This bicycle-themed restaurant, in the hipster haven neighborhood of Wicker Park, looks more like a grungy place you’d sling back Stags at 2 in the morning rather than somewhere you’d have a mind-blowing culinary experience. While Handlebar is perfectly suitable for the former activity, it is not an exaggeration to say that it also has some of the best breakfast dishes I have ever encountered. Better yet, if you were getting weird somewhere into the wee hours the preceding night, breakfast is served until 3 pm every single day, giving even the latest of risers plenty of time to get their morning munch on.

Its menu features a range of pescatarian, vegetarian, and vegan options, with a heavy Southern soul food and Tex Mex twist. While the offerings are relatively straightforward breakfast fare (think breakfast burritos and tofu scramble), Handelbar lovingly curates its ingredients for these dishes, heavily relying on non-GMO, organic, and locally-sourced produce as much as possible. The menu is clearly marked for various dietary restrictions (including our gluten-free friends) and our server seemed knowledgeable and happy to provide dish recommendations for our vegan diets.