Spa Cafe

Dear Spa Café… I will miss you dearly for your fulfilling and lo-​cal fare *sigh* — where is a girl to eat healthy in the loop?
I LOVED LOVED LOVED their chicken wrap and always felt great after a meal. Sadddddddd to see you go, Spa Café — please open in a different locale :)

I AM SO PISSED THIS PLACE IS CLOSED!
Seriously, I went to Spa Café everyday. If I wasn’t getting lunch from Spa Café it was because I was traveling for work or I brought something from home. I never ate anywhere else!
Now they’ve replaced my amazing salad/​wrap/​soup place with a stupid hoagie joint. Clearly they’re not trying to maintain their previous clientele.
I miss their turkey and black bean chili.

My email to my boyfriend:
I just had the most disappointing lunch of my life.
I went to Spa Café and got the Portabella Spring Rolls with a side of fruit. There was no taste to the spring rolls and the fruit side was teeny and mostly melon.
Plus the drink was water with lemon juice that I was kind of tricked into paying for. I thought the combo would include a real drink – not water with lemon juice pre-​squeezed in for me. I paid almost $ 10 for this craptasic lunch. Yuck. I feel completely ripped off.
His response:
Give up on that place already… or just order what you know is decent, haha.

As a passive environmentalist and (active) vegetarian, I was excited to try Spa Café after a trip to the Adler. However, I was disappointed in the end. We ordered the Sage Apple Sausage burger and the Devilburger (both vegan). The Devilburger was no better than a veggie burger one can make at home. It was extremely boring, but the accompanying blue corn tortillas and salsa were delicious. I thought my Sage Apple Sausage Burger (vegan!) was slightly tastier, but not particularly memorable either. The waffle fries were cool and had a stale texture. For $ 10 for each burger, I expected better. I give Spa Café extra credit for being what it is: a healthy, vegetarian-​friendly and eco-​conscious alternative to the average bistro.
Tip: They have free water dispensers to the left of the counter.

I will say this is one of my top loop lunches EVER. (especially for the price)
For under $ 10, I got a delicious Thai chicken wrap, grilled to all its glory, a side of a delicious corn salad, served on a trendy square plate, and to top it off a glass of cucumber infused water. How fresh, and tastey, and SUCH a great idea.
Spa/​Wild café offers organic food like no other. Wraps, Salads, Kangaroo Burgers?! WOW, how funky! The atmosphere is also very cool; decorated in local art that you can purchase if you like.
I’m upset I haven’t discovered this place earlier! Try it out!

Honestly, I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here.
I met a friend for an early lunch here (around 11:45). There was no line and a few people eating. The menu is not difficult to understand and there are plenty of choices. You will not find coke/​pepsi type products here, but there are plenty of sparkling waters, izze bottles, and iced teas.
I ordered a chicken wrap with bree and mango. All the wraps are whole wheat and can be grilled (or not). I also ordered a side salad which came in a tiny cup. The wrap was pretty good. It was stuffed with spinach, chicken, brie, and mango. Other than the aforementioned ingredients, there were no sauce or spices of any sort.
Honestly, it’s healthy and it tasted just that. The prices aren’t especially high. I had a wrap, side salad, and Izzie for around $ 9. The food is very filling and the portions (other than the side orders) are enough.

Has a lot of potential. However deserves criticism.
1) Menu is confusing as all hell. Each item is rated vegan, vegetarian, kosher, lactose free, diabetic, rabies, syphilis, etc. It took me a while to figure out the menu, needs a bit of tidying. Being a vegan I am appreciative of the fact that they say «hey man, you won’t break your level 9 vegan power armor with this couscous,» but I also don’t want food catered to me at a higher price for putting less ingredients in it, or because its the latest diet craze.
2) Expensive. A meal is going to cost you at least seven bucks I imagine, 11 if you need nourishment. I know using all sorts of fancy organic neutrino-​free space age lettuce is costly, but I got a couscous salad with six or seven leaves of normal greens for about seven bucks. Couscous, last I checked, was not going extinct.
3) Bland. The couscous was good the first ¾ way through no doubt, but it had the same flavorless sticky consistency the whole way through. I eat couscous, I’m familiar, you could say I’m intimate with it. but this was just big couscous balls covered in syrupy sauce on some lettuce with a few cherry tomatoes. Not gonna mark that one down, however the sweet potato soup I also got pretty much tasted like someone put raw sweet potatoes through a juicer, added water, and served at lukewarm temperature. I hear this place is great, I’d give it a second go, but my first impression was not so hot.
The good things. they apparently do all sorts of enviro-​handjob things I didn’t read about, so maybe you can feel happy about a tree you just saved. They have cornstarch-​pressed utensils, which provide an interesting gritty surface from which to slurp your soup. I am actually a fan of those cool pressed bamboo utensils, these will have to grow on me.
Free water! Can’t go wrong with that especially when their «Spa Water» is kinda expensive. Yeah. 50/​50, I’d go back and they do care about the food they’re serving, I definitely hit them at an off-​peak hour (3:30) so maybe next time I’ll go back during rush to see what the hot meals are like!

Yeah! What a great place. thanks to my fellow Unilocalers I now know of a healthy alternative for lunch in the loop!
I met Angie M. here for lunch today. We got there just before noon and the line was not too long. I had the tuna wrap grilled and she had a Thai chicken wrap. The tuna was not very mayonnaisey and had dried cranberries in it, which was a new flavor with tuna but I enjoyed it. Was also split an entrée sized salad. It was a little pricey but worth it to have a nice fresh healthy meal out. Everything looked great and while we were eating I was already deciding what to order the next time I go. (Portabello mushroom spring rolls!) There was a bit of a wait between ordering and getting the food, but as long as you are not in too much of a hurry that should not be a problem. By the time we left at 12:30 it was much busier, so its probably best to hit it for an early or late lunch, rather than at noon with everyone else. They also have nutritional info on their website!

When I saw that Spa Café had menu options that were vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, low carb or low fat, I was in. Well, that and the fact that Erin P. wanted to do meet up for lunch today, but I digress…
We arrived at 11:45, which apparently is the perfect time to get to Spa Café, because this mofo filled up quickly after we ordered. You can choose from many cool drinks in their cooler like sparkling waters, foreign looking iced tea in cans and a variety of Hansen’s soda while you’re waiting in line. The wraps are served a la carte, so you might want to consider a side to supplement your lunch.
Ordering was quick and easy. Picking up your meal at the counter? Not so much. They were a little disorganized, and it took awhile for our grilled wraps and salad to come up, but they were well worth the wait! I tried the Thai chicken wrap, which was chock-​full of organic chicken, peanuts, shredded carrots, lettuce and some other vaguely Asian ingredients. It was so fresh and healthy-​tasting. Since I’m sure she’ll Unilocal this one too, I’m not going to steal Erin’s thunder, but her wrap looked awesome, too. We split the organic mixed green salad. The salad was awesome. The dressing was just alright… a very, very, very light vinaigrette. I guess they want you to taste the mixed field greens, but I like to taste the dressing, too!
I can’t wait to head back to Spa Café. It’s just a hop-​skip from my office and offers WAY healthier fare than any other Loop lunch spot I’ve visited. Plus, I spied some delicious looking cous cous salads with grilled chicken on top that look phenomenal.

Getting better
The first time you go to SPA Café can be a little confusing. I think the chef and management were more concerned about the operations behind the counter that what the perception of the patrons might be when they first walk in.
It is really nice to have a place like SPA Café downtown. With all of the other seemingly-​same options, the fresh clean flavors of SPA are a nice diversion. The food is delicious and perfectly seasoned and doesn’t taste like the biocompostable packaging it comes in, which can be a problem with this category of clean food.
Other bonuses include offering a lettuce wrap in lieu of their artisan breads/​buns … key lime mango salsa … blackjack bean salad … and unique but approachable soup.

Spa Café is the perfect place to go for lunch. The focus on clean eating makes you feel great when you leave and go back to the office. They have the best lemon and cucumber water ever. Their salads and wraps are top notch. They even have wireless access so you can send out the important email or do some Unilocaling.
You must go and check it out. They have the best eco-​friendly environment and plenty of veggie friendly options. The staff is super nice too.

Loved:
I love that there’s a place that focuses on clean eating in the loop. I love the eco-​friendly silverware and that there’s plenty of veggie friendly options, vegan cookies, and drinks without high fructose corn syrup.
Liked:
The wraps are tasty, but seemed to be a bit meager on the filling– my mojito shrimp wrap had 4 shrimps, lettuce and shredded carrot, while the buffalo chicken wrap had chicken, lettuce, and celery. They were good (and filling) but a little bit boring.
We can’t be friends:
They serve kangaroo!!! How sad is that? I mean, I’ll eat almost anything, but, come on… kangaroo??? Why don’t you just kill happiness and put it on a bun.

If you work downtown and are a vegetarian near North Wacker you know how limited your lunch options can be… as well as how long you have to wait to get said lunch option. My boss took me here last week to grab a quick bite/​catch up chat and I was thrilled to see that not only was the menu highly veggi friendly, but fresh and light as well.
Another huge plus– the art… they had art from a local street artist posted and I was thrilled. Set a strange tone to my conversation with my boss who now thinks I live in the ghetto (she asked why I was so tired and I informed her that gun shots woke me up the night before) and have hoodlums for friends. I am letting her continue this thought– maybe she will feel sorry for me and give me a raise.

I’m a fan.
Got a job a block away and heard about this place from a friend who raved about it.
It’s not exactly in my budget (I still bring my lunch most days), but it’s certainly my favorite «I’m gonna treat myself today!» option.
Portions are reasonable — not huge. I leave here feeling satisfied and don’t feel lousy later on in the day for stuffing my face with something saucy & fried at the next door Panda joint.
Worth checking out.
Worth the «splurge» for a $ 10 lunch.
You’ll feel good about your decision.

OMGWTF?!
This place has been sitting under my nose the whole time?! The problem is that the vegan menu is secretly posted inside and not on any of their materials (see the picture i posted). So anyway they have a great selection of vegan sandwiches and even vegan cheddar cheese that they make themselves. The breads they use are chewy and fluffy and they have awesome waffle fries as an optional side. This place really provides quality food especially for the loop and their prices unfortunately reflect it. Still i don’t mind one bit as it’s totally worth it (and people should pay more for food anyway). The portions are perfect and maybe even a tad too much. They have organic ketchup that you could pump into a dipping cup and their disposable utensils are made from biodegradable corn starch. The Devil Burger is very tasty and my favorite so far of the two things i’ve tried. I look forward to eating my way through the menu. The service is very friendly and courteous. They even cook on a dedicated grill! Rock!
ps– they have poutine! Who in Chicago even HAS poutine never mind it’s not vegan. MAKE A VEGAN POUTINE PLEASE!

The guys I work with love this place because it’s a «healthy» option but I do agree with some of the other reviews that in some cases the portions are small for what you pay but think about it; the ingredients are fresh and since it does cater to those who want to feel like they’re eating healthy you aren’t going to get super-​sized portions.
I’m going for the 3-​star because I’ve eaten there several times and it has either been great or bad. What I like is the Turkey & Provolone wrap and the chile. The chile is actually quite tasty and not a traditional chile. The wrap is fresh and not packed with a ton of lettuce and other things that I would just take off anyway. What I didn’t like was the «purple soup» which is supposed to be sweet potato and something else… stay away… far away. It’s like weird potato water that is somehow purple. Very hit or miss at this place.

I ventured to SPA Café for a change from the daily grind of Madison Street Grille, Starbucks and The Rosebud, and all I have to say is that apart from the different location because of which I had to actually walk out into the cold for two blocks, there is little to set this deli apart from all the other ones. Their sandwich and salad options are commendable but not exceptional. The sandwich I had, some sort of shrimp salad thing was pretty good but left no impression. I like that they have wheatgrass on display in the refrigerators, and by «like», I mean I think it is bloody hell weird. It also has a sign saying it’s for display only. I doubt I’ll be back.

If you want a fast and healthy lunch this is one of the best options in the loop. I love the chili and you cannot beat the cucumber water. The prices are a little higher than a fast food joint, but they are comparable to most of the bakery style eateries you’ll find on every corner. The main difference is you actually feel good about what you are eating… even if the portion size isn’t obscene. If you are looking to get the most food for your buck then go with one of the combinations. That way you get two options or a side salad to fill you up. The last few times I have been there I have really enjoyed my lunch, and I’ve felt good about it afterwards. That’s more than I can say for most of the chain type eateries in the loop.

While reading Unilocal reviews on other places to eat around the Loop (& making notes on post-​its at work. yes, I was reading Unilocal at work. ssshhh!), I came across Spa Café, which is near my work.
When I tried to order the turkey club, I was told they ran out of the ingredients for the sandwich. Okay, fine… plenty of stuff to choose from. not a problem. I tried to order the thai chicken wrap. AGAIN, they ran out of ingredients for that. What the hell… Let me back up and say I was there at 1:00 PM, so it’s still considered lunch time, right? Man, it must have been one hell of a lunch rush prior to 1 to have run out of those ingredients for 2 items on the menu. Anyhoo… I ended up going for the lunch special which was creamy chicken salad wrap. It was good and tasty, but the chicken salad barely filled up the wrap! I took one bite, and my sandwich was practically gone. All that was left was the wrap. Whoopee. It is a decent place to grab lunch, and I would go back (& try other things if still available).

When I first heard about this place I imagined a list of diet plate specials on the menu. While the menu at this new Loop eatery does feature «healthy» products, the real plus for me is the flavorful food. The portions are on the lighter side, but you will be like me and debate whether the soup, side, or entrée is the tastiest part of the lunch combo. The chicken chilango soup was deliciously creamy, and the side of black barley and jicama was very good. Items like chicken tinga come wrapped in a tortilla wrap or a lettuce leaf. Be mesmerized by the food and the gently cascading pebble water fountain.