Ok, so here's the punchline: Native Foods Cafe is bloody amazing. They have multiple branches in CA, and they are opening branches in the Loop and Lakeview in August and October. Their Wicker Park location just opened, and based on the queue at 3 PM on a Sunday afternoon, they are going to be doing some excellent business in Chicago. The important point here is that everything on their menu is completely vegan. So here's the lowdown on what we got.
My friend got the Rockin' Moroccan Bowl ($9.95): two big pieces of tofu and a pile of grilled veggies with quinoa, currents and toasted almonds.
I got the pizza ($7.95) : pesto, grilled vegetables and kale, pumpkin seeds and balsamic dressing on a thick focaccia bread.
They have a range of vegan desserts, here I got the Rose Cardamom cupcake, which had a very sweet pile of frosting on a cake garnished with rose petals. The frosting was good, however the cake was the best vegan cake I've had: more moist than at the Chicago Diner, and a very unique flavor. In addition to the cupcake, my friend was quite excited at the prospect of having a vegan parfait, especially since they had a peanut butter parfait, which ended up being quite tasty. We also got their watermelon agua fresca and their lavender lemonade (for free with their rewards card.. !). This place is a solid 5/5. Great addition to the Wicker Park neighborhood, especially given the recent closing of Earwax Cafe, one of the other places to get a vegan meal and dessert around here. Native foods might not have non-vegan offerings like Earwax did, but it has enough range in the menu that omnivorous friends would probably enjoy this place too.
