Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Hey! Have any new vegan and omni friendly brunch spots opened recently? Meeting a friend for brunch this weekend and looking for something other than standbys PMU or Flying Saucer...

There's the Bleeding Heart Cafe, but that's not super new.

But it is super delicious. And omni approved!

Kopi Traveler's Cafe in Andersonville has some good options.

My boyfriend and I have been going nuts over Native Foods. We ate there on Thanksgiving and got their Oklahoma bacon cheeseburger twice after that. I enjoyed their wings and sweet potato fries as well. I haven't tried their desserts outside of T-giving, but I didn't enjoy any of those (there was a gorgeous looking maple pecan sauce that had... liquid smoke? Bleugh!), so I'll probably just avoid getting anything. Next time, we'll actually order something different, like maybe the twister wrap or a bowl.

Urban Vegan's orange chicken was downright delicious. I'm not sure if I'd even want anything else from there! I also like Loving Hut because the staff is friendly and I can walk there from my place.

I want to try Bleeding Heart as well, both for their sweets (cake balls?!) and brunch/breakfast (s'mores pancakes!). I wouldn't be surprised to find myself purchasing every single vegan item from their bakery selection; I sort of did the same at Fritz Bakery a while back.

Thanks for the tips guys! We ended up going to Revolution Brewing because I let my friend choose. It was decent, but nothing to write home about.

If you love pizza, Pie Hole in Lakeview has some amazing (not so healthy) vegan slices.


Pizza Time by MelissaAnnM, on Flickr

Wow, that pizza looks so good! Maybe we should plan a meetup at Pie Hole!

Oh yeah, I think I accidentally found myself there when my boyfriend and I were looking to get a quick dinner and I happened to see "VEGAN PIZZA" on a window I was walking past. I think my slice had caramelized onions and peppers on it. I'd like to order an entire pie from there sometime.

I've been to Mana but it is just a little to small I think.

I am thinking Prasino now, they have a vegan bennedict! I've never been there though.

I've only been to the Prasino in St. Charles and for breakfast, but I think that would be a good place to check out as a friendly, trendy place for both vegans and omnivores.

They didn't have tofu benedict when I went, but I was able to get scrambled tofu, pancakes, and orange- and almond-stuffed French toast.

My husband and I are sooo down with this! Let's do it!

Mmm...pizza outing. That sounds grand.

That pizza looks so good. I agree that we should meetup there!

Question: I've been to Chicago Diner a couple times over the years, and I like their sweet potato quesadillas, but I'm wondering what other entrees (specifically sammiches or breakfast stuff) you guys would recommend. The pesto chicken, Philly steak, and Monte Cristo look good. I've never eaten a reuben, vegan or otherwise, and from what I remember I'm not crazy about caraway seeds, but maybe the flavor isn't that strong? I'd love to try a reuben, maybe one from Native Foods. EDIT: Curses! Looks like NF took the reuben off their menu. :'(

I don't have too much money so when I return home for spring break soon I want to spent my money on the best out there.

I do love the reuben, but I like pretty much any reuben. I don't think their rye bread is super caraway heavy though. I also love the dagwood. Actually I named my dog Dagwood after that sandwich.

Any suggestions on where to get [relatively] cheap raw nuts?

If you live in the Wicker Park/Humboldt Park area, Cermak Produce is a good location on North Ave.

I know the grocery store by the Morse Red Line stop (Morse Produce or something?) has cheap raw cashews, about half the price of what I pay in bulk at natural food stores.

I've decided I'm going to try a reuben when I return to Chicago. This must happen!

i'm going to be in chicago for a conference and staying five days... i just learned that the loop location of native foods is only a few blocks from my hotel(!!!!) which has me over the moon excited. are there any other good things right down there that i should have on my radar? i'm totally cool with taking the el to chicago diner or handlebar or whatever, but i want to make sure i'm not overlooking good stuff under my nose, for the times when i am trying to grab something and get right back to the conference.

(i also see that there's a WF and a TJs about a mile away, which is yay)

somewhat related, is intelligentsia the best place to get a tasty vegan chai?

*bumping just in case*

i learned that the native foods in the loop has crepe hours so i won't get to eat there quite as much as i'd like... so i'll probably be venturing out a bit more, unless someone has loop recommendations.

i have a panel tomorrow at 8.30am which makes me want to die (i'm a stay up super late, sleep in kind of girl), so i'm thinking i might need a chai if i can get up even earlier to budget time for that. heh.

I don't spend much time in the Loop, but I do like Chutney Joe's. It's only a few blocks from that Native Foods. It's kind of like the Chipotle of Indian food. Super good, but a smidge expensive. I tried checking on Yelp for more suggestions, but didn't find much. I Dream of Falafel and Kramer's Health Foods, primarily. The Gold Coast Whole Foods and Trader Joe's aren't too far, but if you have time, go see the ginormous Whole Foods in Lincoln Park. It's a madhouse. It's only a couple blocks from the North & Clybourn Red Line.

See if you can track down the Ste Martaen's Food Truck. I haven't found it yet, but they have a schedule on their website.

Karyn's on Green is in the West Loop if you can splurge for something fancy. I haven't been there yet, but have only heard good thinks. Skip Karyn's Cooked, though. I've been seriously underwhelmed the couple times I've been.

If you have time, definitely hit up Handlebar, the Diner, Pick Me Up, Bleeding Heart Cafe, Fritz's, and all the other places we love so much in this thread.

thanks kara kara! i hadn't heard of chutney joe's so i will definitely check it out. and i forgot about ste martaen! they come to milwaukee sometimes so i've had their yummers before, woo!

the loop places have some crappy schedules, so i'll probably be heading to the diner or handlebar or whatever else on the weekend nights, when everything here is closed... we shall see! anyhow, thanks so much!

somebody on livejournal tried to post this to vegancooking, and so i feel a responsibility to post it here since i totally didn't approve it. (seriously, it's a recipe community, not a regional news community)
(i added spaces in the e-mail to somewhat protect her account from spam)

So...Jerry's on Division has always been somewhere I take friends and family from out of town. I usually get the Baba R, but tonight I wanted to try the Fried Tofu sandwich. It comes with cheddar, so I asked them to hold it. Should't be a problem, right? Apparently not. The sandwich came with the cheese, so I sent it back. I'm 95% certain it was the same sandwich with the cheese removed. It came back way too quickly to refry the tofu, and the other ingredients looked more smashed than they should have.

Next time, I'll just order the build your own option and spend way more to insure this doesn't happen again.