I recently decided to try to become Vegetarian and hopefully Vegan eventually. I was wondering if anyone can suggest some good restaurants with yummy vegetarian options on the menu, as I doing this to also maintain a healthy weight I would prefer to stay away from cheese on everything!
Thanks everyone for your suggestions I am now very excited at the many options of yummy places to try out!
Victory's Banner on Roscoe, in Roscoe Village! Always gets written up in "Best Of" lists in Chicago.
Green Zebra. Amazing food, and not 'meat-substitute-everything'. Gourmet vegetarian.
The Blind Faith Cafe in Evanston is fabulous. Many places now have vegetarian options as well- go onto Metromix.com and do a search- I'm sure you'll find lots of places!
I second the Victory's Banner recommendation - great vegetarian breakfasts and lunches. A Guatemalan restaurant, El Tenajon, is also on Roscoe and has some excellent vegetarian selections - they do also offer meat, poultry and fish. The Wishbone on Lincoln and School has good veggie options.
Hi Sal,
I'm a longtime vegan. I don't know where in Chicagoland you live, but I recommend the following vegetarian restaurants:
Chicago Diner (Halsted & Roscoe)
Arya Bhavan, Mysore Woodlands, Udupi Palace (vegetarian Indian restaurants on Devon near Rockwell)
Karyn's Cooked (700 block of N. Wells)
Soul Vegetarian (South Side -- I've had food from there but never been)
Blind Faith (Evanston)
Flat Top Grill (in Evanston and in Lakeview) is very veg. friendly, as is Lulu's in Evanston
This is a good database of vegetarian and vegetarian-friendly restaurants:
http://www.happycow.net/north_america/usa/illinois/chicago/
For more tips and recipes, message me individually.
Best,
R.
I am on the NW side, Bucktown/Logan Square. These are all neighborhood style cafes and Revolution Brewery is a bigger microbrew bar&grill.
www.handlebarchicago.com
If your with others non-vegs but want good options check out their menus:
revbrew.com
www.lulacafe.com
www.emptybottle.com/bite.htm
I don't have any specific restaurants to add to the excellent recommendations already made but I will remind you that you can always specialize your order. I've been vegetarian for over ten years and have never had a problem finding something to eat - even at a steakhouse. You can generally get grilled veggies and a salad at restaurants and you can always order "no meat" at fast food type places. Don't be afraid to ask for what you want!
I have been a vegetarian for 16 years and eat pretty much everywhere. My favorites are Thai, Indian and Mexican - lots of legume and soy based dishes with these cuisines. As far as chain restaurants go, Noodles & Company and Qdoba are great. Please read as much as you can on being a healthy vegetarian - you're on the right track with staying away from too much cheese, but make sure you're getting good healthy proteins.
