Happy Buddha

I wanted to try something different, so I ordered some vegetarian carry out from Happy Buddha. I found the food to be a bit mushy and tasteless. I did not really like anything I ordered. I might not be the best person to write a review since I am not very familiar with Vegetarian or Vietnamese food. I agree with Todd… the fake fried shrimp was gross.
The staff was friendly and that makes me want to give them another try. Maybe next time I will order Vietnamese food… just not Vegetarian.

The food was okay. Certain dishes were good and a few not so good. The fake shrimp is nasty.
I wad looking for a better experience… maybe we would try again… but not sure I would try again?

Great friendly staff. Food was alright.

Got the phở and it was excellent. Very healthy with minimal oil or fat.

This place was closer to Lincolnshire (where I was staying) than Chicago, so I gave the place a visit when I was in the area a year ago.
They had a lot of trouble communicating in English, and it took them awhile before they figured out that I understood Vietnamese. Even then, communication was a bit strained because they still mostly communicated to me in English until I spoke with the oldest staff members who spoke direct understandable Vietnamese.
I ordered the Vietnamese Veggies Rice Combination (the dish I was interested in) and it’s decent if you’re craving Vietnamese food for any reason but mediocre otherwise.

Not entirely vegetarian-​has meat entrees. Lights flickered badly. Waitress did not understand English at all! We were served our soup and appetizer but she never came back to take our order. When another lady came to take away our dishes 10 minutes later she said «everything good». I told her we would like to order our dinner now. She nodded and came back with our check. Pretty frustrated at this point so we decided to leave. I will tell u that the iced ginger tea and hot & sour soup was pretty good. Would of loved to have tried the vegetable fried rice and lemongrass soy chicken dishes!

Their avocado shake is the best thing ever. Seriously. Don’t look at me like that. Just order it and sip happily!
Veggie egg rolls were also fantastic. They’re homemade, not shipped in frozen from some food purveyor, and you can definitely tell.
Had a magnificent bowl of vegetarian phở here. If you think a good veggie phở can’t be done, this place will quickly disabuse you of that notion.
My wonderful companion had a stir fry dish with noodles. We’re pretty sure it wasn’t what he ordered, but it was very tasty, and we’re very flexible. Be patient; there may be a little bit of a language barrier issue with your server, but the food is delightful.
Best of all, we were full and happy — but not so full that hopping back on our motorcycles right away was a problem. I call that winning! :)

Every time I go I am happy, love their Ginger tea! Last time I tried the Hot and Sour Soup — nothing like it if you have a cold — it warms you and your sinuses. Try the BBQ sandwich. The only disappointment is when they are out of items!

Very odd location in side of building, but once inside it’s super cute. The food was incredible! 2 appetizers and 5 entrees for under $ 50. I can’t wait to go back and try everything! We really loved the steamed veggie rolls and the Veg curried fried rice. YUM! YUM! YUM!

My mother lives in Barrington and my family often takes trips to visit her. If it wasn’t for her, we never would have stumbled across smiling Buddha! I eat a mostly vegetarian diet and this place has TONS of options for my whole family (this is usually quite difficult in itself).
Curry «chicken» stirfry is heavenly and I haven’t been able to bring myself to order anything else because this dish is absolutely wonderful.
Its a shame I don’t live closer! I’d dine in every week.

I would really like to give this place a better review, but there isn’t too much redeeming about this place. For those who have had Vietmanese food, this is DEFINITELY overpriced. I wouldn’t even mind that so much if the food was excellent but it was only sub-​par to other Vietmanese restaurants that offer larger amounts of food for cheaper prices. I appreciated the ladies that tended to us and their dedication to making sure we didn’t wait, but in the end we were rushed to order and made to feel uncomfortable if we didn’t hurry up and order.
We ordered Hot and Sour Soup, Vegetarian Spring Rolls, and Meatless Chicken. One thing: MEATLESS CHICKEN? They presented TOFU TRIANGLES smothered in sauce. Now, I understand that meat substitutes are often soy based, but this was ridiculous! You shouldn’t call something meatless chicken if it’s just tofu… The soup and the spring rolls were fine, but nothing too special. And our total for these three measly items came to 20 bucks? Honestly, I think they calculated something wrong, but I felt bad because I understand they tried so I just tipped them anyways. However, we will not be returning, it was a disappointing experience for fellow Asian vegetarians that would love to find a new place for a quick bite.

Happy Buddha = Happy Mark!
Okay, so this was my first time eating Vietnamese food and I don’t know what it is supposed to taste like … but mmmm this place has some tasty dishes! Everything from soup to the blended drinks was delicious and on top of that they have tons of veggie options!
The avocado mike shake was strange but also exactly what you would expect, like they took three avocados and blended them with milk and a spoon full of sugar. It was good but every sip was a shock then a realization. It was not the super sweet shake you might be thinking, more on the savory side.
The lemon tofu was fantastic and I could have eaten it all on a few seconds and held the plate out asking for more. The veggie phở was odd but good, I could not scarf if down because of the massive quantity and the boiling hot temperature! I liked it, though I could get a half portion and be content.
The service was very attentive and friendly and the place was small and cute. It was not at all what I expected but I was very pleased! I will defiantly be going back to try more of their menu!

Avocado Shake! Avocado Shake! Avocado Shake!
:need i say more?:
They say repeating something three times helps people remember it better… it may also summon Beetlejuice, Bloody Mary, or the Candy Man– so beware of the ones known as the Terrible Trois and take head on my Power Trio Recos.
Vegetarian Phở! Vegetarian Phở! Vegetarian Phở!
:seemingly endless bowl of goodness. i do wish they gave a few more add in options and more of the sauces:
Fresh Vegetarian Steamed Rolls! Fresh Vegetarian Steamed Rolls! Fresh Vegetarian Steamed Rolls!
:fresh homemade rice flour steamed rolls with green peas, carrots, jicama, shiitake mushrooms, tofu served with house soy sauce– defo worth fighting over. especially that sauce:
Asparagus Soup! Asparagus Soup! Asparagus Soup!
:tofu, vegetarian shredded crab meat, asparagus, dried tremella. possible rival soup for the soup nazi. tastes rich yet still lite and if your eyes were closed you’d guess it was creamy but it ain’t. just lotsa fresh bits for a v. full flavor:
Hot and Sour Soup! Hot and Sour Soup! Hot and Sour Soup!
:mushrooms, tofu, bamboo shoots, dry bean curd. perfect winter warmer. comes with entrée:
Sauteed Lemongrass Tofu! Sauteed Lemongrass Tofu! Sauteed Lemongrass Tofu!
:stir fried fried tofu, lemongrass, garlic, and lettuce served with steam rice –no extra charge for brown rice. epitome of refreshing:
Do it!!! Do it!!! Do it!!!

I had a great dinner here last week! The food was fresh and delicious and the service was very friendly. My husband had the vegetarian phở and I had the vegetarian rice crepes and we both left clean plates! We also shared an order of the steamed spring rolls and they were delicious as well.
Yes, there is a language barrier here, but seriously — why is that such a giant problem. They will definitely do anything to please you and will do their best to understand your needs — just be patient.
While we were there about four tables walked in at the same time and our server got a little overwhelmed, so we had to wait for our check a little longer than we wanted, but it wasn’t a big deal.
We aren’t really dessert people, but I heard the table next to us raving about their banana cake to the the table next to them.
I am glad to have this place in Barrington and will definitely go back — and I’m not even a vegetarian. Is it a five-​star palace? No. But, if you want friendly, fresh and delicious food at a reasonable price, do yourself a favor and check this place out! (Plus, they have free wi-​fi!)

This was the first time I tried Vietnamese food and was so pleased. Found Happy Buddha to have fresh, delicious food and very friendly service. The restaurant is comfortably casual and they also provide take-​out service.
Thoroughly enjoyed. Chicken PHO soup, Chicken Stir Fried in Curry sauce and Sauteed Lemongrass Chicken. YUMMM!

I really hope Happy Buddha does not suffer because of some obviously pretentious and picky vegans, food snobs or people with overly sensitive sinuses.
My girlfriend is mostly a vegetarian but does eat meat occasionally. That being said I set her up on my computer on their website and told her to order whatever she wanted for take out. We have similar tastes and we both love great food and share everything.
We ate pork fried rice which was outstanding, some kind of tofu dish that was the best tofu I’ve ever eaten and egg rolls which were also outstanding. I really didn’t expect this but they gave us two different soups complimentary (nice touch). One was lemongrass something or other and the other had mushrooms and was spicy. Both were awesome which left my girlfriend and I thinking we just have to Unilocal this place because when went in to pick up our food there was only one customer in the place and it was Saturday night :(
The bottom line… this place has great food. Forgive the language barrier, hold your nose outside if necessary (I did not notice any weird odors) and get your ass in there before another really good restaurant goes by the wayside.

Family operated new vegetarian outfit that started including meat.
FOOD: Started out as a vegetarian only, due to the mother (aka chef) dietary style, but now also has menu w/​meat included. Phở is extremely fresh tasting w/​good quality ingredients, a bit on the lighter side. I request them to have the noodles not as soft and the meat more on the medium rare side. Probably the freshest spring rolls that I have had anywhere and if you strike a conversation they can also bring out home made sauce favored by the mother, which is tastier than the typical peanut sauce. If you order the main dish, even Phở, comes w/​small cup of soup that is very refreshing.
ATMOSPHERE: former Chinese restaurant, Tin Seng that moved to Palatine, renovated w/​new furniture and brighter interior.
LOGISTICS: easy to park, right on Northwest Highway, can walk from Barrington Metra station.
CREATIVITY: family operated and very accommodating, always looking for constructive comments and feedback.

I came in here for an early lunch and got takeout. The service was very fast and courteous, plus the host recommended me some really tasty dishes. I ordered the spring-​rolls, a «mock chicken» dish (not sure what it was!), a tofu curry dish, avocado shake, and my entrees both came with free soup, I got the hot and sour. All of that food came in under $ 26. I thought everything was awesome! The spring-​rolls were light and refreshing, and the soup was not the typically greasy hot and sour that I’ve had at other restaurants, and the portions were good.
Over all I had a really good experience here, and I will definitely go again!

If you know and love Vietnamese food you’ll probably like what you find here. They’ve added a completely vegetarian twist — but have ‘meat’ dishes based on good quality veggie imitations.
The vegetarian spring role was fabulous, as wall the Phở (a traditional Vietnamese noodle soup). It included both tofu and a vegetable-​based chicken imitation that had good texture and flavor. The waitress explained that the garnishing veggies for the soup including mint and bean sprouts were organically grown by them.
They had a bean cake for dessert that was great to split. It is a rich and heavy cake that has a flavor not unlike cornbread, but a completely different texture that I liken more to a very heavy flan. Yummy.
Service is attentive and polite, but if you are in a hurry you should probably let them know.

Happy Buddha is a new, Buddhist-​vegetarian, Vietnamese restaurant and I was surprised to see it open in a far-​flung suburb of Chicago. That said, Happy Buddha really disappointed me, but maybe it’s still working out the kinks in its business.
We were the only customers when we went. I came with my parents and we started off with an order of fried wontons ($ 4.50). These were tiny fried things filled with a dab of flavorless mush (on the menu it says they’re filled with green peas, carrot, jicama, tofu and more). They were bland and insubstantial.
My dad got an order of hot and sour soup ($ 2.75) which turned out to be the most flavorful and value-​laden item we ordered. It was nicely tart and full of tofu, bamboo shoots, and a great variety of mushrooms.
For our main course we got a «sauteed lemongrass soy chicken» ($ 7.50) and a «vegetable stir-​fried» ($ 7.25). The menu mentions that some of the mock meats contain whey protein, and therefore aren’t vegan, but when I tried to ask about this, I couldn’t get a clear answer. There was a definite language issue, but I think that should only be a problem for vegans concerned about dairy products (some of the noodles have butter, some of the mockmeats have whey protein, and some of the drinks and desserts contain milk). So, as a vegan concerned about dairy products, I felt frustrated.
The stir-​fried vegetables was a joke. It consisted of a tiny portion of vegetables (maybe ¾ of a cup), with three cubes of tofu, in a savory sauce with a dollop of white rice. The portion size was tiny and the dish was way too simple to warrant the price.
The lemongrass soy chicken consisted of eight pieces of soy chicken in a tasty (but overly corn starch-​laden) lemongrass sauce with some strands of cilantro and a scoop of white rice. Again, the portion size was absurdly small.
Also disappointing was the lack of brown rice as an option to white rice.
We gave them one more shot and tried the most interesting-​sounding dessert, the «Vietnamese Dau Do Banh Lot» ($ 3.50). I imagined it would be a pudding with the ingredients listed on the menu: red bean; tapioca jelly; and coconut milk.
What I got was a glass full of ice, with whole red beans, a little bit of coconut milk, and gooey chunks of tapioca jelly. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. It was like they just threw a bunch of stuff into a glass and served it to me. It didn’t taste good at all — the red beans gave the dessert a smoky, savory flavor that just seemed wrong, and the excessive and unnecessary portion of ice watered down the already-​subtle flavor of the dish which came mostly from the sugared coconut milk.
In conclusion, Happy Buddha was a troublesome place. As a vegan, I want Happy Buddha to succeed but, as it stands, this place needs serious work to warrant a return visit. It needs to increase its portion sizes and just generally put more effort into preparing its food. Everything seemed haphazardly prepared and the results were underwhelming, to put it mildly.