 Vegan Dining in Chicago |
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The Chicago Diner The Diner has several pages of menu; they offer breakfast, brunch, lunch, sandwiches, dinners, salads, soups, specials, the whole kittencaboodle. I would recommend trying one of their specials - they are usually creative and exciting. On the weekends, they have a wonderful brunch - let me just say four words: Hash And Tofu Scrambler. Amazing! Succulent! It's scrambled tofu, spicy tempeh/potato hash, melt-in-your-mouth vegan biscuits and gravy, plus a little fruit on the side. It's out of this world...Everyone who's tried it at my insistence falls in love, as much as one can with a plate of tofu, potatoes and biscuits. Their soups are always vegan and usually wonderful. I'm a sucker for the split pea. The sandwiches are quite substantial, easily enough for lunch or dinner with leftovers. Grilled portabellos are becoming passé these days, but their Portabello Fantastico with marinara or herb vinaigrette makes you remember why you like fungi so much. Sandwiches come with home fries or brown rice, cole slaw and garnish. But this is the really big thing: their desserts are all vegan, all phenomenal, all absolutely decadent! And when The Diner says "vegan", they don't mean with the exception of honey, they mean VEGAN. They are quite serious and conscientious about these matters (who else would we have cater our wedding?). They usually have many different kinds of cakes you can buy by the slice or whole. They offer varieties like Black Forest (chocolate layered with cherries and chocolate cream), Cookies and Cream (chocolate layered with white cream and crushed chocolate cookies) and Lemon Coconut (lemon layer cake with flaked coconut and lemon cream - our scrumptious wedding cake). One time we ordered a cake from The Diner for a party, and my friend, who's not a vegan and didn't know the cake was, took one bite, opened her eyes wide and said to me with deep, intense sincerity: "This is THE best cake I've ever had in my life...I mean it - EVER!" They also have a variety of bars and muffins. The mood at The Diner is usually very relaxed, casual and friendly. There's no need to dress up, and no need to rush through your meal. The food here is moderately priced, most entrees range between $8 - $11. Alcohol is available here, including organic wines, and in the summer, their real-fruit margaritas are amazing, especially on the back patio where one can dine during the milder months. They also have a juice/smoothie/coffee bar. Come out and support these guys: they're Chicago's oldest vegetarian restaurant, and they really cater to our community. There is also a branch of The Chicago Diner located in Highland Park, one of Chicago's northern suburbs. They seem to serve the same kind of fare there, but I'm not as familiar with this location. I'm certain one wouldn't be disappointed at the Highland Park location, though.
Blind Faith They have a wonderful, substantial salad called the "Brazilian Salad," which comes with salad greens, boiled beets and potatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers and hazelnuts; it's fantastic with their piquant vegan dressing, white miso onion. They also offer a daily macrobiotic plate and daily specials. Blind Faith has a fresh juice/smoothie bar and a phenomenal baked goods with quite a few vegan choices (my favorite is the cranberry bar). Generally, people at Blind Faith are helpful with making certain that the food you've requested is prepared in a vegan fashion (unfortunately, the menu does not make a clear indication of what is and what is not vegan). Occasionally, especially if you are in the self-service section, you may encounter a stray spacey counter person who gazes out the window foggily when you're trying to ascertain whether a certain dish is vegan or not, but it's pretty rare. There are plenty of great vegan options offered here. The atmosphere is casual.
Amitabul Addendum: Amitabul moved from its old Lakeview location to out in the near-boonies a few months ago, but the distance is worth it. First they have a cool indoor pond (and no captive koi!) and it's easy to park there. But more than anything, their food has only improved from the move. They have their old favorites, like Chef D & B's Famous Bi-Bim-Bop and Green and Greener Nirvana, but they've added some new ones, Tibetan High Noon and Darkside of Moon (these guys throw caution to the wind when they name dishes, no?). They also have FANTASTIC "ice cream" in beautiful flavors, like green tea and mango, in addition to mochi, which is a glutenous shell wrapped around a nugget of ice cream. Strange, but wonderful.
Alice and Friends' Vegetarian Café Alice's is a restaurant that also happens to be a meditation/spiritual center, though the only hint of this are some booklets, hand-painted and lettered murals, and, at least once when we visited, a small television in the front playing a tape of a religious sermon. Don't let this turn you off, though, because the people who run Alice's are determined to focus on the food, and let the spiritual edification take a backseat. The food here is focused on light Asian fare, gently cooked to emphasize flavors. For appetizers, they offer delicious, unusual and beautiful Lady Fingers, which are thin rolls filled with a sweet red paste filling. These are crispy and sweet, but not cloyingly so. They also offer items like Dumplings, and UnChicken Drumsticks, neither of which I've tried, but are ear-marked for a future visit. Drinks range from a superb Cinnamon and Ginger Tea, which can be enjoyed hot or cold, and lichee juice with seasonal fruit to a bold and refreshing Fresh Ginger Shake. They also offer a Green Tea Shake, which one can have with soy ice cream for an additional 50 cents. Ohhh, that sounds yummy. The salads at Alice's emphasize fresh, complex flavors. There is the substantial Love Letter From the Earth, which has sweet potatoes, apples, walnuts, and raw vegetables with a cucumber dressing. This tastes a little like a Waldorf salad, and is great for those who like sweet tastes. There is also Baked Coconut with Alfalfa Sprouts, which sounds really interesting. Most main dishes are vegan variations on classic Korean and Chinese offerings. There is the wonderful Bi Bim Bob (a play on the classic Korean Bi Bim Bop), a simple and gratifying dish of rice with stir-fried vegetables, tofu and hot sauce. There is also a Curry Fried Rice with Portabello Mushroom, Don Ka Su, which is a Japanese-style breaded and fried soy meat analogs with a special sauce, and the delicious old standards Lemon Tofu and Almond UnChicken to enjoy. Everything we've had here has been wonderful, fresh, and perfectly suited for vegetarians and omnivores alike. Alice's also carries desserts, ranging from cakes to soy ice creme. Additionally, they offer a Saturday morning brunch with pancakes, veggie links, tofu scramble and a variety of juices. Prices for the main dishes range from $6.49 to $9.49, so it's definitely affordable. Be warned that Alice's is closed on Sundays. So check out Alice's when you get a chance. You won't be disappointed.
The Mother Earth Cafe *Note Mother Earth Cafe recently moved to its current location from a much smaller one. The restaurant should be opening in the spring of 2002. Check back for a new review.
Soul Vegetarian East 203 E. 75th St., 773-224-0104 Entirely vegan except for honey Soul Vegetarian also offers daily specials, which come with amazing, cooked-to-perfection greens and a soup or salad. The house dressing is creamy garlic, and I know someone who lives on the far north side and will go all the way out to Soul Vegetarian simply because she craves the salad dressing (which, incidentally, can be purchased from them by the bottle). The waitstaff is personable and helpful, and there are fresh juices, natural sodas and desserts available. Soul Vegetarian East is so good that they were featured in Vegetarian Times. The prices are moderate and the atmosphere is casual and friendly. Please support these guys - they are wonderful.
Victory's Banner Walk into Victory's Banner and it's a bit like walking onto a cloud: the environment is all powder blue, white, and pastel shades of pink and lavendar. The servers, dressed in soft, diaphanous saris, speak in hushed tones, and there is often lulling, Enya-esque music playing in the background. In fact, everything about Victory's Banner seems like it was strategically chosen so that diners would be temporarily lifted from this material plane, and maybe transported into a fairyland with happy, smiling yogis meditating around every corner. I enjoy Victory's Banner, and I'm always glad to welcome another meatless restaurant into Chicago, but I have to say that as a vegan, the choices are pretty paltry. Thus far, the restaurant is only open for breakfast and lunch, and the breakfasts are standard American egg-y and milk-y fare. They do seem to be a bit reliant on animal products, when their one breakfast option that should be vegan (Erin's Eggless Wonder, which is a tofu scramble) comes with goat cheese. Everything is made to order, though, and substitutions and omissions can be made in most items. (Not to nitpick, but there was once I came in and had to return my dish THREE TIMES because of added dairy.) If you are an ovo-lacto vegetarian, though, there are many varieties of pancakes, omelettes, and waffles. Lunch is a bit easier on a vegan...We can chose among a variety of sandwiches and salads (although to make most of these vegan, an omission here and there are necessary. The spinach salad I had, without the egg, was crisp, but a little boring. The Peace, Love and Bliss Burger (what did I tell you about the yogis before) was quite good the last time I tried it. This comes with grilled potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, or brown rice. I've also tried the tofu scramble on a previous visit, and I found it to be a little uninspired, although the multi-grained bread that accompanied it was great. In all, I'd say that Victory Banner should start incorporating more vegan dishes, and, while they're at it, become a little more innovative with the menu. A lot of what they offer is the "tried-and-true" veggie fare from an earlier era, though it is clean and simple food. They are a new restaurant, though, and they've got plenty of time to gain creative strength.
Chowpatti
Devon Street near Western Avenue in Chicago is a favorite haunt of vegetarians who crave spicy Indian food, and there are a number of entirely vegetarian restaurants that line "Little India." In addition to the wonderful aroma of curry and fennel in the air, there are a lot of businesses that stay open late along Devon St., from markets to stores that sell Hindu statues and artifacts. The area is also quite multicultural, with urban hipsters mixing with traditional Indian families, tattoos mingling with saris... It's a lively and colorful feast for the senses. The only thing to beware of is that your food is prepared in a vegan manner; traditional Indian food is often cooked with ghee (clarified butter) and yogurt. If you are vegan, simply specify what you can and cannot eat; you'll find that most people are quite helpful. Also, it can be quite tedious to park around here, so my suggestion is to come either before or after peak hours, which are from about 7 - 9 pm. Some vegetarian Indian restaurants on Devon St. are: Arya Bhavan Dasaprakash Udupi Palace Vegetarian Express Gourmet I so, so, so, so love the food here, that just sitting here writing about them makes me want to run off to their little restaurant and claw my way in. Or I could just use the front door. In any case, Vegetarian Express' chef Tsadakeeah trained at another fabulous area restaurant, Soul Vegetarian East, before opening his own establishment in the Beverly neighborhood on Chicago's far southwest side. Vegetarian Express continues the soul food tradition, with savory seitan steak sandwiches, cornbread and delicately steamed greens, as well as fresh raw salads and juices. Vegetarian Express departs from Soul Vegetarian, though, in the fact that they use no honey in any of their dishes, so you can be assured that it's entirely vegan. They also offer a raw plate, daily specials, wraps, pasta for the squeamish, luscious desserts, and the king of all salad dressings, humbly titled as the Prince. The other thing about Vegetarian Express is that they have a magnificent weekend buffet -- call for the exact hours -- that is so impressive I'm struggling for words. If you take me there, maybe it'll stimulate my descriptive capabilities. It's, well, it's yummy and you'd better go there good and hungry or you're missing out. |
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