A Vegan Dream Come True

Yep, I finally did it.. I finally was able to go the famous vegetarian restaurant, The Chicago Diner.

But before I start to write about my awesome dinner there, I’d like to blog about the snack I ate this afternoon that totally blew my mind away.

After scanning the aisles of Whole Foods recently, I came across a yogurt I’d never seen before. It was So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurt. This product really intrigued me, so I bought one container of the Strawberry Banana flavor and boy, do I regret not having bought more! This yogurt was so creamy, so rich, and just so perfect. It was the most delicious yogurt I’ve ever eaten, vegan or not. If you do come across this yogurt, don’t pass it up! It is so good, you won’t be disappointed! I enjoyed my yogurt with a side of sweet kiwi.. yum!

I decided to save my appetite in order to fully enjoy my first ever meal from The Chicago Diner, since my big sister surprised me today with an invite. I had been nagging and begging my family to take me to this place for quite some time now, so I guess they’ve had enough of my begging and decided to finally take me there today.

Wow, this place is a vegan’s dream come true! While the diner is vegetarian, it is very vegan friendly, and I was so overwhelmed with meal options, I thought my head would explode, lol. After much thought and consideration, I finally decided to order the Red Pepper Ravioli, which the menu describes as “zucchini, tomato, red pepper & onion filling, ‘creamy’ tomato-vodka sauce, with pesto vegetable saute & garlic bread”.

YUMO … that’s all I can say. Scratch that.. add to that, wowza, amazing, and dee-licioso! Wow, this dish was crazy good! The filling was so creamy, and dare I say, cheesy? I don’t even know how they did that, but was the ravioli ever so good. And that tomato-vodka sauce paired so perfectly with the ravioli that there was a taste explosion in my mouth. So, so good!

Unfortunately, I did have to share half of my plate (the garlic bread was snatched away, too) with my little sister, a usually VERY picky meat eater, who just had rave reviews for the food here. My mom and big sister also really enjoyed their meals, too, and I was just so glad to hear them actually enjoy completely vegan meals. It totally made my day.

Now, it is most certainly a crime if you come to The Chicago Diner and NOT order a vegan dessert. A crime, I tell you! So when are waiter asked if we were interested in any dessert for tonight, we had to say yes.

I’m so glad I ended up sharing my plate because that meant I would have room for dessert. My little sister and I decided to share a dessert and after looking over the choices, I knew I just had to order the Peanut Butter Chocolate Bar (because, as you all well know, I LOVE PB).

OH MY GOODNESS… I was in peanut butter heaven, guys! This dessert was perfectly ooey, nutty, and oh-so-buttery. Now, I didn’t really care for all the chocolate ganache on top of the bar (luckily, my sister happily gobbled it up for us), but the bar was just out of this world. My sister and I were very happy in my dessert selection and so were my mom and big sis who decided to order…

The Cherry Vanilla Cheesecake. I had to quickly snap this picture because my mom and sis were ready to hork this baby down! Luckily, I was able to give this slice of paradise a taste bite, and whoa, was this so good.

After eating all of this veggie goodness, we decided to take a stroll down Lake Shore Drive, to help with the digesting, you know. ;-P

I am happy to report that my family’s first vegetarian meal was a complete success and be rest assured, there will definitely be more meals to eat here. 😀