Fancy Plants Cafe: What’s Vegetarian Editorial Review

Fancy Plants Cafe is a fully vegan coffee shop on Briar Place in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, open daily from morning through mid-afternoon. Everything on the menu, coffee drinks, pastries, food, is vegan. A vegan visitor can order anything on the board without a modifier or a question to the counter staff.

Breakfast is where the kitchen does its most specific work. The NY Bagel comes with cashew cream cheese and carrot lox, a plant-based riff on a bagel-and-lox plate: carrot instead of smoked salmon, cashew cream instead of dairy cream cheese. Breakfast sandwiches use Just Egg, a plant-based liquid egg product, in place of real egg. The cafe also runs breakfast burritos and croissant sandwiches for anyone who wants something more portable.

The pastry case is the other strong reason to go. Cherry Lavender Scones. A Truffle Mushroom and Brie Pastry served with an arugula salad. Both show up as named items, and the cafe carries gluten-free pastries from Mindful Baking for anyone managing both restrictions at once. House-made vegan pastry plus a dedicated gluten-free line is uncommon enough to be worth the trip on its own.

For something closer to lunch, a Fancy Grilled Cheese and a Greek Spinach Pie cover the savory side. Soups and salads round out the daily options, along with rotating specials that change almost daily depending on what’s in season. The printed menu isn’t the whole story on any given visit.

Coffee runs on Big Shoulders beans and Rishi tea. The espresso program leans into specific, named drinks rather than a generic latte, a Cherry Lavender Scone paired with a Creme Brulee Latte is one combination the cafe itself calls out. Every drink is dairy-free by default. There’s no dairy in the building.

Because the kitchen is entirely vegan, there’s no cross-contact risk from meat, dairy, or eggs. Real advantage over a mixed kitchen, for a dairy allergy as much as a vegan choice.

The cafe has built a loyal following in the neighborhood. Reviewers regularly call it out as one of the better vegan finds on the North Side, praising the atmosphere as much as the food. It’s a small space built for sitting down with a coffee, not a high-volume counter operation. Expect a real cafe pace, not a fast-casual line.

Hours run 8am to 4pm every day, a breakfast-and-lunch stop, not a dinner destination. In Lakeview and want a sit-down vegan breakfast that doesn’t feel like a compromise? Order the NY Bagel or a breakfast sandwich with a coffee. Expect a real cafe experience, table service included, not a grab-and-go counter.