• Shakou St. Charles plaster-skinned wave wall design element in the first floor dining room.
  • Shakou St. Charles upper level cocktail lounge.
  • Shakou St. Charles upper level cocktail lounge.
  • Shakou St. Charles view of the main dining room looking toward the front of the restaurant.
  • This image is of Shahou's St. Charles main dining room on the first floor.
  • The image is of Shakou St. Charles location from the upper level looking down on the open and spacious bar area..
  • This image is from Shakou's St. Charles location. The view is from the upper level looking down upon the semi-private lounge area.
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Shakou Sushi – St. Charles

Shakou St. Charles is the second location for the Shakou brand. With the successful 2013 opening of the flagship location in Libertyville, the restaurant quickly became the talk of the culinary scene receiving rave reviews from diners. Open Table named Shakou one of the top 100 “Hot Spots” in America and TripAdvisor awarded Shakou with the Certificate of Excellence Award – a prestigious award that can only be earned through consistently great reviews. Riding the wave of success, the owners were excited to bring modern Japanese cuisine and the restaurant’s unique ambiance to other Chicago-area locations.

In Japanese, the word “Shakou” means social life. In designing the first restaurant we created a spatial experience that encouraged social interaction and enjoyment and provided the perfect backdrop for the modern cuisine. No detail was overlooked in creating an ambiance that visually awakened the senses. Our challenge for St. Charles was to replicate the unique brand in an existing, dated structure and to transform the bland building exterior into a maintenance-free, modern, and natural facade.

The main floor at Shakou St. Charles features a 75-seat dining room with a sushi bar, a spacious cocktail bar with bar-side dining, and a semi-private lounge area. The second floor includes a sake room for small private groups, dining for an additional 105 guests, and a bar for before or after-dinner drink celebrations.

Shakou St. Charles is sure to make a mark of its own for the Shakou brand.

© The Photographic Artwork of Jacob T. VanVooren