People in the vicinity of Chicago interested in Japanese stuff, like books and recordings and groceries and sweets and candy and alcoholic beverages and a food court? And native speakers of Japanese? You want to go to the Mitsuwa Marketplace, where Gabutto Burger is located. It's a grocery store with little shops around the edges, including a bookstore which does special orders, and the food court, with a matcha shop and sushi and a Korean place and a few others.

It's in Arlington Heights, right off 90, and it's just cool. Not huge, not a toy store, not a tourist attraction, but a nifty neighborhood place.

Also, the teriyaki tofu burger was pretty good, and I loved the curry-cheese sprinkle for the fries.