Shelves might be thinner, but I have suffered no ill effects shopping (and eating) at Mitsuwa these days so let's keep things in perspective. And the food court has improved dramatically if you ask me - the new yakisoba/donburi spot, two new tempura options and now a waffle/bubble tea spot.

Mitsuwa periodically has shipments of fresh fish from Tsukiji fish market.
After viewing a YouTube video on HalfBeak preparation, found them fresh at Mitsuwa at $10 a fish.
Watched two other YouTube videos on preparation for sashimi and had at it with my trusty Takeda 30cm sashimi knife.
Most intricate sashimi work I have done to date.
Quality was excellent.
Last Saturday picked up bonito nicely prepped from the Tsukiji selection, best we ever had.
Mitsuwa has an on-line flyer and details when they fly in fish from Tsukiji.
I have two mackerel in the freezer waiting to be grilled.
Thier regular selection of fish for Sashimi/sushi is the best I have found in this area.
Only place I can purchase liter cans of Asahi 'SuperDry' still made in Japan.-Richard

I would echo BR's comments on the food court, my wife and I were there a few weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon and it was hopping. After reading Mike Sula's article on the new options, we ended up trying Hannosuke for tempura and Mugimari for udon. Both were excellent, the tempura from Hannosuke was light and crispy and the noodles at Hannosuke are made fresh daily at the storefront. Two more great options to eat there, we will be back for both.

Stopped in for lunch last week and I usually can't pass up a short line at Santouka, but decided to try the udon at Sanuki Seimen Mugimaru.

And it was delicious! Had one of the bukkake bowls (I know...), which was a cold noodle served in a concentrated broth. I could be wrong but the udon seemed like it was freshly made vs the frozen/refrigerated stuff in stores.

What a nice surprise! I've been craving freshly made udon since my trip to Tokyo a couple years back, and this definitely scratched that itch.

Mitsuwa is having it’s Gourmet Food Fair.
Highlights for me are the Snow Crab Bento Boxes and Fish Cakes of various types.
The lady making the Bento Boxes is here from Japan for the Food Fair.
She can only work so fast and supplies seem to be limited by her output.
Throughout the store are other Gourmet Japanese food items highlighted.
The Snow Crab is quite delicate but delicious and the Fish Cake with edamame was the best of the Fish Cakes.
Mitsuwa is back to normal after the redo and new vendors have been added.
-Richard

If this is off-topic, sorry.

If you really like the Mitsuwa Marketplace in the Chicagoland area, you will really like the ones in Southern California. They generally have better selection of groceries and a better variety of prepared foods. Ditto for H-Mart. In general, we find ourselves eating from these grocery stores when in the area than restaurants.

jlawrence01 wrote: If this is off-topic, sorry.
If you really like the Mitsuwa Marketplace in the Chicagoland area, you will really like the ones in Southern California. They generally have better selection of groceries and a better variety of prepared foods. Ditto for H-Mart. In general, we find ourselves eating from these grocery stores when in the area than restaurants.

It is not off-topic.
From my visits to the west coast of the U.S.A., this is generally accepted as such. Seattle, Portland (OR.), the Bay Area, and much of southern California all get a higher array of items from across the Pacific.
There is a reason it is called 'the Pacific Rim'.

Mitsuwa opens at 8am on Saturday for Seniors until the regular time of 9am.
I order fish ahead from Milton who runs the fish department.
Milton is very good at supplying what I require,
I ordered Bluefin Akami, Toro and Hamchi ahead.
The Bluefin was fresh from Spain probably by way of Oishii Market.
Hamachi fresh from Japan.
I purchase bulk and cut, wrap and freeze myself.
Uni from Japan was available, cost is high but there simply is no comparison to any other source such as Mexican and Uni from H Mart.
Prepared eel from Japan is about 3x the cost from china. From what I understand the elvers are shipped to China to be raised and either processed in china or shipped back to Japan.
I always purchase the Japanese product so one of these days a blind tasting is in order.
I have noticed the same price differential at H Mart between Chinese products and Korean.
I believe Korean products are now of the same quality and QC level as Japan.
I purchase Korean as I worry about contaminants in food stuffs from china.
Since I don’t have a super low temp freezer, a month is the maximum I keep.
While at Mitsuwa last Saturday, only my second time since the Pandemic started, I also loaded up on staples.
Premium Japanese short grain rice is superb and some of the top rice is off the shelves.
About 6 people other than workers in the store.
1 and 2.5 l cans of AsahiSuper-dry from Japan were gone. I purchased a six pack of Super Dry Black, still made in Japan.
Found some Peach Sake for my daughter.
Fresh Wasabi root and Matsutake Mushroom were available.
If you go early, there will be a limited supply of ready to go Sushi.
Prepared chirashi on Sunday and it was superb.
The Blue Fin was as good as when I could fresh from Browne Trading in Maine or when Mitsuwa had a Bluefin cutting.
-Richard

budrichard wrote:Mitsuwa opens at 8am on Saturday for Seniors until the regular time of 9am.
I order fish ahead from Milton who runs the fish department.
Milton is very good at supplying what I require,
I ordered Bluefin Akami, Toro and Hamchi ahead.
The Bluefin was fresh from Spain probably by way of Oishii Market.
Hamachi fresh from Japan.
I purchase bulk and cut, wrap and freeze myself.
Uni from Japan was available, cost is high but there simply is no comparison to any other source such as Mexican and Uni from H Mart.
Prepared eel from Japan is about 3x the cost from china. From what I understand the elvers are shipped to China to be raised and either processed in china or shipped back to Japan.
I always purchase the Japanese product so one of these days a blind tasting is in order.
I have noticed the same price differential at H Mart between Chinese products and Korean.
I believe Korean products are now of the same quality and QC level as Japan.
I purchase Korean as I worry about contaminants in food stuffs from china.
Since I don’t have a super low temp freezer, a month is the maximum I keep.
While at Mitsuwa last Saturday, only my second time since the Pandemic started, I also loaded up on staples.
Premium Japanese short grain rice is superb and some of the top rice is off the shelves.
About 6 people other than workers in the store.
1 and 2.5 l cans of AsahiSuper-dry from Japan were gone. I purchased a six pack of Super Dry Black, still made in Japan.
Found some Peach Sake for my daughter.
Fresh Wasabi root and Matsutake Mushroom were available.
If you go early, there will be a limited supply of ready to go Sushi.
Prepared chirashi on Sunday and it was superb.
The Blue Fin was as good as when I could order fresh from Browne Trading in Maine or when Mitsuwa had a Bluefin cutting.
-Richard

The sashimi at Mitsuwa is top notch. I've started to purchase a few different items and then slice em back at home. I'm a total hack at it but it's fun practice and it's gonna force me to buy a sashimi knife. So double bonus!

“ it's gonna force me to buy a sashimi knife.”

These range from relatively cheap to $$$$$ for hand-forged artisan manufacture!

budrichard wrote:“ it's gonna force me to buy a sashimi knife.”

These range from relatively cheap to $$$$$ for hand-forged artisan manufacture!

Yeah I need to do some research and settle on one that Ill be happy to own the rest of my life. Fun research!

budrichard wrote: Mitsuwa opens at 8am on Saturday for Seniors until the regular time of 9am.
[edit]
1 and 2½ L cans of Asahi Super Dry from Japan were gone. I purchased a six pack of Super Dry Black, still made in Japan.

Oh, they're really importing that to the U.S.A. now?
On a FlyerTalk .com Japan Do! in March 2016, the hotel lounge in Osaka where we had the pre-Do "Welcome Drinks" had mostly the standard Japanese macro brews, but that did include Super Dry Black. It was O.K. The Asahi beer you should look for at Mitsuwa (or elsewhere in northeastern Illinois) is Asahi Stout (341 mL bottle). That is pretty good, and not what you would expect from a macro brewer.

What you pictured is what i purchased.
It is not labeled ‘Stout’ but ‘Super Dry Black’ as I Posted.
I cannot remember if I ever found ‘Stout’ at Mitsuwa, if I did, it did not make an impression on me.
I prefer the regular ‘Super Dry’ but only from Japan.
Mitsuwa is the only source i know of for 1l and 2.5l cans of Super Dry.
Bottles are brewed in Canada.
Many years ago at Kuni’s, I ordered my regular bottle of ‘Super Dry’.
I thought it tasted slightly different.
Upon close inspection of the bottle, Canada!!!
Kirin is brewed by Budweiser in Los Angeles.
Guinness XXX is transported by container from Ireland and bottled in Canada.
Any time you change the location, you change the taste whether due to water or whatever.
-Richard