch Special.

The menu is gigantic. The takeout brochure covers eight pages of which seven feature the food.

Before I left Cho Sushi, I asked the owner to identify a handful of menu options that have been crowd pleasers since he opened in mid-July.

Here's what Cao identified:

No. 512: Angel Hair: "Shrimp tempura, cream cheese, kanpyo, topped with crabmeat, spicy mayo, eel sauce, mango sauce, crunchy, green onion." Price $12.95

No. 504: Volcano Maki: "Snow crab, cream cheese inside, topped with spicy mayo, scallop, tobiko, crabmeat and baked, crunchy, unagi sauce, crispy onions on top." Price $12.95

No. 537: Godzilla Roll: "Shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, salmon, cream cheese, crabmeat, avocado, cucumber, crunch with eel sauce." Price $15.95

Before I posted my column, I was still curious so I scoured the internet and found the Google Reviews for Cho Sushi.

There have been 25 online reviews since the Shorewood sushi restaurant opened six weeks ago.

Their reviews are 4.9 out of 5.

From last week: "Very cute little joint. Staff are extremely polite, attentive, and courteous. Food is very reasonably priced for a nice quality. Wait time was small. Definitely worth checking out."

Also from last week: "The staff is very nice and polite. The food is good and fresh. The decor is very interesting, modern, and very visually pleasing. And the wait time is very small. Overall, a very nice restaurant."

My final say: Break out of your comfort zone like I did. Give this place a shot. I can't guarantee, but I think you will like it. For more information, here's the website for Cho Sushi in Shorewood.