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quick bite: vegan at chicago diner!
8February 5th, 2011chicago, more restaurants (not LA)time for another edition of quick bites: where quarrygirl readers send in quick snaps and descriptions of their vegan meals. today’s quick bite comes to us from dana aka the broke-ass bride. she recently spent some time in the windy city and sent us a drool-worthy review of the chicago diner. the all vegetarian-restaurant is legendary in the vegan community, and after dana’s review i am dying to go there!
As a greek gal, the loss of gyros has been one of my biggest woes of being a vegan. Until I went to Chicago Diner. HOLY OPA! Thinly sliced strips of delicious and juicy seitan, crunchy lettuce, tomato and onion, all atop a buttery, griddled pita… with a side of the most creamy-licious tzaziki sauce imaginable. I ate these way too many times while I was in town. It was like crack. I ate it. It was good. I needed more. MORE! MOOOOORE! It comes with your choice of a side, and I got the “chicken/rice soup” which was equally to die for. I’m definitely going to start experimenting with my seitan recipe at home to try and make something gyro-y like this. Its crazy comforting and delicious. The best part is how they’ve managed to get the edges so crispy, like the kind of gyros that come from a spit. It was incredibly authentic, in the best (and least creepy) way possible…
Hunter ordered the philly cheesesteak, but opted for regular cheese since he’s a flexitarian. The seitan here was equally delish and moist, but the bun was a bit bulky. Hunter seemed to like it, but not nearly as much as my gyros.
They also have these incredible “special recipe wings” things which are (as far as I can tell) a softer kind of seitan that must be fried because its got the most delicious, crispy coating to which their buffalo sauce clings like a wee child to his mother. Served with “ranch” sauce and celery… I die.
for more on chicago diner, check out their website.
Tags: chicago, field report, quick bites
8 responses to “quick bite: vegan at chicago diner!” 
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Chicago Diner is awesome. I got the most epic chocolate peanut butter milkshake there, and potato skins.
You can also get a vegan High Tea at the Peninsula Hotel, complete with the tiered tray of snackies: http://www.peninsula.com/Chicago/en/Dining/The_Lobby/default.aspx
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Nice to see some really appetizing dishes listed on their gluten-free menu, too!
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the vegan chai shake here is like crack.
I love chicago diner but i wish they (and all similar places) would cut the -teria- crap and just go 100% VEGA-N.
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Shit..I die too. That gyro looks fucking amaaaazing…and omg vegan tzaziki???
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Their cookie dough milkshake is insane. Place was packed when we went.
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i’ve wanted to go here for years… i wish they would open an LA branch 🙂
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Vicki April 4th, 2011 at 05:31
Finally you got there! I follow your blog all the time. I live in Chicago and I am here multiple times a week! It is truly amazing veg fare. I actually went to LA, Portland and Seattle because of your blog! Nice work spreading veganism!
Gregalor February 5th, 2011 at 20:07