Help with hip veg spot for saturday night

On Saturday night, we have friends in from San Francisco (one a bit of a food & SF snob) that we're taking out for dinner. Half the party is vegetarian so we're trying to find a place with more than one token veg dish.

We've ruled out Green Zebra since my husband & I just ate there (loved it) but it's a bit pricy for this group. We've also ruled out Lula Cafe because we don't think we can deal with a 90-minute wait with their no res policy.

Any other suggestions? Would love if the place has a hip vibe and isn't too far north (i.e. Andersonville) so that we can go out after dinner. Sorry if I'm being too restrictive but appreciate any thoughts you have. (And I tried some searching on the site before posting, but let me know if there was a good post already on this topic that I missed.)

If you're looking for a hip place that would satisfy meat eaters and vegetarians alike, you should definitely consider Rodan. It's a lounge atmosphere with surprisingly good South American/Asian cuisine. Many items on the menu are marked vegan. It also would position you in Wicker Park where there are many opportunites for nightlife.

www.rodan.ws

Rodan
1530 N Milwaukee Ave
773-276-7036

You live in Lakeview and haven't been to The Chicago Diner?

http://www.veggiediner.com/

it ain't my bag, but it must be longlived for a reason, right?

right?

---

then there's always Earwax in Wicker Park

Well, Chicago Diner would probably satisfy the
vegetarians but not the meat eaters in the group.


Since your friends are from San Francisco,
I would recommend staying away from Asian
restaurants because - most likely - they will have
experienced much better Asian food in SF.

A nice option might be Cafe Bolero (near Western &
Fullerton). There aren't a ton of vegetarian options
but they do have a few vegetarian entrees to choose
from and a few veggie tapas. I'm a vegetarian and
can always find some satisfying things to get there.
And, being a Cuban restaurant, it has lots for meat eaters
to choose from. Their sangria is also very good and its a
very nice, "hip" atmosphere - especially in the back room.

This might be too far north for you but I thought
I'd suggest it anyway. Ras Dashen in Edgewater
is a great choice for meat eaters and vegetarians.
And, its delicious food in a nice setting. The service
may be a bit slow sometimes, but the food is always
great and their honeywine is a rare treat. I believe
in SF they don't have such an Ethiopian population
so this food may be hard to come by for your friends.

Hope this helps. Please let us know where you end up going,
it will be interesting you hear a report back.

Ciao...

You live in Lakeview and haven't been to The Chicago Diner?

I used to live literally a few steps from the Chicago Diner.

How is it?

Marigold? They seem to have a few vegetarian options. It's not in a "hip" neighborhood— pretty up and coming actually. But it's right off the red line. I'd also recommend both May Street Market (West Loop) and May St. Cafe. May St. Cafe is located in a pretty desolate area, so I'd recommend getting there by car. We took friends visiting from out of town there and we all really enjoyed it. However, wasn't it recently on Check, Please?

Skip Chicago Diner. I prefer fresh fruits and vegetables over anything else, but they have a way of killing even produce.

Here's a link to Marigold.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... t=marigold

May St. Cafe
1146 West Cermack

May St. Market
1132 W. Grand

Mike G wrote:

You live in Lakeview and haven't been to The Chicago Diner?

I used to live literally a few steps from the Chicago Diner.

How is it?

granted I haven't dined there in many years:

I used to go with a close friend who, alas, happens to be a vegetarian...in fact we dined just yesterday at TAC(my first!)---we intended to do Tank or Hai Yen or Vin Phat but who knew!?(not I) that these restaurants are all closed on Wednesday. I suggested the aforementioned, he was amenable and we trained on down. He was happy with his tofu thing and I quite enjoyed my massive bowl of (not quite as spicy as I'd've liked)boat noodles(those meatballs! that broth!)...great, friendly, non-obfuscatory waitress, tho'...

anyway, before this derails into a TAC report:

this friend and I'd sup at Chicago Diner...and I was never impressed and got to really dislike it

so, I don't get the raving and Check Please!-ing of bonafide carnivores(or vegans, etc.) for that matter

The Chicago Diner has the distinction of serving me(twice...I'm a sucker for punishment) the-worst-bowl-of-miso soup I've ever had the displeasure of tasting...

...twice

I don't know if it's cuz they replaced the dashi with some witchy alternative base...maybe it's just bad dashi...it certainly wasn't an absence of dashi(I've done that myself so am intimately familiar with the flat non-flavor)

no...this had flavor...enormously, soul-devouringly brown and bitter flavor...like sucking on the weeds in Mrs. Havisham's lawn(did she have a lawn?)

why order miso in a veggie place? well, The Chicago Diner has always prided itself in offering a panoply of cuisines and miso...one'd assume is pretty hard to screw up

so...I offer bad miso soup as a limning of their philosophie culinaire

odd, how it sticks in the Proustian craw

and their burgers weren't that great either...not even in an, okay..., this ain't beef, but it's an interesting play on pulses and veggies way...found elsewhere throughout the city

---

I would definitely suggest Ras Dashen. Lots of veg*n options. Also worth considering is Ethiopian Diamond which has a little better food but not as quite as nice a room as Ras Dashen. Both places have live music from time to time which is may or may not be a good thing depending on how much you like that sort of thing.

Also in Edgewater is Alice and Friends which is definitely the best veg restaurant on the north side. All of my omni friends that I take there agree on that. While not the least bit hip, it's a much better pure veg choice than the Chicago Diner which sometimes has good food but has some serious consistency problems too. I eat there quite a bit but only because it's close to home. It's always a crapshoot.

fela wrote:Marigold? They seem to have a few vegetarian options. It's not in a "hip" neighborhood— pretty up and coming actually. But it's right off the red line. I'd also recommend both May Street Market (West Loop) and May St. Cafe. May St. Cafe is located in a pretty desolate area, so I'd recommend getting there by car. We took friends visiting from out of town there and we all really enjoyed it. However, wasn't it recently on Check, Please?

Skip Chicago Diner. I prefer fresh fruits and vegetables over anything else, but they have a way of killing even produce.

Here's a link to Marigold.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... t=marigold

May St. Cafe
1146 West Cermack

May St. Market
1132 W. Grand

my vegetarian friend mentioned in the blip above really loves Marigold...we almost dined there yesterday, but I forgot in my zeal for TAC to remind him that he'd suggested it as a possibility if we didn't do Vietnamese(which as it so happens) we didn't

Does San Soo Gap San or any of the other Korean LTH favs have any good vegetarian soups or noodle dishes?

fela wrote:Marigold? They seem to have a few vegetarian options.

I was there a month or so ago - if I remember correctly, there was only strictly vegetarian option, the vegetarian thali. And, depending on what kind of vegetarian your friends are, there's a paneer dish and a fish dish.

-gtgirl

I agree to keep Chicago Diner off the list. Honestly, I'd rather go to Earwax or Handlebar if I'm going for that vibe and need vegetarian and omivore food. Tapas, Ethiopian or Indian are always welcome for both.

If you need vegan, that's a whole other can of worms...

Christopher Gordon wrote:...like sucking on the weeds in Mrs. Havisham's lawn

I just want to say that there's no justice on this board if this quote doesn't make it to the top of the page. Love it!!--and I think she had a courtyard.

Many chefs enjoy the challenge of preparing vegan meals if they know far enough in advance. If there is a place you want to go but are worried about the vegetarian offerings, give them a call and see if they'll create a custom meal for you.

For strictly vegetarian restaurants in Chicago, my personal favorites are the aforementioned Alice & Friends, Karyn's Cooked (comfort food), and Amitabul (vegan Korean dishes including Kimchi Noodle Soup!). These are all enjoyed by my omni friends as well.

I ate at San Soo Gap San the first time recently and had a vegan dol sat bibimbap that was quite good. There were a good number of the panchan that I could eat although to be honest I'm not 100% confident that there isn't a little bit of anchovy or other fish-based ingredient in the kim chi. I took the waitress' word for it though. On the down side, a lot of vegans and vegetarians may not like the place due to the large slabs of raw beef everywhere and the charred meat smoke in the air. It was kind of gross to me.

Opera has a separate vegan menu and on Sundays there's a 3 course $25 prix fixe special. While the vegan selection is small it's a nice option in any case. The Sunday special is quite bargain especially if you're ordering meat. My companion's $25 got him a filet mignon (normally ~$30 alone) plus an appetizer and dessert to boot.

Spacca Napoli is another good option. Lots of lacto options as you might expect but vegans can eat the marinara pizza and mixed green salad. Most cheeseless pizzas aren't worth eating but theirs is definitely exceptional.

Thanks for all the good suggestions! Will let you know where we end up.

Wishbone also has some great veggie options. They always Hoppin John and Hoppin Jack, and often have a corn pancake option that I love (get it for breakfast with maple syrup). Plus, their veggie platter gives you a choice of three items from their dozen+ side dishes (almost all vegetarian), plus coleslaw plus a cornbread muffin. I'm not strictly vegetarian, but it's rare that I *don't* order the veggie platter because it's so darn good!

Wishbone also has some great veggie options. They always Hoppin John and Hoppin Jack, and often have a corn pancake option that I love (get it for breakfast with maple syrup). Plus, their veggie platter gives you a choice of three items from their dozen+ side dishes (almost all vegetarian), plus coleslaw plus a cornbread muffin. I'm not strictly vegetarian, but it's rare that I *don't* order the veggie platter because it's so darn good!

The recommendation of asking for custom prepared meals reminded me of another option: Via Stato. Its on State St. in the River North area. I believe its a project of Tru's Rick Tramonto. Its a very nice open room with great food, good wine and a lively atmosphere. What really impressed me was that they prepared a completely vegan meal for me right even though it wasn't on the menu. The menu there just has five or six options per evening (a fish dish, poultry, beef and vegetarian, etc.). I don't eat any dairy products and therefore felt pretty stuck being that its an Italian restaurant. However I mentioned this to the waiter and they brought me out several vegan small plates and then a vegan risotto, created just for me. It all was delicious which impressed me.

Rodan turned out to be the perfect choice for us on Saturday (thanks Mark). Friends really enjoyed it. Service was a bit uneven...the waitress brought us the wrong wine 3 different times...but in the end she made up for it by providing us with 3 desserts. Lots of veggie options (that tasted good) and it put us in a great mood to head over to Vintage Wine Bar after dinner. Thanks again!

I don't know if you're look for an all-vegetarian restaurant or just really good vegetarian options, but Lulas in Logan Square should fit the bill. Good food. Good wine. Nice atmosphere.