Chicago Restaurants Archives

Soul Vegetarian Restaurant and Eternity Juice Bar located at 205 E. 75th St.

Soul Vegetarian East and Eternity Juice Bar restaurants re-opened on Friday, Dec. 18, after being shut down on Tuesday, Dec. 15, by Mayor Daley's Dumpster Task force. On Tuesday, over 1,000 mice droppings were found by the storage area of these two restaurants.

Matt Smith, spokesman for the Department of Streets and Sanitation, confirmed that the restaurant has passed city inspection and is open for business. Mayor Daley's Dumpster Task Force is in the bureau of the Department of Streets and Sanitation's rodent control team.

"Our trash cans were open so that made it convenient for any rodents to come from there and come to our facilities," said Ahzahnyah Ben Israel, a maintenance and storage employee at Soul Vegetarian restaurant, to ChicagoNow's Message from Montie blogger. "So we had to secure all of those areas and our door spaces so that that could be prevented."

Soul Vegetarian restaurant is confident that their regular customers and new customers should not be hesitant to come back into the vegetarian restaurant.

Hot water cornbread, vegetarian black eyed peas and vegetarian collard greens, cooked by Shamontiel

Telling someone I'm a vegetarian always leads to three types of conversations--the fascinating conversation, the bonding conversation or the frustrating conversation. The frustration happens when someone chooses to accuse a vegetarian (or a vegan) of being unhealthy, needing meat in their lives and the indifferent attitude about slaughterhouses. The fascinating conversations are the ones I have with people who are interested in eating healthier or trying the vegetarian or vegan lifestyle but really just don't know where to start and ask for advice. The bonding conversations are the ones I have with people who act like a Chicago south sider would if he (or she) went to another state and saw someone rocking an entire outfit of the Chicago White Sox. You just want to walk up and hug the person for rooting for your team.

When I first became a vegetarian, I was hit with questions left and right about how and what do I eat, and I really didn't know what I was doing. I just knew I didn't want to eat meat or fish anymore. I went from gaining about fifteen pounds because I was eating fatty foods all day long to having to go see a doctor because of dizzy spells when I calmed down on the fat.

If you don't have someone who can give you advice on how to transition from an omnivore to a vegetarian or a vegan, it can be tiresome. You may just decide to give up. But don't. Here are a list of articles and blogs I've written over the years since becoming a pescatarian in 2004 to a lacto vegetarian in 2005. Read on to check out the links that include healthy eating, news, radio and print interviews, recipes, restaurants, vegan shopping advice and Web site networking.

Blogger's Note, 1/17/10: Judging from the massive amount of visits to this blog but so few on the follow-up blog stating that Soul Vegetarian has re-opened, some are still unaware that the restaurant is back in business. Readers, please feel free to check out "Soul Vegetarian and Eternity Juice Bar restaurants re-open after passing city inspection."

 

Soul Vegetarian East and Eternity Juice Bar restaurants were closed late Tuesday night on Dec. 15 by Mayor Daley's Dumpster Task Force. These two restaurants were temporarily shut down due to pest control and mice infestation, including over 700 mice droppings at Soul Veg and over 300 mice droppings at Eternity Juice Bar.

The Task Force was in the area because of complaints about garbage and rodent activity. When inspectors paid a visit to the vegetarian restaurant and juice bar, over 1,000 mice droppings were found in a common storage area, and the restaurants were immediately shut down. Soul Vegetarian restaurant is located at 205 E. 75^th Street and Eternity Juice Bar is located at 203 E. 75th Street.

"They will not be able to open until they've cleaned their operations from top to bottom," said Matt Smith, spokesman for the Department of Streets and Sanitation, to ChicagoNow's Message from Montie blogger. "They've [also got to] show our task force inspectors plans for revamping their housekeeping and pest control efforts and then they have to inspect and pass a very tough re-inspection."

This past week, I was honored with interviewing two of Crain's 40 Under 40 professionals, Sherman Wright and Ahmad Islam from Commonground, a marketing agency that embraces multiculturalism. I think it's so respectable how they're building a bridge to encourage diversity where there was none. Other marketing companies are jumping on the bandwagon slowly but surely, but I knew about many of Commonground's products before I'd ever heard of Commonground so to find out that they'd achieved the honor of Crain's Chicago list for 2009 wasn't a surprise. I talked with these two entrepreneurs about social networking, diversity in marketing, their advertising and marketing background, and the economy.

And on Monday, Nov. 23, I was flattered to be invited to their 40 Under 40 Honoree Reception at a Chicago bar and restaurant called Clutch, located at 459 N. Ogden Avenue, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Line circles around waiting for Soul Vegetarian East food to deliver second batch

I've been a vegetarian for four years and I was a pescatarian for one year, but it still boggles my mind when I go to vegetarian or vegan events and see massive amounts of people who eat like me, maybe because we're only about 2.5 percent of the population. It's not like I think I'm the only one who's a vegetarian, but when you hang out with omnivores all the time who have no interest in vegan food, a food connection is a relief. However, when I arrived at the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse at 9:45 a.m., and saw a line around the corner and past 1419 W. Blackhawk, I was shocked.

People of all ages, races and sizes came out for the Chicago VeganMania event, and I heard one lady bragging about how she was there and her friend was not, and how she needed to come asap before the doors even opened. A couple was kissing to create body heat, and loads of people had on their knit hats, coats and even scarves just to keep warm, another reason I didn't expect such a turnout. When the doors did open at 10:00 a.m., it took me until 10:18 a.m. to get inside in 40-something degree weather. Word of advice next year: Treat Chicago VeganMania like a music concert and arrive extra early.

Quinoa chili, multigrain gluten-free chips, Millennium Perk protein drink

When I tell people I'm a vegetarian, usually meat eaters will either tease me by telling me how much they love the taste of meat or I'll hear concerns about how much protein I'm lacking by not eating meat. While I roll my eyes at the first crew, I respect the second group for understanding the health issues that many vegetarians are faced with. As a substitute for protein, I often eat tofu and other soy products (usually Morningstar® and Amy's®), along with peanut butter items. I frequent vegetarian restaurants like Vegetarian Life and Alice & Friends, and every once in awhile, I'll stop through Soul Vegetarian East. And now I have a new restaurant to add to the list of healthy dining fast food places that cater to omnivores and vegetarians besides Quench!, and it's called Protein Bar™.

Although I'm a vegetarian, I try to be cognizant of those who have no interest in the vegetarian lifestyle by selecting restaurants that have vegetarian and meat items on their menus. The only problem is many of these restaurants will only have one or two items, and after a couple visits, that gets old. This is why I appreciate restaurants like the five mentioned above. There is enough of a selection that I won't get bored with and plenty to choose from.

Outside of Protein Bar™ Chicago restaurant

Outside of Quench restaurant

 

After graduating from Lincoln University (MO) and moving back home to Chicago, I decided to move to the north side after living on the south side for 18 years of my life. The job I'd been hired for was in Vernon Hills, IL, and traveling three and a half hours with no car was not enjoyable, especially for someone who hates waking up before 10 a.m. I needed to move closer to my job location, but I still wanted to live in the city. However, I also made a final decision on becoming a vegetarian, and the north side had a plethora of vegetarian restaurants to choose from, like Alice & Friends.

 

On the south side, it was easy for me to find fatty, greasy foods, and there definitely wasn't a shortage of burger and chicken joints, but when you don't eat food like that, it becomes a hindrance.