525 Dempster Street
Evanston, Illinois 60201, USA
(847) 328-6875
Probably one of the oldest vegetarian restaurants in the Chicago area, if not the oldest. Long before being a vegetarian was cool, before you could buy tofu at the corner grocery store, this place served up excellent and healthy all-vegetarian meals.
When I lived in Evanston, I'd regularly go to the place with my family. Apparently, a lot of the items on the menu have changes (okay, so it's been about 18 years since I last went), but some of them have stayed the same. The macrobiotic plate is still available, with pretty much the same ingredients it had when I ate it at 7 years old.
My fondest memory from that place was their Peanut Butter Shake, which when I was young featured peanut butter, apple cider, banana, and tofu. That same shake is still available, although they've added a new version that substitutes ice cream for the tofu.
It does seem they've modernized a number of their dishes to match current food fashions -- you can now get seitan fajitas and vegetarian pad thai. While I think it's a Good Thing that more people are eating healthfully and thus are making food like this more popular, part of me still pines for the good old days when health food was so healthy you could taste it.