Union Sushi + Barbeque Bar

Friends Mike Schatzman and former Sushi Wabi chef Worachai Thapthimkuna have opened what they're calling “Chicago’s first American-Japanese restaurant." There’s little offered here to really love, but there’s plenty to like: accomplished cocktails, juicy chicken thigh and jumbo shrimp skewers, and duck fat yaki soba noodles slick with mustard sauce, topped with shreds of perfect, fatty duck and tossed with crunchy cabbage. The raw stuff is generally less successful (stay away from the tuna tartare, which is soaked in truffle oil), including the underwhelming sushi. So stick to the cooked fare and keep expectations light, and you'll be fine.