Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I also wanted to say the green enchiladas at Karyn's are unimpressive. I was just taking a look at the menu. Again, the Ribs are sooooooo goooooooooooood!!!!!!!!

I also mentioned the neighborhoods being fine, but the trains are fine at night too. I don't like the blue line in general, just because, but I've been on all the lines late at night (except for the yellow which I've never been on at all) and the worst you tend to find are drunks, noisy college kids, or aggressive panhandlers. Most people are just tired and want to get home. But it's a city, stuff happens so... you know.

Yeah, people love Karyn's, I was just never really impressed. The ribs are good, super filling, but I still wasn't excited. I did however like their mac and cheese. ha! frozenveggies we have completely opposite reviews! So, just goes to show, try it out. Different taste buds for different peeps ;)

Now speaking of that mexi place, I need to try that soon.

I also found Karyn's Cooked just so-so, but Karyn's on Green is absolutely amazing. KoG is also pretty expensive, though.

I don't love Karyn's Cooked either. I've just never been impressed by it, and a lot of their food is microwaved. I haven't checked out Karyn's on Green yet...but that was partly because my friend told me it was super expensive. I biked past it the other day and took a peek...it's not as expensive as I thought! About the same as Chicago Diner, it looked like. And the space is so pretty!

BTW, the BEST thing at the Diner is the Radical Reuben. And also the milkshakes and raw cheesecakes. But especially the Reuben. The new mozzarella sticks are good too.

Handlebar is great. Definitely get a fried pickle...they have vegan ranch, it is delicious. Also, if you need snacks to go or food for later, there is a small grocery store across the street from it which is usually open to around midnight and they have lots of vegan stuff.

There was a place called Delisi's with vegan deep dish pizza but they closed, and my life hasn't been the same since. If anyone else has vegan deep dish I haven't found it yet!

I just looked at the list of food vendors and menus at Taste of Chicago this year and there appear to be several vegan options this year including Arya Bravan and...Loving Hut!

http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en/s ... _2011.html

Posting again to let ya'll know that Urban Vegan is now open. Meetup?

RIGHT OUTSIDE MY APARTMENT!!!!!!!

I read some reviews on yelp and it appears to be just like those "Vegan Thai" places in LA - which they all seem to loathe but I sure loved when I visited.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/urban-vegan-chicago

So anybody want to hit it up this weekend? Lunch saturday? Frozenveggies?

I can't this weekend, but I can probably meet up some time next weekend!

I had some for lunch today. It was really good (though I wish the portions were a little larger for the price, but it wasn't anything outrageous)! Also, the owners were really nice!

Ooooh, I wanna try this place! Is there a menu online anywhere? They don't seem to have a website.

urbanveganchicago.com, but it isn't up yet.

I have to work all weekend, but would be interested in a meetup some other time.

Thanks for the responses and all the great info. Vegan pho and banh mi :)

Soooooo good. I have a hard time deciding which to get when I go.

dbl.

This is awfully last minute, but I'm headed to Chicago this weekend with a friend who is gluten free and vegetarian, any tips for gluten-free and vegan friendly places, not too expensive? We'll probably go to Chicago Diner but would especially love some ideas closer to Bucktown where we'll be staying.

I couldn't tell how gf-friendly Handlebar was, but it's pretty close to us. The menu seemed to have a few options but no indication of what was gluten free. Somebody on Yelp said it was great for gf but then said that they had something with seitan and it was delicious, so, um.

Handlebar has a separate gf menu, so they're a great option! They're super knowledgable and even warned my friend about the flour in the batter of the deep fried pickles appetizer (which you should totally get if you're eating gluten because they're delicious). I was just there eating with gf friends, so I'm not sure about other options, but I think Chicago has quite a few other places that are accommodating as well.

edit: crepe, you said over the weekend. Did you end up going to Handlebar?

Yeah, it turned out that a friend we were visiting lived a block from Handlebar! So it seemed more worth it to give it a shot. It was great. Plenty of options, and man, it was so delicious. I didn't get the deep fried pickles, though, maybe I should have! I'm not the GF one so I had the bbq seitan sandwich and collard greens.

Yeah, it turned out that a friend we were visiting lived a block from Handlebar! So it seemed more worth it to give it a shot. It was great. Plenty of options, and man, it was so delicious. I didn't get the deep fried pickles, though, maybe I should have! I'm not the GF one so I had the bbq seitan sandwich and collard greens.

I just wanted to let you all know that http://www.elnuevomexicano.net/ is AMAZING. A little on the pricey side for me, but I could eat those Chile Rellenos and quinoa until I explode. I'm so psyched to have vegan Mexican that isn't just burritos, tacos and chips...Not that I have any problem with burritos, tacos and chips :) If you haven't been yet, go soon!

I was looking at the menu and didn't really notice anything vegan. Did I miss something?

eta:
Haha - yep, I missed a whole vegan menu!

This place is really good--and I think all the negative yelp reviews were from people who were expecting something different in terms of menu (or nonvegans who were expecting the meat analogs to taste the exact same as meat).

I live dangerously close the joint--and can very easily be persuaded to go at some point in the future.

I need to check out Urban Vegan sometime soon. But by soon I mean after I get paid again in two weeks, so nobody hold their horses.

Y'all, I just found out about this place, Quesadilla: la Reyna del Sur: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quesadilla-Mexican-Vegetarian-Vegan-Cuisine/221916221166665. It's a basic taqueria, just vegetarian. They have Follow Your Heart vegan cheese, and they make their own veg meats and almond mayo. It was OMFG good, and I don't usually indulge in acronyms. I loved it. It's faux-meat-heavy, so maybe don't go if that's not your thing, but it's not usually my thing, and I thought everything was delicious, so go anyway. Plus it was pretty cheap. Plus it was delicious, did I mention that yet? Delicious. I am making myself hungry just thinking about it.

We went and really liked it. The only thing, we were expecting that entire vegan menu, but I guess they only offer 1 item as a special from the vegan menu...must be rotating. What we had was really good, just was expecting choices.

Is anyone planning on participating in/going to Upton's Chicago Vegan Chef Showdown on the 23rd?

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111642312258678

I'm going for sure, and most likely competing! I'll also be able to come down to Chicago on sunday the 24th if anyone wants to meet up and try one of the new restaurants!