A friend of ours is moving to Chicago and looking for an apartment on the far North Side, and wanted to know where she could take a vegan friend out to dinner. We will paraphrase her request:
“I wanted to know where I could take a vegan friend out to dinner.”
Lovely. Actually, that’s not fair. She’s quite witty, and also should be pitied as her hunt is going poorly: “I’m trying to stay strong, but Craigslist-driven apartment hunting can be a demoralizing experience. Yesterday I spoke on the phone with a potential roommate who turned out to be 19, but assured me that she’s ‘very mature’ because she has ‘been through some stuff’, and ‘has a fake ID that says she’s 23, and no one ever thinks it’s fake’. Argh.”
That was a real quote (you chuckled?). But at any rate, the vegan.
• Green Zebra: probably Chicago’s most expensive vegan-friendly restaurant and certainly the only one where you can get an entire tasting menu devoted to your dietary restriction. If there is to be a splurge, this would be the place at which to do it.
• Lake Side Cafe: up in Rogers Park (convenient), you’ll find this laid-back, spiritual-friendly (shrug) spot that serves a vegan Polish Sausage. Authentic!
• Cousin’s Incredible Vitality: because you should not be limited to American food, or cooked food for that matter, here’s a Turkish raw restaurant for your inspection. It’s buffet-style, but warning - they seem really into themselves.
• Chicago Diner: classic vegetarian diner. Great middle-of-the-road choice.
• Arya Bhavan: no one does vegan like the South Indians. Thali your heart out.
• Karyn’s Raw Vegan Gourmet: one more raw spot for you. A sample entree: pasta primavera covered with a creamy macademia pine nuts-based sauce melange with shiitake mushrooms, English zucchini, seasoned pine Nuts, and teardrop tomato for $22. Sounds yummy, but isn’t “sauce melange” a tad redundant? We think so.
Oh, one more thing. The Tribune had a piece a few weeks ago on meatless substitutes for classic Chicago food items, if that’s your visitor’s thing.
Alright, friend, the best of luck to you in your housing search; we hope we’ve at least made your vegan food search a little easier.
