0/5. After eating this unpalatable food, I and my friends encountered severe stomach troubles. I ended up vomiting by the time we had gotten back to our area, experienced sudden diarrhea, and ended up in the hospital with my first allergic reaction to a food.
At least they put cucumber in the water, though.
Really, really bad experience! After a month of pre- ordering via email/ phone conversations about a simple raw carrot cake went to pick it up today only for, first it could not be found ( 10 minutes) then found then it was being  'packaged ' (15 minutes) - it is finally brought out in a simple white box ( no special packaging ) shown to me only to NOT have the writing on it that was requested. Who knows what this will taste like, it's a gift. My dealings with Gabby at this place have been so UN customer friendly and then the 30 minute pick up ordeal certainly didn't make dealing with her attitude over the past few weeks any better.
Definitely would not do business with this place again.
Karyn is a revolutionary in my mind. As much as I adore this city of Chicago I often wonder why it seems that California is so far ahead of us on the conscious eating and lifestyle curve. From what I understand, Karyn's is the longest running vegan restaurant in the US so congratulations to her and the incredible staff. Recently after much research I realize that the dairy industry is actually as bad if not worse than the meat industry. This is not related to Karyn's but appropriate based on the subject: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Des6U00LMmC4&s=ef006ab19984e961632b11435114b9c5defb96e12cf133ad5f5a22bfe9b65f01" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/w…</a>
Review Source:Love, love, love this place. Â My sister is vegan and primarily raw, so whenever she's in town we eat at Karyn's. Â Everything on the menu is delicious from the fresh juices to their interpretation of empanadas. Â Raw food is a great choice when eating before going out for the night, as it leaves you feeling full yet energized. Â The little grocery store connected to the restaurant is essential for anyone eating raw in Chicago. Â They have everything you'd need, including books, to get you started. Â My reason for writing this review though, is the excellent service we received from our waitress, Veronica. Â She was so genuinely sweet and accommodating and really went out of her way to make our experience great. Â We will be coming back to Karyn's, and often!
Review Source:I love this place to not only buy raw products, but also to get inspired about different types of dips and soups to make. Every morning, I have the Karyn's Green Shake, so I come in quite often. I ran into Karyn once and she was super nice and friendly, and trying to make conversation. She looks absolutely stunning for her age, so I am a believer!
They give you free tastings of various dips and even shakes, if you request it. I do wish there was more staff available because the first time at Karyn's can be a little overwhelming.
When we arrived at Karyn's Fresh Corner & Raw Cafe, which has recently re-opened in the Lincoln Park area after a fire, we discovered that in addition to having a small gourmet restaurant, they also have a little specialty grocery store with food bar. We slipped into the dining area, which was cozy and cleanly decorated.
We were the only ones there at the time, and a server came to our table right away with menus and water for the table. The water had been infused with cucumber slices, which was refreshing and always makes me feel like I'm sitting at a spa. The featured drink option of the day was coconut water, fresh from a young coconut and served in a wine glass.
For an appetizer, we ordered the cheese plate, which includes a variety of nut-based cheeses in different flavors alongside dehydrated crackers, dried fruit and nuts. We took turns sampling the different cheeses and then pressing them into the various toppings. We each attempted to pick our favorite, but that kept changing with each bite - sometimes it was the one with a prominent flavor of basil, then it would be the garlicky one, then the more spicy one... They gave a generous amount of each of the cheeses, and I had to remind myself that I still had a main course coming.
For the main course, I ordered the Pad Thai. I generally see kelp noodles or spiralized zucchini in raw noodle dishes, but for this entrée coconut meat was used. They cut the inner meat from a young coconut into long strips and tossed it in a creamy curry sauce with bean sprouts, peas, scallions, carrots, and marinated mushrooms. The sauce definitely had a spicy kick, and I liked the crunch of the bean sprouts against the softness of the coconut meat noodles.
My friend ordered the empanadas, which were made with flax and corn masa pastry dough and then stuffed with chorizo and served with raw chocolate mole and salsa verde. I stopped myself from reaching across with a fork to sample one of his empanadas, which he was clearly enjoying. Instead I asked if he'd have raw food again sometime, to which he said, "Well, if raw food is like this then I would."
If I lived in Chicago, all of Karyn's restaurants would definitely be in my regular rotation, including her raw café where I'd love to make it my mission to sample the menu from top to bottom (leaving out the menu items with honey, of course).
We went here for my birthday dinner since we are both vegetarian and wanted something unique and fun. We knew a raw restaurant might be a risk, but we went for it anyway.
Upon arrival, it looked like the restaurant was closed (it was 6:30). I had to ask someone in the store if the restaurant was open. They said, yes of course! and someone came to help us a few minutes later.
We were seated, and awkwardly handed menus. There was no explination other than 'our food is organic and raw'. Ok, thanks for that.
About fifteen minutes went by and I had to get up and holler at the kitchen staff to ask if our waiter was coming back. He scurried back to our table and made no apology for keeping us waiting
I ordered the empanadas and my boyfriend had the pad thai. The food came out quickly which was appreciated.
Both plates had beautiful presentations. I took my first bite, and almost spit it out. It tasted like an empanada stuffed with SALT! There was hardly any flavor to it other than salt.
My boyfriend's dish was Okay, but we weren't impressed.
Overall, I was pretty disappointed by almost everything about my meal here. Had it not been my birthday (I was feeling positive and wanted to go with the flow) I would have asked for our check to be com'd due to very poor service and hardly edible SALT food.
You won't be getting another chance Karyn's...
Went here for the first time. Read the reviews and I saw that it was weak, but still wanted to give it a try. It was a very interesting menu and everything sounded great.
Food ended up being a bit salty. We had the empanadas and the pad thai. The pad thai was very interesting and the presentation of the food was really good. The flavor was decent overall. The empanadas were very very salty and hard to eat more than 1.
The service was pretty weak as stated before and wanted to try a shake, but at $12 and after the saltyness, it no longer sounded appealing.
After having such great experiences at Karyn's on Green and Karyn's Cooked, I decided to go to Karyn's Raw Bistro on this trip. The Bistro is part of Karyn's Fresh Corner in Lincoln Park, which consists of a healing center, raw foods store/cafe, and a raw restaurant. From the website, the restaurant looks very nice so I had expected the equivalent of Pure Food and Wine or Elizabeth's Gone Raw, but alas, it wasn't of that caliber. The restaurant was connected to the raw foods store and while it did look like a nice restaurant inside, it was definitely not an upscale raw fine dining restaurant like Pure or Elizabeth's.
When we arrived, we were seated at a table for two. There was a couple drinking a bottle of wine by the door so I was hoping they had a nice wine selection. Unfortunately, I was informed that they do not serve alcohol and that the couple had brought their own. Â Bummer. Â As I glanced at the drink menu, the first thing I noticed were that many of the shakes and juices had honey in them. So I glanced up at the window to double check and sure enough, it stated "raw vegan gourmet." So why would they use honey? Â This is really starting to bother me. First, Pure Food and Wine, now Karyn's?! Â If you are going to call your restaurant vegan, just use agave nectar. Â I don't know why that is so hard. Â Anyway, I ordered a Summer Cooler juice and an appetizer of Sliders as we continued to peruse the menu.
I was very happy with the Summer Cooler as it was a refreshing mix of fresh carrot, apple and lemon juices. It was delicious. Â We continued to look over the menu for a while before our appetizers arrived. There was only one waitress working the entire restaurant. Granted the restaurant is really small, but there were at least seven full tables to serve so service was extremely slow. Â The sliders arrived very nicely presented on a white plate with lettuce and tomatoes in the middle and a bowl of cucumbers on the side.
The "sliders" were actually savory almond patties with sun dried tomatoes over top of a raw bread and topped with a tomato. In between the patty and bread was a red mustard that was really tasty. Together, the flavors meshed well though I did find the dish to be a little dry. Even though the mustard was really good, the dish either needed more of the mustard or a heavier sauce. Â The cucumber mixture with coriander seed paired very well with the patties as well.
For my entree I ordered empanadas, while Zach ordered the basil scented ravioli (the only non-vegan entree on the menu). Â My empanadas arrived nicely presented as well as they were stacked in the middle of the plate with onions on top and garnishes and sauces on each corner. I was very impressed with the fact that they really looked like fried empanadas even though they hadn't been cooked at all! Â Though they were small, they were very rich and tasty. Â The outside pastry dough was made of flax and sunflower seeds along with corn. On the inside, they were filled with this amazing "three pepper chorizo," which was peppers, walnuts and shitake mushroom along with chili spice mixed together into a surprisingly meat-like filling. It was topped with onions that had been marinated in soy sauce and paired with these wonderful sauces -- one was a cilantro salsa verde and the other was a chocolate mole sauce. Altogether, it was truly delicious.
Zach's dish was pretty good though not as good as mine. He got the basil scented ravioli. The ravioli was made of root vegetable stuffed with macadamia whipped creme and dressed with an olive marinara sauce. I found the ravioli to be tasty, but, unfortunately, I couldn't try it with the sauce as it was made with honey. Â He liked my dish better.
After waiting 20 minutes for them to clear our plates after we finished, we finally ordered dessert. We ordered the Tiramisu Cheesecake. It looked beautiful as it was three layers stacked high with cacao nibs and a raspberry on top. On the bottom were lady fingers made of dates and coconut meat; the middle layer was a whipped macafe-infused cream, which is a root vegetable; and the top was a chocolate mousse. Â While we enjoyed the lady fingers and mousse, the middle layer had an odd taste that seemed somewhat sour and didn't go well with the other flavors. I was pretty disappointed with this dish.
All in all, I think that while Karyn's does a nice job with her raw dishes, they need to significantly improve on their service. We ended up being at the restaurant for close to two hours because the service was so slow. They are priced less than Pure and Elizabeth's with the entrees around $14 each and the desserts around $9 each. Â Our total bill was about $75 with tax and tip so it was considerably less than other more upscale raw restaurants. You should think of this as a raw foods cafe not an upscale fine dining restaurant.
I am reviewing the Sunday Brunch. Â I am now 3 months on 99% raw food and I was looking for some more ideas and tastes. Â I was so excited to see two big tables full of raw choices! Â The soups were incredible I had mango curry and zuchinni. Â They are a great balance to the richer spicier entrees. Â My favorites are the ravioli, Â BLT, Â (Beets not bacon-you must try), the chips! and the strawberry smoothie! all raw. Â Yum yum kind of expensive. Oh and the desserts I had this awesome mint brownie it probably was not the healthiest raw food in the world but I had seconds. Â Best advice eat slowly and don't eat too much some of the choices with nuts will really fill you up.
Review Source:Beware: this review is coated with massive amounts of salt.
Oh wait, that's the food at Karyn's Raw.
Dude, what's up with the salt? I ordered two different meals, both of which resembled a salt lick. I don't like salt. That's why I'm eating raw food and not sucking on a McDonald's french fry.
I also have a problem with the way I got my food. I had never been here before, but I was in the area and stopped in for takeout. I went into the Bistro entrance and ordered my takeout food, only to find out a few minutes later after wandering into the health store that the exact meals I just ordered were pre-prepared and ready to go. So why did the waitress let me order the food, wait 20 minutes, and then tip her? No idea.
Maybe I'll give it another shot someday, but I'll certainly cross my fingers that they've done something about that dang salt.
I will start by saying I will give this a second chance some day.
They probably read about the service, so we had a good one, but here is the deal. I almost lost my taste buds due to the off the charts amount of salt that was used to prepare my tamale meal. I actually asked for mole ( it comes with the enchiladas that are on the menu) as well as the salsa verde...The waitress kindly accommodated. I was caught of guard how salty these typically spicy and complex sauces were. It was sea salt, but it was all my palate was coming back to. The waitress graciously comped a tiramisu cake that although, flavorful, had the nut flavor hanging in the back ground. I am fascinated with raw cuisine and this made me reconsider my interest. The decor is pleasant, but there was a bleach smell followed by a gas smell coming from the kitchen.
My boyfriend and I are healthy eating vegetarians and are always looking for a place to dine out so, for his birthday I decided to treat him to a train ride into the city and lunch at Karyn's. Â
Food was great but I have to say the service was AWFUL.
It would have been nice to be acknowledged, or even get a short tour since the website shows so many things that they offer, it was a little confusing for us.
They blew any chance that I may return for any detox or spa services because of this.
I guess to sum it up I would say,
BAD SERVICE CAN RUIN A DINING EXPERIENCE, NO MATTER HOW GOOD THE FOOD IS
Went here for a friends birthday lunch today, and found out they had an all you can eat Sunday brunch.
I honestly cannot explain to you in the proper words as to how how much I enjoyed our experience! I am celiac and have been eating vegan and it's very difficult to find tasty and filling options at restaurants. That being said, I haven't always been celiac and vegan, and I love going out to eat, so I know good food!
The freshness, creativity, flavor, variety, I mean everything was A+++ spot on. I was truly amazed by some of the dishes I tasted, the turnip ravioli and the tacos were my fav. I left feeling more full than I can ever remember being, dreaming about the time when I will return! Karyn's is truly one of Chicago's hidden gems and she has done an impeccable job of creating a place for people like me who are looking for vegan, gluten free, fresh and healthy dishes.
If you dont have anything nice to say....keep it short.
I've been on Karyn's detox plan for three weeks now. Here at the four week, raw week, I knew I would need to visit her would visit her raw place. So excited was I. Jazz in the back ground, I'm hungry, I was ready so I got the tamales and the ravioli. The tamles were a bad choice; I felt like I was tricked with this dish. I only had two bits....the ravioli was better, especially  for the sauce. Olive domineered the plate and not liking olive, it was hard for me to eat. But I eat all the ravillo, only coating them in the red sauce quickly for taste. My note is to change the name of the dish to ravioli and olives or tone it down a bit.
I want to leave on a good note, so I ordered the cheesecake. It was really, really good. A little too much for someone on fenugreek like crazy.
The serivce was less then good. My waiter seemed like she did not want to talk. It appears to be the case this year where waiters see me not really touch a plate and no follow up occurs. You just take the plate and charge me anyways...cool.
Overall, I can not eat here again, while I love Karyn's plan for detox. But I will stick to making my own raw dishes. I will also say if you are new to the raw eating think, you may need to work you way to eating here; its not for new raw people.
Just a note, before I even posted to Yelp. I did reach out to Karyn looking for resolution. She did follow-up saying she looking into it and I never heard back, regardless of several calls/follow-up emails from me.
Posting my email I sent to Karyn, pretty much sums up my experience.
"My friend and who have been regulars at Karyn's cooked decided to try out Karyn's Raw for brunch today (11/27). When we entered through the store, the person who came to us to fill our water, promptly told us that brunch is $12 a person. Not an issue at all... So my friend and I decided to stay, have brunch, etc...
Once the bill came, there was question b/c our tab came to around $70 (which includes 2 wheat grass shots). We were both confused b/c we distinctly were told that brunch was $12 a person. Our server was in training and spoke to her trainer (veronica)? With that said, we also had $5 off Sunday Brunch coupon (that we received from Karyn's cooked). I asked our server if we could use these and she told us no. I asked to speak to someone and our server said she was new and there was no one available to speak to us.
So with my experience are three issues:
1) Told the wrong price for brunch (this is even more of a concern b/c there was not a menu/pricing/ or signage anywhere that we could reference, so it is the word of two people verses the server. Which we brought this up that both of us were told $12 not 29.95).
2) Our coupon, which specifically says for brunch (and not expired) was not able to be used
3) We were told there was no one we could speak with concerning our issue.
Myself and my friend are very upset over this b/c our experience was ruined. And we were planning on shopping in the store and booking services at the center, but instead we were so annoyed we are looking to go elsewhere. Which is sad b/c we are a fan of the Karyn's cooked and always have a good experience. I am there at least 2x a week buying food.
I would like a response back... Sending a note for resolution instead of posting my experience online, b/c I believe in the work of the store/products/food."
well as you see I am posting this and this was based on my service. Ask me about the food (smoothies and dessert wonderful, the food itself, not a fan of all the substitutions).
I'm having a hard time deciding how many stars to give this place. Â The truth is that I really didn't like the food very much. Â But I've also never had raw food before (I mean, other than salads and fruits and veggies by themselves - I've never had a gourmet raw meal at a restaurant, I guess is what I'm trying to say), so I'm not comfortable giving Karyn's just 2 stars, indicating that I've had better.
I think that this is a great place to come if you have dietary restrictions. Â Everyone needs the chance to go out to a nice restaurant that has good service. Â Most restaurants don't even have good options for vegetarians, much less gluten-free, soy-free, vegan, etc. Â Comparing the food at Karyn's Raw to that of mainstream restaurants isn't quite fair. Â (If you did make that comparison, Karyn's would lose big time.)
I tried the pad thai, pizza, ravioli, and nachos. Â I found it impressive that they had created these dishes with only raw, vegan ingredients. Â But I couldn't help but notice that they taste much worse - not just different, worse - than their non-vegan cooked counterparts.
I'm glad I tried it. Â I probably won't be back unless I develop some serious food issues that prohibit me from eating better tasting stuff.
I was so excited to try this place out since a co-worker recommended it - every week - for about 3 months. I eventually gave it a try and ordered a few items to go so I could sample some of what they had to offer. My co-worker promised I wouldn't be disappointed. Promises, promises.
First off, I've lived a vegan lifestyle in my younger days and knew, or wrongly thought I knew, what to expect from this raw restaurant. Nothing could have prepared me for the overwhelming, wallet-depleting, disappointment I felt from the first bite.
To describe it in a word: terrible. In two words: very terrible. From texture, to taste, to the remainder of the day with a stomach ache. Just terrible. Theorizing how healthy ingredients and innovative techniques would taste is great conversation and an exciting menu read, but in practice flavorless and offensive to the gi tract.
The smoothie was good, but for the 12 oz. size it was hardly worth the $8+ price. Better idea: buy your own juicer for what you'd pay for a week's worth from Karyn and you'll still have a lifetime of use out it. They aren't using rare or exotic fruits and veggies so one would have little difficulty replicating or improving a recipe.
Unfortunately my co-worker will never know how disappointed I was with Karyn's due to her being fired for poor job performance. Quite honestly, she should have been fired for poor taste - pun very intended.
*Please note this was originally, and quite wrongfully, posted for Karyn's on Green. It has finally found it's proper placement.
I thought I'd give this place a chance again, but I was still disappointed. Compared to other raw restaurants I've been to, Karyn's cuisine seems to focus more on "detox" and less on taste. For those of us attracted to raw cuisine because of food allergies options are limited because they use wheat berries and massive amounts of nuts in everything. I was shocked to see a sign that said that Ann Wigmore, a famous raw author, said that the nuts they use might be OK because they are soaked. Maybe, for people who are just somewhat sensitive, but definitely not for people who are allergic.
Entrees are marred by overpowering use of raw onions and aren't filling enough to justify the price.
Honestly, raw vegan food doesn't have to taste this way. I am no longer a raw vegan, but I sometimes eat raw vegan because there are restaurants that do it so well, making dishes that are fresh and unique. This is not one of them. I bet if someone in Chicago opened up a raw restaurant or cafe doing the kind of delicious innovative stuff you can find in LA or NYC, it would be very popular.
I've been to the other Karyn's restaurants a few times, but never this one. My husband took me for lunch on my birthday, because like a fool, I scheduled a cleanse for the month of November (next year, not gonna happen.)
The odd thing is, even though everything is vegan and raw, there STILL wasn't a ton of stuff I could choose from. This is my fault, not Karyn's. I can't have soy, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, oranges, wheat, sweeteners, blah dee mc blah blah...I did find an appetizer to split with my husband - the dim sum. Couldn't have the tamari, but the dim sum were tasty little morsels filled with avocado. There were only 4 and they were dinky, so splitting this app wasn't our greatest decision (except that it left room for the entree AND dessert!)
For mains, Hubs had the empanadas and seemed to enjoy them. I didn't try them (because I couldn't, boo...) I had the Pad Thai, noodles concocted from coconut meat, bathed in curry and topped with carrots, sprouts and peas. I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed feeling like I didn't inhale a whole bunch of real pasta.
Because it was my birthday and I deserved it (dammit!), we split the tiramisu (which was accidentally labeled cheesecake on the menu). It was awesome. I do love me a good vegan dessert. And I'm very glad I ordered it.
My only complaint is that the prices were a little bit steep for the fare. I would have LOVED a juice drink, but I can't justify $8+ for juice, even if it's lovely and freshly juiced that second.
Afterward, I checked out the cafe/store and purchased a few items. I would definitely like to visit again and sample some of the carryout options.
I just have to start off by saying, this place isn't for me. So, really, this review is specifically from someone that tried something new and did not like it. I say this because I think this place is extremely creative in what they offer and how they go about making it. If this is your cup of eat, then I think you would have a good meal here. Unfortunately, I think it only appeals to a limited demographic. All the rest will probably come here and feel closer to what I felt.
The nachos were good at the beginning, but the more I ate, the less I seemed to like them. The raw pizza was the same way, only a little better. You have a few bites and you're like, "ok, this is alright." After a few more mouth fulls, you're wondering what exactly you have in your mouth. The empanadas also followed suit, but were a little better than the pizza. Basically, share everything and you'll only eat enough to think about how different of an experience this was... instead of concentrating on how you wish you were eating something else.
The good news is you'll walk away full. The bad news is that in like 2 hours you'll be howling from hunger and wondering why you're feeling so empty after just eating. I can't agree with paying for a meal that's a little on the pricey side, or any meal for that matter, if I'm going to feel hungry soon after.
I'll leave you with this. Come here and get a shake or smoothie and a dessert. These are the best things here. This goes double for the desserts. Vegan and raw desserts, I don't know how or why, but they are really delicious. And Karyn's has great desserts. It is also pretty sweet that they have a parking lot, since that part of Halsted can be difficult for finding parking.
I had tried Karyns Raw a few times years ago, and after my recent positive experience with Cousin's Incredible Vitality, decided to give them another chance.
Here's the thing - there are so many wonderful rich flavorful things to add punch to a raw vegan dish - homemade tomato paste, the wide variety of fresh herbs like basil and dill and rosemary and cilantro, lemon juice, garlic, etc. Â I could go on forever.
So why the hell is it that whenever I eat something from Karyn's Raw, all I can taste is salt?
Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that Karyn's is high sodium. Â In fact, you can eat quite a bit of salt and eat very salty food and still get under 2000mg of sodium per day, as long as you eat nothing that's preserved and everything fresh. Â I'm not criticizing Karyn's on how healthy it is - I'm criticizing their palate and lack of imagination.
Imagine this. Â You have a plate put in front of you. Â A big pile of fresh alfalfa sprouts, nuts, seeds, avocado. Â It looks amazing. Â You take a bite, and it hits you. Â SALT. Â You can't even taste any of the stuff on your plate. Â All you can taste is salt. Â
Maybe you'll go into the take out section afterwards, sample a few things. Â Dehydrated onions? Â PURE SALT. Â All the nut butters? Â SALT. Â
And I feel that I have to add this - I am a salt fiend. Â I love salt. Â So if it's too much salt for me, it's probably too much for most people. Â And it would be less offensive if I could just taste something else in the food, but I can't.
Add that to the weird snobbish vibe (the first time I came here a staff member said "you know this is raw, right? Â Are you sure you want to eat here?") and the unnecessarily high prices (you know they only charge that much because it's trendy and there's little competition for raw vegan food) and there's no way I can give the place a good rating.
Sorry Karyn's Raw - I love the concept, and love the ingredients (hell, after one meal I felt things start to move along you-know-where before I even finished eating) but you haven't learned how really utilize everything nature has to offer and make good tasting food.
I remember a program I saw on tv about Buckminster Fuller, the inventor of the geodesic dome. He drew a square on the chalkboard and asked the audience what they saw. Duhviously, everyone said a square. But then he asked, "What about the space outside the square?" His point being that people are conditioned to automatically see the boundaries in life.
I know, nice random story Professor Petunia.*
But I think Karyn and Karyn's Raw really explores the limits of cuisine.
Full disclosure, my partner and I are meat eaters and Some Like It Hot just isn't an entertaining movie to us, but the way we enjoy our meals (in taste and temperature). But we were feeling experimental.
The portion sizes are small. This is ok, because we wanted to sample a bit and we were skittish about everything in general. We had:
Hummus
Purée of cauliflower and red pepper served with flax crackers and veggies. The pepper and flax saved it from being totally bland. I'd skip it.
Nachos
Dehydrated corn tortilla chips with guacamole, sweetened sour cream, black olives, and jalepenos. Who doesn't love nachos? Even room temperature ones? Very good.
Basil Ravioli
Basil pasta with macadamia whipped cream. So good, I wish I had it in arms length right now.
Spinach Pizza
Spinach, cheese, tomato basil sauce. Since it's room temperature Id liken it more to an open face sammy or flatbread. The ingredients played well off each other.
Tiramisu Cheesecake
Creamy cheese with date lady fingers. A must order! The shining star of the meal. And although it seems so relatively straightforward, this dessert and the Nachos were the most inventive and playful we tried.
Our server was good and knowledgable.
*I'd make a cute teacher (cue Van Halen song). If you're vegan or on a raw food diet make dining here a homework project. If you want to think outside of the box a future meal, I'd assign it too.
What do you get when you cross the innards of a single, unwrapped California sushi roll piece bought from your local Dominick's grocery store (rice and sesame wrapper tossed in the trash, unserved) with the full-sized *pricing* of an otherwise respectable entree portion served elsewhere in the city of Chicago? Karyn's Raw Vegan.
I'm no stranger to vegetarian cuisine... in fact I love it. Â But Karyn's serving sizes are a dark comedy. Â I endorse that the typical serving in the U.S. reeks of gluttony, but Karyn has reached the other extreme.
There are no extraordinary ingredients present... at least it does not TASTE like there are. Â There are no staples like rice or black beans to fill out the dish present. Â However they were quite generous in fixing the price to satisfy their own craving. Â Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty comfortable flexing my plastic for meals and don't mind tipping 20% by default, but there's a limit.
I'm all for pretty food, but we actually left Karyn's HUNGRIER than when we arrived. Hell I would have loved to have the salt and pepper shaker there on the table to get some sort of satisfaction out of the meal.
The reason that this review received a single star is because the wait staff was quite friendly, welcoming and strangely apologetic well in advance of our dinner party being smacked by the reality of what they were to serve.
Hell, the single vegan at the table pondered out loud whether to go get a cheeseburger after leaving... something he'd never consumed in his life. That's just plain bad.
If you're going to put your restaurant on a pedestal, you'd better come correct.
Karyn. Get it together.
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Saturday, June 23, 2012
So after much coaxing and seething for nearly 2 years, I finally made the trek over to Karyn's COOKED. Â It is the antithesis of this monstrosity and actually serves up quite tasty cuisine. Â Since it was 11am on Saturday, they were only serving brunch items but they quite possibly cook some of the best maple pancakes in Chicago. Check out my review for Karyn's Cooked for more. Â "Raw", however, still needs to learn.
I just purchased raw hemp brownies from Karyn's Grocery store. Â When I returned home I opened them to see that they were INFESTED WITH WORMS. Â I was so sick about it that I called the store. Â The woman on the phone offered no apology but simply told me to bring them in for store credit. Â
The cashier told me my only option was to buy something else. Â ANOTHER WORM INFESTED PRODUCT!? Â I was very upset at the lack of understanding. Â I couldn't eat for the rest of the day much less buy another product. Â I wanted to tell everyone in the grocery store to make sure their food does not have WORMS in it but I realized that I was no closer to getting my money back. Â I ended up purchasing a few Lara Bars (knowing they come from a good company) and paid three times as much for them than I would at Whole Foods or Trader Joes. Â I will never go there again and will share this information without hesitation.
PS- you can probably tell from reading the other reviews that this place is underwhelming but just in case... I was discussing my weekend experience at Karyn's with a friend who had also eaten here before and my main gripe of the portions being sooo tiny was the main topic and she agreed.
I'm posting this because she's tall, thin, a model, and a very healthy eater as far as nutrition and portion and she said that even she, had to go somewhere after to get food because it's no where near enough food. So there you have it, even supermodels can't get full here.
Our waitperson was very helpful. Vegans: lots of stuff is made with honey, so plan to work with a much smaller menu.
I highly recommend the nachos.
The tamales were tasty, but annoying. The "bechamel" on the empanadas was drizzled on the husk of one of the tamales, and it was very difficult to get it off and into the tamales. Maybe it was just for looks? I would never mention something like this normally, but it's not normally that many people spend $12 on two tamales.
The empanadas were also well executed, but only recommended if you're not very hungry and not sharing. I felt awful for having a bite of one because they're so wee.
Other hits: the chocolate mousse and the tiramisu cake.
Misses: The "sliders." Just don't. The thin crust pizza (which I didn't taste but looked at longingly) was reported to be a major disappointment,
There are a handful of other things I would love to try- the pad thai is rumored to be excellent. I'll just have to wait until someone else is buying.
I have an incredible amount of respect for anyone who has the determination and skills necessary to follow the raw food philosophy for any significant amount of time. It is freakin hard core folks. So you go on with your bad self, Super Scary Thin Karyn. I don't know how you make it through a month without a piece of chocolate or cheese, but I am truly impressed.
Renee C wanted to try this place for her birthday so we arrive on a Monday night to a completely empty dining room. Our server seemed pleasant enough and I wasn't getting that "bad service vibe" that I had learned is a problem for this restaurant. I order a wheat grass shot and a glass of frozen peach juice. The wheat grass was fabulous! It was the best I have ever had. The grassy flavour was very mild and it was very sweet, unlike shots I have had at other places. So then we order an appetizer, the "Olive Oil Cured Sun-Dried Tomato Cheese Puree with Seasoned Celery" and entrees. I get the "garlic lovers pizza" and Renee gets the "Creamy Sea Wrap" which is Avocado, Walnut Pate, Sweet Onion and Basil Wrapped in a Seaweed Crepe. While we waited I went to check out the other side, which is a shop and cafe. (interesting stuff, but things seemed VERY pricey)
Anyway, by this time, other people had filtered into the restaurant and suddenly I felt like our service was becoming less than ideal. The other people seemed like regulars and the server was practically fawning all over them, whereas we were getting the most bare minimum of attention. (and this is after we had said we had never been to the restaurant before!)
Well, the food arrives and Renee's is presented like sushi - and tasted quite a bit like it too, which was awesome. My "pizza" was nothing more than a garlic and olive salad over 4 triangular slices of gluten free bread. Tasty but come on - it is stupid to be calling that Pizza. How about "Salad over Toast Points" instead?
So after the experience I am pretty sure I could do the raw food diet for a few weeks. Um, maybe a week. OK - a day, I could definitely do a whole day. But anything more than that and my body would get pissed and demand a half a pack of bacon for the trauma.
If I could give less than one star I would! Â Ok, I'll admit it....I didn't read the Yelp reviews before I coordinated an event at this place. I've learned my lesson! The service was the worst I have ever experienced....I'm surprised this place still employs the same loud/rude manager!
Here's the story the way I see it...I made a call and went into Karyn's Raw 2 months before my event. Got it on their calendar (watched the girl write EVERYTHING down) and obnoxious manager shows me the Yoga room that will be set up for my event and tells me all sorts of other things.
Invitations are sent.
I get this feeling 2 weeks before the event that I should call and make sure everything is still cool and that they don't need anything from me. This is when obnoxious manager lady tells me....oh you never came in so I scheduled something else that day. Â To which I reply...of course I came in, my flip-flops broke you gave me a paper clip to fix it. We had a moment! She is still dead set on the fact that she never forgets anyone and that no, I never came in! WOW! I feel trapped my event is scheduled I can't call everyone to change the location, i have to make this work.
We work it out.
I arrive day of the place looks good with the exception of the yoga mellow music playing loudly in the room (it's a party people).
Food was actually not bad for what I had expected. But then the proverbial poo hits the fan! The waitress comes to me and says...the tip is not so good. WHAT!?!?! Is this a bad prank obnoxious manager lady is playing on me? Then she say's would you mind if I made an announcement to let people know gratuity wasn't included?
#1 Why wasn't gratuity included we were a party of 20? #2 Are ya kidding me? I looked back over the check and 20% was included.
I just cannot believe this place. In a city of plenty of amazing restaurants with superb service, this place should be shut down for service alone. These people had the potential to win over 20 new faces to frequent their place of business. Instead, they have lost 20 and judging by the amount of people that left saying this is going in my blog or my Yelp review I am sure they lost many more!
Karyn, you seem like a great woman! But obnoxious manager lady has got to go! She is ruining this places reputation!
I try to eat raw most of the time and I feel I am fairly creative when it comes to making dishes. I was anxious to go to Karyn's Raw, but most of my friends are meat eaters and don't want to pay a high price for veggie dishes.
Now let me say this, in general, eating raw does not come cheap, especially when you incorporate nuts in most of your dishes. Karyn's does use a lot of blended nuts in her dishes, but she blends them so smooth you wonder what you are eating. A few people have told me they have received an upset stomach after going here. To be quite honest, you might if you don't eat healthy and incorporate veggies in your diet on a day to day basis.
It is BYOB (Yeah!), which is nice to cut down the cost. The dishes can be expensive but I feel with the ingredients she uses, they are worth it. There is free parking available which makes a change and the staff were very friendly. I am like a bottomless pit when it comes to food so when I told the waitress I was still hungry and I could not decide what I wanted on the menu, she had the chef make me a raw 'macaroni and cheese' dish which was awesome. All the staff in the restaurant and store were nice, my friend and I felt bad because we held them up. We loved it here!
The next time I go here I will try their brunch which I hear changes all the time. Looking forward to it!
I almost want to cuss in front of my grandmother so she will wash my mouth out with soap, that is how bad the taste of the food was. Â
Let me preface that I am a very healthy eater, respect all forms of beliefs, diets, and I enjoy vegetarian and vegan options when presented. Â
That being said, I can't say enough bad things about Karyn's. Â This place was awful, and it was not just my dish but everything we ate. Â Our party got three dishes and two juices and TA DA ...nauseous.
I can hear the responses to this review now: "It's raw, its actually um good for you." or "It's natural, its organic and you obviously don't get it."
Vegan food can actually taste great and most of the vegan food I eat tastes amazing but you will never find the words Karyn & Amazing together. Â
The service was awful too, I guess the waitress took a bite of what we were eating and felt the same way based upon her attitude.
I almost want to hand out fliers with a warning to people walking by this place just to make sure they don't go here. Â
Maybe I am being harsh, I usually give complimentary reviews but this place made all of us sick. Â No, it is not because we are unhealthy and our bodies rejected something good. Â
I wish I could rate this place on how many times myself and my party threw up, but I will just stick with the star system.
I would have given 3.5 stars were that an option. Â I rounded up to 4 because of the humor in my visit.
Luckily, a co-worker recommended I try Karyn's brunch, so I could see what options were available and get ideas about my own raw food recipes. Â I think if I'd gone there for dinner alone, I wouldn't have been so satisfied. Â
Karyn's is for the adventurous, the health conscious, and people who are enthusiastic about new experiences. Â My date and I joked about the hippie street cred atmosphere because, at $25 a pop for brunch, it's pricey but not quite sleek. Â The decor is trying to be refined, but it misses for various reasons, one being the loud kitchen noises coming from behind the flimsy screen at the back of the dining room. Â
Perhaps I'll stray to why I liked Karyn's and why; I think it's an excellent business that deserves recognition for it's mission. Â
1. Astoundingly impressive creativity with ingredients: the 'ravioli', that so many people bitched about in their reviews, is really amazing! It's wrapper is turnip, sliced paper thin and filled with a mixture of pureed nuts...the sauce, which is heavily reliant on olives, is really quite savory with an unexpected flavor not resembling basic tomato sauce. Â Its nearer a salsa than a sauce. Â
2. Â Delicious fruit smoothies that are frothy and delicate. Â There's no extra sugary aftertaste or heaviness to them.
3. Creating an entire restaurant that serves ONLY raw food is commendable. Â Raw diets are the most healthy kind of eating there is, and turning a bale of nuts, seeds, fruits and veggies into entrees and brunch takes a chemist and culinary genius. Â Midwesterners are frightened by this type of food because it seems so foreign, but if you get over your ideas about what your eating and actually try it, some of it, like the cold summer soup with cashew 'sour cream' is excellent. Â I think the woman behind this business is a courageous entrepreneur for trusting Chicago to sustain her dream.
If your curious about this really go to the brunch because you can try everything they serve. Â It's true I didn't like everything I tasted (the 'seed casserole' square disguised as a fudgey brownie), but some of it was really impressive. Â I do wish there was more information for me to hear or read about what I was eating because the inventiveness and flavor of some of the foods was exquisite. Â
There were mini-'hamburgers' that seemed composed of a 'rye bread' bun sandwiching the freshest lettuce, red onion, tomato, and spicy mustard. Â The guacamole was spicy and some of the best I've tasted. Â There were flax seed triangle crackers that had dehydrated sweet, hot, and red peppers woven in and were quite delicious. Â There were wild grain stuffed mushroom caps that burst with fresh, wholesome textures and on and on. Â
Don't let the other reviewers scare you off and go for brunch.
The first time I went here Karyn asked me if I was familiar with raw foods. Â That was funny. Â One time outta sheer boredom as I was driving by the old location on Lincoln I called and asked what today's soup was. Â "Energy Soup" was the reply I got. Â I asked if the soup contained electrons. Â Total confusion on the other end of the phone.
I think you could get most of this stuff at somewhere else in an untampered state for less.
Karyn gets an A for effort and for building the first raw restaurant in Chicago (afaik), and a great community around it. However, the food for being vegetarian and raw is _extremely heavy_. Â The only dish I really like even somewhat is the 'spaghetti' which is made from zuchinni and has a nutty sauce. Most of the food is very heavy with nuts and the same flavor profile hitting you right in the face with no subtlety at all.
I have Trotter & Klein's book "Raw" at home and it has some incredible recipes that Karyn should try. Her deserts are quite excellent and probably the only thing that makes me want to come back to this place. I'm a big fan of raw food but you need more flavor variation, Karyn!
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