Vegan-friendly
Lacto
American
Take-out

Vegetarian counter-service restaurant serving typical American and diner fare: burgers, hot dogs, pizza puffs, tacos, and more. Everything on the menu is vegetarian, and everything on the menu can be made vegan. Black-owned. Open Mon-Thu 11:00am-9:00pm, Fri 11:00am-7:00pm, Sat 4:00pm-7:00pm, Sun 11:00am-7:00pm.


Venue map for Can't Believe It's Not Meat - Hyde Park
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36 Reviews

First Review by peteycards

communistcomrade1917

Points +22

Vegan
07 Apr 2025

Good food, skimps hard

Really authentic vegan options for any kind of comfort food you can imagine, but beware high prices--what starts as a $15 burger quickly becomes $20 after tips & fees. There is an upcharge for vegan cheese, and if you request ketchup you'll only receive 2 packets. Just feels strange being nickel-and-dimed so hard for a luxury meal that isn't super filling, plus being asked to tip when there is essentially no service involved, you just pick up your meal and leave.

Updated from previous review on 2025-04-07

Pros: Great, authentic taste, Easy to order and pick up, Friendly staff

Cons: "Vegan taxes", Stingy on portions

Vegan Vagabond

Points +5319

Vegan
14 Mar 2025

Great for vegan junk food

This is one of several locations. This location is carry out only, with some outdoor seating on the sidewalk. You place your order at the counter and then you give them your cell phone number and they text you when it’s ready. I got their vegan version of the big Mac and my wife got the buffalo wings. Each comes with breaded/battered french fries. Everything was sinfully good. 

franciscondine

Points +20

Vegan
05 Dec 2024

Try the Big Mik

The Big Mik is even better than the big name, double patty hamburger it’s an homage to! Seriously delicious

ElizabethCanright

Points +92

Vegan
07 Nov 2024

Magical tasting food

I had the opportunity to try the vegan gyro, the triple decker vegan turkey and bacon club, and vegan chocolate chip cookies.

The vegan gyro was very flavorful, especially with the vegan tzatziki and vegan cheddar cheese. The seitan was very delicious.

The triple decker sandwich was satisfying and the combination of vegan meat and vegan cheese was tasty.

The chocolate chip cookies were scrumptious, soft, gooey, and generous with the chocolate chips.

OskarHenriksson

Points +605

Vegan
23 Aug 2024

Delicious junkfood

Lots of fun, indulgent junk food classics in vegan/vegetarian versions! I particularly loved the Philly Cheesesteak!

·X·

Points +23598

Vegan
18 May 2024

Can’t Believe it’s not Meat

The big mik is the best vegan burger in Chicago! It’s even great as takeaway. 🤩🤩🤩

vegan55

Points +162

Vegan
30 Mar 2024

Almost like the real thing!

Tasty big Mac-style vegan burger.

Updated from previous review on 2024-03-30

Pros: Tasty burger, Good fries

Cons: Pricey

runveganvic

Points +21

Vegetarian
12 Mar 2024

Great food!

I ordered delivery and the fries are AMAZING!! Especially since they weren’t 100% fresh having been delivered.

The grilled cheese burger was good too, although it could have used a vegan sour cream or vegan ranch. Otherwise I loved the burger too!

Pros: Delicious fries!, Everything is vegetarian or vegan, The vegan cheese is INCREDIBLE.

JOBORK

Points +426

Vegan
02 Feb 2024

Delicious Comfort Food

I had the Big Mik and fries. It was made fresh and so delicious. The sauce was awesome! I’ll definitely be back!

ohgeorgia

Points +946

Vegan
16 Jan 2024

Vegan shrimp?!

My non-vegan partner loved his sandwich!

Really great menu with the option to make everything vegan. All of the dishes we had were dynamite, and - vegan shrimp?! I gasped. 😂 We'll definitely be back when we're in town!

Pros: wide variety, interesting options, cute interior

Cons: serves dairy

HannaBanana

Points +738

Vegan
02 Oct 2023

Easy order

We ordered via uber, quick and easy. Food too greasy unfortunately. Good offers though (2 for 1)

Pros: Almost everything vegan

Cons: Could offer more fresh items

GuacDoctor

Points +809

Vegan
07 Sep 2023

Great junk food

It's been awhile since I had good junk food and this place definitely delivers. The Philly melt tasted shockingly realistic and had the right balance of saltiness and greasiness if you're looking for that. Find an alternate plan for seating though; there are only two seats outside. Not too far from the Science and Industry museum for a lunch spot.

plantbasedbabe

Points +64

Vegan
03 Sep 2023

Yeah boy

Can't believe it taste so good

Updated from previous review on 2023-09-03

MagdalenMercado

Points +13

Vegetarian
19 Aug 2023

Totally delicious

All-vegetarian menu with vegan options for everything, lots of American and Chicago classics, burgers, sandwiches, hot dogs, etc. Definitely coming back. A bit pricey but what isn’t these days

Updated from previous review on 2023-08-19

karolciad

Points +176

Vegan
15 May 2023

Can't believe it's not meat!

Typical fast food.
Hot dogs are a bit small,so consider taking something extra on the side. My vegan nuggets were amazing

Cons: Looks like typical fast food place, eat and go hom

lordofthestrings86

Points +890

Vegan
30 Mar 2023

Dog Gone Good

Was told when ordering that everything is vegan now, making this a huge selection. Would love to come back and try more.
The Chicago Dog was incredible.

tastinmusic

Points +57

Vegan
31 Oct 2022

Very good!

My Mik burger did in fact taste like a real meat burger. Very good

Pros: Lots of vegan options

Bumbeedoop

Points +19

Mostly Veg
10 Oct 2022

Very good food!

Personally, I had their ‘The BIG Milk’ veggie burger and it was delicious! The fries served with it was crispy goodness. The service was chill and pretty patient. The only seating they had was outside. And their house-made lemonade didn’t have pulp as I had hoped but it was still a refresher.

Pros: Lots of vegetarian and vegan options, Delicious fries and food

Cons: Expensive, No inside dining with limited outside seating

AnnaNicoleSmiths

Points +44

Vegan
28 Jun 2022

I can’t believe people eat here

Definitely expected much more from this place after all the great reviews. The vegan food was so bad I couldn’t even eat it. The guy taking my order wasn’t friendly and was rushing me as I was ordering so it already started off bad. Then I got my food and it was game over for me. The food was not edible. I’ve been a longtime vegan and have had some amazing vegan food before. This place is an absolute NO. To be honest it’s the worst vegan food I’ve ever had. We ordered a lot of food too so there was a lot to try and everything was terrible unfortunately. The “shrimp” was actually so terrible, I took one bite and immediately threw it in the garbage.

Updated from previous review on 2022-06-28

Cons: The food , The service

daaanna

Points +148

Vegetarian
27 Jun 2022

Chik'N Sandwich

Tried the Chik'N sandwich with everything on it. Tasted great!

Cons: No indoor seating, only outdoor seats and take-out

DaynaLopez

Points +359

Vegan
24 Jun 2022

Great food

I went to Chicago for 2 days vacations and I found this gem. The food is great and good portions for a great price.

Goldsinga

Points +234

Vegan
04 Jun 2022

I traveled to come here and it didn't disappoint!!

I made a trip to Chicago just to go to this restaurant. I went to the locations in Hyde Park and Wells and they were both great! The staff were friendly, the restaurants were clean and the service was fast. The food was just amazing! I wanted to eat everything! I had the philly rolls, Chicago hot dogs, chicken philly and tacos. I wish we had one in my city.

Pros: So many options, Everything was good, Very large portions

Cons: There isn't one near me 🤣

Chixavegalatin

Points +22

Vegan
12 Apr 2022

Pizza puff

Must! Pizza puff is my favorite and the walking taco. This place is super friendly and clean!

Notstevie

Points +1805

Vegan
28 Feb 2022

Good stuff

Got some tacos that were pretty rad! Decent prices too!

Updated from previous review on 2022-02-28

Cons: Not fully vegan

Tigra220

Points +10713

Vegan
17 Feb 2022

Excellent Vegan Junk Food

The Buffalo Fried Chicken was delicious; I just wish it came with a spicier sauce option. It’s very mild as is.

The fries are yum.

The berry shake is delicious but not thick, like I like my shakes. It’s also small for the price point.

Who Betta Burger was a sloppy good mess! I hate a dry burger. This was juicy with the right amount of sauce. I added bacon but discovered that I’m not a fan of their bacon.

Chicken sandwich was delicious. The addition of the honey mustard really sets it off!

Buffalo Chicken sandwich was also delicious.

Buffalo Shrimp had good flavor but I disliked the rubbery consistency of the shrimp. They’d fare better with a yam based vegan protein shrimp.

Even though I didn’t love everything I had here, it’s pretty freakin amazing for vegan junk food. There have been new additions since I last visited, so I’m excited to try more of their menu.

Cons: Not cheap

KingTea

Points +18

Vegan
27 Jan 2022

Great food

Literally can’t believe it isn’t meat. Dairy or diary free cheese options I had the Philly and the buffalo chicken egg rolls AMAZING. Each came with fries so that mashed the price pretty good. Very filling #Veganuary

Pros: Lots of Vegan Option, Taste like one

AutumnTierra

Points +1462

Vegan
02 Jun 2021

I liked it!

I had the club and fries. My brother had the big mac and fries. We both really liked it. It is vegetarian, so you need to specific vegan cheese. The staff is super friendly and the prices were pretty reasonable. Great location!

Pros: Great variety, Definitely comfort food, Excellent staff

Cons: No indoor or outdoor seating




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