A City in Food: Chicago

So, months ago, in the tail end of winter, Andrew and I went to Chicago. And for whatever reason, I never posted about it. But we went to Cleveland this last weekend [[for Andrew's second Sanshou fight]], and now I feel like I'm backed up on vacation talk. So here's Chicago.

Karyn's Cooked

Karyn's Cooked is a beautiful restaurant located in downtown Chicago, moderately priced with an extensive menu [[click map for more info]]. And it's all pretty much vegan. There are few items labeled with honey, and an appetizer pizza [[dedicated to her husband]] that has cheese on it. Andrew got the jerk tofu sandwich with slaw and potatoes. I got the "cheese" flautas with black beans and guacamole. We also got the pizza appetizer with "cheese" and seitan. And for dessert, the tiramisu cake. Everything was delicious, the wait staff was tremendously helpful. We had a great time.

If you're visiting Chicago, I'd recommend hitting up the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art and then walking a few blocks over to Karyn's Cooked.

Chicago Diner

Chicago Diner... what can I say. If we lived in Chicago, we'd move across the street from it, eat there every day, and gain about a zillion pounds. EVERYthing on that menu is delicious. We ate there 3 times while we visited Chicago. Unfortunately, all those times I didn't bring a decent camera. So, you get shitty iPhone pictures. What you see on the left is me on our last day before hitting the road back to Columbus with 3 breakfasts. I got their biscuits and gravy, tofu scramble plate, and pancakes. ALL amazing. Andrew got their gyro sandwich-- absolutely amazing. They'll tell you their Reuben is their signature item, but I think their gyro is even better. And in the right picture he's eating their peanut butter cookie dough shake, which I would eat every day if I could. I also tried their sweet potato quesadilla, their twice baked potatoes, and their seitan hot wings w/ ranch. I can't really say anything bad about this place, except get in there early for Sunday brunch. But that's how it is at most brunch places, anyway. The servers were really cool and super helpful with lots of a suggestions. It has a nice, casual atmosphere-- like a hip diner.

I would recommend hitting up Chicago Diner for dinner, and then walking a few blocks over to see the Blue Man Group.