Protein Bar

The good: I love protein bar. Their food is amazing, not too shabby on your waistline, the salad portions are huge, and this location has a great outside area that you can sit at during the summer and people watch (in their bathingsuits and all) with great music playing.
The bad: the prices are steep, you have to leave your ID at FFC’s front desk to get in, the staff can be painfully slow at PB, the quinoa isn’t 100% cooked like at the other locations (I’ve noticed their quinoa is hard compared to other PB’s), and they often forget minor things you ordered. For instance, I ordered a Southwest salad the other day and they forgot to add avocado, which it comes with, according to their menu. Check your order and make sure they got yours right!
Another note: you will see a lot of «bros» with their protein Shaker bottles and a lot of sorority-​type looking girls walking around here. I didn’t know which category to put this in (good or bad) because that depends how you look @ it. For me, hot frat guys working on their muscles is a huge plus (eye candy, heyyyyy). But annoying girls with high pitched voices are definitely a thumbs down. You decide.

Super convenient for those who workout at the FFC! Always quick service and accurate orders.
Can’t go wrong with the Southwest Chicken Salad or Baja Salad! :)

AUBREY, SERGIO, ASHTON, Dalia, Alyssa… All the staff there are so amazing and perfect and the Best out of all protein bars!!! They are the best people I have ever met. Plus the food is always amazing!

Definitely phenomenal food in the menus here, as it is organic and provides the daily recommend nutrients such as protein. Well worth the visit for a pre-​workout, post-​workout or for stop by for lunch. Excellent and friendly staff too. Highest regards.

Fresh and tasty food. Buffalo chicken is my go to flavor. I’d give it 5 stars but the employees here tend to forget a key ingredient in a meal once in a while (i order here a couple times a week)

I order online at least once a week as a non-​FFC member. Orders are always ready on time and consistent. Definitely a pricey option ($ 19 for two of us to have lunch), but worth it. I love knowing the nutrition facts on each item on the menu. Definitely recommending Protein Bar. Just wish this location had the healthy chicken parm. :(

aaaaaahhhhhh!!! nooooooo!!! protein bar is closed on memorial day! not cool.

Ordered The Original Protein Bar-​Rito for pick up today. Online ordering was easy and I liked how intuitive the interface was. Really helpful for people who are trying to stay away from dairy or meat products, neither of which I am at the moment. But a nice thought regardless.
Food showed up downstairs at the PB pick up area in FFC. The Burrito is a good amount of food (and also 42 grams of protein) for $ 7. I don’t really feel like that’s a lot of money to not be tempted by Potbelly cookies when you just intended to get a sandwich.
Some people have commented at the blandess of food. It’s not an over-​seasoned chipotle mess that always leaves me with bad breath, but it’s not bland either.
I can’t wait to try the shakes!

I’m reading the reviews from previous people and it cracks me up that people are upset since they are asked to leave their ID at the front desk. Its located in the area where the gym equipment is.
This review is about the food so let me say I’ve only ordered certain items and my favorite is the guac n roll. I’ve also ordered some shakes. Overall quality is good. Staff is very nice.

I came here upon the recommendation of a roommate and since it is right across the street from my office. Unfortunately for us non-​FFC members you have to sign in and leave an ID to go up to the Protein Bar area of the gym. Since it was my first time, I did so. I wandered through the exercise machines and found Protein Bar. I had already done my research online and ordered the guac and roll, which was flavorful and filling. When it was handed to me, I was surprised by the weight… the healthy goodness is really packed in there.
I have ordered the same wrap a few more times, but now opt to order online so I can just go into the lobby and pick it up instead of having to sign in. It is also ready when I get there so no waiting.

Love Protein Bar, hate this location. If you are not a Formula Fitness member, you can only go between 11 and 1. (And the other review is right, not 1 minute after 1 pm.) Even then, you have to sign in and leave a photo ID with the front desk. When I got up to Protein Bar, finally, I was disappointed to see that they don’t have all the menu items as their regular locations. For instance, I usually get the healthy parm bowl or the capone bar-​rito. They had neither, because they don’t have marinara sauce at this location (???). Finally, after my friends and I left today, the Formula Fitness people stopped us on the way out and told us from now on we needed to limit our dining time to 30 minutes. Seriously? I won’t be back, which sucks, because I like the regular PB food, and the other locations aren’t easy for me to get to.

I’m a member of FFC so I like that a Protein Bar is inside the club. If I’m running a little low on energy, I get a Bucktown Green Tea protein shake.
While I haven’t ordered anything other than the BGT shake, I have seen how busy this place gets, even with 6 people working the line, during lunch time. This tells me me the food has to be pretty yummy. I have seen Mike, Jake, Kathleen, & Raven the most and they have always given me great customer service. Thank you!
The best part about this Protein Bar location aside from it being in the club, is that it’s a few feet away from the doors to the rooftop pool. Currently I’m on vacation and haven’t been able to enjoy the rooftop pool. But I like the idea, after I get back, of how I can hit the gym, order a healthy dinner from Protein Bar, and then hang out by the pool. I’m really looking forward to it.

The concept of Protein Bar is great: healthy, fast, local, all-​natural, with vegan and vegetarian options and of course delicious! I’ve enjoyed a few different wraps (although I recommend extra sauce because they tend to be dry), the quinoa bowls (especially the chili), and protein shakes (no added sugars or fillers like most places). And I appreciate the options of different kinds of milk (skim, soy, almond, etc), yogurt (greek, lowfat, soy), and protein (whey, soy, and egg).
It’s great that new locations have been opening up which makes it more convienent for a quick work lunch. I’ve been going to this location since it first opened becuase it’s convienent but you have to deal with the rude and condescending Formula Fitness staff who won’t allow non-​members up to order (recently allowed from 11−1pm but not 30 seconds after 1pm) because they view you as a «security threat» (I was specifically called that). But despite these things, I’ve been very happy with the food until this week.
Tuesday, I went to place my regular order online, the quinoa chili bowl and a bag of the all natural sweet potato chips, and I found they increased the prices. Their blog explains that it was necessary due to increased supply costs and they wanted to maintain the same great quality. Well I got over the price increase because the food has been so good, UNTIL l I had the food this week. Twice now the chili bowl has had the consistency of chicken tortilla soup, rather than chili. It’s disappointing that they’ve also cut back on the quality of the food. The taste was still similar but there was barely any chicken or beans and a lot more broth.
Let’s hope as they continue to grow they don’t loose focus on the quality of the food which is one of the main reasons I frequent this place, or did in the past.

I’ve been dissatisfied with the quinoa chicken chili the last 2 times I’ve ordered it. Protein Bar has increased the price of the chili and also changed something about the recipe making it more watery than it used to be. It’s nice that a non-​FFC member can now walk up to this location to order, but dissapointing that they’ve changed the recipe for the worse and raised the price.