Karyn's Cooked, Chicago

For our last dinner in Chicago, we headed to Karyn’s Cooked. I love, love, love this place! We started off with Jerry’s pizza, which is Karyn’s husband’s favorite pizza. This appetizer pizza is on a thin, crispy cracker crust. The wild mushrooms are sautéed in olive oil and topped with Daiya cheese. Because I am a mushroom lover, I felt it needed more mushrooms and less cheese, but it was great just the way it was as well.

For our entrées, I ordered the stuffed eggplant, which is like an eggplant rollatini. These thin slices of eggplant were rolled around this amazing tofu ricotta, which had more of a ricotta texture than any other soy ricotta I’ve ever had. How do they do that? I wish I had the recipe. The ricotta had some poblano and red pepper in it as well, which gave it a little sweetness. It was topped with a red marinara sauce. All in all, it was very good.

Zach ordered the BBQ ribs made of a mixture of seitan and tofu. The ribs are very dense and filling. Again, I wondered how they even made these – so unique! It came with a side of corn and coleslaw, which was nice as it needed something else.

For dessert, we had the chocolate silk pie, which was okay, but I think another pie or cake might have been better. Their dessert list is extensive and somewhat overwhelming. Most of the desserts are carob based, which is unusual to see nowadays. We went with the silk pie, but next time we may try something different.

Karyn’s restaurants are the best vegan restaurants in Chicago. I’ve also eaten at Karyn’s On Green, which has some amazingly good food. If I had just one day in Chicago, as I did this time, I would go to Karyn’s On Green or Karyn’s Cooked. The food is far better than Chicago Diner, though a bit on the pricey side.

Karyn's Cooked
738 N. Wells Street
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 587-1050