Karyn’s

One of the best vegan restaurants i have ever been. friendly staff and amazing food, i went two times during my trip in Chicago.

PROS:
1. Parking lot with free parking
2. Order and sit
3. Hot and Cold options
4. Outside seating
CONS:
1. Bathroom is tiny
2. Service is slow
3. Minimal staff members around
4. Inconsistent answers from staff: i asked if my dish came with fresh or pickled jalapenos. SHe tells me fresh. I asked if she was sure because i dont like pickled jalapenos and she went to double check and said yes, they are fresh. Guess what, they were pickled.
Overall, food was average to below average for a vegan restaurant in Chicago. I much prefer the Chicago Diner. I feel like this place was overpriced and overly confident. They might have been amazing at one point but I believe that time has passed. Step up your game Karyn’s. They get two stars instead of one because of the parking lot. That is a huge plus.

Great vegan lasagna and raw sushi with raw almond bar for next day’s lunch. The multiple menus should be combined as I didn’t even see the soup and sandwich or salad combo for lunch after after me and my vegetarian boss had picked what we wanted off the main menu. Nice atmosphere conducive to a pleasant conversation and friendly server. Staff forgot to call a taxi and we waited a while but über came quickly. Prices were high but food tasty.

Used to love this place and the other 2 locations that are now closed.
This space is run down and while the server was such a nice man it was hard to communicate with him and he got our order wrong more than once /​-​:
He is delightful. … just may need to be better trained.
This place has really gone down hill in quality of food and service… such a bummer!!!

Absolutely loved everything about it. The atmosphere, food and service! We will definitely return.

First glance I thought hey this is right up my alley. I am in my upper 40’s eat healthy hate to cook always looking for places to do it for me. Love juices but hate the mess of cleaning up love treating myself to beauty treatments open to new supplements hey they had alge that’s me, this is GREAT. When I walked in, ignored, walked around ignored, asked the man behind the counter who offered a sample to someone if I could have one as well. He said No I am helping her. WHATTTTT? Bye Karyn, I will take my money elsewhere. Hope that customer spent a load of money because I was prepared to spend a load of mine.

Nothing was really wrong but nothing awed us either. It’s worth a try maybe if you order the right items (?). I cook a fair amount of vegetarian food myself so maybe that’s why I wasn’t so impressed.
The Good:
— The service was hospitable
— The spring rolls were great!
— BYOB
— There are vegan friendly options, which are hard to find for some people.
The meh:
— It took a while to get noticed since the set up is not the usual. No matter which door you enter in the front, you can notice the grab-​n-​go shop on one side and the restaurant on the other side. It’s hard for the host/​waiter to see people coming in.
— the menu itself could be more expansive on the cooked side (there was no cabbage, cauliflower or beets or many other obvious vegetables that would make for better options)
— hummus — on the raw menu wasn’t anything to rave about. it came with carrots, celery and broccoli
— my polenta with mushroom was alright… easily shareable. Tomato sauce tasted more like pasta sauce. I wished it was more complex is flavor.
— the tofu and vegetable curry was portioned well. it was a safe dish to order

Love me some Karyn’s! They have a raw vegan buffet on the weekends that is incredible. That’s right. All you can eat healthy raw vegan food. I don’t know of anywhere else in Chicago (or anywhere really) that even offers such a thing. Every time I do the lunch buffet, I am stuffed for the day and don’t even think about dinner when evening rolls around. So I have no problem paying $ 16.99 for a full day’s worth of delicious vegan food.
The price point for their regular menu items is what you would expect for high quality vegan food, but if you go on Monday or Tuesday, you can get a steal of a deal for $ 7 cooked entrees (comes with 1 serving from the salad bar too).
If you are vegan or into healthy food in general, check this place out. #nomnom

This was our first time at Karyn’s and we will certainly return to explore their menu further. It looks like such an interesting place with many good health options. We went for dinner and ordered the Lasagna, Green Enchiladas and Nacho’s appetizer. All were very good!
My husband who is the farthest thing from a Vegan as possible was impressed with his Lasagna and the chili on the nachos — all meatless. Our server was kind and very laid back, but did not ask if it was our first time there and assumed we knew how things worked (the menu, salad bar, etc.), but when we told him we didn’t know what he was talking about he quickly welcomed us warmly.
On that note, we were very «warm» throughout the entire visit. It had been a rare hot spring day in Chicago and the husband, is a laborer that worked all day in the heat, really needed to get cooled off a bit. He was not happy that the table water was served warm and there was no cold brewed tea on the menu. There was no air on in the building and that was difficult. But our curiosity kept our spirits up and we were glad to give a new cuisine a try. We will probably give this another try, but perhaps get some food to go and have a picnic on the Lake Front!

This was our second visit but first after they moved.
It appeared that the restaurant did not appreciate our dining there. Right when we got there, no one offered us a table for 10 minutes until we finally asked. When we asked for suggestions on the menu, the response was that is a great choice for everything we pointed to.
The food is ok. We ordered the Buddha bowl and it did not taste that great. The sauce listed on the menu was teriyaki but came with soya sauce. When we asked, they said the chef might have added more soya sauce then usual but did not offer a replacement. The taco wrap was ok.
We left hungry and ended up going to Taco Bell. Was much more satisfying.
Please bring back the old test.

Great food, slowest service. We sat down at 1:30pm. There were a few tables but it wasn’t very busy. We didn’t receive water or menus for at least 15 minutes. It was at least 45 minutes before we were approached and asked for our order. We ordered our food and coffee and didn’t receive the coffees for quite some time, for which the server apologized and told us the coffees were on him for the long wait. It was an hour and 15 minutes before we received our first food item (my friend had a watch on and we were paying attention to the time because we were already waiting so long) which was not the appetizer we ordered, but one of our entrees. The other entrée, appetizer and side came out a while later, after I watched the entrée sit in the window for 10 minutes until the appetizer and side joined it. I had to ask for the bill (which still had the coffees on it) when we had finished eating and after putting my card out, I went to the restroom. On the way there I found our server sitting down eating. I understand he needed to eat but we waited so long, he could have at least cashed us out first. When I returned from the restroom, our bill was sill not paid and we had to ask a different server to run it for us, which he did graciously and in a timely manner.
All of the food was wonderful and the menu was so broad and had so much to offer. So 3 stars because the food was so delicious and the restaurant and market were really great and clean and nicely decorated, and everything was decently priced.

Karyn’s is a great spot if you’re vegan/​health conscious and willing to spend a ton of money. I realize that the food is all fresh and relatively healthy, but I spent over $ 20 on a to go meal that was kind of small.
The food, however is really good. Very original and vegan friendly options, which are hard to find. They normally have samples out, so you can try new stuff every time– which is great. Their smoothies are also really, really good.
I’ve had the Buddha bowl, and was kind of disappointed because it was supposed to have tofu, and there wasn’t any tofu in it. I’ve also had the lasagna, which was really good, but kind of small.
Their desserts are GREAT though– their puddings and ice creams are to die for. It’s really convenient there’s parking for that area as well! I’ve never dined in, but they have good dine in deals some days of the week as well.

Best vegan I have ever had was healthy and simply amazing good prices convenient parking food portions are good size.

The new menu is not dat happening or u can say not much option to order. I was really excited to try d new menu n venu… the ambiance was really nice but d food was not at all tasty I ordered quinoa n first thing I noticed it was cold wich made me really upset and the taste failed me to impress too :(my husband tried lasagna dat was better but not as expected.
I really miss the old menu specially the d no crab crab cakes, chicken wings. that taste is still on my tongue.
I being nonvegan was in luv wid vegan fud that day

gGreat place and great food. Karyn was there and gave my kids vegan ice– cream. The raw food menu is amazing (I highly recommend the the raw california wrap

i tried the raw square of joy and a raw organge cookie. worst sandwhich ever, fat and overly salty. im vegan and this first raw dish experience makes me never want to buy any raw dishes again. service was decent enough, the guy was nice n chill and gave me a sample of ice cream, but the food was horrible. maybe i would tried their cooked food but im scared. and its pricey

Perhaps it’s more of a meaningful place if you are a true vegan, but for me as a simple curious foodie, it was a bit of a letdown in every sense.
Our waiter arrived emitting strong body odor (also part of «raw» experience? :)) and had to be reminded 2x to set the table with drinking glasses and 2x more about silverware. Food was nothing special but gave stomach ache to both me and my girlfriend. On top of everything else I trashed my brand new iPhone screen on their stone floor (not taking any points down for that though).

We had an out of town visitor who is a vegan. And we knew we had to take her to our favorite vegan restaurant. I had the «Steak» sandwich made from seitan which was absolutely delicious. My wife had the sloppy joe also amazing and our guest had the Buddha bowl again, superb. The service. was great and Karen stopped by the table and even autographed her cookbook for our friend. My wife and I are Not vegan but we love Karens menu. We left with a bag full of treats for later. A 5 star experience.

Last time I ate here was about a year ago and I wound up with horrible diarrhea the next day so I haven’t been back since. These awful business practices by Karyn might explain why!
I won’t be returning.

Delicious raw and cooked vegan! I just moved to Denver for my husband’s job but was a regular in here in Chicago. Had to comment after seeing some negative posts because I love Karyn’s and have followed her for a while. She’s a true pioneer in the raw food world. Love the swedish crepes, the raw juices and the cuban black bean soup is yum. Would like to see more gluten free baked goods like the donuts they used to have at her Cooked location on Wells.

Did not have a good experience on my last visit. Went with a friend after trying to take her to the location in river north, but went to make a reservation and they were closed. When I asked why they closed the associate responded saying «because the landlord doesn’t want to have a restaurant in this space anymore.» Seemed quite strange since I was just there two weeks prior, and business seemed like it was good (besides the slow service).
Fast forward with my friend and I arriving at the Halsted location in LP. We finally arrive and glanced around the restaurant to find a server or someone to assist us. After waiting and standing in the front of the door for some time, the waiter finally approaches us and asks us to please take a seat.
I thought this was funny since we noticed Karyn sitting in the other room talking with her friends while we stood there waiting to be seated. I thought that was slightly awkward and rude. We sit down, finally order and get our plates 20 minutes later.
We notice someone going around table to table asking how everything was. It was Karyn, but it was odd because out of her stopping by all the tables (8 tables mind you) and checking in, she decided to skip us. Clearly we weren’t worth her time. Not the experience I would expect for paying $ 10 for a sloppy joe. I don’t think I’ll ever return again or suggest a friend to come here. Which is a shame since I wanted to enjoy this place but something was just so OFF about this place.
Something about my intuition was right because, a mere two weeks later Karyn’s was asking the public for money to fund her business. After doing some research, I came across this post and was MIND BLOWN.
SIDE NOTE SHE REQUESTED TO REMOVE MY REVIEW LOLLOL
Salutations, Karyn’s.

This place is absolutely lovely. I absolutely loved the owner and the workers but the service is absolutely awful.
Upon arriving, we were seated. The sitting area is very clusters and it seems like they put more tables than they should have since it is just small tight space. My two cousins and I ordered nachos, taco salads, and finally their falafel meal. After about 20 minutes, the waiter informed me that they didn’t have any falafel so I chose their green enchiladas. After about 20 minutes (again), the waiter came back and informed me that they didn’t have that either. So I decided to not order anything simply because I didn’t really care for another rejection and I had been nibbling on my cousins’ food. He then went back to the kitchen and brought me out the plate in a matter of 10 mins… okay? That was kind of weird. But He was really nice!
Anyway, the taco salad and the nachos were really good (they are kind of hard to mess up) but I wasn’t really a fan of the enchiladas. It was just nothing special at all and definitely not worth the wait. But the beans that came with it were really good.
For dessert, they literally had no cooked desserts at all (they had ran out) which was very very disappointing so we decided to just pay and leave. On our way out, we met the owner who was such a sweetheart! she gave us a sample of her ice cream (absolutely amazing) and a sample of one of her raw desserts. To be honest, the only reason I didn’t give this place 2 stars is because the owner is very nice. But besides that it’s eh.
Although it was a pleasant experience, I probably will not be coming back to dine here.

Karyn’s is my go-​to spot for hearty vegan meal!

Worst dining experience ever.
My boyfriend and I have been going to Karyn’s for years, the one on Green and on Wells, before they both closed. This was our first time coming to the one on Halsted and we will never come back. We walked in and the sign said, «Please wait to be seated» So we waited. And waited. And waited. We looked questioningly at waitstaff, all who looked through us. Then finally a bus boy told us we could just seat ourselves. There were a few tables with people, but not packed. It took a while to take our order, during which we ordered two ice teas and an appetizer. We got our hummus plate, but no tea. Our waitress must have walked past us 3 or 4 times before she actually brought them. Then the waiting really started.
We waited 45 mins before I finally had to stop the waitress (who must have walked right past our table to serve the two people behind us their 4 entrees about a dozen times) and ask her how much longer it would be, and also ask for more of the supposedly bottomless iced tea which had sat empty about a half hour. When our meals finally arrived, my boyfriend’s was cold, from waiting from my meal to be finished, and mine was absolutely awful. The veggies and sauce were bland and the rice was horribly salty. Again I had to call her over to explain the food was inedible, something I never do at a restaurant. But after waiting 45 mins I was slightly perturbed. She was very nice and recommended something else and I only had to wait 15 mins for that to come out, but I got to watch my boyfriend eat his cold meal.
So 20 mins after I started eating, I have to call our waitress over and ask for a box and tell her we’d like to order some dessert. We watch her walk back and forth, past us another 5 or 6 times before I call her again, and instead of acknowledging me, she holds up a finger and walks away. I’m normally very patient and I understand she’s busy with her 6 tables, but a box. Just drop off a box. She finally does after giving me the finger (index, not middle. boy that would have been icing on the cake!) along with our check… guess we’re NOT getting dessert then. By this point I’ve had it. I put one of my many gift cards I have for karyns (because my family all knows how much I *used* to love this place) in the check bill and my boyfriend tells me to go get the car and he’ll continue to wait to be ignored, because I might just loose it. While I’m walking to the car, I totally forget where we’ve parked so it takes me a good 10 mins to find the car, after which my boyfriend calls me and said he just walked out because he was tired of waiting. There was about twice our bill on the card and we just left it there because it’s not like we’re going to come back to use it. We were there over 2 and a half painful hours. Awful awful experience. We don’t get out as often as we’d like, so we were hoping to have a nice date night.
So, I have two other gift cards with about $ 150 left on them if anyone would like to sit forever and get crappy food. I sure as heck am not going to go back.

This was really weird and awful service we ended up leaving because we couldn’t get anyone to wait on us. The restaurant was split into two sides one raw and one cooked with one server taking care of both sides which most likely lead to why we never got waited on. We sat for 20 minutes waiting on water that we ordered and never got so at that point we decided to head out. I won’t be going back because they’re too many amazing places to eat in Chicago.

Tonight I got the experience of feeling completely invisible at a restaurant.
After 15 min waiting to order, I asked the waiter (who clearly knew nothing about the menu) if I could have seitan in the taco salad (which used to be on the menu). He continued to repeat «all vegetables». I then requested no pico de gallo x3. He came back, forgetting the order, so I repeated it again, emphasizing no pdg. The salad arrived with pdg in it. And we got no napkins or utensils. And my salad had more than «all vegetables» — it had soy Protein. Our water was never refilled. Not once. Karyn approached and greeted every table, but quickly brisked by us. We then waited over 45 minutes once our plates were cleared and were the last ones there. Still no check or water or the waiter.
Perhaps I’m just too heavy to get respected or acknowledged at a raw vegan place these days.
I’d highly recommend Ground Control west on Armitage instead. They have service that’s kind, friendly, prompt, and knows their ingredients. Raw, downtown is also a great one too for a fast bite.

Dinner at Karyn’s cooked was great.
I started with the Cuban black bean soup and thought it was well seasoned and not too salty or heavy. The green enchiladas also were fantastic. There’s no cheese on them but the meal was so tasty I didn’t miss it; the portion size was just right. One negative: the banana muffins were terrible, I actually spat them out. But I’d recommend the other items.

Debated between a 3 and 4 for this place — excellent vegan food, but high prices and subpar service.
I dined here for the first time today. On the left is the where you order food and the market type area and the right is a dining area with the tables set (looks like a restaurant set up). Since I was meeting a friend to dine in for lunch, I went to the right. I had no idea it was a Panera structured place where you order at the counter and your food is brought to you. Waited awkwardly for someone to seat me and then after doing some people watching, I figured out that I should have gone to the left side to place my order. Not a big deal — just wish there was some sort of sign or employee there to let me know what to do.
When I went to go order, the two employees behind the counter clearly saw me and my friend, but didn’t acknowledge us. I figured it was because they weren’t supposed to take orders. We probably waited a few minutes before going to the customer service desk and asking where to order. We got redirected to where we were and after another minute, the employee decided to take our order. Again, not a big deal — just a teeny bit irked that we were not given any attention to for awhile.
I ordered the Swedish crêpe. Probably came out after 25 – 30 minutes. Not only was it aesthetically pleasing, but it was absolutely delicious! The sauce and flavored meshed perfectly and it was hard to believe a vegan (and gluten free!!) meal could be that yummy. I also tried my friend’s Wild Rice Medley which was also a great mix of flavors. If the dishes weren’t so good, I would be complaining a lot more about paying $ 15 for such a small portion. Regardless, this place is pricey — but you’re paying for quality food I guess.
If you go, don’t expect top notch service. But for the quality of food alone, this is definitely a standout for vegan places to eat. If only it were a little cheaper!

Would I want to eat here every day?
No.
Do they have good things you can eat?
Yes.
The best item was a walnut pâté meatball (in a spaghetii and meatballs) that was actually tastier than the dumb hamburger meatballs you are used to.
To be sure — this is because people have gotten really sloppy about cooking hamburger meatballs so they now taste like baseballs rather than meatballs.
But this was a solid baritone rich lovely ball of walnut pâté that I would eat anytime.
The zucchini noodles they were served on?
Well, I didn’t die from eating them. Leave it at that.
The marinara sauce?
Just peachy (but they you can get good marinara sauce in lots of places.)
Fire roasted vegetable soup?
Tasted like dried chiles and nothing else.
I am from Texas.
We LIKE dried chiles.
No problems here.
I still prefer real food —
and if I am in Chicago, can someone get me a polish sausage?
Nevertheless, this place ain’t bad.
***
P. S. In the department of eye candy
if you want to see a very impressive picture of
the 68 year lady owner (yes 68)
posing as a bikini babe
to show what her vegan diet can do,
well … she’s got the stuff.
go ahead and ogle.
she is promoting good health.

Premier raw restaurant in Chicago! Karyn, the owner has been a leader in the living foods movement since studying with the originator, Ann Wigmore. Diverse selection. The vegan soft serve ice cream is a royal treat. Great prepared foods, buffet and menu.

I LOVED the food (see pics). We enjoyed the glass noddles, the spring rolls and the wild rice dish. Also the apple pie. No complaints at all. Great yummy delicious creative food. That is why they get a 4.
However our experience at everything else was a mess. We got there Saturday 23^th June 2015 at around 3. At that time there was what they called a service change. So, no one taking care of the tables. We order at the counter which we normally love doing. Before I placed the order I told the cashier Javier that we had a coupon, he didn’t like it, he didn’t know how it worked. He left took my phone went to another area in the restaurant and spent about 10 minutes trying to figure it out. In the mean time we got 3 groups behind us wondering what was happening, nobody taking orders, nobody at the counter. After a while the cashier called the manager, a lady that knew how to do it. She came to us, apologized, asked us to seat and relax that the food will come and we can pay after. The food came in the opposite order. So the fresh squeezed juice we got at the end. Our table was packed with plates and the workers will come by and ignore it. So we put them in a table next to us in order to make room for next orders, dessert etc. We had a great time laughing at all this. By the time we wanted to pay we went up to the cashier tried to explain everything that had happened before and also about our coupon, which he (another cashier) again didn’t understand. He saw in our faces we would leave if he didn’t just take de 20 $ off the order as per the coupon and we didn’t care how! So he did it and we left.
After all this you might wonder why I give them 4 stars. I do too, but we laughed so much at the whole mess and the food was great… I just couldn’t help it!

On a random whim trying to decide what to have for lunch, my friend had the brilliant idea of returning to one of his favorite vegan restaurants… Karyn’s! He decided to take the plunge and go for the Sunday lunch buffet. Obviously I couldn’t be left behind, and so, I took the plunge and went for it too. We were told that they typical rotate out a few items during their lunch buffets but there are also a couple of dishes that are staples.
My favorites: Squash spaghetti (amaaaaazing), tomato basil pizza bites (a very interesting «dough» but also very good), kale salad with creamy mushroom soup (flat out one of the best kale salads I’ve ever had), a mint chocolate dessert bite, and the vegan ice cream! So the chocolate sauce that comes with the ice cream is quite strange but the ice cream itself is delicious.
Other favorites: any of their smoothies! We sampled three different ones and all were absolutely fantastic. I would stop by just for a smoothie actually.
Empanadas were so-​so. I think I prefer non-​vegan empanadas. I also didn’t care too much for the flatbreads. The toppings were good but the gluten-​free bread wasn’t my favorite. I wasn’t a fan of the glass noodles or the biscuits with gravy either — I think they make it out of the same gluten-​free bread as the flatbreads.
I would totally recommend coming for the buffet. You get to try a little bit of everything and sample a good variety of vegan foods. If you don’t like one thing, you can just eat more of the stuff you like! Of note, the buffet is VERY small because each item is a small little bite and will run you close to $ 20.
Service — Awesome! I wish I got the name of the girl working the buffet that lunch. She said she was pretty new but she was so nice and super helpful with explaining all the dishes, especially for someone who has never eaten a vegan meal in her life and needs meat all the time.

I met up with a friend who is extremely allergic to so many things. She’s allergic to gluten, dairy, certain nuts, and chocolate. I found this place due to a patient’s recommendation. It is quite the inconspicuous restaurant, which made me feel like I found a gold mine.
The place is pretty much segmented in two. One side is more grocery store looking and where you order food. The other side is more of a sit down restaurant with beautiful dim lighting and an intimate setup.
The food was great and my friend was so excited because of all the options she had. I ordered a gluten free hummus flatbread and then got a piña colada vegan ice cream.
They were good. The flatbread had a dense bread and it tasted like those healthy flat English muffins. The hummus had a great flavor to it. I tasted olives and garlic. It looked small on the plate but I was actually full.
The piña colada ice cream was awesome. It was a yellow soft serve. You can taste the difference between vegan ice cream and non-​vegan. However, the difference isn’t so bad. There is a grit to the ice cream and I have to say I didn’t mind it.
I was very pleased with the restaurant. I was also happy that my friend found a restaurant for her and her sisters (they also have a lot of allergies). She rarely can eat out because a lot of restaurants don’t have options for her allergies. I’m so glad to have helped her.

I love this restaurant. I love all of Karyn’s restaurants. I love how almost everything is organic and Karyn wants you to be healthy. She has classes, information, seminars, etc. on becoming vegan, raw vegan, or healthier.
Most importantly, the food is delicious. I’ve had tons of the items on the menu and will give you my opinion one by one:
Appetizer:
Nachos — get them. Amazing. No description needed.
Sea dim sum — not my favorite, but my friend loved it. The texture was too off for for me… It wasn’t terrible, but nothing like dim sum. Only a few pieces.
Spring roll –Good, but not great. Pretty small.
Main:
Empanadas — Love! It’s very heavy, so you may want to balance with another dish on the menu, but the flavors are incredible.
Pad thai — Delicious! I love the taste of the curry.
Salmon roll — My second favorite! I could not stop eating the roll. The pâté was phenomenal.
Enchilada — FAVORITE! It was a special, so if they offer it GET it., It’s very heavy, but i LOVE the flavors. (Check out my photos attached for this and many of the dishes.
Falafel — delish
Dessert:
Fondue for two: Delicious! I love the fondue dip, and it’s great for sharing.
Tiramisu Cheesecake: The date lady fingers were a bit hard, but i loved the flavors in the other layers.
Carmel fig crêpe: It was too sweet for me, but my friend loved it.
Curry ice cream: I didn’t get it, but the waitress let me try it and what she told me was exactly what i thought. It’s very interesting for one bite, but too intense for an entire dish.
Soft serve: Vanilla & Strawberry– I loved both, but was obsessed with the vanilla.
I can’t wait to try everything else on the menu, especially the sunday brunch!