The Black Vegan

AMAZING. Probably my fav spot since I came to visit Chicago. Its obviously a re-decorated La Michoacana but that doesnt take away from the atmosphere the owners have crafted and the waitress was super sweet and willing to explain the menu to us. We ordered one platter at first with 4pc ribs and their plant based burger with a side of Mac n cheese — amazing. The ribs were delicious and crispy and the burger was seasoned divinely. The Mac n Cheese?? It reminded my friend a little bit of stuffing flavour-wise. It was creamy, well seasoned, and well portioned. We had their strawberry cheesecake too, definitely recommend. We ended up ordering another platter with jerk sliders and bbq sliders and their Mac N Cheese again of course. Also delicious, the jerk dry rub had a little bit of a spice to it but nothing super spicy. Will definitely visit again if I come back to Chicago.

Whoever is the new cook needs to be fired immediately! How is the mac cheese greasy and tasteless? Seriously. The portobello wings were swimming in sauce and soggy. The lions mane wings were overcooked. And I never received my icees. At least reach out to the customer if you are out of an item. I am in shock, the food is usually very good and I was super excited for a lackluster food experience.

I am giving The Black Vegan a solid 2.5 as the service was great, but the food completely missed the mark. We arrived about 6:20 pm on a Saturday and left at 7:07 pm. My son and I had just finished driving from Mpls, MN and Google returned this place as a top black owned vegan restaurant. We ordered the mac and cheese, Carolina gold lion's mane wings, oyster shrimp, 290 burger, lemon pepper fries with mild sauce (only ordered for the sauce and they forgot the sauce), and lemon cheesecake. The cheesecake flipped over in the bag, so that was inedible. The fries did not have sauce and when I pulled a fry out, there was a long white string/thread on it, so those were not eaten. The lion's mane wings were horribly undercooked, as were the oyster shrimp. I cut a piece of the burger and the mushrooms just looked wet, not cooked, and the burger was overcooked. One bite, I was done. The mac and cheese was ok. My son ate a few bites and did not care for it. I am super hurt this place did not work out because it was not cheap and it looks so good! Yes, I messaged them on IG, but it was a chat "invite" and the restaurant was already closed. 5.29.25 Update: Still NO response from owner or management, but they made sure to get their money. I should have disputed the charge, since the food was inedible and no one cared to reach out. The pictures tell the story.

AMAZING vegan southern comfort food! The flavors of the sauce were TASTY! Had the Spicy sauce with the lions mane wings & the Carolina Gold sauce with the tofu ribs. They were out of BBQ so this was a first with this sauce and I think she should add it to the menu cause it was FIRE! The Mac and cheese was rich, creamy & cheesy. Can’t wait to try EVERYTHING on the menu! :)

I was amazed by the vegan selections available. The 290 Burger was very well seasoned had a nice spicy kick. The vegan cheese used is very rich and creamy, it was so delicious. I appreciate also the community resources available in her restaurant. Overall, tasty and well seasoned vegan food that I can tell was made with love.

Had lunch here today and was impressed! Ordered the BBQ Jackfruit Sliders with a side of greens and mac & cheese—total came to about $18. The sliders were smoky and satisfying, and the mac & cheese was creamy with a nice kick. The greens were well-seasoned, though a bit salty for my taste. The staff was friendly, and the vibe was laid-back. Definitely a solid spot for vegan comfort food.

After reading all the reviews, I decided to try this restaurant for myself. The atmosphere was both calming and visually intriguing, with cute tables, soothing music, and small altars scattered throughout( no judgment here). Overall, the service was excellent, even for takeout, and the food was impressive for a first-time visit. I had the platter with 2 main dishes & a large side. Also, the strawberry cheesecake.

Sparkle is my fave 💜 the atmosphere was like a meditative movie scene and the food had my tastebuds doin da happy dance. i ordered the 290 Burger. thank you for this lovely experience!!! i will be back with friends <3

I passed by The Black Vegan for lunch. They have several options from bbq ribs, portebella wings, gyro, shrimp burger, loaded fries and more! I got the portobello wings with mild sauce and fries. I also tried their orange chicken with sesame seeds. The flavor of both was amazing. There's plenty of street parking and seating inside the restaurant.

I've been here before and came back again to try the sliders. De-li-cious! I almost wished I had gotten more. But with the ample amount of fries that were included, I was beyond full. The BBQ sliders had just enough of everything-crispiness, seasoning, yummy onions. I'm looking forward to trying everything else on the menu!

I ordered from here on a delivery service. I was excited to try based off the menu. When I received my order the package and presentation was pretty basic, but the food was very subpar. The oyster mushrooms had little flavor, only garlic tasting and the batter was greasy. However, the greens were over-seasoned and the mac n cheese tasted like mustard. I also ordered the ribs which is only barbecued tofu, nothing special. I had high hopes but I was disappointed by the order.

I went here for the first time yesterday for a vegan meet up. Sparkle is a great chef and business owner. I had the ribs and the french fries. Everything was delicious. The Black Vegan Restaurant is a hidden gem. Sidenote, this is one time in my life I didn't take pictures of my food, lol!

We had the vegan Thanksgiving meal from here a couple of years ago. It was SO good. The ribs and sauce were so yummy. The pie wasn't the best looking dessert, but the flavor was excellent. This is definitely a must try for vegans (or non vegans!).

Sooo good! The food is so good and reasonably priced. The owner and staff were very friendly and had good service. I had the bbq ribs +fries, italian beef, mac n cheese, and banana pudding. I've never had a vegan italian beef and was shook at how tasty and authentic the flavor was. The ribs were my favorite, tasted more like chicken to me but still addictively good. If you're vegan you know how disgusting vegan mac n cheese can be -- this was the best i've ever had!! And the banana pudding.... Seemed more bread-based than vanilla wafer based and I love the natural banana flavor, no synthetic pudding taste at all!! I will be driving all the way from Chatham to eat here again.

Been meaning to try this place out. Finally got a good chance. So I'd say the ordering system is weird. It's online and I couldn't for the life of me find a phone number. So I was like does this place exist? But I saw on the Facebook page it exists and should be open so I made an online order. I showed up and sure enough exists, open and with a friendly employee making the food all on their own. They got a bit backed up and apologized for the wait so don't go here if you are in a hurry. They finally brought the food out to my car and it smelled delicious! Got it home and nicely presented and sure enough very tasty. A bit too salty but it was also the coarse good salt that just tastes more salty. They forgot to put on the whip cream and accidentally gave me a strawberry cheesecake when I ordered a plain but all and all very tasty food, nice friendly service and I would definitely go back! Can't wait to try the wings next time!

Sparkle, sparkle!! The best vegan 'ribs' that I've ever had and the sesame mushrooms blew the roof off! The buffalo sauce was not my favorite but I still ate them all, maybe switch to frank's red hot? One of the only vegan places in the area but there was no line and the service was the best I've ever had. Celery salt on fries?! Who knew?!?

I had high hopes for the vegan ribs thinking it was seitan with bbq sauce but instead it was just tofu rectangles in bbq sauce. Not worth $13.

This place is INCREDIBLE! I am obsessed with the loaded fries and the BBQ portebella wings and ribs. They also do gluten free Fridays! The owner couldn't be sweeter and the food is simply always delicious. I am so grateful that this spot opened and if you haven't tried it yet I HIGHLY recommend it.