Healthy Substance Kitchen

My wife & I have been coming here on & off over several years, & it has been wonderful to see them grow & endure as a vegan small business which is also woman & latino owned 💙 We will support them always for that alone & love their values & how they are proud to share them! Being vegan & gluten-free, my wife & I often struggle to find good, quality food where we can dine out, especially when it comes to breakfast & latino food which we LOVE so much. This spot has always had options for us that are so yummy, & we love that they use JustEgg & provide hearty meals that taste culturally authentic 💯 😪 As much as I love this place tho, I've come to be a lil' disappointed in recent years. Mostly bc I became GF (my gut's choice, not mine) & then realized that meant I was limited on options from their menu since there are no GF bread options. There are no GF desert options either. While I love me some corn tortillas, tamales & gorditas, I very much miss tortas (& sammies in general) & burritos. Many GF breads out there often contain egg making them not vegan, but I know for a fact there ARE brands that offer vegan/GF bread options since I buy them in grocery stores. There are also dedicated GF small business bakeries that offer vegan products that restaurants can partner with. Burrito-sized vegan/GF tortillas also exist. I wish more vegan spots would acknowledge that gluten intolerance is on the rise & that many of us would appreciate options to accommodate the vegan/GF community. I say this with love & not with any bad intentions but I'd visit more if I could eat more options. Aside from that, while I really love how creative & presentable their menu is, which is displayed on 3 large screens in-store, it is somewhat confusing. We so much appreciate when menus are marked with icons to indicate wheat, soy, nuts, etc for dietary restrictions... but I've found it is not marked accurately. I've asked about menu items that are NOT marked with the wheat or GF icon, only to be told the item DOES contain wheat. Not sure how that came to be, but it would be great if it were overviewed & fixed to relay accuracy. I don't like to have to bother staff with questions, we really do our best to inform ourselves & read everything, but I don't like when the menu is unclear either. It is also not fun when the staff member at the counter, most of the time a young man named Diego, seems to have an unhappy demeanor. Often he comes off as if he does not want to be there or seems inconvenienced when approached with menu questions, which doesnt make me feel confident staff is entirely informed on the menu either. I'm left wondering if he's okay? bc the interactions are not entirely welcoming, which is a bummer bc a friendly, kind engagement from staff can lend to a much more positive experience. While the menu can be a lil' pricey, it is one of the more affordable vegan spots, & we do appreciate the generous, tastey portions which hit the spot. Tho we didn't expect the Chilaquiles to basically be crispy chips with salsa & chz shreds on top since authentically they are usually made soft (we are latinas ourselves who cook culturally at home) I wasnt looking to eat nachos for breakfast. Love love love the beans, rice & salsas, just wasnt what I was expecting in that dish. They never seem to have horchata anymore either, which is our favorite & this was like one of the only places to find it made without milk. We really love this spot, but wish these things would improve. Especially considering we drive almost 40 mins to visit & support their business. Overall, we will always recommend this spot for healthy vegan latino food options, one of the best around Chicago! 💙

GLUTEN FREE VEGAN HEAVEN!!!!!!! Was so happy to finally make it to this restaurant! Very clear what is gluten free and SO MANY OPTIONS! THE STEAK TACOS WERE TO DIE FOR! Also, all of the tamales are GF, I only got to try two but the Poblano Pepper Tamale was amazing. Finally, the rice pudding was the perfect finish to my meal. Sweet but not so sweet you don't want to finish the serving...great serving size too, not to huge not too small . 10/10 recommend. On top of amazing food, the staff was so kind and helpful with recommendations. We had a fair sized order for 2 people and I decided to tip $15 bc I love what the restaurant stands for and they threw in two huge drinks (tasted like a really delicious sweet fresh drink, like the best tea you'll ever have) and a desert for my bf. Love this place and can't wait to come back