With such a diverse food scene Chicago has no shortage of unique vegan restaurants offering plant-based meals all over the city. From sushi to deep-dish pizza, you can find a variety of vegan options each offering something different to the last.
Chicago’s latest addition to the vegan food and drink scene, however, offers a range of vegan options all in one place. After opening in Uptown this week, PlantX’s new 6,500-square-foot XMarket Vegan Food Hall is now the largest vegan food hall in Chicagoland, if not the entire Midwest, and features six distinct culinary concepts.
A host of Grand Opening events are scheduled from Thursday, October 5 through Sunday, October 8, including vegan brand samplings all day every day as well as trivia nights, happy hours, and performances by Artronika on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening and a performance by Rosalba Valdez on Sunday evening.
There will also be a vegan wine-tasting event featuring winemaker Enzo Pandolfi of Pandolfi Price from 6 pm – 8 pm on Friday, a candle-making workshop with Einnim Home & Body from 5 pm – 9 pm on Saturday, and a mochi donut decorating event with the 2d Restaurant chef from 11 am – 1 pm on Sunday.
Born out of a partnership between PlantX, a flourishing e-commerce for plant-based products, and renowned restaurant developer Macromia Group, the XMarket Vegan Food Hall provides a vegan arcadia for Chicago’s burgeoning vegan and health-conscious community.
The market encompasses an all-vegan bodega-style convenience store, a bar with vegan wines from VeganWines.com, a coffee shop featuring PlantX’s very own Portfolio Coffee, and a vegan cheesemonger provided by Good Planet in addition to all-vegan restaurants.
With the capacity to seat 375 people across its entire space, the new food hall hopes to become a community hotspot where people can meet and attend events.
“We wanted to do something more innovative since that’s where the whole vegan space is going,” said Alex Hoffman, the CMO of PlantX. “Everything is so fun and different. We had the space, so we wanted to create a more experiential environment rather than just a typical grocery store.”
PlantX was already the proprietor of the Uptown location but after it closed last year owners were intent on using the space, which was also being used to accommodate PlantX’s delivery operations, for something more creative and “experiential”.
“Chicago has emerged as one of the largest vegan and health-conscious communities in North America, making it an ideal location to introduce our all-in-one vegan food hall concept,” said PlantX CEO, Lorne Rapkin.
“In collaboration with Macromia, the master in developing premium concepts that have garnered both a loyal following and critical acclaim, we are planning an amazing culinary experience that will set the standard for food halls for vegans and non-vegans alike.”
XMarket Vegan Food Hall is located at 804 W Montrose Ave, Chicago. More information can be found on the PlantX website.
[Featured image courtesy of PlantX ]