Best Vegan Fine Dining in Chicago 2026

Why Chicago's vegan fine dining runs on tasting menus

Chicago's high end is built on tasting menus and Midwestern farm partnerships, which is exactly the format a vegan diner wants: a kitchen that plans the meal in advance can compose a full plant-based sequence rather than scramble for a side. What the city lacks is a Michelin-starred room that is vegan-only. What it has instead is one starred kitchen, Indienne, that runs a dedicated vegan tasting, and a cluster of two- and three-star rooms that build a genuine vegan menu when told in time.

The list leads with Indienne, the clearest vegan answer, then three-star Smyth and the two-star tasting rooms Alinea, Oriole and Ever, and closes with the vegetable-forward Daisies for an easier night. Every name links to its full review, with the price to plan around and how to flag the vegan menu. For the wider city, start with the Chicago dining guide, and for the field nationally see the best vegan restaurants worldwide.

The vegan list

Indienne

Modern Indian · River North · vegan tasting, around $145

Vegan menu: a dedicated vegan tasting with about 48 hours' notice

Indienne is the city's clearest vegan fine-dining answer. Chef Sujan Sarkar holds a Michelin star in River North for progressive Indian tasting menus, and the kitchen builds a full vegan version of its tasting with roughly 48 hours' notice, drawing on a cuisine already rich in plant-based cooking rather than subtracting from a meat menu. Expect courses built on jackfruit, lentil and charred vegetables in place of the dairy-heavy classics. The vegan tasting runs around 145 dollars. It is the rare starred room where a vegan menu is a planned option, not an afterthought.

Smyth

New American tasting · West Loop · tasting from $295

Vegan menu: on request, a vegetable-driven tasting adapted with notice

Smyth is the top of the market for a vegan-on-request meal. John and Karen Shields hold three Michelin stars in the West Loop, cooking a hyper-seasonal tasting fed by their own farm downstate, which makes vegetables central rather than incidental. The kitchen will build a vegan version of its tasting with advance notice, and few rooms in the country are better placed to do it. The tasting starts around 295 dollars before pairings. Give the kitchen several days so it can compose the courses around what the farm is sending that week.

Alinea

Avant-garde tasting · Lincoln Park · tasting $$$$

Vegan menu: on request, with advance notice at booking

Alinea is the theatrical option. Grant Achatz's Lincoln Park room, dropped to two Michelin stars in the 2026 guide after years at three, runs a fixed, highly produced tasting full of tableside drama, and the kitchen accommodates vegan diners when the dietary need is flagged at booking and confirmed ahead. Because the menu is set and engineered course by course, a vegan brief is a conversation with the team rather than a checkbox. It is the most spectacle-driven plant-based meal in the city, and among the most expensive.

Oriole

Contemporary tasting · West Loop · tasting $$$$

Vegan menu: on request, with notice at reservation

Oriole is the polished, luxurious tasting that adapts. Noah Sandoval's two-Michelin-star room, tucked off a West Loop freight alley, serves a refined contemporary tasting and is known for handling dietary restrictions with care, building a vegan menu when you flag it at the time of booking. The room is intimate and the service detailed, so the kitchen has the bandwidth to plan around a vegan guest. Note the requirement when you reserve and confirm a few days before, and treat it as a milestone dinner rather than a casual night.

Ever

Modern tasting · West Loop · tasting $$$$

Vegan menu: on request, with about a week's notice

Ever is Curtis Duffy's elegant two-Michelin-star tasting in the West Loop, and another kitchen that will cook vegan with enough warning. The standard menu leans luxurious, but the team accommodates dietary needs when you call roughly a week ahead, composing a plant-based sequence rather than swapping a course or two. As with the other starred rooms, use the word vegan rather than vegetarian so the kitchen rules out butter, cream and egg, and confirm a day or two before. It is a refined, grown-up room for a special occasion.

Daisies

Pasta & vegetables · Fulton Market · a la carte

Vegan menu: plant-based dishes on the regular a la carte menu

Daisies is the easy, no-tasting-menu way to eat well and green. Chef Joe Frillman's Fulton Market room is built on Midwestern produce and house-made pasta, with a vegetable-forward menu that always carries genuinely vegan plates you can order without a special request. It is the most relaxed name on this list, a la carte and mid-priced, and the right call when you want plant-based cooking without a multi-course commitment. Ask the server which pastas are eggless on the night, since the kitchen runs both styles.

How to ask for a vegan menu in Chicago

Only Daisies lets you walk in and eat plant-based without a word in advance, because vegan dishes sit on the regular menu. Everywhere else, the request goes in the booking. Indienne runs a standing vegan tasting that still wants about 48 hours' notice; Smyth, Alinea, Oriole and Ever will each build a vegan menu but need several days, and in some cases a week, so the kitchen can plan. Use the word vegan rather than vegetarian, which rules out the butter, cream and egg these rooms reach for, and confirm a day before. Plan the rest of the trip with the best vegetarian restaurants worldwide and an anniversary dinner in Chicago.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the best vegan fine dining in Chicago?

Indienne in River North is the clearest answer: a Michelin-starred Indian kitchen from Sujan Sarkar that runs a dedicated vegan tasting, around 145 dollars, with about 48 hours' notice. For higher-end rooms that cook vegan on request, three-star Smyth and the two-star tastings at Alinea, Oriole and Ever all build plant-based menus with advance warning. Daisies in Fulton Market is the easy a la carte option. Start with the Chicago dining guide.

Does Chicago have a fully vegan fine-dining restaurant?

Not at the Michelin level. The city has no starred room that is vegan-only. The closest to a standing vegan fine-dining experience is Indienne, whose River North kitchen runs a dedicated vegan tasting menu alongside its regular one. Beyond that, the best approach is to book a tasting room like Smyth, Alinea, Oriole or Ever and request a vegan menu in advance, since each will compose one with enough notice.

Which Chicago fine-dining restaurants do a vegan menu on request?

Several of the best. Smyth, the three-star West Loop room, builds a vegetable-driven vegan tasting with notice. Two-star Alinea, Oriole and Ever each cook vegan when you flag it at booking and confirm ahead, typically several days to a week out. Indienne goes further with a standing vegan tasting at 48 hours. In every case, say vegan rather than vegetarian and confirm a day or two before so the kitchen can plan the courses.

How much does a vegan tasting cost in Chicago?

It tracks each room's standard price. Indienne's vegan tasting runs around 145 dollars, the most accessible serious option. Smyth starts near 295 dollars, and the two-star tastings at Alinea, Oriole and Ever sit at full tasting-menu level, often higher once you add pairings. Daisies is the affordable a la carte route, where a plant-based dinner stays mid-priced. Pairings and service push every figure up, so budget above the headline number.

Can you eat vegan at Alinea?

Yes, with planning. Alinea, Grant Achatz's two-Michelin-star room in Lincoln Park, accommodates vegan diners when you flag the dietary need at booking and confirm a few days ahead. Because the tasting is fixed and engineered course by course, the kitchen reworks the menu rather than swapping single dishes, so the more notice you give, the better the result. It is the most theatrical plant-based meal in the city, and one of the priciest.

Menus and prices verified against each restaurant's published information and the 2026 Michelin Guide Chicago in June 2026; confirm vegan availability directly when you book. Restaurants for Kings is editorial, not sponsored. Some reservation links may earn an affiliate commission, which never affects a ranking or a score.