Vegetarians always seem to get the short end of the stick when it comes to dining out. Especially if you happen to live in Central Illinois, where a local Subway is a luxury, and god forbid you find one link of soy-rizo at the local grocery store. Such if the case for my friends Chris and Danielle, proud residents of a cute little town called Henry in Illinois, population 2500. Pros: can own affordable housing, walk to work, have a full garden and compost pile in backyard, know everyone in town Con: know everyone in town, limited fast/ ethnic food options. So when Danielle and Chris roll through town, I like to find fun vegetarian places to take them to. Enter The Handlebar. You might remember I had a mouth boner for their sandwich and soup combo. I thought it was time to give The Handlebar another go. We started off with the pub cheese shown above, which was really a glorfied cheese ball…that was freaking delicious, especially with the apple salad that accompanied it. Score on that one. Mains were more hit or miss. My cheese veggie burger with caramelized onions, for instance? Merely ok. And a bit squishy.
I don’t have many requirements when it comes to veggie burgers…I mean, I don’t expect it to taste like meat, but I expect it to have a burger-like texture. The best damn veggie burger I have ever had was made by an Indian gentleman at my church while growing up–it was hearty, had proper burger-like texture, and didn’t ooze out of the bun when you bit into it. This burger oozed. Also? I think I was swayed by the caramelized onions. I’m a whore for caramelized onions. Adam’s pasta was alright, but not really standout. It had asparagus, which were out of season and not very tasty, and some decent goat cheese I believe.
Chris’s plantain stack, however, was the stuff vegetarian dreams are made out of: crispy fried plantains, a spicy Mexican-inspired sauce, heaps of black beans, rice and other delicious veggies…I was certainly jealous I did not get this!
Danielle was also stoked about her bbq tempeh sandwich. It didn’t quite have a meat-like texture, but it had a delicious smokiness to it that could possubly make up for the fact that vegetarians technically can’t eat pork.
The same could be said for the smoked gouda mac and cheese–it really is irrestibly smoky and meat-like without any meat at all.
We ended the meal with a selection of fried pies, one with a chai apple filling and another with peanut butter and jelly.
These were just okay. They weren’t really crisp, like fried pies should be, and the fillings were just ok, not really stand out. Overall, we enjoy our meal at The Handlebar, and would go back armed with specific dishes in mind to eat. Yay, vegetarians!! ~LTG! ************** Handlebar 2311 W. North Ave. Chicago, IL 60647 (773) 384-9546 www.handlebarchicago.com
