Two Suburban Chicago Restaurants Worth Checking Out

A vegan restaurant is scheduled to open in my hometown next month.

Featuring raw foods, smoothies, teas and desserts, Vegan Cafe is the work of two women, Linda Merkle and Laurie Sloan. Merkle credits her raw diet with alleviating her rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.

Vegan Cafe's proceeds will benefit Sloan's Thanks Jordan Foundation, a non-profit that helps families of children with cancer.

Although I'm not a fan of raw foods -- although I do believe in their healing properties -- I'm excited to try this new restaurant. When I grew up there, Lockport (Ill.) had few restaurants to choose from: two typical Greek restaurants (with American food), a hot dog stand, some pizza places, McDonald's, Burger King, a Chinese restaurant, an expensive French restaurant. Now that the town has grown, more restaurants have opened, namely a Popeye's and a Sonic. Vegan options (aka healthy food) are still hard to come by.

Opening any restaurant is a huge risk, a raw one even more so. But I hope the community sees what a positive change this is for Lockport and supports Vegan Cafe. I wish both women the best of luck.

Naf Naf Grill
Moving from the southwest Chicago suburbs to the western 'burbs, I wanted to give a shout-out to a restaurant in Naperville. While it's not vegan, it is vegan-friendly.

Naf Naf Grill, which recently moved to a new location on Freedom Drive, has yummy falafel pitas and lentil soup. The pita is so big that I typically have to take part of it home. And the staff is incredibly friendly. (I'm not receiving anything for writing this.)

Unlike Lockport, Naperville has oodles of restaurants from which to choose. But if you're in the area and are looking for something different, check out Naf Naf.

(Photo courtesy of The Herald-News. Credit: John Patsch/Staff Photographer.)