Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I wish I was going! I'm now dogsitting all day in Milwaukee.

But we should have a PPK meetup there in the near future!!

So I finally went to Avocado, a newish sandwich cafe on Milwaukee Ave. Its just south of Armitage, in the former Tea Essence space. Its not totally veg, but they have a decent selection of salad, sandwich, and soup options, and the menu notes which options are vegan. I had the eggplant po' boy, and it was tasty.They also have an avocado black bean spinach wrap that looked good, and a few other options I can't recall.

i would be game!

Chicago-area vegans! I'm going to be packing up and joining you this fall, and I couldn't be more excited. I've been stalking this thread for a while now but figured I should make myself known lest I show up unannounced to a meetup someday.

huzzah! do you know what area you'll be living in? my new goal in life is to get all the cool people i know to move to logan square.

I would too! I wanted to go Thursday, but didn't have anyone to go with. The new menu sounds so good!

Meetup, yes!! I'll be in Chicago often throughout the summer since I'm on break.


Yes!!!

And Milwaukee is only a 1.5 hour bus or train ride away. You're welcome to come visit and stay with me anytime! There will be lots of baked goods, bunnies, and dance parties involved.

i've never been to milwaukee, but i would love to make a trip out sometime!

Oh my goodness, so exciting! You have no idea how much I want to meet that magnificent bunny. And rockotter, I'm going to Northwestern next year so I won't be in the city, but conveniently placed quite close!

You all should come up for a bunny cupcake fiesta!

If it's a fiesta, I'm assuming all in attendance will be wearing sombreros. (INCLUDING bunnies!)

Definitely!
Hopefully I will have no self control and acquire 10 more bunnies by that time.


Come up during the summer when the crepe cart is out! Vegan tomato basil lemon garlic truffle Daiya crepes! It's run by an awesome German guy who built the cart (solar panels included!) himself. Sometimes he plays techno music and after he sets up the cart, he blows a horn and announces "SATELLITE CREPES IS HERE!".
My favorite summer food here for sure! Totally got an extra crepe for free today.

whoaaaa! yes!!

So hey, I'm going to be in town this weekend. Let's do something!!

I've been to Drew's. It's a bit pricey, but the Vegan brats are fantastic, plus they have at least 6 different flavors of organic mustard. I spent about $10 for a vegan brat bc I upgraded to the wheat bun and added sauer kraut.

When do you get here and for how long??

I'm going to my parent's house for a long weekend. Get there Friday night and stay until Monday or Tuesday! They live in the suburbs so I can take the metra down whenever!

My Dad & Sister are in town, but I'm down for anything. Our only plans are Saturday we're going to the Lincoln Park Zoo & form dinner I'm having a waffle party (the more the merrier!), and Sunday we're doing Bike The Drive. Monday it's just me & my sister, planning on seeing a movie. Let me know when you'd want to meet up - it's about time we actually met each other!

How about Saturday? I don't have any set plans for the day/this weekend yet, so anytime works for me!

Does anyone have suggestions for a vegan cooking class? We're looking for a basics type of class, so that I don't have to look up recipes all the time. I want to be able to just throw dinner together.

Thanks!
Amy

Ordered dinner from El Nuevo Mexicano tonight, the place with the new vegan menu. So good! I would definitely eat from there again. I got pick up, but it was crazy crowded inside. Sunday 'round 8 on a Cubs night, though, so I don't know how busy they normally are.

Thank you to everyone for this thread. We are coming to Chicago in Autumn for a vegan wedding :) We're flying in to Midway and staying at the Hard Rock Hotel. It looks like there is an easy subway route from Midway to the hotel. Are the subways comparable to the subways in NYC/DC/LA (as in not scary)?

We have to account for 2 lunches (or 1 lunch and 1 brunch) and one dinner. Places I would love to hit: Chicago Diner and Handlebar. Karyn's Cooked and Karyn's on the Green look really good, too, and are both within walking distance from the hotel (we like to walk).

Pretty sure we will be hanging out at Handlebar for dinner and throught night having drinks with friends. Looks like there is an easy subway route from the hotel to Handlebar. How late do the subways run? And are they safe late at night? Are these neighborhoods safe to walk at night? I ask that having lived most of my life in Los Angeles or Detroit to sketchy areas don't bother us much as long as there is no real threat of danger.

Looks like if we wanted to hit the Chicago Diner for lunch/brunch either day we'd have to cab it (not crazy about busses). Hate to miss going there but we could always go next time. Both Karyn's locales we could walk to so they might have a leg up. We've been wanting to go the the Chicago Diner forever but Karyn's looks great, too. Anyone think Karyn's would a let down?

Last question (for now anyway): a while back there was a place that had a vegan deep dish pizza but I think maybe they closed. Does anyone know of a place to get a good Chicago style vegan pizza?

Any other thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated, especially in regards to the areas either near the Hard Rock Hotel or the Handlebar.

Cheers!

Hi evolution - Handlebar and Chicago Diner are both awesome. This might not be popular for me to say, but I realllllly don't like Karyn's Cooked. It's not to say that it's bad, but to me, nothing I ever had there felt special, tasted amazing, or just seemed like a mediocre version of something I make at home - and for a hefty (to me) price. If you're going for lunch or brunch, try to make Chicago Diner - you will not be disappointed. When I last went to Karyn's Cooked for brunch, everything on the menu was mostly a variation of the same tofu scramble (which is good but not great. Just kinda blah.

Everything I've had at the Handlebar I have liked. The only think I thought was so-so was the biscuits and gravy. Good but seems more of a savory dinner gravy than a breakfast gravy. Love the chicken sandwich, Chicago Pesto sandwich thing, and nachos. Also just had an amazing drink there - the Pepe Ole: silver tequilla, real lime juice, and real grapefruit juice. Oh and a cute patio!

Also like a few doors down from Handlebar is Bon Bon. Great, cheap, vegan bon mi and vegan pho. Like $5 each, cash only.

Anyway, have fun while you're here!

I'm too lazy to check what particular trains and stuff you'd be going on, but The Red and Blue lines run all night, the rest stop running somewhere between midnight and 2am, depending where you are. Some busses run all night, some only until 11ish, some until 2ish. It will say on the sign at the stop (not specific times, but it will say if the bus runs to early evening, late evening, all night, etc) and there is a number you can text on the signs and it will tell you when the next bus at the stop is coming.

Chicago Diner is walking distance from the Belmont stop (Brown, Red, Purple), you said you'd have to take a cab? After getting off, head East toward Halsted (that's a right if you're accross from Berlin night club, walk toward Clarkes on Belmont & Comedy Sportz) then turn North (left on Halsted) a few blocks.

I have no advice on vegan deep dish, but if you find it, let me know.

Chicago Diner and Handlebar are great (Get the fried pickles at Handlebar!!! So good!), but unlike ericaj I think Karyn's Cooked is great too! (I haven't been to any of the other Karyn's). My boyfriend works a couple blocks from there, so I've been there a few times, but never for a brunch, I've gone for lunch or dinner on weekdays.

The prices are comparable to Handlebar or Chicago Diner. For example, sandwiches are $9 - they're large and come with potato wedges and coleslaw, appetizers run between $5 and $10 - Jerry's Pizza is $9 and on the appetizer menu and I love it (thin crust but pretty big and delicious). Entrees are $12 or $14ish.

Their desserts are expensive, however, and not as good as the desserts at Chicago Diner (but the coconut cream pie is great, everything else has been pretty "meh", especially for the price).

The BBQ Ribs are amazing! The Poached Haddock is good too, and not something easily found at other vegan places. I was pretty skeptical, but it was great. If you were a fan of fish, pregan, that might be something interesting to try. My (omni) boyfriend hated the flautas, I've never had them (I wasn't there, or I'd have tried it), but since he's liked everything else from Karyn's I thought I'd pass that info along. There was also something on the specials menu (they don't rotate the specials often, they have one per day of the week and it's on the permanent menu) I've had that was pretty bad, but I can't remember what it was to warn you against it, and the specials aren't on the website. It had a mole sauce, however. I remember that. Also, the mac & cheese on the sides menu isn't worth it. Not as good as my so-so homemade mac & cheese.

Also, by the Wellington Brown Line is El Nuevo Mexicano, which JUST debuted it's vegan menu. It's GREAT! I mentioned it a couple posts up, I don't know how packed it gets normally as my only impression was picking up take out shortly after a cubs game got out on Memorial weekend. But it was delicious and made me so happy! They even have a couple vegan desserts!

Also, all your mentioned neighborhoods are fine to walk around in.