Sagano Japanese - Barrington

Fantastic little place in downtown Barrington. My wife had 2 rolls of sushi and I had the chicken teriyaki, we also split an order of egg rolls. We loved our food and it was a great price. We will be going back many more times. Service: Dine in Meal type: Dinner Price per person: $30–50 Food: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 5 Recommended dishes: Sushi and Sashimi Combination, Chicken Teriyaki

This place is a great hidden gem. The fish is high quality, tastes great and worth the price.

True gem, chef Lee and his wife are a local treasure.

Very authentic Japanese cuisine. I could eat here every day. Service: Dine in Meal type: Dinner Price per person: $30–50

I 've passed this place hundreds of times over the years and had dinner there on a recent Friday night for the first time. We arrived around 6:20 pm. We were greeted quickly by a very nice woman and were seated right away. Upon entry, you can tell this place is locked in time. I assume this is exactly how it looked when it opened in the 2000s...pink and teal paint, geometric shapes, black ceramic tile, awkward partitions, etc. The restaurant was spotless though...not a speck of dust that I could see. Doorways were divided with decorative curtains that displayed various art scenes. The restaurant has a main area and a bar area that is somewhat separate. It 's fairly large inside with approximately 20 tables. Upon seating, we were given worn out laminated menus with price changes taped to them. Looks like inflation hit Sagano as well. The waitress/host/runner/etc. (she was the only one there doing everything front of house) was pleasant and informative but was rushed as she needed to take care of an increasingly busy restaurant. Nothing stood out on the menu, so we opted to just do appetizers for this visit. They have appetizers from the sushi bar and from kitchen . We opted for from kitchen because the sushi chef was very unsanitary (I 'll share that later). We ordered 4 items: 1. Shrimp Shumai: Excellent! Tasted homemade and had a great flavor and consistency 2. Combination Tempura (shrimp and vegetables): Boring and flavorless 3. Ika Butter: Slightly spicy and a bit rubbery, but overall enjoyable 4. Yakitori: Very tender and flavorful Service was slow, but I guess that 's to be expected with only one person handling everything. Ambiance was standard and relaxing. Some oldies played on the speakers while we ate. At one point, guitar and drum music started blasting through the wall from The School of Rock next door. Definitely not what you want to hear while eating and something they should talk to their landlord about...unless they like that. It was off-putting in that setting. Price was around $50 before tip. Seemed high for what we ordered. Sushi chef never washed hands and did not wear gloves while preparing food. He took several phone calls with his cell phone and scratched his head and nose while preparing food. Definitely not what you want to see from someone preparing raw ready to eat foods. Needless to say, we stayed away from the sushi bar. Everything that people ordered from the sushi bar looked nice though. I would be fine skipping this place in the future as the food was just average and the hygiene is bad, but I am glad it has survived for so long. Not sure if they 'll last much longer based on the extremely limited hours. There is no in-restaurant seating during most of the week and hours are 5-9 pm most days.