LYFE Kitchen

I was so happy to go to Lyfe in Evanston. Light-​filled, lots of healthy looking food options. I ordered the flat bread pizza and a veggie dish, and topped it off with a soy latte. However, about 30 minutes after lunch I had a terrible reaction. The food went violently right through my system. I am writing this in the hope that whatever went wrong can be fixed.

This place is absolutely amazing from the awesome staff to the wonderfully seasoned food. We ate from the vegan menu we had the lettuce wraps the veggie burgers and the ancient grains stirfry. The Guacamole is amazing and the chips as well. Love the open concept and the waterbar.

We came here over the weekend with a time constraint. The person who took our order was professional and friendly and the servers were efficient and pleasant. I ordered the Unfried Buffalo Chicken Strips and a side of Garlic Parmesan Fries. It was a busy time for lunch so it took some time for our order to be served but it was well worth the wait. The atmosphere was comfortable and spacious and I was pleasantly surprised with the flavor and quality of the food. Truly delicious food… can’t wait to come back! Cool space.

I really like the atmosphere at LYFE. The large space, contemporary design, and natural light make for a great casual dining environment. The cocktail menu was a pleasant surprise too!
Wish I could say I was as impressed with my food. I ordered the Grilled Artichokes to start, and while they tasted fine, they were so tough and chewy that they were borderline inedible. I eat literally everything — when I physically can’t finish a dish, it’s just demoralizing. The Grass-​fed Burger was better, but nothing special.
Overall, atmosphere and concept were great, food not so much (though I probably could’ve ordered a LOT better).

Really good was not expecting the vegan gluten-​free thing but the main menu rocked. Service was quick and food was delicious. Little pricey but nice atmosphere is great.
Family friendly which is not what I was expecting again but it was not distracting. Vegan cookie were to die for

I really enjoy eating here! The ambience is so pleasant, I love the natural light and the wall planters mostly because these things make me feel like I’m not in the middle of winter anymore! The staff is always super pleasant and helpful. I’m gluten free so I love how I have so many great options. My go-​tos are the fish tacos, the gluten free breakfast sandwich and their chicken and avocado sandwich.
My only gripe is that one time they didn’t give me a gluten free chicken and instead gave me a regular chicken. I noticed after taking a bite and they promptly swapped it out. I appreciate how quickly they responded but that shouldn’t have happened in the first place, especially if there are customers with Celiac disease.

Eh, not bad, but not great. Feels like a cafeteria. You walk in and have no idea what to do next. I got the burger, asked for medium rare and sat myself. Realized my hangover needed water, so I got up and walked half a block to the (water station?). You have three options: sparkling, normal, and chilled. The chilled is not chilled, and zero ice. Ok whatever. Walked back, sat down, and a well-​done burger with a maybe 3 cm thickness gets delivered. Wtf is this. Ciabatta bun and fixings were decent, but the sauce was underwhelming so I asked for ketchup. Now, mind you, I drink ketchup. While I realize that this is my problem, it doesn’t stop me from getting annoyed when the server drops off a ramekin with what I’m guessing was homemade. BYOK. I know it’s a bit nitpicky, but if your gonna serve me a slice o burger, at least let me drown my sorrows with a bottle of Heinz. Anyways, the other side of the plate was occupied by a salad of sorts, fresh, but otherwise unremarkable. The service, however, was very friendly and attentive. And the bathrooms were cool. Had this jet dry thing going on.
Did I still eat the burger? Yes, I was starved and hungover. But I left hungry, which shouldn’t happen if you’re spending 8 – 10 bucks. Wound up walking to Olive Mediterranean, which was fantastic. Sorry Lyfe, good effort, but you missed the mark burger-​wise by a margin that makes me too afraid to give your menu another shot.

If you liked overpriced food, then this is the place to be. I ordered the farmers market salad without onions. It was drenched in the balsamic vinaigrette & had barely any strawberries or pecans in it. Paying $ 9 for that was NOT worth it.
The atmosphere is nice though & so is the interior

I want to like this place because my wife likes it. We’ve gone a few times for breakfast. Burrito was good. Classic breakfast is pretty lame: boring scrambled eggs, soggy potatoes, cold, dry circle of turkey sausage. Good coffee.
I with there were more healthy breakfast options in evanston

I love the concept here — fresh, healthy food. Always good.
The menu has tons of options, so anyone should be able to find something they want here. Burgers, salads, wraps, burritos, curry… I love that there is a pretty good beer and wine list, though it was disappointing that when I was in there last the beer taps were not working. The self-​serve sparkling, still, or ambient water is a nice touch, though.
I ordered the «kale caesar» with salmon on top. It was ok, but VERY MISLEADING — honestly who calls something a kale caesar then creates the salad base with basic lettuce (romaine and/​or butter) and then sprinkles in one or two pieces of baby kale? I had to search to be able to find ANY kale on that salad. The salmon was ok, too. Tasted good but was overcooked.
My friend got another salad with beets that was very good, served over dark mixed greens. We also split a side of the brussels sprouts and butternut squash which was quite good.
I’ve only been once but would go back to try more dishes (just no repeats on that kale caesar).

This place looks very elegant, I was very happy with the food. I had vegan tagliatelle with mushrooms, tasted so creamy and nice it would trick a meat lover :-D
Very comfortable places to sit, cozy, not too close so you can have privacy for your conversations. No small chairs and tables size of a chess board as usual.
I like the respectable look of the interior but also dress code and politeness of the staff, extremely nice restroom, nice polished cutlery. Not that I mind being served by bearded hipsters covered with tattoos in skinny or short cut jeans, or the girls looking similar (no beard though :-P) but this is in my opinion more tasteful.
I also like the terrace, nice evening lights and will always gladly visit this place again.

This place feels really clean and the people here are really nice.
However, I was having trouble ordering because nothing on the menu really appealed to me for some reasons. I don’t know why this place has great reviews, maybe just because I tried the wrong dish.
Fish Taco (2.5÷5):
Hmm…There’s no flavor besides spicy to this taco. The fish itself is very bland.
Sweet potato fries (²⁄₅):
It was soggy and burnt. Not okay.

Love the interior design and the fact that they have sparkling water on tap. The very open and modern design felt like a pleasure to dine in and I was surprised to see couches as a part of their seating arrangement. Halfway through my dining experience, my friend pointed out that they grew their own herbs in the middle of the restaurant, which I thought was pretty rad.
It was hard for my friend and me to pick what we wanted to share since we wanted to try a lot of different items. The restaurant also has separate vegan & gluten-​free menus if needed, but here’s the rundown of the food that my friend and I got from the regular menu:
Garlic parmesan sweet potato fries (⁵⁄₅) /​/​Did not expect garlic parm and sweet potato to really go together, but it actually ended up being my favorite dish out of the 3. For being a little over $ 3, I wish they had it in a bigger size because my friend and I definitely wanted more after we finished eating it!
Unfried buffalo chicken fingers (⁴⁄₅) /​/​Was not expecting a curry-​like flavor to it (or at least that’s how my friend and I describe it), but neverless it was still a tasty flavor. Not sure what the sauce was that accompanied the dish, but it complimented the fingers well.
Chips + guac/​salsa (²⁄₅) /​/​The chips itself had no flavor at all; however, the guac tasted very fresh and everything in the guac felt well balanced. I didn’t have that much of the salsa because I was too focused on drenching the flavorless chips in the delicious guac, but from my recollection it wasn’t anything spectacular. Not worth $ 6.50, imo.
Overall, my friend and I agreed that the food was delicious, except for the chips. I’d totally come back here again to try other items, but too bad I don’t live here! :(

Maybe breakfast is not their strength. The water for my hot tea was tepid, they used a teapot but only filled it ¹⁄₃ of way. I had to ask for hot water and more water. The water was just hot, not piping and poured out of carafe which means it will never be really hot.
The eggs were just ok. Turkey sausage was good. Potatoes were over spiced w too much salt.
The guy at front told me he was not happy to be at work; it was too early (10 am) since he started at 7:30. Definitely TMI and I wanted to say poor baby forced to get up and work but I controlled myself.
Looked like there were much better places nearby but their outdoor space is lovely and that helped for sure.

Minus 2 stars because I was unhappy with my experience here today. I ordered food to go using a Groupon that they had offered. We then watched everyone else get their food while we just waited and waited. We ended up waiting 25 minutes before our food was finally given to us– no apologies or anything. We felt like we were given subpar customer service and our food was less prioritized because we used a Groupon, and that shouldn’t be the case. They should not offer promotions if they are not going to treat those customers the same way. I have been here many times in the past and had always had exemplary service before.
The food is good, but I am not sure I will be back.

Clean eating, I approved.
I had the crunchy wrap with chicken — delicious, perfect balance of flavors and textures. The side salad with pickled kale was great, though my boyfriend did not enjoy it.
I got a beet hibiscus lyfe water — very strong flavor, and I can see most people not enjoying it. I thought it was refreshing, but I doubt I’ll get it again.
The service was very friendly and quick. The bag you get for carryout is super cute — paper bag with cutout handles.
The only con is that it can be very pricy. For the wrap and the lyfe water I paid $ 16.

EXCELLENT customer care. After my first review of LYFE, the owner contacted me through Unilocal and sent me a gift certificate to try LYFE again. I was so impressed that my review was not only both read and commented on but also that I was encouraged to try it again.
Came back tonight and had the roasted salmon, margherita flatbread, and sweet potato fries. The salmon was perfectly roasted and slightly crispy, and the sauce was a very interesting (and tasty!) tomato-​based creamy sauce. The flatbread was crispy, and the mozzarella and basil blended together perfectly. The sweet potato fries were delicious as well. Our food came out very quickly, and LYFE has been redeemed in my eyes.
Though it is a bit pricey, especially for a poor college student, but I’m now a believer and will definitely be coming back!

Life is great and so is Lyfe. I like lyfe kitchen because everything about it is guaranteed towards a happier, cleaner, and healthier you.
First of all, this restaurant is so beautiful. The walls are all glass paned, and the furniture is so chic and modernesque. You just want to stay in this haven forever.
The food is very clean (all entrees under 600 calories) and they offer many vegan and vegetarian options.
I tried the quinoa wrap, fish tacos, red curry, and sweet potato fries. All of the dishes I have tried are so fresh, flavorful and they are not heavily salty or sweet. The food is just clean and simple~ can’t get any better.
I think this is a great coffee stop or juice stop. The cucumber mint water is soo good, and their coffee is from Intelligentsia!
It’s a great place to study and catch up with a friend. To me, Lyfe kitchen is more like a food café; a place not only to eat but to relax!
A bit expensive, but treat yourself to something yummy that’s actually good for you!

Overall: Great casual, easy dining experience that is both healthy and delicious.
The good: Great, healthy food. I couldn’t decide what to get, it all sounded so good. Great menu variety and plenty to choose from. Food came out fresh. Service was pretty friendly. Atmosphere is clean and modern.
The bad: Prices are a little expensive, whether it be the food, smoothies, or anything. Seemed like the food took a decent amount of time to arrive.
Atmosphere: ⁹⁄₁₀
Service: ⁹⁄₁₀
Food: ⁹⁄₁₀

I came to LYFE Kitchen with my sister yesterday and it was DELICIOUS. After hearing and reading about the restaurant, I just had to give it a try. I’m not vegetarian or on a gluten-​free diet, but I love to eat healthy whenever I can. When I entered, I must admit I was a tad confused, but the woman working at the counter was very friendly and told us «what to do.» She pointed us in the direction of the menus and told us to let her know if we had any questions.
A few minutes later, we placed our orders and the woman gave us each a little sensor that would send the servers to the right table. It was very busy, as it was lunch hour, and we grabbed the ONLY table available in the whole restaurant. (They need more tables!!!)
Our food and drinks came not too long later. I ordered a Cucumber Mint Lyfe Water ($ 3) with the Chile-​Ginger Veggie Stir-​Fry ($ 12). My oh my, it was SO good! The stir-​fry was the most flavorful stir-​fry I’ve had (I’m serious!) and the quinoa and gardein were cooked to perfection.
The prices are a little higher than I’m used to paying for a non-​sit-​down restaurant — my bill was just over $ 16 — but I will definitely be back!