Kyōten

Kyōten Intimate omakase-only, by reservation-only sushi restaurant serving mostly nigiri sushi.

Guests are seated at the sushi bar where they can watch Chef Otto form and plate each bite of food with a mixture of audacity and restraint.

Kyoten’s hours are going to be very limited temporarily. A few upcoming projects, most notably a baby is coming soon.🍣Wh...
03/06/2026

Kyoten’s hours are going to be very limited temporarily. A few upcoming projects, most notably a baby is coming soon.
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While I am unavailable, Chef Jorge Villa will be taking over the Kyoten space on Wednesdays and Thursdays and will run a sushi-only menu that will resemble an extended version of Kyoten Next Door at a more affordable price point. Chef Jorge has done incredible work for me these past years, and I am happy to have him step into this role. Reservations are available through Tock.
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Kyoten Next Door continues to be one of the hardest reservations in the city, and I very happy to see the team at Kyoten continue to evolve and fill into new roles and continually deliver for our guests each night.

Making it official that Kyoten and Kyoten Next Door are open on Tuesdays! Taco Tuesdays and now be sushi Tuesdays.
12/09/2025

Making it official that Kyoten and Kyoten Next Door are open on Tuesdays! Taco Tuesdays and now be sushi Tuesdays.

I’m often asked how I met my fish guy. And I always tell the story about how one day a mysterious Japanese woman randoml...
11/14/2025

I’m often asked how I met my fish guy. And I always tell the story about how one day a mysterious Japanese woman randomly reached out to me to see if I needed help getting quality fish while I was in the midst of opening Kyoten. The story ends with the idea that if you are great at what you do, the right people often find you. She passed away recently, and I will miss her forever.
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Back in 2018, sourcing quality fish that I wanted was inexplicably poor. Some places needed to get their fish from LA. Mika-san changed things not only for Chicago but the whole Midwest, getting quality wild fish via direct flights from Japan to Chicago. Since then, there’s been an omakase boom with many more players in the market now. But at the time, Mika-san ran the only operation carrying fish that was so good, I didn’t even have the skill level to understand it all at the time. She was so passionate about wanting to deliver the very best.
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Without her work, Kyoten would never have been same restaurant. She not only helped me with fish sourcing but also went very out of her way to source special rice and nori that I wanted. We even lifted up places like Omaha, Kansas City, and Kentucky in the process.
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Personally, she was always so supportive of me and was always so wonderfully opinionated. And I always loved working with her because she was an honest person, in a very cut-throat business where many will say anything to make a sale. She is an unspoken hero for the city of Chicago.

Chef of the year, Heartfelt thank you to all those involved in making the Jean Banchet awards happen. It’s just incredi...
03/19/2025

Chef of the year,

Heartfelt thank you to all those involved in making the Jean Banchet awards happen. It’s just incredible to have an event that celebrates the Chicago dining scene, and no other city in the US has an equivalent. is always a great MC who never turns it off, and there are a whole host of others that deserve a lot of credit for donating their time and effort just because they love the Chicago dining community so much. Chicago is THE BEST!

Frankly, I feel like I’m too old now to have accolades. I’m very blessed to have full restaurants, and I don’t like to be distracted from the present tasks at hand. But having a bigger team around me so happy for me and for their work place was definitely a big moment. It was great having the boys with me to celebrate as well as celebrating with the women in their lives so we can all dress up and go out as if we were going to prom. It’s a good reminder that we are beloved for the sacrifices we make for our families.

I’m super proud to be in this profession. In an age where finding meaning and fulfillment becomes increasingly difficult, I am tasked with often being the best part of people’s day, month, and perhaps their whole year. I’m not going to have answers to big world issues that trend on socials, but what I do matters. For everyone that works in this industry, understand that what you do matters. It’s a wonderful profession in which the more you put in, the more you well get. I absolutely believe that.

Kudos to and for a blast having us in to celebrate afterwards with great hospitality and food.

Went and did pop up in my old house back in Sept! I’m not very nostalgic but it was really awesome being back in the spa...
11/26/2024

Went and did pop up in my old house back in Sept! I’m not very nostalgic but it was really awesome being back in the space and seeing so many of my dear friends and patrons that have helped me become who I am today.

I wasn’t good enough to keep my old Austin restaurant during the pandemic and had to let it go. But I at least wanted the space to continue as a great sushi restaurant for the city that’s given me so much. I’m so happy took over the reigns in this place and has killed it better than I ever could while I was in TX. 🤟

Now he’s on the top of Matthew Odam’s top restaurants in Austin! He might not have Michelin Stars (what a loser! 🤪), but I’m always super happy for his success and incredible proud of what has happened in my old stomping grounds.

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Chef Tasuku Murakami will be popping up and creating his own Omakase at Kyoten Nov 18th and 19th! Tickets available at t...
11/05/2024

Chef Tasuku Murakami will be popping up and creating his own Omakase at Kyoten Nov 18th and 19th! Tickets available at the Kyoten Tock Reservation page.
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Chef Murakami-san is one of the most premier and pedigreed sushi chefs in the US. Born in Kyoto, he has worked at Michelin Starred Sushi Iwa in Ginza, Tokyo. He then moved to New York where he headed up Michelin Starred Sushi Azabu in Tribeca. Murakami-san has honed his craft for over 25 years, and I’m incredibly excited to bring such a prestigious talent to Chicago for this occasion.
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I was able to have his sushi once upon a time when I was a young aspiring chef going through the grind in NY. Years and years later, it is very humbling to have such a great sushi chef take over my counter for two nights in Chicago. 🙇🏻‍♂️🙇🏻‍♂️🙇🏻‍♂️

I sometimes get comments on how people have loved my bento boxes during pandemic. We don’t make them anymore… But if you...
09/05/2024

I sometimes get comments on how people have loved my bento boxes during pandemic. We don’t make them anymore…

But if you enjoyed my sushi before and just popped out a baby and have not called me a do*****ag on the internet, I’mma make something happen for you! 🫶 🤰👩‍🍼🍼



, owner of in Omaha is popping up at Kyoten on Sunday March 17th and Monday March 18th!🍣$300 per person, tax will be...
03/10/2024

, owner of in Omaha is popping up at Kyoten on Sunday March 17th and Monday March 18th!
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$300 per person, tax will be added but tipping is not allowed and politely declined.
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Seatings at 5:30 and 8:30 Sun the 17th and Mon the 18th of March
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Tickets are up on Tock
https://www.exploretock.com/kyoten-chicago
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Some Yamayuki tuna will definitely be involved.

for Best Restaurant! More importantly, I’m just so happy to have the awards back and to have people in our industry com...
01/27/2024

for Best Restaurant! More importantly, I’m just so happy to have the awards back and to have people in our industry come together again for a Fn great time in the most awesome city in the country. 🤟 Let’s goooooooo!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Four stars for Kyōten from with : "Many restaurants excel at gastronomical excess, overloading your senses u...
11/23/2023

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Four stars for Kyōten from with : "Many restaurants excel at gastronomical excess, overloading your senses until the pleasure receptors can’t process anything else, but Kyoten deals in desire, that insatiable want of something you lack."
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Thankful for being recognized as a result of sticking to my own vision and sensibilities of what a great restaurant should be over old standards and tired expectations.
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And it takes a fresh face and an open heart to recognize that as well. Thank you so much for your time and hard work at the Tribune and promoting Chicago’s culinary scene from tacos and chicken wraps to ridiculously expensive omakase meals. Best wishes in all your future endeavors. 🙏🙏🙏

Super fresh Boston tuna 3 days out of the water vs the same tuna aged in house for a week. I taste a bit every day, and ...
10/02/2023

Super fresh Boston tuna 3 days out of the water vs the same tuna aged in house for a week. I taste a bit every day, and I’m looking for the meat to simply settle in. Any longer for this piece of tuna, the gains in taste are negligible compared to the amount of waste that would accumulate from trimming off oxidation.

The umami deepens and the flavors are more resolved, very much like having a red wine sit and open up. The change in texture is more apparent than taste, as it does make the flesh more ‘melty’ which is great for nigiri sushi. The aging results are not like aging beef; there are no new flavor notes that come out from the process. Like wine, the flavor notes just become louder, more harmonious, and resolved. But there will not be any funky blue cheese notes coming out.

At the end of the day though, aging is just another tool/technique and the gains are not particularly significant. It’s overhyped. In the long list of priorities, it ranks near the bottom. Quality of fish>> curing/vinegar/smoke/kombujime techniques >> aging techniques. A farmed Spanish tuna aged 2 months can never be as good as good wild specimen 2 days out of the ocean. It’s always about understanding quality of ingredients first.

Tsumuburi. Rainbow Runner. Gorgeous fish with blue and yellow stripes running down it’s body.
09/25/2023

Tsumuburi. Rainbow Runner. Gorgeous fish with blue and yellow stripes running down it’s body.

Address

2507 W Armitage
Chicago, IL
60647

Opening Hours

Tuesday 6pm - 8:30pm
8:45pm - 10pm
Wednesday 6pm - 8:30pm
8:45pm - 10pm
Thursday 6pm - 8:30pm
8:45pm - 10pm
Friday 6pm - 8:30pm
8:45pm - 10pm
Saturday 6pm - 8:30pm
8:45pm - 10pm

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