Vegan Now 2 Go: What’s Vegetarian Editorial Review

Vegan Now 2 Go is a fast-casual vegan spot in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, and it serves soul food built on seitan, mushrooms, hearts of palm, and soy protein. The restaurant calls its food plant-based and says its dishes honor soul food culture. Seitan, mushrooms, hearts of palm, and soy protein fill the sandwiches, so a vegetarian or vegan isn’t hunting for the one safe item.

The family behind it matters. Vegan Now 2 Go says it continues the legacy of Soul Veg City, the vegan restaurant Prince Asiel Ben Israel founded on Chicago’s South Side in 1981. His children, Arel Brown and Lori Seay, now lead Soul Veg City, and Vegan Now 2 Go carries that cooking into a quick-service format with online ordering, an app, and a rewards program.

Order from the grill section first. The Vegan Chicken Gyro stacks SWAP vegan chicken, onion, tomatoes, and tzatziki and comes with fries for $15. The Vegan Smash Burger uses a mushroom patty, cheddar cheese, lettuce, onion, tomatoes, and pickles for $16. The Sweet Steak Hoagie fills a roll with seitan or mushrooms, sweet steak sauce, cheese, tomatoes, and hot giardiniera for $16, and the Pattie Melt grills a mushroom patty with onions and mushrooms for $14. Now Wingz are deep-fried oyster mushrooms in a mild sauce, also $15 with fries. The Palm Fish Sandwich builds a hearts-of-palm patty with tartar sauce for $14.

Smaller orders hold up too. Tacos use three corn tortillas with grilled seitan crumbles, soy cheese, onions, peppers, and salsa for $10, with an optional jerk sauce. Jerk Nachos top chips with jerk seitan and soy cheese at $12. Crispy Cauliflower runs $9, DrumSticks cost $10, and a platter of vegan shrimp with tartar sauce costs $12. The Matrix, a corn, tomato, mushroom, and olive panini with chipotle mayo, costs $8.99. The kids’ menu has five chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and mini nachos with seitan crumbles. Sides include crab salad and chicken salad at $8 each. Cakes and pies cost $5.99, cookies cost $4.99, and drinks include Joe’s Tea, ginger drinks, and watermelon juice.

Some menu entries use plain names such as cheese, bologna, crab salad, and chicken salad, with no note that they’re plant-based. The restaurant presents itself as a vegan business, and Yelp files it under Vegan, but the online menu doesn’t label every ingredient. Ask at the counter if you need confirmation on a specific item. Soy, wheat, and seitan show up on most plates. Gluten-free diners should ask, since the restaurant publishes no gluten-free list.

The restaurant sits at 1536 E. 75th Street. It’s open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and it closes Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. Dine-in, takeout, and delivery are all available, and the site also lists catering, events, and gift cards. Most plates run $9 to $16, and the Ham & Cheese panini and the Matrix cost $8.99 each.

Order the Vegan Chicken Gyro, and check the weekday hours before you go.