Delicious, and easily my favorite vegan places in the Chicago area. The service has always been prompt and friendly, and the dishes have always exceeded what was expected. I love the Maha Pyogo best, as well as the energy shake! It is sooooo good... and there is always enough food leftover to make another meal out of it later! read more

I don't know what I was expecting but I was so disappointed. I got the kimchi noodle soup. It just felt very very flat. It had spice and that was all. The flavors weren't balanced at all. I thought a slice of lime will help but guess what, I asked for one and was told I can't get lime or vinegar or salt because they don't have them. I couldn't finish my bowl of red water and left hungry :( read more

The Dr. K's Cure All Soup lives up to its name. I always order this when I've got a sinus problem, or a cold, or even when I'm in a bad mood. Always fixes me right up. It is spicy, but in a pleasant way. Their ingredients are always fresh and when ordering takeout, they separate the noodles and the broth and veggies so that the noodles don't eat up all of the liquids. A must for when you're feeling under the weather (for pickup or delivery). read more

Vegan food that is outta this world. Honestly, everything I have ever had there is outstanding. It is a really nice place to go with a group so you can try all of the delicious appetizers. My favorite: The pot stickers. Also, Dr K's Cure All soup is perfect for allergies, colds, the flu, sore throats, and even nasty hangovers. The best part is you can go in, tell them what you like (or dislike) or how you feel, and they will make you a delicious meal. Finally, they offer food plans (monthly 1-3 meals a day). A lot of people who are into non-medicinal healing will benefit. And also those who want to lose weight and improve their lifestyle. read more

I've been going to Amitabul since I moved to Chicago in '98 and they were still located on Southport. Although the menu has not changed a lot over the years, the meals are still as wonderful as the first time I ate there. They have a unique atmosphere, a welcoming staff, and are highly recommended even by people that have no idea what the words "Korean vegan food" means. Some of the food is very spicy, but they've toned it down a bit over the years. You get a lot of food for your money, so go hungry! It's a great place for dates, kids are welcome, and it's BYOB. You can get there via the CTA, but check google for the best instructions- it will vary based on your timing and which buses are running. It's also the best place to have lunch or dinner after a visit to American Science and Surplus down the street! read more

Wow. It's worth the drive. A few years ago my friend was under the weather and I picked her up the nirvana soup and I literally could see the color come back into her face as she was eating it. This place is absolutely a gem. The vibe inside is so calming quaint and friendly. You feel like a weary traveler and you leave completely nourished from top to bottom. Just really wholesome feelings when I think of the dinners I've shared here. Happy to see you are open and wishing you continued success in your humble and noble journey. read more

Just went here for lunch. All of us were not vegan or even vegetarian and really enjoyed it! We were craving something spicy and hearty, now that the weather is starting to turn, and found it at Amitabul. Only knock - HUGE portions and prices that are not that friendly to an everyday lunch crowd. I really wanted the nirvana soup and decided to try it for the $12. Well, I now have lunch for the next 4 days. Which I totally don't mind, but would rather it be $5-6 and finish it right there and then. Sort of defeats the purpose of being healthy when you have portions that define what is wrong with America today :) Will definitely be back though, with more friends to share! read more

Bio: Vegetarian, who loves different cuisines and want to have a good gastronomical experience. Vegan and Korean. Hard to find. Head over here if you want to experience tasty good Korean food. Times when you wish you live in Chicago. Recommended: Dr. K's cure read more

This place is the perfect relaxing meal. Fantastic food, laid back atmosphere and healthy. Every time someone comes from out of town I make it a point to bring them here for a fantastic meal. The location is a bit of a challenge unless you live in the neighborhood, but is super close to the Blue line at jeff park. Recommended! read more

BEST KOREAN SOUP IN TOWN! Note: Neither of us are Vegan and/or Vegetarian. I also really appreciate the Big Gulp size water glasses they bring to the table. Yet another place that lived up to the admittedly high expectations we had going in. I thought we might have trouble finding two dishes that sounded good and delivered on the flavor, a usually problem for us at Vegan places, but we actually had the complete opposite issue. Everything sounded good and we could have easily gone in several different directions then what we ended up deciding on and had just as good of an experience. We decided to check this place out last Saturday night and really enjoyed our meal. One thing that struck me as awesome is that although the entire menu is Vegan there was no attempt to simulate the meat eating experience. I'm not really into fake or simulated anything in something I'm going to ingest. If you are familiar with Korean food you will absolutely find recognizable and staple options on the menu just without the animal in them. If you're not, know that you are getting a great meal either way. The nice thing about Korean food or Asian food in general is that you really don't have to do too much substitution or tweaking of things to make it a Vegan experience like you have to with western cuisine. We started things off with one of the juices, Green Nirvana, which was awesome. I could definitely drink one of those every day or several times a day. All the juice/smoothie option seemed really good and reasonably priced. The lady went for some Kim Chi Bim Bop something or other that was amazing. I went for the "Cure All" soup as it sounded the closest to the type of Korean soup I would normally get at a traditional Korean restaurant. The soup was killer and completely made me forget it was without the half an egg and ground pork it would come with it normally, tons of shitake mushrooms and a spicy broth. Portions are huge, easily two meals. Everything that went past our table out of the kitchen looked awesome. Looking forward to heading back. One of the salads we saw was stacked about a foot high off the plate and I think is in order for the next time. Green Tea Sorbet was a nice finish to a tasty meal. It is BYOB. Not sure if it was a coincidence or what but it seemed like we were the only table that didn't know someone else who was dining in the restaurant. Also, not sure what people's gripe is with the décor. It seemed fine to me and reflective of the overall experience they are going for, lots of pictures of lotus flowers and Buddha. read more

This place will fill you up with excellent food that is high in nutrients. A real vegan treat, totally worth many repeat visits to try everything on the menu. read more

Amitabul - Spicy Kimchi Maki! - Vegan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Extremely clean place. Love the zen Buddhist atmosphere. Big portions of food. And very delicious and amazing seasoning large variety of dishes from vegan to Korean and much more. The prices are decent considering how much food you get. The owner seems extremely nice and makes you feel welcome and appreciated top notch customer service here. read more

Yum. Vegan Korean Buddhist tastiness. Things I love: the energy stew (not the dr. k's one - the other one). Wolfman's Dream Treats Things I like less: the Crunchy vibe. The cheesy hippie names for things that have real Korean dish names so you have to figure out what they mean, that they moved off southport and all the way up here. Needing to sell people on it quite so hard because between the dish names and the lack of a comfortable vibe, it's hard to get people to try it un-biased. That said, been coming here for years and love this place. If I ever win the lottery and have crazy money to hire a personal chef, I either want the chef here or an Indian one to make all of my meals for me. read more

Yikes, what a delicious meal. We started with a healing Dr. K noodle soup loaded with veggies. One bowl was enough for three of us with plenty of leftovers. Then we had the pancakes-- delicious, with great texture, sauce and perfect brown rice. None of the food here is fried, another nice plus. I can't wait to come back. read more

Love love love this place. Was feeling ill from allergies and overall bleurghness and went with 2 other friends. I had the Dr K spicy soup, my vegetarian friend had the same thing but non spicy, and my meat-loving friend grudgingly chose the bi bim bop (and loved it so much she was scraping the last shredded carrot onto her plate and telling us to shove off) The wonderful owner came and took our order, and when I told him how I was feeling recommended the spicy Dr K cure all soup yumyumyum .. and also one of the homemade blended juice drinks (spinach, mango, bunch of other yumminess) Still in bliss thinking about this food. Come to think of it... will go back tomorrow actually... yumyumyumyum.. food that feeds my soul :D read more

Wow! What an awesome place. I wish I had known about it when I lived in Chicago! It was actually recommended to me by a man who walks with my cousin in a local forest preserve. I went with a large party and we tried essentially everything on the menu but my highlights were: Seaweed Salad - Wakame seaweed with greens and veggies instead of the typical bright green seaweed salad, really refreshing and tasty! Dark Side of the Moon - Anything with mushrooms and black bean sauce has me instantly ready to order Yin and Yan - It wasn't super spicy but it was a like a ddukboki with lots of veggies and brown rice, this was my favorite Everything was extremely flavorful but did not feel greasy or oversauced. It is awesome that this place is BYOB :). Would recommend to vegans and non vegans for a delicious meal! read more

Flu soup! Feeling a little off? Want to walk away from eating with more energy than you are stuffed? Well this is your place. The service is great! The quality of he food is amazing! The savory taste is always to perfection. Yumm! read more

Amazing food!!! Very healthy food and tastes great! We will definitely come back:) service was great too

I just found out about this place after 4 years living in Norwood Park with very little healthy choices in the area. I was actually feeling so disgusted on the poor choices there are in the area that are family friendly. Today, my life took a turn after I walked in to this very cute, friendly, just AMAZING place! I ordered some rice and veggies, on which I was hesitant about since I've been eating rice and veggies at other places as the only veg option they have and WOW!! the food was heavily. The spicy noodles and A++, my 12 year old daughter and I loved it. I can't wait to go back and try everything else. Prices are very reasonable and quite a generous portion. I will officially declare this place my to go place from now on. read more

The owner needs some lessons in customer service. He literally asked us to leave the restaurant even though we were not finished eating our food. read more

Amazing clean and wholesome foods that is high quality and delicious. Whether you are plant based or not; this place has authentic home made cuisine. Well done chef. read more

Great food, happy staff, and awesome environment. The Kimchi Tofu Stir Noodle is amazing... and such a huge portion, that it gave me two meals worth of leftovers! The miso soup shouldn't be missed either. No matter where you're coming from, Amitabul is well worth the trip. Can't wait till we go back again! read more

I am a meat lover but this place is awesome. Been there on several occasions and can't get enough of this food. And guess what - it us healthy. If you don't think you can enjoy vegan food you have to come here. You won't regret!!! read more

Amitabul - Green & greener nirvsna - Vegan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I went with my vegan friend Katie and had an epic dinner here. I highly recommend it. The venue is peaceful and has a very zen vibe. I like it I like it I like it. And it's the only vegan place on the NW side. read more

Food is delicious but the takeout containers are recycle #6, polystyrene. Polystyrene (Styrofoam) is not recyclable whether it is the white or the clear clam shells. Lots of consciousness for the health and enjoyment of customers, but lack of regard for the world on the other side of the door. And there are many takeout orders, all wrapped neatly in a plastic non-biodegradable bag. Floating garbage patches the size of Texas in the oceans with dead birds from ingesting discarded plastic and the owner doesn't want to consider take-out container suggestions (recycle symbol #5, biodegradable, corn) that I've collected from other restaurants. And then there is the leaching into hot foods common with #6. I've had the hot pancakes and rice leave their marks in a clam shell or two over the many years. The food was also better years ago, more mushrooms. read more

I came here after my friend's sister brought him some 'magic' soup to eat. He loved it and was told that the owner would read your aura or something and make a dish based on that. We went there and while he was friendly no aura reading was done. His sis is a food critic for the Trib and stops by there twice a week, so I'm sure she's a known face. The food was pretty good, strange to see Korean food without meat-I'm Korean and almost every dish has some meat in it, but it was okay overall. The smoothie though was great, I was hesitant to order it because it had tofu but it added a creamy texture that was excellent. I'd give it one more star but I'm not a vegetarian/vegan by any means and disappointed in my lack of aura reading/'magic' dish. read more

This place is AMAZING. I've been coming here for years and never left disappointed. This is the ONLY place is chicago who has plenty on OIL FREE plant based vegan dishes. Keep up the good work read more

I live in Berkeley now, a vegan food mecca in its own right, but I dream about this place...more frequently than I perhaps should. Not usually a huge noodle person (which make up much of the menu), but everything is wonderful--tons of fresh veggies, interesting flavors, and lots of heat. The soups are always piping hot, and the sushi is mmmmm. Atmosphere is in the style of "shitty deli" w/ small homages to Buddhism mixed in, but it's delicious, it's cheap, and the owners are lovely. Worth the drive. read more

While back in Chicago for a few days, we decided to have lunch at Amitabul, a restaurant serving "Buddhist healing vegan cuisine. " From the outside, it appeared to be a bit rundown as the letters on its green awning were peeling off, but inside it was just fine. Once inside, we were greeted by a server who said we could sit wherever we'd like. We picked a booth near the window. There was a Buddha statue, plants and literature near the entrance. The restaurant itself was casual and there were only a couple of people eating when we arrived. The menu is 100% vegan and we were a bit overwhelmed by all of the choices. I couldn't tell much by the descriptions on the menu as they tended to state things like, "complete list of many healing herbs, veggies with tofu that will kick one step higher for your inner level of energy." When I asked what was actually in this dish, I was told herbs and veggies -- not quite sure which herbs and veggies though. I settled on the Yin and Yan plus tofu while Zach ordered a different veggie dish. I also ordered the ginger apple juice. The juice was okay -- kind of watered down. My dish had the following warning on the menu: "Please don't order this dish if you can't take the heat." Ha! When it arrived it was not only super spicy, but temperature-wise hot too! There were lots of different veggies accompanied by brown rice and a spicy sauce. The veggies were mostly shredded, which is not my favorite way to eat veggies. There was green peppers, squash, carrots, broccoli, peas, onions, and tofu. The vegetables were fine, but the sauce was not that great. It was super spicy, but it lacked other flavor, that is, other than hot. Zach felt the same about his dish - it was missing something. The portions were large so I left with enough for lunch the next day. With so many different entrees, I have to think that some of them are probably pretty good. Our entrees were okay, but nothing I'd go out of the way for in the future. I also thought the dishes were a bit pricey for lunch at about $12 each. They could have served half the size for lunch at half the price and that would have made it a bit more reasonable. read more

I can't believe this place has 4 stars. Besides being the most unwelcoming restaurant I've ever been to, I'm pretty sure we were served rotten dog food. The 'food' here is easily the worst thing I've put in my mouth. Pure distilled crap! read more

Yum yum yum. That's a triple yum! Wow. I felt great after leaving this place; very similar to how I felt after leaving the thursday night buffet at the dragon lady. We're talking about FRESH food at its best... crisp veggies in tasty, and spicy, sauces and soups, some tempeh or tofu here or there, and the best cup of tea I can remember in a long time (we had both the ginger and the date... I enjoyed the ginger but it was pretty zingy and intense; the date was amazing). Prices are totally reasonable and the servings are HUGE. The two of us got a bowl of soup and a veggie dish and were able to consume, at most, half of what was in front of us. Next time we will only get one thing (although the leftovers were great anyway...hmmm). Free, ample street parking. The location is a little weird and the ambiance...well...let's just say that I suspect the last tenants may have been a denny's franchise. But honestly, it didn't matter. I want to go here every night, especially if I'm sick. Finally a restaurant you can go to and really feel good about what you're putting in your body. Plus it tastes great! If you like this place, you should definitely check out the vegan buffet at the dragon lady. read more

Quiet, friendly, calm. Alas, if this restaurant were only a juice bar, cafeteria or spa. Dumplings seemed to be made in house, but often fell apart when trying to eat them. Temperature also seemed to be something the kitchen struggled with. Both mandoo order and noodle dish [Dark Side of the Moon] arrived just below room temperature. Noodle dish could have also been more generous with additional oyster and shiitake mushrooms. There were perhaps three shiitake and one oyster mushroom used. Overall, food was bland and lacking inspiration. Again, service was friendly, but one doesn't go out to eat service. read more

Amitabul - Mandoo Vegan Dumplings - Vegan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I tried Amitabul first about 10 years ago and for some reason didn't make it back until again very recently. Everything I've tried has a ton of flavor, is fresh and delicious, and the portions are HUGE. I've been twice in the past month and plan to make myself a regular. The booths kind of suck, but the food more than makes up for it. How good is Amitabul? I just slurped up the rest of the garlic sauce off my plate from my leftovers. Like a cat. That's how good. read more

My co worker put me up on this place amazing I must say I ordered to go also because the food was that good my co worker did also. The food makes you feel amazing & healthy that feeling you have when you eat well it was very filling & good can't wait to go back read more

Amitabul - Vegan Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Tibetan Curry, yes. Ginger citrus tea, yes. Healing Buddhist, yes. Blow-your-head-off spice, yes. Spiritual, yes. Vegan, yes. Hospitable hosts, yes. Dining environment, well, could use an upgrade to match the rest of the wonderfulness. I would love to see intimate spaces for dining groups instead of the bright lights and cafeteria booths. Amitabul means 'Awaken' in Korean, and their food does just that to your palate and body, deliciously prepared dishes, large enough to share. Wish this place had stayed on Southport, but it's worth the trek and come winter, the Cure all soup will be on my list of things to eat! It's not just for vegans, but if you're not into healthful dining this may not be your fave. It's one of mine ! read more

You'll actually feel cleansed and well after Amitabul. Superior vegetarian food, with substance. This is food. read more

What a amazing, great place to find only The best food in chicago.!!!This is my number one Favorite restaurant! It's hard to eat out but Being vegan and mostly plant based I can have Anything!! The owner makes the best hot red Sauce! You can buy a jar! We have gone threw 3 giant jars or more! The owner and staff are very welcoming and you feel like your home! It's not Fancy, sort of a dinner feel, dress any way you want! Thanks for wonderful meals !!! read more

My wife and I had lunch here today, and I was so impressed that I wanted to Yelp the experience straight away. We had the mandoo with veggies and a side of kimchi to start - each was absolutely superb. The veggies in the mandoo were crisp (i.e. not overcooked) and delicious, and the kimchi was some of the best I've had. For our entrees, my wife had a spicy vegetable soup (Dr. K's Cure All Noodle) - very spicy, loaded with amazing vegetables, noodles, tofu. Wonderful. I had Yin and Yan - rice cakes with vegetables, rice, tons of fresh veggies, and a super-spicy sauce. I also had the ginger-apple juice (very gingery, be warned - if you like that sort of thing like I do, dive in!), and my wife had the Green Heaven, a healthy smoothie with green vegetables and juice. In addition to the food, the atmosphere was delightful - the artwork and music were very tasteful and appropriate for the mood of the restaurant. The service is top notch (Chef Bill will take your order and help you out with suggestions - he's very cool!). My highest 5-star review. read more

In my opinion, this has got to be the healthiest restaurant in Chicago. The menu says something like, healing, spiritual, vegan, Buddhist food. Love that!! My husband and I went to Amitabul when we were recovering from having colds and wanted soup. The portions are huge and the food is clean, healthy and delicious. Great service as well. We've decided that we're going to eat here once a week. read more

Love the Food here.... I've tasted a number of the dishes and they are always superb. My reco is to read over the menu and follow your inner hunger.... what is your body asking for...? cuz this food is as nutritious as it is delicious...! I asked how to pronounce it... and I can't remember...; P hmmmm maybe I need their 'get your brain back on track' soup.... What I do remember is that Amitabul means awakening or enlightenment.... I think it definitely fits (although I actually refer to this place as 'Bill & Daves') *groan* lazy american woman unwilling to remember the correct pronunciation...! My only gripe, and this really is not aimed solely at Amitabul, is that I truly love the full experience of dining out (with or without friends) and part of that experience is the setting. I have yet to figure out why most of the veggie places I frequent seem to have forgotten that part.... almost as if paying attention to the space and decor is beneath them.... Pros: some of the best food on the planet nutrient dense FLAVOR * FULL easy parking (on street, but have never had a problem finding a spot) Cons: a bit out of the way the decor/ambiance Tip: It has an undistinctive store front and is easy to pass by when driving on Milwaukee.... it is almost directly across the street from Liberty Bank just south of Devon on the East side of the Stree. (oh god I hope I got my directions right....) read more