Soul Vegetarian East
Hours
Profile
$ - inexpensive
American, Soul Food
Soul food vegan-style
Soul Vegetarian is an entirely vegan restaurant, except for honey in a few items. The menu features vegan takes on traditional soul food, as well as random things like lasagna and steamed veggies.
Added by Dave Rolsky on Mar 5 03 (updated Jun 30 06)
Reviews
I still can't believe the negative reviews this place gets due to service. My husband and I ate dinner here this past Sunday, and had one of the best vegan dining experiences we have had in Chicago.
The place is tiny, intimate and has an old-school mom-and-pop type of feel. We were seated immediately, received drinks, salads and bread instantly by a waiter who was brief and polite. This was a Sunday, so the menu was predetermined, but TASTY ('chicken' fried 'steak', greens, rice, veggies and pie). Our desert was brought to the table without our having to beg, and our water glasses were refilled several times.
The proprietor chatted us up as we paid the bill, and was just as welcoming and kind as any restaurateur I've met.
The truth is that if you like having your butt kissed by some server working for tips, like your food stacked in little towers on designer plates and served with an aspirin sauce, elderberry reduction or something like that - this is not your diner. If you enjoy damn good home-style vegan food in a restaurant you can have a conversation with your dinner guest, go here.
Yes, there is zero public transportation. However, the streets are a beautiful, well kept and enjoyable place to take a stroll on an autumn afternoon. I was overcome by the lovely old trees, rolling lawns and stately homes.
I cannot wait to come back.
This is one of my all time favorite restaurants. The food is fantastic, and the service is always friendly. Everything is good, but make sure to check out the onion rings, protein tidbits, and if you get a chance to go there for breakfast, do it. I think this is by far the best vegan breakfast I've had, at least in a restaurant.
A few caveats. First, it's not really all that cheap any more, though it's not obscenely expensive. While the service is friendly, it can sometimes be a bit absent-minded and slow. I've been here many times, and the service is what was the most variable, from absolutely no problems to forgetting items, or waiting 15 minutes just to order. The people who work here are super-friendly, but not always as attentive or professional as I might wish.
For me, it's worth it, because I really do love the food.
I loved Soul Vegetarian. The service was friendly and fast, the atmosphere was charming and worldly, and the food was delicious and perfectly priced and portioned. I haven't had soul food in a long time and found their cream of broccoli soup, cornbread, mashed potatoes, collard greens and country mock steak to all be wonderfully filling and tasty. My only gripe is with the location, which is hard to get to via public transportation. Otherwise, it's highly recommended.
A few years ago, I wrote a very zealous review of Soul Veg (see below). However, after numerous steep price increases (with no real improvement in their mediocre-at-best service) I felt inclined to post another review. Soul Vegetarian fills a nice void in the South Side vegetarian community. There aren't many vegetarian restaurants down here and Soul Veg seems to have found catering opportunities at local grocery stores and on the University of Chicago campus.
That said, their food quality is highly variable and often makes me sick (probably because it is incredibly greasy). For example, on any given day the macaroni and cheese can be spicy or contain loads of nutritional yeast or be fairly bland and swimming in grease. It's difficult to tell just by looking at it. On many occasions, I have purchased Soul Veg food only to be sorely disappointed and subsequently end up throwing it away. Desserts are the only really consistent item from Soul Veg. I have, by and large, stopped going to Soul Veg but, when I do, I usually just go for the dessert these days.
Former Review:
What can I say, I go to Soul Veg every Tuesday with the University of Chicago Vegan Society and I΄m still not sick of it. In fact, the weeks that I don΄t make it with the other U of C vegans, I end up going by myself either on Monday or Wednesday. The food here is amazing, the prices are unbeatable and the people are really really nice (and will start to know you by name if you eat here often enough). Heck, they even gave me free orange soy ice cream on my birthday. Where else can you get that?
I had the opportunity to eat here this past month when I was in Chicago for training. I had never been and boy was I in for treat. I don't think I have ever been to a place where I could order anything I wanted from the menu. I went for the special which was a vegan steak with gravy, rice, Lima beans, and greens. The dish was fantastic and my taste buds were tingled. I also got to try the onion rings and protein tidbits. Everything was so yummy. I got dessert to go it was a chocolate peanut butter cake. The great thing is that everything was vegan. Also I won't forget the happy little boy jumping up and down as his mother carried a large to go back. He was happily repeating Protein tidbits. Boy was this little guy excited to eat those when he got home!
Hands down, the best soul food ever. This is also the nicest Soul Vegetarian restaurant I've been to, as it has a large dinning room and not just a take-out area. The vegan mac-n-cheese is really good, as are the fried tofu tidbits. You can't go wrong with the Sunday dinner, which is a huge plate of soul food, usually something like: fake meat, greens, potato, and corn bread.
These guys have been selling their food on the U of Chicago campus for a while now, and it's pretty much the only thing I eat. The vegan mac & cheese with fried greens is pretty good, but I love their jerk tofu and jerk steak wraps. I also tried their Garden of Eden salad (spinach, carrots blended with a delicious sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and cilantro dressing), and it was one of the few times that I actually got excited about a salad. Definitely excellent food.
Yum! I got the BBQ protein tidbits, which more than lived up to their recommendations! The veggie gyro was a little heavy on the sauce, which was also on the sweet side for me, but the vegan cornbread was by far the best I've ever eaten! Next time, I'd go just for protein tidbits, some greens, and cornbread.
ahh - soul veg. my best advice, order ahead of time- see if you can snag one of the few to go menus and call ahead. i go back because i don't have to worry about being vegan here- all vegan, all the time- and i know some people who bust their ass to make the food good, not timely, just real good- expect to have some conversation ready, unless you get a dinner- most of the time i get take out. newest great thing on the menu- jerk tofu wrap.
I've been going to Soul veg for over 6 years and as far as I'm concerned, it's been 6 years of second chances with that place. The food's pretty good, although not "healthy" by any means as everything's deep fried, which results in the sick feeling I'm sure anyone who's eaten there understands. Nine times out of ten the service is horrible, items are forgotten, food comes out all out of order- three people in the party have completely finished their meals just as someone else in the party's salad comes out. There's no excuse for that- especially not with the recent price jumps. Dinner will now run you about $15. For that kind of money I expect my salad to come out before my sandwich and I expect my water glass refilled at least once. No thanks, 6 years of disappointment's enough for me.
On Sundays, Soul Veg has a planned meal available instead of menu options. The meal I had was incredible, and the other patrons were very friendly.
We planned an entire trip to Chicago around eating at Soul V. This place is legendary. You've got to try the protien tidbits. Their soup is really garlicy and wonderful. The two friday nights I've eaten there, they've had lasagne as their special, and it's fabulous. The BBQ twist is great, and I have never had such good lemon merengue pie, vegan or otherwise, in my life. If you live out of town, be sure to buy a bunch of their cookies for the road. The coconut shortbread ones last quite a while, and they're fantastic.
Ahhh, the legendary Soul Vegetarian East! So, this is THE BEST food I have ever eaten. And everyone who I have been there with agrees that it's great (even the meat-eaters.) It is absolutely amazing what they can do, I actually don't know where to start. I loooove the BBQ twist. They have soft serve vegan ice cream that is amazing. Even the salad dressing will blow you away. Creamy cucumber or garlic, both delicious. If you go on Sunday you don't get to order off the menu, they usually just have one platter. But don't worry, its always awesome and pretty filling too. If I could eat here everyday I would, no doubt. And its rather inexpensive too. Its very cozy and it has a real nice community vibe. SVE may be the answer to all the world's problems.
I love the battered cauliflower.
This place rules! I've been here before, but the most recent time I ate there on a Sunday morning, so they only had their brunch menu available. I was able to try a variety of dishes with the combo options they had: pancakes, sausage cakes, grits, hash browns, tofu scramble, and sprouts! My favorite parts were the small ones: lemon juice in the water, 100% pure maple syrup (and lots of it!), and complimentary organic fresh-squeezed apple juice (with refills). Nice atmosphere--definitely worth checking out if you're in Chicago!