Pick Me Up Cafe

Pick me up cafe’s name is exactly how the experience felt. You feel very welcomed and they treat you like you are family and want you to have the best experience possible. I will say I haven’t had vegan pizza, nachos or a cake ever and I will say I was very pleased. Nachos are large enough that it could have been a meal on its own. If you try pick me up cafe you won’t be disappointed!

Such a cool little place with a varied menu and good options for all diets. Drunken chicken skewers were delicious and the special chicken salad Sammy was a classic with a twist (cinnamon) and very tasty. Funky atmosphere and lots of vegetarian/vegan options.

I stopped in here while I was killing time, getting a tire repaired around the corner. The drinks are reasonably priced, and the food was great! I have certain diet restrictions and they had many options for people in my situation. I got the chorizo tostadas and I would recommend them for sure!! they also have a cute little patio out front, luckily the weather was perfect for it today.

Waiter was accommodating and portion was big. I had the vegan chocolate chip pancakes 😋 oh and it was affordable

One of my favorite restaurants in Chicago. Great vegan options. I miss the old location but the food is still amazing.

The food is absolutely divine. The vegan pancakes tasted no differently than the regular pancakes. There are so many variations of the pancakes and French toast as well, with the option to "vegan" the dish. Potatoes were perfectly seasoned, and the portions were suitable for 2 meals.

A perfect little cafe!! Enjoyed the menu and Gluten Free options. The food was tasty, the service was excellent, and the atmosphere is fun. Highly recommend!!

delicious food and exceptionally friendly service! would love to come back!

This hybrid hipster cafe/diner was a highlight of a recent weekend in town. Fantastic breakfast and lunch selections, the portions are huge and the quality of the food is excellent. Lots of vegan selections and they are very accommodating at tailoring your dietary/allergy needs. They even serve cocktails. (and a sign acknowledging they do have malort) The 3-egg omelette was fluffy, huge and delicious with a generous portion of home fries on the side. Iced coffee rounded off a perfect breakfast. Also at the table was a grilled peach salad that was amazing. Topped off with chicken, it was meal in itself. Returned for lunch the next day. They were out of their shrimp ceviche special (which left me disappointed...but what 'diner' does shrimp ceviche??) The ranch chicken wrap was a generous portion. I'm glad I asked for a side of their wing sauce. It's a little different, on the smoky side. But a great accompaniment to the ranch. The pasta salad is amazing. Wheat spirals with red and green peppers, onions, and it a was phenomenal side. If the weather's nice, the al fresco tables are fantastic, even with a relatively busy sidewalk. The interior is eclectic, but the acoustics make it a bit loud when it's busy. That said, if the volume of conversation (a testament to how popular the food is) is the only knock on a place, it's worth trying out for yourself.

This was my first visit to the café. It has a fun and funky vibe. My group of four were all happy with their meals. I opted for breakfast and selected veggies in an omelette, two slices of gluten-free bread and a side salad. It was a very good amount of food and I ended up bringing half of it home. It was tasty, the service was quick and the server was friendly. The other people in my group ordered soup and sandwiches. They were all very happy with their selections as well. I would recommend this place and would definitely go back again.

The decor of this place is very eclectic. However don't let that stop you from trying some great tasty food. Cafe Americano 3/5: decent roast of coffee Cheeze fries ,: these are topped with vegan cheese. They were delicious and surprisingly I like the vegan cheese. 3.5/5 Buffalo tofu salad : 4/5 generous and huge portions of Buffalo tofu What kept this from being a 5 out of five was the amount of dressing they give you it could have been a little bit more. Everything was fresh. Peanut butter chocolate cake 5/5 all i am going to says is : get this cake!! You won't regret it if you like peanut butter and chocolate.

I was in the neighborhood and looking for someplace with free wi-fi. This place was nice enough. The light is very low, and it can be a bit noisy, depending on the crowd. This is one of those places where the booth seats are low compared to the tables, or maybe the tables are high compared to the seats. The food was okay. I thought it was maybe a tad overpriced. I just had a snack, and didn't really explore the menu fully. I'd go back. I'd like to see how it is on a different day at a different time, and maybe try something else. I just got cheese fries because I wanted something to nibble on, and they were okay. They use actual melted cheddar instead of sauce, which was good.

Pick me up cafe's name is exactly how the experience felt. You feel very welcomed and they treat you like you are family and want you to have the best experience possible. I will say I haven't had vegan pizza, nachos or a cake ever and I will say I was very pleased. Nachos are large enough that it could have been a meal on its own. If you try pick me up cafe you won't be disappointed!

The best vegan pancakes I've had! But also the worst vegan Mac I've ever seen. It was soupy, and rotini. We told the server that was disgusting, and she said it's perfectly fine and would not take it back, so we deducted it from the tip. Worst customer service ever by that server. Everyone else was great. The food was borderline gross except for the pancakes. Soooo good.

Okay sometimes the food quality changes a bit but we still go very consistently. Sometimes their specials are great especially in April. The shrimp poboy is bomb. Services can be spotty even usually ordering to go. It's a cute interior though and a nice brunch spot.

The food here is always top notch. Service is fast and friendly. Good place to sit outside and people watch.

Great Customer Service and Very Clean Bathroom, Restaurant. The Nachos were Good but I prefer the Nachos at Chicago Dinner. Perfect Portion Size, and Affordable Pricing. I ordered Bottled Root-beer as well. The cheese had an after taste and I didn't like the chips. I love the salsa and fresh avocado on the nachos. The entire staff was very kind and much better welcoming vibe for dining in compared to Chicago Diner!

Cool hipster feeling and nearly vegetarian cafe. It has something for almost anyone's breakfast and lunch. Pick Me Up Cafe is one of the places that gets overlooked close to Andersonville on Clark Street. Mostly good prices considering the quality and how big the portions are. There's lots that's already vegan or can be modified to fit needs and preferences. After looking up the vegan places for breakfast, we came here. It's not totally a vegetarian restaurant, but they have lots of options. The breakfast menu is the main thing. It's full of things for everyone. The tofu scrambles are good for egg substitutes. It's about $11 for a meal. Plenty enough for meat eaters too. I got the Vegan Tofu Scramble. This is scrambled tofu mixed with cilantro, garlic, green peppers, mushrooms, onions, potatoes, red peppers, and tomatoes. Comes with choice of bread. Get a bagel or toast. Filling meal. She got the Vegan Pancakes. Big stack full and fluffy. This was good for not that much, cheaper than many other places with this kind of stuff. Go here at breakfast or at lunch. It also has lunch items such as sandwiches. There's plenty to get at any time for vegans and vegetarians.

Love this little spot! Great menu with many veg and vegan items. We Love the cheese fries! Milkshakes are the best. They also serve alcohol and plenty of street parking out front. Kid friendly and kitchy decor.

Cute place with good food. Forgot what I had but it was a good sized portion and was delicious.

I prefer dining local. Been here a few times. Service is usually slow. Today a bit slower than normal. Ordered Avocado Toast which indicated avocado spread with an egg noted as sunny side up. Asked for the egg to be scrambled and was told that was NOT an option for the avocado toast. The avocado was served in slices not a spread. Side salad was very good. Mostly disappointed today.

This place was great for brunch. We were able to walk in and get seated right away. The staff was suu it per friendly. Our server worked with me and my annoying dietary restrictions. Food was yum!

I had an ok meal at Pick Me Up Cafe. I arrived at about 11:30 am on a Sunday and was quoted a 30 min wait for two people. It actually only took about 15 min to be seated! However, once we were seated, we waited another 15 min for a server to come to our table, and actually had to ask the hostess to send someone over. The food took about 30 min to arrive once we ordered. The iced coffee was good, and a bargain priced at $2.75! I had the tofu Benedict. I love eggs Benedict and was excited to try a vegan version. I have two complaints: 1. It came out cold and 2. The tofu was cubes (instead of scrambled or crumbled), which made it difficult to eat. There were a ton of peppers and tomatoes, and the sauce was good but not super flavorful. My friend had the Buffalo chicken wrap, which she said was tasty. The fries had seasoning on them. Free street parking out front on Sunday!

Walked over to this place for brunch while on vacay in Chicago. I was able to be seated immediately (granted it was a Monday). It's a cute little place inside. The service was kind of slow. But, I wasn't in a hurry. I had the clown combo (2 eggs, 2 pancakes, toast or bagel & choice of meat. served with home fries). I asked for my eggs over-medium and the turkey sausage. My eggs were very much over-hard. And, while the turkey sausage had a good flavor, it was tough and also overcooked. The pancakes were delish. I also had a mocha that was good.

I downloaded yelp just to make this review. To start one star is a generous rating I would give zero stars if it were possible. The staff is unhelpful to the point where basic task such as getting change is laborious ordeal. If the service isn't what loses your business, then the attitude and customer service of staff will.

Looks like PMUC is still riding the rave reviews that it had from their previous location. We were so disappointed with our experience. My Benedict was dry and boring, wife's meal was almost too spicy to eat, and our last second add in of a short stack (due to no kids menu) did not arrive till after we had finished our meal. Considering the timing where there were not many diners a short stack should have been quick. When I asked our server where they were and if not started to cancel they claimed that they were almost ready, then took far longer than a hotcake to bake. Crazy part is a table that ordered 7 min after our late order got their full meals 5 min before we got our extra. Our server was far more busy with side work than serving it seemed. RE the new location, they tried but the old space was unique, quirky and fun. New, they tried but it is had to make a sterile box as much fun. Music was so loud too.

Huge menu selection at affordable prices for breakfast, lunch, and brunch. Two of my favorite things was the extensive amount of veg and vegan options as well as the tea selection- it was almost impossible to choose what tea I wanted because they all sounded so unique and scrumptious. I settled on a lox and bagel platter with a side of two eggs and a coconut almond green tea. The tea smelled divine as it steeped. Unfortunately, having arrived relatively early for brunch before the rush, was expecting service to be a bit speedier. However, our party of 2 waited over half an hour for our entrees. When served, my entree was completely cold, eggs over cooked (hard and fried, not medium as requested) and toasted bagel was cold as if never toasted. I only say this to inform that service could take a while and be sure to be patient. I could see everyone working hard, so kudos. I'll be back. There's so much more tea to try! Ps: they're open late! Til 10! And have bar/ alcohol offerings.

Great service. Had a dog and they brought my coffee out to me. The coffee down the street basically didn't care about helping.

My friends and I used to come here all the time back when they were in Lakeview. I've tried almost half of their menu. Everything's solid, but some items are better than others. My go-to is usually the veggie burger. My friend and I came to their new location on a Friday night and sat inside because outdoor seating was full. I got the chicken rub down which was great! That's probably my new go-to. My friend got the tofu wrap which she said she liked. Some pointers: the veggie chili is more like black bean soup, and the desserts sometimes look better than they taste. And the cheesecake is kinda weird.

One of the worst places to go for dinner in Chicago. The "Manager" Corey can not even mage the way she talk to clients. I ask straight out for the most popular vegan dish they have. They brought me a chicken wrap, when I asked to correct the order "She" showed up to tell me that the ghe kitchen was closing and they have "No time" to correct it. No appology, No sorry, No nothing just the option to take the cost of the ditch out of the check. Like if it was MY MYSTAKE!. What a way to ruin the reputation of a business just because you hired a " Manager" that doesn't know how to manage a business, a personnel neither the clients.

Delicious and creative food choices, friendly staff, fun and colorful decor and comfortable atmosphere! A Chicago "must visit" eatery!

Such a cute little place with a nice menu and fun atmosphere. I enjoy coming here on the weekends.

Meh. Cool art on the walls but not kid friendly. Food was good but not stellar. Service was pretty good.

I absolutely love pick me up café! It's a great spot both for getting together with friends and family or even a great spot to go for a solo homework date. They have great vegetarian and vegan options and a wide selection of drinks, including coffee beverages, as well as cocktails.

This place is hit or miss. Wether there is a line or not, it still takes forever and everyone working there seems like they don't want to be there. Unfortunately after this past Sunday we will not be going back. We were there for almost 2 hours and the restaurant was more than half empty. We didn't order drinks or anything just a late lunch but the whole experience was underwhelming and I'd rather watch paint dry while being hungry.

Buffalo chicken wrap is theeee best. Also the Garlicious breast. Thank you for being you, PMU!

Love this place! Great service, delicious menu, something for everyone's dietary needs. Always consistent. A very relaxed atmosphere and plenty of seating. A Chicago gem.

The space is really nice. My friend and I enjoyed their food. I had the Tuscany Scramble (special) and he had the Breakfast Burrito. The portions are definitely large. Service was slow as I felt like they were growing and roasting the coffee beans for my Americano. Also, the room temperature was very cold for someone who naturally prefers cold. Because of these two experiences, I cannot give a higher rating. However, I will go back hoping this was a glitch as the pancakes looked delicious a table over from me.

This is one of my go-to restaurants because it is just up the street from my house but I'd come here often even if I lived farther away. I have tried several dishes, both breakfast and lunch/dinner. My very favorite item to order is a make your own omelette- I usually pick spinach, bacon and cheddar. I always have to take 1/2 of it home for the next day. They also have very good OJ and coffee drinks. If I'm not in the mood for breakfast, I especially like their Buffalo Chicken Wrap with either soup of the day or fries. They also have a few monthly specials and I look forward to seeing their creations at the start of each month.

The staff is okay... but the food is soo good! There's so many options to pick from and never disappoint

Have been a few times since they moved to their new location. My favorite item off the menu is the vegan pizza grinder. For breakfast, the gluten free pancakes once - I wasn't a fan but my friend who is gluten free thought they were good. Coffee is just meh. Their desserts are hard to resist! Like many places, service is slow so it's best to avoid busy times. The decor is really cute and kitschy. LGBT friendly and your vegan/vegetarian friends will have no problem finding things to eat. It feels like a diner. Really casual and just a good spot when you're hungry in Andersonville.

Our first time to the new location. It's a smaller than the old location but still had the eclectic feel. Our server was friendly and helpful with questions about drink selections. I ordered the candy cane pancakes and my husband ordered the vegan santa fe scram. Always love ordering whatever pancakes are on special and we usually split some of our food up. It's all delicious.

Eclectic, friendly, filling. Pick Me Up Cafe is filled with youthful energy, color, art, and delicious aromas wafting in the air. There is plenty on the menu.

Always tastes consistently great. The wait on weekends can sometimes be long but it's worth it. Never leave disappointed.

Not sure why this place has such a high rating. I just had the worst dining experience I've had in years. After seating, it took our server at least 10 minutes to come take our order. It took 15 minutes to get our drinks, and 50 to get our food. Our server only stopped by after we were staring daggers at him and someone who appeared to be the manager at the 40 minutes mark. I was so angry when our food arrived I didn't even enjoy it. It was rage eating, because I was so hungry and just wanted to leave. There was no communication from staff about the delay, and no offer of a discount for the wait. I will never be going back here again.

My review is based off customer service and the turn around time for food. Came for lunch arrived at 2:30 pm ordered food about 10 minutes in and waited over 40 minutes just for a appetizer. The utensils were not clean and the place is definitely under staffed. Waited over a hour for avocado toast and side salad which ended up taking to go. The server even offer a discount for the inconvenience. I don't understand the hype on Yelp but This place for sure is one to avoid as of today. Maybe years ago it was the go to spot but if you want to eat in a normal time span then ur better off ordering Uber eats then to dine in this place

This is one of my go-to breakfast spots. I've never had to wait very long for a table, even when they're busy. I pretty much always end up going for the Gold Plate, a classic two-egg breakfast. I love that it comes with both home fries and toast! The over-medium eggs are always perfectly cooked, service is really friendly and on top of things without being overbearing, and the final bill doesn't make you cringe. A really great little neighborhood spot.

"This is my favorite breakfast spot, ever." -My partner. Yep. This place has something for everyone. We usually go for the veggie(him)/vegan(me) Benedict and it is a VERY generous plate of food. Think diner portions but....sanitary? And well cooked? It's the best of both worlds. I love this spot. Their pancakes are wonderful and they also have fun specials. I love their iced chai's. Stop in here for a coffee or a whole meal and you won't be disappointed!

Awesome spot! Fair priced for sure! They serve mimosas and have Cholula! Service is standard which is great! Only thing is they should get someone to bolt down the booth seat in front.

Need later hours! I loved their original 5pm-5am model. I'd be good with that or going back to 24 hours.

I ordered coffee from this place and I decided to sit in the patio to enjoy my coffee. First of all the coffee was cold and tested like shitt.So I took it like a man and sit to enjoy my over priced watered coffee. Long story short a waiter approached me and told me ( I am sorry but I have to kick you out ) so I said no problem let me get my refund and I leave he said come inside I said; Nope Thank you, i am good just bring me my refund I will wait her. Got my refund after 5 minutes and I asked the waiter to share his mane since he made contact with me he said I am not comfortable to give you my name but he was super comfortable to kid me out for no reason or explanation. So i decided to take seat until a manager comes out to ask me to leave. Finally a masked male come out and asked me what is going on I said ask your waiter So he did... come back to me and made the situation clear that to Go orders are not to sit on the patio and eat there order So I explained that i paid for my coffee and i like to enjoy it While I'm waiting for my car to be ready next door possibly 30 to 40 minutes. Just for the record 4 tables ware empty and there ware running out of most of there menu items anyway. This place is cute... stuff Not and managers need a bit of training and if you are a coffe shop, you need to work on your coffee services. Better coffee grains and a bitt warmer please. And please dont be racist. And hire a color person if you Mr. Joe owner claim that you are not racist. With that said I am super disappointed and I wont advice anyone to do business until you guys until I hear an apology from the real owners. Thank you for taking your time to read the fact about the place. And if you dont believe buy coffee and try to enjoy it before you get attacked by a Staff member unless they finally learned there lessons Large coffee is $3.50 more what Starbucks charges and any coffee shops in this country. Thank you

We ordered the Buffalo Tofu Salad and the Hummus Platter to go for lunch. The pita bread that came with the Hummus arrived warm and tasted so fresh. Hummus was great. The Buffalo Tofu was deed fried and tossed in buffalo sauce and the tofu was meaty in texture. This is a hearty salad and worth splitting with someone. Overall, we would order here again. We aren't vegetarians but didn't feel like we missed the meat with what we ordered.

This place is great if you're looking for lots of Vegan options, but DO NOT eat here if you have food allergies. The waitstaff assured us that there were no nuts in anything we ordered, we asked that they put a note about the allergy on the order for the kitchen anyways, then had a reaction to something almost immediately after starting to eat. The waitstaff then took their time bringing us boxes and our check -- over ten minutes when we told them we had to leave because of an allergic reaction, seriously?! The food we ordered may not have had nuts as ingredients like the waitstaff said, but if that's the case then there are serious cross contamination issues in their kitchen.

Really bad service and 10/10 the worst pancakes I ever had in my life. Waited 30 minutes for the pancakes, and when they arrived they had no flavor, they were falling apart and crumbling everywhere. I ordered them vegan and gluten free - and they added butter on top which makes zero sense. Peyton was super rude, and does not know how to treat customers. Literally kicked me out of the restaurant like a dog ( we were sitting outside) because I walked inside without a mask to ask for clean utensils because they gave us dirty and sticky utensils. Wrigley Location was a lot better. Never coming back here again.

Incredible food and service. I can't wait to go back. Stumbled upon this perfect place for breakfast and I need to try their vegan shamrock shake!!

What is going on with customer service any more? It's astonishing! I was in there this evening to get a dessert to go, and the kid who waited on me behind the counter was rudely abrupt and made no attempt to offer the basics of customer service, or at least what one is generally trained to learn in customer relations work. When I asked about vegan options in the dessert case, all the replies were simply "nope." And when I asked if they ever have vegan chocolate chip cookies or brownies, this person didn't even look at me, kept eyes cast downward, and again, offered a snappy "nope." (I can swear I've ordered such from your place before. In fact, I only asked this, because I expected I'd be told would when they are usually available). I worked in customer service for years, so it isn't as if I'm not sympathetic to when a person has a bad day. I'm consistently a good tipper, regardless, due to my insider knowledge and experience. This, however, was not "bad day" behaviour. This is a personality type that shouldn't hold positions in customer relations. This experience was enough to make me walk out and never want to return. Thankfully, there are now plenty of other vegan option restaurants and cafes with delicious desserts. And anyway, the food is not nearly as good as it was before. It's not like they don't have competition now, so they need to step up their game.

A perfect 10 all the way around! I am dbl vaccinated, but did not have my mask. I am very happy they allowed me to.stay because I just finished my work out after surveying a job - I was very hungry. I ordered a cup.of veggie chili and a grilled chicken salad (well done). BOTH WERE FLAWLESS! A high quality crisp romaine lettuce salad with fresh mushrooms, crisp cucumber, and home made honey mustard that was the best I've ever had anywhere. The chicken was perfectly cooked and I was not hungry when I left because they actually give you enough chicken in the salad - unlike some places. The veggie chili was very good with a nice bite of cayenne the way I like it, and the way I make it! I could not leave without getting a brownie to go that I was eyeballing since I walked in! It too was amazing. I earned that brownie! Haha The service was very friendly and courteous. Kudos to an owner and cook who take pride in serving high quality great tasting food! A true model for many other food establishments that just don't meet the mark. I have a project coming up next year in the neighborhood and I will definitely be back! Highly recommended